Anyone miss basketball yet?
I’m not going to waste anyone’s time by writing what we already know and have been enduring 24/7, but from a regional hoops perspective, the culmination of the 2019-2020 season – or lack thereof – was about as abrupt an ending as the series finale of The Sopranos, just not as brilliant. As a fan and reporter, there was certainly no closure, but my sympathies lie squarely on the shoulders of the student-athletes, and especially the seniors. What a gyp that they didn’t get to walk down the aisle for their diplomas. What a cheat that those whose seasons were still alive got short-circuited and they were robbed of their opportunity to breathe in their final moments on the court or field. What a scam that they enter the workforce under conditions the likes we haven’t seen since World War II.
Perhaps no player feels more deprived than Bridgeport’s D’vonne Trumbo, who not only forged a successful return to the court after an injury-curtailed 2018-19 season, quarterbacking his club to the first-ever regional hosted at Harvey Hubbell Gym, but he ended his career stuck on 999 points. How excruciating!
Another interesting "non-regional" tidbit is the fact that Daemen’s Joey Wallace would’ve had to sit out the first-round match-up vs. league rival Bridgeport as the third and final game of an NCAA suspension he incurred for his part in a brawl following a regional game vs. St. Thomas Aquinas in 2016 at Holy Family. We at Around the Rim believe Mr. Wallace is remorseful for that outburst and are happy to report that he was described as a model citizen while a grad student with the Wildcats this past season.
So who would’ve won this year’s regional? I have heard many theories from fans, coaches and players alike, and all have merit. As we have seen the past decade or so, being the top seed is virtually meaningless (four of the last six #1 seeds did not advance to the Elite 8 heading into last season), and with so many regional games going down to the wire and beyond recently, the line between success and failure has never been finer in my humble opinion. My gut tells me that the winner of the 2-7 game between Rockland County neighbors St. Thomas Aquinas and Dominican was going to represent the East in Evansville. I also had Mike Donnelly’s Florida Southern team winning it all. But your guess is as good as mine. Much like the 1994 baseball strike, we will never know how it all would’ve ended, and there were legitimate arguments for just about every club.
Because of the canceled regional, St. Anselm will boast the longest active winning streak to begin a season (11) in this region since Dave Bike’s Sacred Heart Pioneers began defense of their 1986 national championship having captured their final 14 games of that magical campaign. UMass-Lowell (formerly Lowell) was the last team from our region to win it all on the men’s side in 1988 but only won its last 10 that winter. Interestingly, both of those programs have since gone the D1 route. The only two teams currently within our region who have D2 championship banners hanging from their rafters are Philadelphia Textile (now Jefferson) in 1970 and District of Columbia in 1985, though both were aligned with a different region (Atlantic) at the time, the latter as an independent, if you can imagine that!
Though I did make it to all 37 regional gyms, the premature finish left me shy of my annual goal of attending 100+ men’s college games. The 92 I saw this winter were the fewest since 89 in 2001-02. My record is 110 in 2004-05.
In the absence of basketball, and now baseball, some folks have inquired about how I’m spending my ample free time these challenging days. As it turns out, I am putting the finishing touches on the first draft of a novel, which I hope to have completed and in the hands of a publisher by the end of June. It has been both a painful and pleasurable process; one which I could not have given the necessary undivided attention without such a significant block of time. More details on the project at a later date.
An avid reader in Massachusetts named Scott Granowitz has asked me to take an accounting of how many gyms I have been in to watch a college basketball game – at any level except JUCO. I have meticulous, accurate accounts of all my Le Moyne broadcasts over the past 28 seasons (the last game being #800, not counting women’s broadcasts, which I estimate to be around 75), and the number of venues is 78. Those were spread over 419 games away from the home floor, though one was actually considered a home game vs. Bentley at the Syracuse War Memorial in 2000 as part of a tribute to Daniel Biasone, a Syracuse native who invented the shot clock (there have been 381 home broadcasts over that span). The road venue where we have broadcast the most games is Saint Rose’s Nolan Gym (31) followed by the Ross Sports Center at St. Michael’s (26) – and that does not include games I observed that did not involve Le Moyne. As for D2 schools where I have seen games but never broadcast for the Dolphins, there are 33, including 10 current regional facilities: Bloomfield, NYIT, Concordia, Wilmington, Georgian Court, Chestnut Hill, District of Columbia, USciences, Mercy and Jefferson (Le Moyne did play regularly in the old Bucky Harris facility).
