Matt Balanc’s influence still felt at Quinnipiac in Amarri Monroe’s emergence

Amarri Monroe and Quinnipiac have soared back into MAAC lead. Junior forward has taken cues from former teammate Matt Balanc as he transitions into Bobcats’ leader on court. (Photo by Quinnipiac Athletics)

By Vincent Simone (@VTSimone)

HAMDEN, Conn. — When Quinnipiac fell to Saint Peter’s in the semifinal round of last year’s MAAC tournament, the Bobcats lost not just the game, but their leader as well.

Matt Balanc was the unquestioned heart and soul of the 2023-24 Quinnipiac Bobcats, the first team in program history to capture a MAAC regular season title, and first to finish atop its conference since the 2009-10 squad went 15-3 in the Northeast Conference. Across five years in Hamden, Balanc accrued 1,721 points, second-most in the program’s Division I history. With his college eligibility exhausted, Quinnipiac has relied on the next wave of leaders to fill the void.

That mantle of leadership is new to junior forward Amarri Monroe, who remains influenced by Balanc’s example as he has helped push the Bobcats back into first place entering the final month of the regular season.

“I’m new to this whole leader thing, so I kind of just look back at last year trying to think about (Matt) was a leader and just how hard we played,” Monroe said following Sunday’s 79-74 win over Iona. “If I want to be a leader, I’ve just got to do everything I’m asking guys to do. I can’t tell guys to do it if I’m not doing it. That’s something Matt always did. He would never tell you to do something if he wasn’t doing it.”

Monroe, the Preseason MAAC Player of the Year, played a pivotal role on last season’s squad, averaging 12.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per contest as a sophomore after averaging just 3.6 points per game in his freshman campaign at Wofford. The Newburgh, New York native has reached a new level in recent weeks, having scored 20 points or more in six straight games and recording a double-double in six of his last seven. At 17.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 2.5 steals per game, Monroe is squarely in contention to follow Balanc as the league’s top player.

“His confidence is growing,” Quinnipiac head coach Tom Pecora said of Monroe. “Going from average to good is hard. Going from good to great is incredibly hard. To be a great player, we’ve got to get 40 minutes out of him on both ends, but he’s definitely trending in that direction.”

Sunday’s victory, coupled with Merrimack’s narrow loss to Marist, pushed Quinnipiac back into first place at 12-3 in MAAC play, a half-game ahead of the Red Foxes and a full game in front of the Warriors. The trio remain in firm control of the top three seeds with less than a month until the conference tournament tips off in Atlantic City. With March fast approaching, Quinnipiac remains in search of its first NCAA Tournament bid. Building off the regular season success of last season and fueled by the failure of coming up short last year, Monroe and the Bobcats hope this year will provide the opportunity to make some history.

“We have a really special team and I’ve got to do whatever I’ve got to do to help this team win,” Monroe said. “We’re starting to click as a team, we learn from our mistakes. This is the most important time of the season. February going into March is where a team can either rise or fall, and we’re not gonna fall.”