Kevin Willard quote book: Yale

On Seton Hall’s defense:

“That’s kind of been our real thought process for the first two games, to really take FDU and Yale out of the 3-point line, and so we were really aggressive. And again, you can be aggressive when you have a big guy down low like Ike, so what I was really happy with today was both these games, we really stressed on letting guys get going, their best players, and I thought Myles Cale came out and was terrific. And then again, when you have Ikey down below, it’s a nice thing that you can be aggressive — switch and be aggressive — if you get beat, you still have to deal with him.”

On defensive improvement due to depth:

“Where it really is a big difference is with our big guys. (Isaiah) Kelly and (Jalen) Gabbidon, who I love — I think Gabbidon’s a phenomenal player — I looked at them at the 9-minute mark and they were shot. You come out and you start with Lex and Ikey, who are both, big physical guys, and then Tray and Tyrese come in, they’re still both pretty big guys and it gives us a chance to wear down — it starts hurting pick-and-roll coverage for them defensively. I think those guys have really been key so far, and I think for them — everybody wants to play 40 minutes — come January, they’re not going to be as beat down and worn down because of the fact that they don’t have to play so many minutes.”

On Seton Hall’s depth and differences in coaching it:

“This is kind of how I envisioned this team, especially when Myles Cale came back and Bryce came back. You’re going to get the same amount of possessions and shots, it’s just the fact that there’s not so much pressure on anyone on the court at any time, and I think that’s the biggest difference with this team than probably all my teams besides Isaiah, Khadeen, Angel and Desi, is no one has to stress about playing great every night. They all know that ‘hey, if it’s not my night, someone’s there to pick me up,’ and that’s a really nice thing for a player to have. Every time you go into the game, you don’t have to stress about ‘I need to play great for us to win.’”

On Seton Hall’s rotation:

“It’s going to be a work in progress until December, I’m sure. But I like the fact that — I’d like to see Bryce and Kadary on the court a little bit more, just to give a two-guard look at different times, I’d like to see Jamir out there with Bryce a little bit more just to kind of, again, two-guard look, different looks, two guys shooting, open up the court. As of right now, I think it’s progressing the way I want to.”

On Kadary Richmond:

“Yeah, Kadary’s been phenomenal. His attitude is off the charts, he’s working really hard to get in better shape, and as he gets more comfortable with the ball in his hands, you’re going to see more and more nights where, nine assists to turnovers. He’s progressing that way, he’s that talented, and he’s working really hard to just understand what I want from him offensively and defensively.”

On frontcourt play Tuesday at Michigan:

“I don’t know if you can just ask those guys to play well. You have to play well really team defensively against a guy like (Hunter) Dickinson because they do a phenomenal job of short-rolling him where they set a pick-and-roll, they space out two guys on the opposite side and they hit him early. If you rotate to him, he’s one of the best passing big men I’ve seen in a while, and he makes the right decision every time. If you don’t roll to him, he’s going to score, so it’s going to have to be a real team effort in how we want to stop him, and obviously stop them.”

On toughness of 48-hour turnaround between Yale and Michigan:

“It is tough. It’s tough from a mental aspect of getting ready — you’re not allowed to do anything tonight, if you could do stuff with the team, it would probably make things a little bit easier — from a mental side, it’s challenging because now you have to kind of figure out what you’re going to do on a scouting report. So for them, UMass doesn’t have enough size, I think unfortunately for Yale, our size really wore them down. For us, it’s going to be more of a mental, quick turnaround.”

On having Jared Rhoden back:

“He moved great, he practiced great all week. He was only allowed to play 22 minutes, so I was right where I wanted him to be. He moved great, he looked great. It was important for me to make sure he got a little bit of game action going into Tuesday because if he didn’t play tonight, I wasn’t going to play him Tuesday because I did not want that big of a game to be his first game and maybe re-injure himself, so it was important for me moving forward to get him in there. He’ll be on somewhat of a time restriction (Tuesday), I have to talk to my trainer and see what he wants.”

On the history between Seton Hall and Michigan:

“I was 14 years old, I know the history of this program better than anybody. I play enough golf with P.J. to know how much it stung for the most part, but Michigan’s a great program, we’re a great program. I think it’s going to be a great early preseason game. I loved watching Texas-Gonzaga, I love true college basketball games, not the neutral-site ones, I love the home crowd — I probably won’t be saying that after Tuesday — but I love the fact that early-season college basketball games on campus are being played more now than, I think, any of that time.”

“Jerry, I was 14 years old. Where was I when I was 14? Oh jeez, you want to go play-by-play? Or do you just want to talk about the foul call? I hear play-by-play from P.J. and Raf, and I hear from all our fans just about the foul call. I have watched the game, it was a phenomenal game. I’ve watched it quite a few times, actually, and every time it comes on, I watch it. It was an unbelievably coached game, it was unbelievably played, absolutely. I’m not going to argue that. I just don’t remember where I was when I was 14. I can’t remember my garage code, so I’m not going to remember what I was doing at 14.”

On opportunities against Michigan and Ohio State:

“I think the biggest way I’m looking at this, Adam, is this is going to give me a blueprint for December: What I need to work on, what we need to work on, where we need to improve, what we’re doing well. Chris Beard said it the other night, obviously he didn’t like losing, but it was also great that he understands now what he needs to go work on where he would not have had those opportunities if he didn’t go play the game.”

On preparing Seton Hall for its first road game:

“I think the good thing is we’ve got a bunch of old guys. It’s going to be what, almost two years since we’ve been in a true road game? Butler had 6,000 fans and that kind of shook us. I think it’s great. It’s going to prepare us for the rest of the season. It’s great being back in front of fans at home, I’ve got to shout out our student section, they were phenomenal. Our guys, the first thing they said coming out of the huddle was, ‘if they’re showing up, we gotta show up.’ So they’ve been great. I think it’s going to be a great atmosphere, they’re obviously a terrific basketball team, and it’s a great test.”

On suits vs. casual dress:

“I’ll be honest with you, I think I’m going to flip-flop, depending on my dry cleaners. I don’t fit into a lot of suits I fit into two years ago. I didn’t think I got the COVID 15, but I definitely got the COVID 15. I have like, three suits that fit me right now, so if you see us casual, it’s probably because I didn’t get the suit I’m wearing right now back in time.”

Resilient comeback win defines Manhattan, shows what Jaspers could become

Steve Masiello celebrates with Manhattan students as Jaspers used late-game comeback to defeat Fordham Friday. (Photo by Manhattan College Cheerleading)

NEW YORK — Just as true genius is sometimes misunderstood, true success lies in the intangibles, the qualities that are not always reflected in black and white for the world to see and dissect.

Steve Masiello has let that much be known through his first decade as head coach at Manhattan College, and four days into his eleventh season in Riverdale, continues to highlight the aspects that go beyond the hardwood, reiterating the ethos of leading his team on and off the floor.

“It’s bigger than basketball” has been a common refrain inside the walls of Draddy Gymnasium over the years. And with the most experience returning to the program since Masiello’s teams brought Manhattan back to the NCAA Tournament in 2014 and 2015, the logic is easily justified.

So it was again Friday night as the Jaspers fell behind double digits in their crosstown matchup with Fordham, an annual clash shelved last year due to the pandemic, but reprised for the 113th time. Gradually, Manhattan lifted itself out of its hole, leading for only 34 seconds in a 66-60 victory over the Rams and using a 12-2 run to author a performance indicative of both who this team is and what it can ultimately morph into.

