Stony Brook deeper, much improved, something Seawolves need in order to move up CAA ladder

With guards Aaron Clarke and Dean Noll returning to join Tyler Stephenson-Moore in Stony Brook’s backcourt, Geno Ford bad reason to be optimistic as Seawolves embark on second season in CAA. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

Stony Brook’s first season in the newly-rebranded Coastal Athletic Association was an eye-opener for the Seawolves in more ways than one.

Injuries to guards Aaron Clarke and Dean Noll altered head coach Geno Ford’s plans of attack drastically, forcing a young roster to grow up on the fly through a conference season that started with wins in three of its first four league games, but ended with losses in 11 of its final 14.

Clarke and Noll are healthy again, as is fellow fifth-year senior Tyler Stephenson-Moore after a breakout junior campaign, and the three will lead a formidable Seawolves backcourt in what looks to be a season marked with tremendous upside for a team that did as much as it could a year ago, given its limits.

“I thought last year, we won as many games as that team could have ever won,” Ford recalled. “We had great chemistry, our guys played their butts off and we were in every game but three. We didn’t win as much as we needed to win, but I was super proud of the guys last year for what they were being asked to play, that weren’t supposed to be rotational guys, I thought they really put themselves in a good light. Tyler’s year was unbelievable, to go from a role player to an all-league guy who played both ends of the floor. For me, last year was hard because we didn’t win a lot, but it was an easy group to coach. This year, plans are different because we’ve got a lot more talent. We’ve got guys back that have accomplished things at this level, so we expect to be better than we were.”

“Now we have multiple guards that can get in the lane and make plays, so we can simplify our offense. A year ago, we got in a situation where we had to run set plays (and) it was like watching a football team. We had to get the ball to a specific guy in a specific spot, or we had no chance. Tyler was forced to do a ton of things, and now Tyler’s able to just be a great player and not have to carry everything on both ends of the floor at all times. I think we’ve got guards that can break the defense down, so we get some good shots organically just through the flow of the game. Last year, we weren’t able to muster enough of that up.”

Clarke, Noll and Stephenson-Moore are joined by seven-foot center Keenan Fitzmorris to give Stony Brook an accomplished first unit with mounds of experience that will serve the Seawolves well through a non-conference schedule that Ford referred to as the highest-ranked and most arduous ledger the program has ever faced. Trips to Michigan State, Nebraska, and a season opener at St. John’s afford Ford and his outfit several chances to establish a foundation against high-level competition before opening league play. Stony Brook also welcomes a pair of mid-major transfers in Andre Snoddy, a Long Island native coming home after two years at Central Connecticut, and senior forward Chris Maidoh, who played for former Seawolves assistant Jay Young at Fairfield. The two have already paid dividends in practice, and Ford is eager to unleash his new weapons on the court.

“They both give us frontcourt defense, which we were the worst in the league last year at,” he said. “Andre can guard four, and sometimes five positions, and Chris Maidoh — I’m not making this up — in 25 years, I don’t think I’ve ever had a frontcourt guy be as good a team defender as he is. When you show up at 23 and you already know, and he’s helping coach guys on the sideline, we just got the right guy. Chris has been terrific, and Andre Snoddy has been terrific, and both of them can score as well. I don’t want to sell them as strictly defensive players, but where we got hurt last year was people just overpowered us in the paint and we had a hard time stopping it up front. I’m hopeful that those two guys can bring to games what they’ve brought to practice, because they’ve been elite defensively. They’re helping us on both ends now, for sure.”

Ford learned through trial by fire just how physical and unforgiving the CAA slate can be, a learning curve made steeper given last year’s attrition. This season, though, the veteran coach’s outlook is much brighter, prompting reasonable and valid optimism in Suffolk County going into year two in its new home.

“Everybody’s going to tell you how good the league is, and it sounds like a broken record,” he surmised. “I’m going to tell you that coaching in it, it’s as good as any college basketball league there is. When I was in the Missouri Valley Conference, Wichita State was ranked No. 1 in the country, Creighton had the national player of the year (Doug McDermott), Northern Iowa went to three or four Sweet 16s. It was an elite league with great teams, and this is an elite league with great teams.”

“We’ve gotta be better, and we are better. We’re a lot better, but we know that the teams in the league are going to make it hard to climb up the standings. It’s not like Charleston's going to take a step backwards or UNC Wilmington is going to take a step backwards. Every game’s going to be tough and they’re all going to be fights. When we play well, we’re good enough to hang with everybody.”