I’ve covered Le Moyne games on the radio or internet in 20 of the 50 states (the most road games we have aired have been in New York-115, followed closely by Massachusetts-110), and the only other two states in which I’ve watched D2 games were Indiana (Elite-8 in Evansville) and North Dakota (Elite-8 in Grand Forks). And by the way, the Ralph Engelstad Arena, where the now-D1 Fighting Sioux play, is the most beautiful venue I’ve ever set foot in – for any event – in my entire life. The capital invested in that opulent project must’ve shattered records. They even have Sioux logos on the gold bathroom fixtures! Geographically, the closest D2 gym that I have never visited is Clarion in Western Pennsylvania – the only one of the 18 PSAC schools that I need to check off the list. Former PSAC member Cheyney is the only school I’ve been to that no longer is NCAA affiliated.
There are some schools that have hosted games in more than one gym since I’ve been covering the region. Mercy leads the pack with no fewer than six different “home” sites: Mercy Gym, Westchester Community College, Sacred Heart High School, Dobbs Ferry High School, the Westchester County Center and currently, their charming Victory Gym. I have only broadcast in one of those (the former), whereas I’ve called the action in two and a half Saint Rose venues (Nolan Gym, which is the current remodeled, flipped-around incarnation of the old Campus Activities Center, and once at Sage College of Albany during the changeover), two at Southern New Hampshire (the current Spirou Field House and once in an auxiliary gym upstairs due to a flood), two at Pace (Goldstein Center and Civic Center Gym in Manhattan) and two at American International (Butova Gym and the MassMutual Center).
As for Division I, I have seen games in 38 buildings outside of the Le Moyne games at Syracuse, Monmouth, Georgia Tech, Siena and Illinois-Chicago, including all eight Ivy League gyms and nothing further west than the University of Northern Kentucky, though it was a D2 venue at the time. Thetotal number for D3 is just 13, only three of which were outside of New York State, interestingly: Colby, Brandeis and Fitchburg State (for a women’s regional). Add it all up and I have watched college basketball in a grand total of 162 different venues, unless one has slipped through the cracks of my memory. As Casey Kasem would say: “Well, Scott – there’s your answer. Now on with the countdown!”
Speaking of Saint Rose, I want to give a big shout-out to Jim Malone, the longtime public address announcer who called his last Golden Knights games in February and also spent years on the circuit working PA for the New York State High School Playoffs and championships, as well as Albany Academy High School games. All told, Malone worked 45 years, earning his rightful place in the Upstate New York Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018. On a personal note, I always enjoyed my chats with Jim during all those games I worked or watched at Saint Rose over the past three decades. He’s an affable guy and it will not be the same watching a game there without hearing his distinct, booming voice. All the best, my friend.
Out west on the Thruway in Rochester, Jay Trainor of Roberts Wesleyan has become one of my favorite PA voices. He always sounds like he’s having so much fun with his announcements, especially when hosting the many clever, fan-interactive games inside of media timeouts, during which he sometimes joins fans out on the floor or up in the stands. The game-day experience at the Voller Center remains the gold standard in the region for yet another year. I especially LOVE the use of Kanye West’s “Flashing Lights” during the spotlighted opening lineups. Bravo!
We’ve singled out Bridgeport’s terrific PA announcer Tommy Valuckas in a previous column, and here’s another nod. During his pregame introductions vs. St. Thomas Aquinas on February 26, he announced STAC’s assistant coach, former Concordia head man and one of the region’s all-time good guys as “the irrepressible John Dwinnell.” Nice!
Congratulations to Valiant Jones and his Nyack Warriors, who finished with a winning record (14-13) for the first time in 15 seasons (20-13 in 2004-05), while Assumption snapped a six-year dry spell under first-year coach Scott Faucher. Here’s a list of the longest current streaks of losing and winning seasons in the region:
Losing Seasons:
39 Mercy
33 Concordia
8 Chestnut Hill
7 Georgian Court & New York Tech
5 St. Michael’s & American International
3 Queens
2 Saint Rose, Wilmington & USciences
Winning Seasons:
23 Jefferson/Philadelphia
12 Bridgeport
9 Franklin Pierce
8 St. Anselm & Southern Connecticut
7 St. Thomas Aquinas & Daemen (not counting its prior NAIA competition)
6 Bentley
5 Bloomfield
4 Le Moyne & Dominican
2 Pace
How odd was it that on the same night – January 15 – backboards were shattered and games suspended at both Holy Family and Division 3 Delaware Valley University just 28 miles North in Doylestown, PA?!