“We kept talking in timeouts about love,” Masiello remarked. “We love each other, we’ll get through this. And to the outside, it looks like we’re probably fighting, but it’s how we communicate with each other. That’s how we communicate every day.”

“Coach tells us we’re grown men, so we get to react,” Jose Perez echoed. “It looked a little hectic in there, like we were arguing, but that’s how we show love.”

Manhattan's final two minutes, starting with a Josh Roberts dunk that pulled the Jaspers within two points of Fordham, seemed as though they came straight out of the catalog of Masiello’s early years, with the Alvarados, Andujars, Beamons and Browns of the world making timely shots and answering with stops on the other end of the floor. A Warren Williams steal led to a game-tying layup by Elijah Buchanan, again fueling a late-game takeover against a team the senior said he “simply don’t like” for the second time in as many years. Yet another big shot from Samir Stewart, whose on-court resemblance to RaShawn Stores becomes increasingly similar with each passing game, and finally, Perez’s game-clinching block of an Antonio Daye layup to ice a character-building triumph Masiello insisted would probably not have happened with last year’s roster.

“We just trust each other,” Perez reiterated. “We’re family, we’re very connected. Coach Mas trusts me, the whole entire staff trusts me, my teammates trust me. I just try to make plays, get them going, then try to get myself going after. It’s more important that they shine instead of myself. I’m usually the low-motor guy. They give me the energy.”

“He’s a dominant player who shares it,” said Masiello of Perez — one of two high-major transfers, Josh Roberts being the other — and the facets of his game that complement the Manhattan style. “He’s a great playmaker, and he hasn’t played in a year and a half. He didn’t play at Marquette or the second half of the year at Gardner-Webb, so there’s some rust on his game. He’s got to stop looking for contact and finish with the basketball, but that’ll come with trust, when he doesn’t have to look over his shoulder, he has nothing to prove. It’s a process with him, but he’s in a good space.”

So too is Manhattan as a whole, regardless of whether or not the ends justify the means when looking inward from the outside. Masiello is unfazed by the confusion that may come up from those not intimately connected with he and his team, in fact, he embraces it in a sense because the unique cohesion in the bonds forged between coach and players brings everything full circle.

“You’re not us, so you’re not going to understand us and that’s okay,” Masiello insisted. “But that’s just our way. This is a special group, whether we won or lost, it’s a great feeling we had. I think we’ve got a chance to be special, but a lot goes into that. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’re going to stay with it and just keep moving forward. We respect each other. It’s a two-way street, and when you’ve gotta go through a lot to get to this point, you can’t fast-forward that or fake that. And that’s why we are where we are.”

“They’ve been here four years by my side, through some tough times, never wavered once. We’ve been through a lot that no one knows about. Basketball is easy. We’re grinding on life, so the relationship is bigger and this stuff becomes easy, but at the end of the day, it’s a lot of love.”

Rutgers overcomes jitters, upset-minded Lehigh to escape season opener

Ron Harper, Jr. exults as Rutgers survived Lehigh in season opener, needing overtime to defeat Mountain Hawks. (Photo by On The Banks)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — In a sense, it was almost like starting over.

Back in front of fans at the newly christened Jersey Mike's Arena for the first time in 617 days, Rutgers shook off early jitters and an upset threat from a former Cinderella while teaching itself how to win again, play again, feel whole again.

Taking on Lehigh, known primarily for an upset of Duke in the 2012 NCAA Tournament behind C.J. McCollum, the Mountain Hawks looked to add Rutgers to their collection of high-major conquests, and seemed primed to do so for 39 minutes before Geo Baker connected on yet another of his patented step-back jumpers to tie the game and send it to overtime. And in that extra session, Baker helped drive the dagger into the opposing heart once more, feeding Cliff Omoruyi for an alley-oop that sealed a 73-70 victory that — despite raising stress levels — proved equal parts cathartic and instructional.

“It was great to be playing in front of people,” Steve Pikiell reflected after coaching Rutgers to a unique NCAA Tournament appearance in last season’s bubble environment. “You don’t know what the environment was last year because you saw it from television, (but) it was not where you want to be. The energy that the crowd brings — keep in mind, we were 18-1 the last time we had this court — to have fans back means a ton. Maybe we were caught up in some of that stuff, but we’ll settle in. It certainly helped us in all phases of today.”

“It’s crazy, because you go from a year without playing in front of fans, and then the next thing you know, you’ve got 8,000 people in front of you,” Ron Harper, Jr. surmised after posting a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double. “But as the game progressed, we learned to feed off the crowd energy again, we learned how to let the crowd push us through tough moments again. That’s something we missed last year and something we’re glad to have back.”

The 8,000 paying customers in the stands were just as glad to have the Scarlet Knights back, too, raising their collective voices when necessary but relegated to stunned silence for most of the night as Lehigh played the part of spoiler and assassin, leaving a lasting impression on Wednesday night’s dance partner.

“Great teams are going to find a million different ways to win,” said Harper. “In my sophomore year on opening night, we beat Bryant by two when their best player missed a three at the end of the game that went in and out. Everybody wrote us off back then and we ended up going 18-1 at the RAC, so this is a game we’ll learn from. It’s an important win and a step forward.”

“These wins are the best type of wins to get early in the season,” Geo Baker echoed. “When you hit adversity, you see what type of team you are. Today, we realized that we can take a punch, we can react the right way. Nobody had their heads down.”

The lunchpail mentality was prevalent across the roster, but perhaps no further than in Cliff Omoruyi. In the sophomore’s first effort at replacing Myles Johnson in the starting lineup, he needed all of nine seconds to score the game’s first basket on a reverse dunk, gaining steam throughout the night and validating the effusive praise his coach heaped on him in the preseason.

“I think we don’t have to have anymore talk about the five spot,” Pikiell quipped after Omoruyi amassed 16 points and nine rebounds. “I think we’re in very good hands. I love this guy, he’s as good a worker as we’ve ever had in the program, and we’re really excited about his development. He’s come a long way, and I think he learned a lot from last year. When you play in this league, you learn some things.”

“I heard all the talk about how we would replace Myles, and I always say I believe in Cliff,” Harper proclaimed. “You guys got to see that tonight. The dude’s a monster, and he’s just getting started.”

Behind every great player is an even greater teammate, and Rutgers’ headlining trio was set up brilliantly by Paul Mulcahy and Caleb McConnell. Between Mulcahy using his size to back down Lehigh defenders and McConnell being the personification of efficiency at both ends of the floor, the pair underscored just how vital their presence is to a team intent on advancing further than last March’s coming-out party.

“They bring such great energy and such great passion to our team,” Harper proudly said. “How many teams do you cover and there’s guys saying they want to be defensive player of the year? Not many. How many times do you go into a room with a bunch of basketball players at the Division I level and you hear somebody say they want to lead the country in assists? It’s just rare, and we’re lucky to have them. They played their hearts out tonight.”

At the end of the day, heart won out, and for Rutgers, the fortitude may not silence some of the question marks, but it certainly goes a long way toward mitigating them in the eyes of its head coach.

“I knew this was going to be a really difficult game,” Pikiell conceded. “I’ve watched them play a lot the last two or three years. I love the fact that we grinded the game out, we kind of figured out a way. We’re going to be a team that continues to get better as the season goes, but I like this group a ton. (There were) a lot of obstacles we hit today, but I thought getting through them was a good thing.”

