Six years later, Hofstra gets back what it lost in 2020 shutdown

Speedy Claxton (right) celebrates with Cruz Davis (5) after Hofstra avenged its 2020 misfortune Tuesday by winning CAA championship. (Photo by Joe Orovitz/Hofstra Athletics)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Richard Bach is a 20th century American author who, on the surface, would have no discernible connection to college basketball.

However, one of Bach’s most well-known quotes is somewhat relevant to the hoops world after Hofstra emerged from the Coastal Athletic Association tournament to be the last team standing, and thusly, the conference’s NCAA Tournament representative.

If you love something, Bach posited, set it free. If it comes back to you, it’s yours. If it doesn’t come back, it never was.

March 10, 2020 was a night that, on the surface, marked Hofstra’s ascent to the summit for the first time since 2001. The Pride had just defeated Northeastern to win the CAA tournament championship, and was on its way to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since someone named Jay Wright patrolled the sidelines in Hempstead and a Christ the King product named Craig “Speedy” Claxton was his point guard.

The world had other ideas.

Not even 48 hours after Hofstra and its fans could bask in the glory of being among the 68 teams that comprise the sport’s greatest spectacle every year, the COVID-19 pandemic intervened. Sports were shut down. For Hofstra, it was yet another kick to the gut, another punch to the solar plexus in a two-decade stretch rife with cruel body blows. So regrettably, begrudgingly, the Pride was forced to release its cherished memento into the wild, its fans wondering if — never mind when — it would ever find its way back.

Six years later, to the day, it did.

March 10, 2026 started with Claxton, now in his fifth season as Hofstra’s head coach, calling a timeout less than two minutes into the game as Monmouth took a 6-0 lead. Claxton called another timeout in the second half after Kavion McClain knocked down a trio of three-point shots to vault the Hawks back in front on the strength of a 13-4 run out of the intermission. The response each time was symbolic of how Hofstra has come to be known.

Claxton frequently reminds his team that the game rewards toughness, and that anything less than a 100-percent effort will not produce success. Hofstra’s exploits in closing out Monmouth, one night after needing overtime and a shot from Preston Edmead that will live on forever across Long Island, demonstrated the requisite level of tenacity needed to dance.

“That’s always what it’s gonna come down to, toughness,” Claxton reiterated. “And we compete with the best of them. It’s a toughness game and the tougher team is going to win, and for a majority of the night, we were the tougher team. That’s what we always hang our hat on.”

Hofstra summoned one last tough stretch after Monmouth refused to fade in the final seconds, with Cruz Davis and German Plotnikov sealing the championship at the free throw line. Shortly thereafter, a reunion few in the Pride’s fan base would readily admit was possible commenced. Even Claxton, who has tasted championships at literally every level in his career, did not know how to react at first, crying tears of joy in an embrace with associate head coach Mike DePaoli before reflecting properly after the magnitude of the moment had time to set.

“This moment is so surreal,” Claxton said, speaking from the heart. “It means so much to myself, this program, this university. I couldn’t be happier for these kids, man. This is a moment that they’re going to share for a lifetime.”

The coach was then asked about the closure of retrieving that which was loved and lost, issuing a bold warning that extenuating circumstances may as well turn around and head the opposite way.

“Nothing better stop us this year,” he said, breaking into his trademark effervescent grin. “I’m hoping that everything goes according to plan, we can go through Selection Sunday, see who we’re playing and actually get to fully experience the tournament and everything that it has to offer.”

Hofstra regained the love it lost Tuesday night, proving it was destined to belong on Long Island all along.

And the Pride is not letting it go this time, at least not without a fight.