The top three individual scoring performances this season were authored by ECC players: Hashem Abbas and Nick Corbett each totaled career highs of 44, but Andrew Sischo topped them both with a 47-point explosion vs. Queens in the first round of the conference tournament. Knights coach Matt Collier told me recently: “I’m still having PTSD over that one!”
A source told me that just prior to a Mercy-Daemen game this winter, he overheard Sischo and fellow superstar big man Bryan Griffin pondering whether they should spend their grad student years at Division 1. Big-time teams were sniffing around both talented ECC studs, and while Sischo decided to stay home, Griffin flew the coop and signed with Xavier of the Big East. That got me thinking about creating an All-Transfer Team – players who have elected to leave their current schools in our region. According to the Verbal Commits website, there are 46 such players who have announced their plans for a change of scenery.
My First Team:
Bryan Griffin – Mercy to Xavier
Sekou Sylla – Saint Rose to Nova Southeastern
Connor Murphy – USciences to TBA
Brendan Hoban – Holy Family to TBA
Juan Coffi – Bridgeport to TBA
Second Team:
Ja’Zere Noel of Jefferson
Ryan Conroy of SNHU (now at Dominican)
Michael Almonacy of SNHU (now at Appalachian State)
Jay’von Jackson of Felician (now at Campbellville)
Sean Fasoyiro of Franklin Pierce
Honorable Mention: B.B. Chuks-Mady of Le Moyne, Adam Freese of Stonehill (now at Lock Haven), Thomas Melonja of USciences, Tyler Norwood of Wilmington, TyJon Gilmore of Dominican and Collins Onyeike and Brandon Redendo of New York Tech
Speaking of Redendo, his dad, Aldo, was the coolest dressed fan in any gym the past two years. Check him out on Twitter (@AldoRedendo) to see what I mean. Straight out of Central Casting!
The transfer portal is busier than Grand Central Station (especially now!), and many kids will find out soon enough that they are not the next coming of Devonte’ Graham. And with kids now signing with schools they can’t even visit, the odds are strong that next year’s portal could be even more massive!
Our buddy, Daemen Coach Mike MacDonald poses an intriguing question. “Knowing it will probably never happen,” he told me recently, “why can’t we just drop conference affiliations next season and play multiple games against regional rivals to cut down on travel?” As I gave it more thought, I thought it made some sense, albeit in a fantasy league kinda way. Here’s how I break down the geographical landscape, and the inherent problems within:
The NE10 would be least affected as all seven members of the Northeast Division plus AIC in nearby Springfield would comprise a nice block of eight teams.
The South would also be quite easy to cordon off: the seven CACC South teams plus UDC.
Upstate New York has four natural Thruway rivals in Daemen, Roberts Wesleyan, Le Moyne and Saint Rose, though that’s not enough for a “league” without expanding southward. The most logical options would be the schools just North of Gotham: Dominican, STAC, Nyack, Pace, Concordia and Mercy.
However, those schools are also part of a larger cluster of Metropolitan Area teams that includes North Jersey CACC members Felician, Bloomfield and Caldwell to the West, Queens and the reclassifying Staten Island within New York City proper, Long Island schools Molloy, NYIT and Adelphi to the East and the Connecticut quartet of New Haven, Bridgeport, Southern Connecticut and Post. There are several options in breaking up those groupings, and it’s all good fodder for debate. As Mike Myers’ character Linda Richman used to say on Saturday Night Live’s Coffee Talk: “Here’s a topic: D2 East Region realignment… discuss!”
Kudos to Bloomfield’s cheerleading squad, which not only does cool routines and has infectious attitude, but the ladies truly sweeten the game experience by throwing bags of assorted candy into the stands. Sooooo cool!
Alonzo Ortiz-Traylor leads the region in eating his jersey.
More schools are going with the no program handout policy at games and it is a practice universally reviled by fans, many of whom have expressed their disgust to this reporter who shares their opinion. I won’t mention the schools by name this time around in the overly optimistic hopes that they will reconsider. That is, if we ever have spectator sports again!
Overheard by a disgruntled Post fan as his team was being shellacked at home by Dominican: “ain’t no comin’ back from this shit!”
Kudos to the following teams and individuals who were especially formidable from a national statistical perspective this past season:
- Bridgeport led the nation with 11.8 steals per game
- Adelphi ranked second with 12.8 3-pointers made per game
- Wilmington finished fifth with an 80.2% mark at the foul line
- Bryan Griffin, Andrew Sischo and Sekou Sylla ranked 1-2-3 in rebounding
- Sischo had a D2-best 22 double-doubles, followed by 20 by Sylla and 17 by Griffin, again 1-2-3
- Brandon Jacobs of Pace finished third with 7.7 assists per game
- Kylan Guerra of Jefferson was the only player in the country – AT ALL LEVELS - to average more than 40 minutes per game (40.14)
And congrats to Jordan Mello-Klein of Bentley and Amari Lee of Roberts Wesleyan for recording the region’s only triple-doubles this past season. There were only 20 across all of D2.