5 Thoughts: Seton Hall blows out FDU on opening night

 

Tyrese Samuel recorded first career double-double as Seton Hall routed FDU in season opener. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEWARK, N.J. — After 616 days, Daly Dose Of Hoops was back at the Prudential Center for a Seton Hall game, as the Pirates, playing without star winger Jared Rhoden, rode the momentum from a strong last seven minutes of the first half to a blowout 93-49 victory over in-state rival Fairleigh Dickinson in Newark.

Here are the 5 thoughts:

- Terrific Tyrese

One game ball goes to Tyrese Samuel. The versatile big man finished with his first career double-double, putting up 19 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocked shots as well as an astounding plus-38 in 27 minutes, all of which led the team. Unlike in the past, he did it both inside and outside, posting up quite a bit against a smaller FDU front line.

Make no mistake, if Samuel can be that consistently effective, the Pirates will be one heck of a tough out this season.

"He's super talented," teammate Bryce Aiken said after the game. "This is only the beginning. We expect him to do that every night."

"He's a junior now," Myles Cale added. "This is the year that you finally come out of your shell, that you're more comfortable. That's what's happening with Tyrese right now. He knows the game better, can pick his spots, and he's a better player."

- Bryce Is Nice

The second game ball goes to Aiken. One of the reasons that the Pirates didn't have the season they planned during the pandemic last season was Aiken being largely unavailable due to injury, forcing Shavar Reynolds to play more than he probably should have.

It was a healthy Aiken that turned things around for the Pirates after a slow start to this one, netting 10 points to lead all scorers in the first half after starting point Kadary Richmond picked up a couple of fouls. Aiken ended up with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting (3-for-3 from 3-point range) before tweaking his ankle in the second half, though by all accounts, the tweak didn't seem major, as he was out on the bench cheering his teammates on later in the game.

"He had a very productive summer," head coach Kevin Willard said. "He was able to work out every day, practice every day. I just think he's in a much better spot mentally about his body than he was last year."

Given his considerable injury history (he's the sixth-oldest player in college basketball because of it), I would expect the coaching staff to be very conscious of his minutes in the early part of the season, but more performances like this one could force their hand. He would be an ideal weapon off the bench if he can stay on the court.

- Jumpin' Jackson

Another player who helped to kick-start the Pirates was Tray Jackson. The Missouri transfer drew rave reviews from the pundits who had watched him on the court prior to opening night, and he contributed four points and five rebounds to the cause in the first half, including a putback slam. He gave the team a shot of adrenaline, playing hard enough that, after a foul in transition denying a breakaway dunk, he lost a shoe in the process.

That continued in the second half when he brought the crowd to its feet with a pair of huge dunks, finishing with 14 points and six rebounds in his Seton Hall debut.

"I always knew that's the way Tray was going to play," Willard said. "The COVID summer really hurt Tray because a) he was sitting out, and b) we didn't think he was playing, so it just didn't work. Tray had a great summer, and that's kind of what we see every day in practice."

- Long And Strong

The Pirates' defense looked pretty darn good tonight. When you look at their starting lineup, Seton Hall went with four players who were 6'6" or taller, and the advantage in length shone through. The Pirates held FDU to just 28 percent shooting on the night, with no one outside of Brandon Rush (19 points) really doing much. 

They tried, but Ike Obiagu (five blocks) and Samuel (four) pretty much took care of anything the Knights tried to do inside, and they contested the perimeter well also, holding the visitors to just 1-of-15 on the night. That is something they struggled to do last year. If they can defend the perimeter well (with Obiagu holding down things inside at 7'2"), they could be very tough to score on.

- You Get A Three! And You Get a Three!

Seton Hall shot the ball very well from the outside tonight as well, with 13 makes in 24 attempts (54 percent) and six different players hitting at least one triple. Jamir Harris led the way with four 3-point makes, which is fitting because boy, is he an impressive shooter. More than once I was impressed with just how picturesque his outside shot is, and how big of a weapon he can be this season for Seton Hall.

But Cale also stuck his outside shots, sinking three of them. Ditto for Aiken, who also connected on the longest three of the night before exiting with a tweaked ankle. It was something Willard lacked last season.

"What I really needed to fix is that we really didn't shoot the ball consistently last year," Willard said. "It was a major issue. And we didn't defend the three point line, we didn't shoot it well, and we didn't defend it well, which gave us a lot of nights where we were in (close) games where maybe if we had shot it better, it wouldn't have turned out that way. Getting Bryce healthy, and getting guys like Jamir and Alexis (Yetna) who can spread the floor and make shots was the biggest thing."

The Pirates will look to build upon their opening night win when they welcome the preseason Ivy League favorites, the Yale Bulldogs, to Newark on Sunday afternoon.

Iona stifles App State down stretch to win opener

Tyson Jolly’s 19 points led all scorers as Iona defeated Appalachian State to win season opener in Rick Pitino’s first home game with fans at Hynes Center. (Photo by Iona College Athletics)

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — Rick Pitino’s message to his Iona team was a simple and valuable one after being taken out of its game through the first half of its season opener Tuesday against Appalachian State, who forced the Gaels into an unorthodox offensive style.

In the final 20 minutes, Iona found its calling on the defensive end, rendering the visiting Mountaineers into just a 29-percent shooting display and holding them without a field goal over the final three minutes, using a game-ending 10-0 run to drive away to a 65-53 victory at the Hynes Athletics Center in Iona’s first game without fan restrictions since March 2020.

“We started out the game taking a few bad shots, and what I tried to explain to them, ‘you’ve got to be better defensively, because you’re not going to get a chance to get out on the break like you do every day in practice,” Pitino shared as the Gaels got 19 points from SMU transfer Tyson Jolly and 17 off the bench from Dylan van Eyck to supplement the lockdown on the other side of the ball. “I said, ‘you must be the better defensive team in the second half.’ And they were brilliant.”

“We’re a racehorse team. When you play a ball control team, you’re not going to be able to play your style, so you’ve got to adjust and be the better defensive team. Tonight, we adjusted to that style and we were a hell of a defensive team. We challenged the 3-point shot, even the ones they made were under duress, and that’s just guys focusing in at the defensive end.”

Iona looked the part of a teenage driver taking his or her road test in the opening minutes, as the Gaels felt themselves out and found their way before gradually acclimating to App State’s small ball and floor spacing. Jolly, playing above the rim and belying his 6-foot-4 stature, was the catalyst on the boards early to back up his scoring prowess, benefiting from Nelly Junior Joseph being a non-factor due to matchups.

“Every night, you can get something different,” Jolly said of his repertoire, which included playing on the block at various points of the night to give Iona a physical body in the paint to spell Joseph. “I definitely like to post up, shoot threes, drive. I try to be a complete player. Me being active defensively, being able to run and show my skill set, I feel like it’s perfect.”

And for the 2,300-plus in attendance, many of whom had gone 20 months without live basketball, the end result was equally as blissful.

“Today was a little different, but you could definitely see that so-called Pitino effect,” van Eyck admitted. “We had the entire crowd completely filled up, and that’s what happens when a man has a resume like that. We’re able to be blessed by that.”

“I was pleasantly surprised,” Pitino said of the atmosphere. “The crowd was great, alive. We’ll probably sell out (Saturday) against Harvard, but these guys have worked very hard to get to this point, and the schedule’s terrific.”

Having validated part of its preseason hype by finding a way to win while the opposing team dictated tempo, Iona’s potential has become galvanized as a result. One game does not make a season, but getting the opener in the books had given the Gaels momentum to build bigger and better in what could be a momentous campaign.

“We’ve only got one goal,” van Eyck said. “Obviously, we want to win every game, but we’re confident in ourselves that we believe that’s going to be achieved. We want to reach an Elite Eight, a Final Four. We want to make noise on the national level. That’s our only goal, that’s our main goal.”

No longer overshadowed, Shavar Reynolds brings brash swagger and big dreams to Monmouth

No longer a defensive stopper like he was at Seton Hall, Shavar Reynolds brings unleashed potential and unparalleled swagger to Monmouth for his senior season. (Photo by Gary Kowal/Monmouth University Athletics)

Anyone who is anyone in the New Jersey basketball scene has heard the story before.

Former walk-on turned scholarship player, native son, hardest worker, clutch shooter, one big play after another in a script that a team of Hollywood screenwriters would be challenged to adapt into a movie.

Meet Shavar Reynolds, if you haven’t already, and feel free to add more superlatives to describe the Manchester Township native, now at Monmouth as a fifth-year senior after transferring from Seton Hall in the offseason. For starters, the defensive specialist is no longer just that on his new team, as the Hawks will be counting on Reynolds to be a spark plug on the offensive end while anchoring a deceptively strong backcourt from his familiar point guard perch.

“Coming from Seton Hall to now, my biggest thing is just a role change,” Reynolds surmised. “My role this year is expanding in terms of scoring. I think in terms of how I play, it’ll be the same. I’m still a point guard trying to control the game, but now I just have more of a scoring role, so that’s the biggest adjustment for me. I accept the challenge, and I’m excited for it. It’s a big test for myself, and also my teammates as well if I can lead this thing.”

“I think at Seton Hall, I got to show pieces of myself. I never showed who I truly am. I was not held back or anything, but now I’m able to be me, be able to play the game freely. And I don’t really see it as a challenge. I think I’ve put the work in and I don’t like talking about it. I just want to show I’ve been grinding for four years, so it’s basketball at this point. Now, it’s about doing it or not doing it. It’s put up or shut up time, and I want to see if I am who I think I am.”

The opportunity to establish himself, and do it under the backdrop of his home turf, was of particular appeal to Reynolds — who became acquainted with the Hawks’ past and present personnel in the JSBL and other summer circuits — as was the culture under which King Rice’s program has become a trademark.

“The thing that brought me to Monmouth was definitely the culture,” Reynolds gushed. “I’ve been playing at Monmouth for like, my whole college career, in the summer, I’d come play here. And it was just a really good place. Justin Robinson, I’m good friends with him, I’m cool with Josh James, so Monmouth was always like a place I felt comfortable playing. So when the opportunity presented itself, it seemed like the perfect storm.”

“When you bring in a guy like Shavar who played in the Big East and has hit game-winners, you’ve gotta make sure that he fits in with what you’re doing,” Rice echoed. “And Shavar has been tremendous. He had concerns about how some guys would accept him, and I told him he integrated himself into the program as well as any kid I’ve ever seen, especially being a high-level guy that’s coming from the Big East. He came and became close with the guys, and I think he’s shown he’s a great leader right from the beginning, because he cared how they thought about him joining our program.”

Reynolds has long been a standout among student-athletes, and always for all the right reasons. In fact, one of the first benefits to having him in the program was Reynolds having not only done his homework with regard to his new teammates, but also taking a genuine and vested interest in the betterment of their own skills while also showing a hungry roster what it takes to win at a high level, having done so to the tune of two NCAA Tournament appearances at Seton Hall.

“Most guys just want to come in and do what they have to do,” said Rice. “Well, Shavar cared about Myles (Ruth), he cared about Sam Chaput, how they were going to feel. He did a tremendous job of getting himself welcomed to the team, and now he’s playing a major leadership role. I just think he’s a kid that’s highly motivated, that knows what he wants, and has come in here and raised our group just by being here.”

“I was on a Seton Hall team that was ranked in the Top 10 in the country,” Reynolds reiterated. “Seeing winning and knowing what a champion looks like, just that experience of seeing what it takes to win and what we have to do to win, I think that’s helped us.”

And with that, the veteran newcomer — if such a terminology exists — laid down the expectation for what he and the Hawks are out to accomplish, in bold, simple terms that were tinged with a loudly audible confidence and steadfast conviction.

“We’re trying to go dancing,” Reynolds declared. “We’re trying to be winners. If we’re not trying to go dancing, then we’re not doing it right. That’s what Monmouth has been needing in the last year. They’ve shown glimpses of being able to get there, they’ve been winning the regular season, but the one thing they haven’t gotten in a while is that NCAA Tournament berth. If we can be the ones that bring it to them, that’s the top priority here.”

Walker Miller finds familiarity and unique background in new surroundings at Monmouth

Walker Miller goes from role player at North Carolina to considerable size advantage at Monmouth. (Photo by Gary Kowal/Monmouth University Athletics)

When King Rice reached into the transfer portal this offseason to fill the voids on his Monmouth team left by the departures of Deion Hammond and Melik Martin, it sent shockwaves through the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, as the longtime Hawks coach has always been very particular in his recruitments of transfer student-athletes, making sure each is the perfect fit for his program and system.

Monmouth’s two coups in the college basketball equivalent of free agency appear to be just that, landing former Seton Hall guard Shavar Reynolds and Walker Miller, a 6-foot-11 North Carolina expatriate whose common denominator of an alma mater with his new head coach is among the many factors that led him to West Long Branch.

“A big part of it is King and the relationship I have with him,” Miller said of his arrival at Monmouth. “He’s a Carolina guy, I met him when I was there and he has a great relationship with my brother, so I’d talked to him, and I was talking to him throughout the time after I was sure I was going to transfer and use my extra year somewhere else. I like everything about him. I like his honesty, I like how he coaches and interacts with his players, and it’s all come true since I’ve been here. It’s been a great experience and King’s a big reason why I came here, and he’s also a big reason why I’ve enjoyed it so much.”

The brother of Wes Miller, the head coach at the University of Cincinnati, who Monmouth will play later this season, Walker has a background in the game very few players possess. And as his game and career have evolved, he has been able to use his inside knowledge to better not only himself, but his teammates as well.

“I think you learn a lot in those kinds of circumstances,” he said of his lineage. “I saw how Wes built a team at UNCG and got them to be successful, and then you just take those lessons you learn and you think about how you can take it to this level and this team. I’ve been in one role at Carolina for a long time and I got to learn how everything was first-class, so it’s just learning to be successful and taking that to this environment.”

“Here, King does a lot of that same stuff. Some of it is similar, some of the defensive stuff, secondary break, it’s pretty similar so I’ve already learned a lot about what he wants. Luckily, we have the guys here that’ll do all these things, so I’ve been lucky to go to two different places that value the same kind of things.”

“He came in here and everybody’s looking at him like, ‘man, this guy’s from Carolina, he’s probably gonna think this way,’ and it was similar to Shavar,” said Rice, who highlighted Miller’s work with fellow forward Jarvis Vaughan. “He came in, worked out with Jarvis, really helped Jarvis understand some things in the first workout and just tried to show him, ‘hey, man, I’m here to help your game. I’m not here to try to outdo you, I’m here to help you be a better player.’”

“They hit it off early, and I think the guys on the team put their guards down quickly because those guys didn’t come in here acting like, ‘I’m a high-major guy, you guys gotta get in line.’ They came in here saying, ‘I want to be your teammate, you guys have been here. I want to add value to your program.’ And with their actions, they've shown that that’s who they are. It’s been a pretty great addition, both of those guys, to our program.”

Among the biggest adjustments for Miller will be going from a role player to an imposing presence by sheer virtue of his size, something not commonly seen in the MAAC. The fifth-year senior displayed a quiet confidence when asked of his new situation, which he feels could be one with potential to pay off in March.