I had a chance to see Merrimack play in Brooklyn, and it was a thrill to see Juvaris Hayes and company continue to weave their magic, flummoxing teams with their 2-3 zone. As most of this readership knows, the Warriors became the first school ever to win a league title in its initial season of reclassification to Division 1, and the credit begins with Joey Gallo, Micky Burtnyk and the rest of the coaching staff. Not sure if winning the regular season crown was more a testament to how good the NE10 is or an indictment of how awful the Northeast Conference is these days. Probably a combo. Gallo told me after their win at St. Francis: “I still have nightmares trying to figure out how to guard Tim Guers. There’s nobody in this league that scares me as much as some of those (NE10) shooters!”
Next season, there will be three new head coaches in the region, though one has already coached at his institution: T.J. Tibbs, whose Staten Island team jumps from D3 to D2 in joining the ECC next fall. As I mentioned last time out, that means Le Moyne will no longer be the only Dolphins in the East – a rare nickname in this part of the country, for sure.
For the record, all the politically incorrect mascots have since been purged from our region: Quinnipiac Braves, Springfield Chiefs, Stonehill Chieftains, Lowell Chiefs and Bryant Indians. Some may argue Warriors connotes Native American symbolism, though schools like Merrimack have long since abandoned such imagery, if not the nickname.
In case you’re interested in regional team mascot changes over the years, here’s a list of current regional teams:
Stonehill – from Chieftains to Skyhawks
Bloomfield – from Deacons to Bears
Nyack – from Fighting Parsons to Purple Pride to Warriors (the only TWO-TIME changer)
Daemen – from Warriors to Wildcats
Mercy – from Flyers to Mavericks
Roberts Wesleyan – from Raiders to Redhawks
USciences - from Blue Devils to Devils
And former regional teams:
Quinnipiac – from Braves to Bobcats
Springfield – from Chiefs to Pride
Lowell – from Chiefs to River Hawks
Bryant – from Indians to Bulldogs
Binghamton – from Colonials to Bearcats
The two coaching vacancies this offseason materialized in Philadelphia, and both men who were selected to fill the voids are first-time head coaches nearly 40 years apart in age. Chestnut Hill has just named J.J. Butler its successor to Jesse Balcer, who gave up the reins to focus more on his duties as Athletic Director. Butler played his grad student season for Balcer’s Griffins after transferring from Division 1 Lipscomb. He was most recently a full-time assistant at Division 3 Susquehanna University, which won a conference title this past winter. Good luck to him as he begins his maiden voyage.
Down the road at University of the Sciences, it’s a little more complicated. After Head Coach Dave Pauley was relieved of his duties midseason, lead assistant Jordan Ingram held down the fort as best he could but inexplicably was not shed of the interim title and retained as head coach. The new hire happens to be a terrific one in Michael Connors, whose impressive resume includes 30 years as a Division 1 assistant, with stops at Cornell, Colorado (where he finished out one season as interim head coach), UMass under John Calipari and most recently for 15 years under Bruiser Flint across town at Drexel, during which time, ironically, the Dragons’ most stunning loss, back in December of 2014, was to the same Devils program he is now set to helm. Pauley, who considers Connors a longtime friend and for whom he has the utmost respect, told me he “is honored to have Mike succeed me over there.” And even though, in my personal editorial opinion I believe what happened to Pauley was a disgrace, he has urged me to let it go, staying true to his public position of looking toward to the future while honoring the past. In a recent tweet, he carved out the word “LEGACY” in the sand on a beach while quoting Dr. Seuss off-camera: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” Classy man. For the record, I wish Connors the very best, though I doubt he fully realizes the recruiting challenges he is about to face at that institution, especially with two of the more promising freshmen the program has had in recent years having entered the transfer portal. Pauley hopes to continue his coaching career and would be a major asset at any institution. His knowledge of the game and its history are unparalleled, his ability to teach its intricacies a rarity, and the success his teams achieved at USciences unprecedented. And with his expertise in compliance, admissions and academic advisory, any program would be blessed to have him on board.
Until next time, I wish you health, fortitude, perseverance and – eventually – Happy Hooping to all!