“There’s good bigs in the MAAC, but it’s definitely a different level of size,” Miller opined. “I’m going to be one of the bigger guys out there, so if I can use it as a weapon, I will. What I’ve learned at Carolina going up against bigger guys, that’s what I’ll have to do, but looking around the MAAC, I’ve been pretty impressed.”

“I want to be able to reach the potential I think I can be, see how the work I’ve done for four years translates to game day. I want to see how successful I can be as a basketball player. I just want to see what the work has led to. I think, from the start of the year, we’ve come a long way. Obviously we still have a little ways to go, but that’s every team in the country right now. Nobody’s a finished product right now, and I think if we keep improving like we have been, then we can be really good.”

Masiello prepares for pivotal year with newfound perspective at Manhattan

Steve Masiello hopes he has answers to Manhattan’s offensive questions as Jaspers enter pivotal MAAC season. (Photo by Sports Illustrated)

Now one of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s elder statesmen as he enters his 11th season at the helm at Manhattan College, Steve Masiello is finding himself being counted on to be a voice of perspective, maybe more than he already was through the past decade.

After all, few coaches have been able to delicately strike the balance between basketball and life as well as Masiello, wizened at only 44 years old and hungrier than ever after six straight losing seasons following a cathartic and emotional MAAC championship defense in 2015. And in light of the pandemic that continues to wreak havoc across the world, Masiello found a way to intertwine what happens on the floor with making sure he keeps his team in a healthy mindset off it.

“It’s by far been the most challenging thing that you worry about,” he said of addressing the mental health aspect of the game, now more important than ever in a world cautiously defined as fluid while it navigates COVID-19. “Sometimes, you don’t see it right then, it’s kind of a residual effect or an effect that takes place later on where you’ve got to check on guys and make sure they’re doing well, make sure they’re in a good place mentally. This past year was very hard for coaches, administrators, and it was really hard on student-athletes. I think what these young people did for the sacrifice, selflessness and how they conducted themselves across the league and across the country, is something to be excited about, because it says a lot about that generation. But in the same boat, you want to make sure they’re getting back to some normalcy and being 20-year-old kids and enjoying life, enjoying college, having that experience that’s so important to their development as they grow, so nothing’s changed there.”

“You’ve got to be flexible, you’ve got to adapt. You’ve got to be like water and go with it, because if you fought it, you were going to get swept away in it. There were a lot of things that were thrown at us that we didn’t know why or didn’t know the reasoning behind, and still don’t, to be honest with you. But you have to believe and adapt to change.”

Manhattan has certainly tried to adapt to the changing landscape, but offensive struggles and inefficiency were two of the biggest factors plaguing the Jaspers through last year’s abbreviated schedule. With arguably his deepest and most talented roster since becoming a household name with his pair of conference championships, Masiello feels the question marks that rose last year have begun to be addressed, and is continuing to fix what may be broken, including adding a pair of high-level transfers in Jose Perez and Josh Roberts, from Marquette and St. John’s, respectively.

“When you lose seven games by five or less last year, you want to try to address those things,” he conceded. “And I think that’s something we’ve concentrated on, building chemistry, understanding timing and just really playing together. In a shortened year like last year, shortened offseason, you didn’t get that chance to play together. That’s something we’re trying to build on, and as we get that, I think we can have a chance to be successful.”

“I think Josh is another rim protector. He’s a legit 6-foot-10, 220 pounds, an athletic big who can run the floor. He was leading the Big East in blocks, so anytime you have a guy with that mentality, physicality and experience, you hope that translates, and that’s something we’re excited about. Jose’s a guy who had great success at Gardner-Webb, was a big part of their NCAA Tournament run, but the past is the past. That has nothing to do with the next step. For him, it’s about consistency, getting back to that player he was as a freshman, and showing the country who he really is. That’s going to be his challenge.”

As far as the returning players, a cast including the likes of Anthony Nelson, Warren Williams, Elijah Buchanan, Samba Diallo, and Samir Stewart, their mission is simple: Trust the process, and watch the everyday progress lead to results.

“I think experience is always important,” said Masiello. “Anytime you can have continuity, you want to try to build on that and address weaknesses. We’re very excited about the guys we have returning and what they can be. There’s a lot of work to be done for them to kind of improve and get where they need to be, and not only achieve their individual goals, but the team goals. It’s all about their habits every day.”

In particular, Williams, who spent the summer with the Jamaican national team, gained experience that has already proven invaluable, even more so considering the overall improvement and maturity of every team in the MAAC.

“Warren had a great summer,” Masiello gushed. “He played with the Jamaican national team down in San Salvador, it was a great experience for him just to be around older guys, pros, and learn a different perspective of the game. It was a great experience for him, he got a lot better mentally from it, so I’m really happy for him. Warren’s a sponge. He left that experience a lot more resourceful. I think he’s a very experienced, talented, hard-working player. The best way to describe him is selfless. He’s going to do whatever is needed for the team to be successful and for his teammates to have success. He fits the Rhamel Brown mold very well from that standpoint. Obviously, his game’s a lot different than Rhamel or Pauly (Paulicap), but by the same token, he’s a very good shot blocker who can change the game on both ends.”

“I think the league has changed for the better. I think it’s gotten extremely competitive, it always has been. I think you’ve seen the brand of basketball really elevate. It’s become a very competitive, underrated basketball league that I’m very humbled and lucky to be a part of.”

In what could be considered a make-or-break season for Masiello as he looks to bring Manhattan back to the heights he reached early in his tenure, he does so with a renewed outlook that may have tempered his expectations, but rekindled the blessing that lies deep within his competitive fire.

“I don’t believe in pressure,” he admitted. “I believe in privilege. It’s a privilege to do what we do, it’s a privilege to come out every day. This little orange ball has changed my life and provided me a great life, and it can do that for a lot of people. I have a lot of respect for the game, and I take great pride in that.”

“There’s a 10-year-old child somewhere fighting cancer. That’s pressure. This thing of basketball is a privilege, and you have to have gratitude about it every day, no entitlement. You have to be very, very appreciative of the opportunities given. If there’s one thing this past year gave me, it’s the perspective of what’s important.”

Iona begins latest title defense with perhaps its most hype and deepest roster

Rick Pitino, now eight months removed from taking Iona to NCAA Tournament, sets his sights on greater heights with MAAC favorite Gaels this season. (Photo by USA Today Sports Images)

When Rick Pitino agreed to return to the college basketball ranks as the head coach of Iona just 20 months ago, it was never a question of whether or not the Hall of Famer would be able to continue the winning ways that Tim Cluess had spent a decade perfecting and mastering in New Rochelle, but rather, how soon it would take.

The two-time national champion needed all of four months, and guided the Gaels to a fifth consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament championship just weeks removed from a 51-day pause after being ravaged by the pandemic more than almost any other program in the country. And after graduating both parts of its two-pronged senior backcourt, Pitino smartly reloaded in the transfer portal and scheduled an overseas trip to Greece in August to fortify a team that was, to no surprise of anyone following the MAAC, the league’s unanimous preseason favorite.

“Oh, yeah. I can’t sleep at night,” Pitino quipped when asked if he felt pressure being the No. 1 choice of his fellow coaches. We upgraded our schedule consistently this year. We’ll see if we’re better. If we played this schedule last year, I don’t believe we could have taken that on. This year, I’m hoping we can.”

“We went to Greece and we played five pro games, and that was a unique experience. We won one, we played Panathinaikos to the wire. We are a deep team, I think the strength of our team is in the backcourt, we have four terrific backcourt players, Elijah Joiner, Tyson Jolly, Walter Clayton and certainly, Ryan Myers takes over for Isaiah Ross in finding out every shot is a great shot. He likes to score, to say the least. Our center, Nelly Junior Joseph, is progressing nicely. He still has to work on his perimeter game and his jump shot skills, but everything else, I’m very, very impressed with. So those four backcourt players, plus Nelly at the center spot, gives us something special. Then we took a transfer from Louisville, Quinn Slazinski, who is also a very outstanding offensive basketball player, he’s terrific. We’ve got a lot of transfers in that, I think added to what we had coming back, will make us a very deep team.”

But as deep as Pitino promises his second Iona team will be, the additional pieces were not enough to fully withstand the injury bug, which has bitten the Gaels’ more experienced players to the point where several integral parts of the rotation have been, or could be, sidelined for prolonged stretches of the coming season.

“We have had a rash of injuries, more than any other time in my coaching career,” Pitino cautioned. “Dylan van Eyck has been out for three weeks, Berrick Jean-Louis just came back, Osborn Shema’s probably out for the season, Colton Cashaw is out 4-6 weeks. So the silver lining in that cloud is we’ve been able to take our four freshmen, give them plenty of work to see which ones are going to be able to play, and definitely two of them — maybe three — will play significant minutes early in the season because of our injuries.”

Health aside, the ability to enjoy something close to a normal offseason — a luxury that was a pandemic casualty across the college basketball landscape — allowed Pitino more time to implement more wrinkles in his patented press defense and uptempo attack, as well as an increased amount of his vaunted player development sessions, which will have a much greater effect on his personnel than it did a year ago in light of the stop-and-start nature of the truncated season.

“It helped immensely because we tried to build a culture, but really couldn’t build it around 55 days of shutdown,” he said. “It was a really unique season for everybody. We had to get through it, and now our training program, our trip to Greece, every aspect of what we’re trying to build here — from our schedule to conditioning from a culture standpoint — is in place. It’s going to be a basketball season that’s much different than last year, and has to be much better.”

The hype is indeed real in New Rochelle, with fans taking advantage of the big dreams that most experts have given rise to by suggesting the Gaels could, with all the right breaks, be one of the MAAC’s most dominant teams in recent memory. And while Pitino did not necessarily indulge all the visions of grandeur, he did allow himself to admit the realization that his program could potentially be a Cinderella story come March.

“We’re an inner-city league comprised of small schools that rely on catching lightning in a bottle,” he said of the MAAC and its modus operandi. “I remember playing Siena, a Fran McCaffery team that was an awesome basketball team. We were life and death to win it, and I think we were No. 1 in the country. So if you can catch that lightning in a bottle, it’s something really, really special. You just don’t know who that team’s going to be or which team’s going to do it, but we’re excited to be in the hunt to be one of those teams.”

Rejuvenated Seton Hall ready to attack Big East with returning players, refreshed Bozzella

Back at full health after being hospitalized for COVID-19 last year, Tony Bozzella leads a hungry Seton Hall team into Big East play. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

NEW YORK — Last season’s helter-skelter, stop-and-start nature afforded many coaches and players newfound perspective in light of competing in the throes of a worldwide pandemic, perhaps none more than Tony Bozzella.

The affable and charismatic women's basketball coach at Seton Hall experienced his own COVID-related disruptions last season, despite his Pirates finishing third in the Big East Conference. Early in the season, Bozzella not only contracted the virus, but was bedridden for a period of time, being forced off the court to recuperate after his daughter, Sam, drove him to the hospital upon noticing something was amiss. Now almost a year later, a healthy Tony prepares for something closer to normal, with a calmer outlook and ever-present gratitude for those who showed him the family-first mentality with which he has always operated his programs.

“I feel good,” the elder Bozzella declared at last month’s Big East media day. “It’s nice to be better. I owe a lot to my doctors and to my family. They’ve really kept me alive, to be honest with you. I’m just glad to be here. I didn’t get to coach last year. I didn’t feel good all year, and thank God for Lauren (DeFalco) and Jose (Rebimbas), and Marissa (Flagg) and Pete (Cinella). They did a great job.”

“I’m enjoying it more because you don’t know. You’re very vulnerable in life and obviously, I want to be there for my family and myself, my players and my staff. I’m enjoying it.”

Giving Bozzella and Seton Hall more reason to be optimistic is the Pirates’ third-place prediction in the preseason Big East poll, a standing attributed to the accelerated development of Lauren Park-Lane and Andra Espinoza-Hunter — both preseason all-conference selections — and a vast of burgeoning stars the likes of Mya Jackson and Curtessia Dean, the latter of whom has also received a clean bill of health after being injured before last season even began.

“I’m thrilled with it, because it shows we have good players,” Bozzella said of his team’s prognostication. “A lot of people say, ‘well, it doesn’t matter where you get picked.’ In the long run, it doesn’t, but if you get picked third, people think you have good players and it means you have a chance. I think at the end of the day, if our kids can play to the level of their abilities and I can put them in the proper spots along with my staff, we have a chance to be very good. Our talent’s much better this year. Our kids are more mature, older, we have a team that’s all bought in, so I’m proud of that.”

“Mya Jackson is the only player in the Big East to shoot 40 percent from 3-point range and average double figures the last two years, and she’s a considerably better player. I think she’s really grown into herself and understands the game, she’s playing with people on the floor that understand her game as well. Mya Bembry and Amari Wright have jumped tenfold as players, and I’m excited about their progression as well.”

Park-Lane added her name to the lineage of elite Bozzella point guards with a sophomore season that turned heads across the nation. And after averaging 18 points per game last year, Bozzella made the bold observation of telling the media that it had ultimately not seen anything yet in terms of her evolution.

“We have another great one,” he gushed. “She’s fantastic. I know people are going to think I’m stupid saying this, but she’s way better than she was last year. How can that be when she averaged 18 points per game? She’s way better. She’s older, stronger, more mature, and understands everything now.”

The same can be said for Espinoza-Hunter, the midseason transfer from Mississippi State who, arguably, may have been the best player in the Big East not named Paige Bueckers one year ago.

“You know what I love about Andra? Andra came in and did one of the most amazing feats you could ever think of,” said an awestruck Bozzella. “Let’s be honest. She came in, practiced five times, and became first team all-Big East. Who does that in the middle of the year? That just shows how special she is, but she continues to work hard, she’s expanded her game tenfold. You’ll see her do many other things she hasn’t done, and I know she’s going to have an even bigger and better year. Her defense is considerably better, she’s rebounding the ball a lot better, doing a lot of other things that other people will see, and I’m really proud of her.”

After a season in which Seton Hall did not reach its full potential, largely because of the pandemic, Bozzella enters the coming year in charge of a roster with tremendous upside, and most importantly, a shared commitment to a common goal.

“I just think our girls are ready to play, and they want to play,” he admitted. “This group is about winning, and only winning. I’m proud to be able to say that, because it’s hard to get a group of kids to do that. And these 14 kids are committed to doing that.”

Shaka blending havoc, humility and hubris with first Marquette team

Already rebuilding Marquette to fit his effervescent personality, Shaka Smart now sets to work on making Golden Eagles into connected and aggressive team befitting of his past rosters. (Photo by the Marquette Wire)

NEW YORK — In his first public media session since being introduced as head coach at Marquette nearly seven months ago, Shaka Smart was not one to mince words when discussing what would comprise his maiden roster of Golden Eagles as it prepares to take flight in the Big East Conference.

Still the same dynamic and contagious personality that endeared him to the nation in his dozen seasons at VCU and Texas, Smart was effusive in his praise for the players he inherited from Steve Wojciechowski and brought in on his own, but also doubled down on the experienced veterans providing a much-needed jolt of leadership, a tenet that is as vital to his coaching as it is to the pulse with which he wakes up and dictates the tempo of every day.

“It’s going to be everything,” Smart said of the presence of graduate transfers Darryl Morsell and Kur Kuath, arriving in Milwaukee by way of Maryland and Oklahoma, respectively. “I think every team is determined by its leadership, and we define leadership as the ability to just make people better. Having Darryl and Kur is important for us because even though they’ll only be on our team for one year, they’re going to mean everything to our foundation, and they’re doing a great job so far.”

And to those who do not yet know how central leadership is to Marquette's new coach, it goes far beyond the playing surface at Fiserv Forum, whose professional residents — reigning NBA champions, for the record — are role models in Smart’s eyes for how his young charges should approach the dichotomy of basketball and life, but that does not mean the finished product on the hardwood will be neglected. In fact, it will be a cultivated effort, taking positive energy and marrying it with the Havoc defense — predicated on transition opportunities, 3-point shots and maximum aggression — that made Smart a household name in coaching circles across the nation.

“It’s not so much about the court you play on,” he opined. “I think it’s more about having a respect for what goes into winning and what goes into (a) positive experience on the court. The Bucks are as good an example as anyone of that, the way Giannis, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton carry themselves, represent themselves, the way they work. That’s certainly an example we want to follow.”

“There’s different benchmarks. How long it takes to fully transition, that could be a while, but I think what you’re looking for is, number one, can you build a consistency of playing with enthusiasm, defending with enthusiasm, playing with an aggressiveness, even a violence about you on the defensive end? And our guys have made a lot of progress in that. Now we haven’t played any games, so we really have yet to get in-game feedback of where we are, but actually, we’re probably a little bit ahead offensively of where I thought we would be. Defensively, it’s not that we’re behind, but we still have a long way to go.”

Incumbent players the likes of Greg Elliott and Justin Lewis, who now become some of the more experienced Golden Eagles by default, will no doubt see their opportunities to be impactful on both ends of the floor, as will Tyler Kolek, last year’s Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year. The George Mason transfer, lauded by Smart for his ball handling abilities that supplement his already lethal shooting prowess, may be flying under the radar to start the season, but his new coach believes that sleeper status will not last long.

“Well, I’ll tell you this about Tyler Kolek,” Smart cautioned. “There’s a bunch of players being talked about today, and he’s not one of them? By the end of the year, he will be. We can say that and talk about it, it doesn’t really matter, but I’m just telling you I like the position he’s in because a lot of people are sleeping on him. He’s someone that I want on my team. He’s a gamer, he’s tough, he’s no-nonsense, he’s been by far the best passer on our team.”

Marquette is projected as a middle-of-the-pack Big East team in light of its rebuild, but the ground covered in seven months has provided enough of a positive to suggest that this iteration of basketball on the shores of Lake Michigan can not only surprise people at first blush, but also thrive on its commitment to one another, which remains a work in progress.

“I think our biggest strength, when we embrace it, is the unselfishness and the relationships of the players,” Smart observed. “We have guys like Kur and Darryl and Tyler, and some of the other guys on our team, that are truly about winning and are not caught up in the stuff on here or some of the other BS that can be out there in college basketball, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a given. You don’t necessarily wake up or roll out of bed that way, you have to actively get yourself in that place to be, as we say, lost in the fight or lost in your team.”

“Our biggest weakness or area for growth right now is that we have to continue to learn more about each other so we can trust each other more, just by virtue of not having been together as long. I think we have another step to take in terms of true trust on the court and really just laying it on the line for your brother. These guys are willing to do that, they’re able to do that, so now it’s a matter of us understanding it’s the only way to truly be our best.”

Evolution with familiar personnel has Tartamella excited about St. John’s potential

Joe Tartamella discusses the year ahead for St. John’s at Big East media day. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

NEW YORK — It may appear hard to believe, but Joe Tartamella is a fortnight away from entering his tenth season as head women's basketball coach at St. John’s.

In many ways, it still feels as though Tartamella, 42, just moved one chair over on the bench yesterday after Kim Barnes Arico moved into the Big Ten and to the University of Michigan, rather than in April of 2012. Yet Tartamella has come his own long way since then, offering unique perspective on how both he and his players have adapted over time.

“I haven’t thought a lot about that,” he admitted at first before elaborating on his journey. “People make me think about it, but looking back through last year, I’ve changed my own arc of who I was. When I first got the job, it felt like you were drinking out of a fire hose. In reality, I don’t live and die by every play anymore, I’m probably a lot calmer than I was then, but I’ve had to learn.”

“Certainly, people were thrust into a different role last year whether they were ready or not, and I look at that as their opportunity to grow as players and as people, and understand what it was going to mean to work hard and compete. We’ve talked a lot this year about what our standard is in our program and where it is, and they’re very focused on what our goal is, and that is to be back where we want to be, in the NCAA Tournament, in the postseason, vying for a Big East championship. But you’ve got to do everything else to get there. We’re trying to win today every time we go to practice, and they’ve won a lot of games so far, so we feel pretty good.”

Last season, one in which the Red Storm navigated both COVID-19 and the injury-plagued campaign of Qadashah Hoppie, who has since transferred to Texas A&M, did provide a revelatory moment of sorts, though. The emergence of Leilani Correa as a cornerstone of the program as she enters her junior season, and continued maturation of Kadaja Bailey — who Tartamella has known since recruiting her and helping develop her as a seventh-grader attending St. John’s summer camp — offered more than just a glimmer of hope for the future, which suggests a newer look to the familiar brand on the floor is on the way.

“I think it helped give other people chances last year to be on the floor,” Tartamella said of Hoppie’s absence and the impact it had on Correa. “I think it helped Leilani become a better leader, it helped her understand what it meant for her to step up for her team. When I look at our players, she probably was ahead early and can continue to be ahead. I think the one thing we’re trying to build with her was both physical and mental, but the ability to understand what it meant to get her to be as good as she can be.”

“What does that mean for us? She’s an extremely gifted scorer, she can score at all levels. She’s increased her ability to defend, especially on the ball, so we’re trying to complete the game for her so that when she has the opportunity to be a pro — and she will — she’s going to be ready. Her IQ is a lot higher than people give her. She’s changed her mentality and the amount of work she’s put in from even the first two years. We know what we’re getting from her in practice. She’s confident and she’s ready to lead, and I think that’s the part we’re continuing to build on. We’re really excited to see what she’s going to do this year. We’ve got to make sure her arc is the same so that when she finishes her career here, she has a chance to be one of the best ever, if not on paper, THE best.”

As for Bailey, Tartamella laid out a more understated role for the senior, but highlighted her versatility as an advantage no other program in the Big East possesses.

“My expectation of her is a lot higher than many people,” he revealed with regard to Bailey. “What she does on the floor, however, is critical for us to do the things we’re talking about. The way we’re going to play this year gives her an opportunity to really expand on what she’s been doing. Her ability on the defensive end is as good as anyone we’ve talked about. We’ve had Aaliyah Lewis, Aliyyah Handford, both Defensive Player of the Year in this league, and our feeling is she could be one of those players.”

“She’s the tip of the sword in many ways on the defensive end, and as the attacker on offense. Her ability all over the floor to do things, we don’t have that on our team. She brings that. She should be a double-double kid, she should be an all-Big East player. That’s the ability we feel she has. If we’re going to be successful, she’s going to be a big reason why we are.”

St. John’s will not be just a two-person team, either. Unique Drake and Camree Clegg’s growth at the point guard spot have given Tartamella optimism as he looks to raise the Red Storm’s transition game, with twins Emma and Sophia Nolan helping space the floor while also aiding Rayven Peeples down low. Incoming transfers Danielle Cosgrove and Danielle Patterson, from Notre Dame and Indiana, respectively, bring with them a winning culture and overlooked skill set at higher levels that their new coach is certain will translate as the two return to their home state. 

“We’ve always talked about being a transition team,” Tartamella said. “I just think the uptempo piece, and the pace and space that we can play with is going to be exciting for our players. People that watch us will see a little different twist to what we’ve been doing, and then continuing to build on the foundation of what we’ve always been, trying to be a good defensive team. That part of us, and that part of me as a coach, I’ve had to transition a little bit over time to be okay with maybe giving up a little bit more. But we’re still going to be aggressive. I love our mentality, and we’re going to be in a good spot to feel good about where we are toward the end of the year.”

“It’s more than just their presence. It’s what they bring, the stories that they have from the places they were at, and I think just the level and the standard that they bring. Dani Patterson and Danielle Cosgrove understand what it means to have to be able to win and what you need to do, but they also bring us a skill set that’s allowing us to play the way we want to play, with our pace and space. DC can really flick it, as we all know, and Dani Patterson is kind of a Swiss Army knife. So we have a lot more ability to move people around, and I’m excited for them because they've been looking for an opportunity to show people what they can do at this level, and we know they’re going to show people what they can do here.”

All in all, St. John’s has the experience most other teams in the nation do as the COVID year has afforded increased roster depth on all fronts, but the X-factor for the Red Storm could very well be its evolution from trial by fire to contender, which will be tested early with a strong non-conference slate that will only provide yet another vantage point to observe by season’s end.

“We’ve gotta compete,” Tartamella stated. “And honestly, I expect us to win every game no matter what year it is. When people look at records and what you did, it doesn’t tell the whole story when you look at who you played. A lot of people didn’t play people in our own league. We try to challenge ourselves with different styles of play that will help us prepare for the league.”

“We’ve had to evolve. We’ve had all these things happen in the world, within our league, the league restructures with different types of teams, different types of coaches. The one thing I’ve always been blessed by, I think, is that I’ve been in a league where there a lot of gifted coaches that you can learn from, that you have access to. I want to say I’m a better listener than I was back then, which I think I am, and I’m also open to looking through different lenses more than I was. That’s a part of this year that’ll be different. We’re looking through a couple different lenses than we have before, so I’m excited about that.”

Hurley adamant to prove UConn is back among national elite as Huskies raise expectations

Dan Hurley defends UConn’s second-place preseason pick by highlighting Huskies’ upside and experience as program moves closer to heights it has become renowned for. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

NEW YORK — Speaking with the hardwood of Madison Square Garden as a backdrop to countless Connecticut basketball memories over the past three decades as the home of the New York Knicks became a de facto second home court for the Huskies on their path from regional darling to national powerhouse, Dan Hurley calmly and bluntly laid out the mindset with which his program expects to operate as he enters his fourth season at the helm in Storrs and second in a reconfigured Big East Conference that is eager to embrace the renaissance of one of its most iconic properties.

Picked second in the league’s preseason poll behind perennial favorite Villanova, Hurley was equal parts realistic and bold at last week’s Big East media day, drawing a line in the sand for the standards he has set for a team in search of an identity befitting both sides of the basketball.

“Was it Ricky Bobby (who said), ‘if you’re not first, you’re last?’” Hurley asked a horde of media gathered to hear his take on UConn and its prospects entering the coming year, one in which the Huskies must replace James Bouknight after the virtuoso guard was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets last summer. “Obviously you want to, in your mind as a coach, keep advancing the program. Last year, we were clearly — over the course of the entire season — the third-best team in the league behind Villanova and Creighton in terms of overall quality the whole season. We want to be better this year than we were last year, so the next logical step for us is to put ourselves in a position during the regular season, to late in the year, be in contention for a championship.”

“I feel like we have a very, very deep team. That’s a tremendous challenge with where Villanova is as a program with their culture and their mentality. They don’t give many games away, they make very, very few mistakes. And hopefully for us with such an older team, we’ll be a team that makes less mistakes and blinks less, especially at the end of games, and is able to be in contention at the end of March.”

Bouknight may be gone, but the core of last season’s roster — which fell to Maryland in the NCAA Tournament — remains. Hurley is confident that RJ Cole, Tyrese Martin and Isaiah Whaley will all take the next steps into potential all-conference players, with Adama Sanogo already on that trajectory up front and a supporting cast that includes Akok Akok, Jalen Gaffney, Andre Jackson, Tyler Polley, and a highly-touted freshman class comprising one of the deepest units from top to bottom in not just the Big East, but also the nation.

“From an offensive standpoint, losing a guy like James forces you to really look at your ball movement, your pace of play, some of the things you flow into in transition,” Hurley assessed of UConn’s offensive makeup in Bouknight’s absence. “I think for us, our path forward with this group is pretty simple: We’re going to be an inside-out team. We believe that Adama Sanogo is going to be one of the best big guys in the country this year and one of the best players in this league, we feel like RJ Cole has the potential to be a much more dynamic player this year as we give him the green light to be more assertive and look for his offense a lot more. We’re obviously going to need more from Tyrese Martin as that third scorer, and then we’ve got a collection of six or seven guys that could get us 15 on any given night, so I think you’re going to see a more cohesive offensive team.”

As for the in-your-face pressure defense that has become a trademark of every Hurley-coached team, providing a live, real-time stamp of its leader’s image? That will only ramp up in lockstep, the coach declared.

“We’re going to play elite-level defense,” Hurley proclaimed. “Elite defense, elite-level rebounding, elite ‘I’m going to play harder than my opponent and show up with more desperation and more physicality,’ will put you in a position to win every time you step on the floor. If we get a little bit better offensively than we were last year, we’ve got a chance to be a better team than we were last year. Our depth is unique and our stature is impressive. We’re an impressive-looking team, athletically and physically.”

“We’re way ahead of where we’ve been. We’re way more organized, we’re so much further ahead in terms of what we have in, and that’s the benefit of having eight returning guys who have real experience with you. I think that teams like us, older teams, are going to play better basketball — cleaner basketball — earlier in the season.”

Hurley is banking on said experience to propel UConn closer to Villanova and the stratosphere the Wildcat program has propelled itself to, and has already made significant strides to close the gap between the two. His famous “you better get us now” comment after a loss to Villanova in January 2020 has only been backed up in droves through multiple wins on the recruiting trail, an improved product on the floor, and of course, the unbridled intensity and competitive desire that has been ubiquitous since his youth in Jersey City, and has never left his side years later.

“There was nowhere to go but up from when we saw them here in year one,” Hurley said of the comparison to Villanova and the motivation it triggered. “It really ruined Christmas and was a real wake-up call as to how far away we were at that time. We feel like we’re much better positioned, short-term and long-term, to go into every season in our minds believing we could compete for a championship in this league and that we’re potentially national championship contenders, too, the type of team that could make a run in the NCAA Tournament. When you’re the head coach of UConn, that’s where you need to be.”