After riding the bench for the James Madison Dukes last year, center Sherese Pittman has truly shown her worth with the Stony Brook women’s basketball team.

The sophomore has been a big difference-maker for the Seawolves in the 2022-23 season, proving to be one of the most dominant forces in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Playing only 64 total minutes as a Duke in her freshman season, Pittman was a relative unknown coming into her first year at Stony Brook.

Growing up in Richmond, Va., Pittman had a basketball in her hands for as long as she could remember. Her father, Henri, played the sport in high school and wanted to instill his love for the game in his daughter. Though she had a love for the sport, there were other hobbies that piqued her interest as a child.

“My dad bought my first basketball hoop when I was two years old, so that’s when he first put a basketball in my hands,” Pittman said in an interview with The Statesman. ”When I was little, though, my main sport was soccer. That was my favorite sport.”

Pittman was a midfielder for her youth soccer team, but lost interest in the sport when her coach switched her position. It was then that she decided to stick with her father’s favorite sport. She joined the Cap City Ballerz, an AAU team, and the rest was history.

Pittman would go on to play for the Ballerz for 11 years, traveling to multiple states and playing against future collegiate competitors. She reflected fondly on her time with Cap City and credits the team with playing a major role in her development as a basketball player.

“Cap City: that’s my second home,” Pittman said. “I’ve known them forever, and they really are a huge, major part of the reason that I’m here today. They helped develop me and teach me the way.”

Pittman went on to attend The Steward School, a private high school in Richmond, Va., where she played four years on the varsity girl’s basketball team. The Spartans were a dominant force in Pittman’s time there, going 71-22. In her junior and senior seasons, the team won back-to-back VISAA Division II State Championships.

It was during this timeframe that Pittman experienced the art of team building.

“I had a blast,” Pittman said. “It was cool to see how we grew as a team and developed each year.”

Pittman’s impressive career at The Steward School saw her rack up plenty of accomplishments. She was named First Team All-State three times, Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools Player of the Year twice and VISAA Division II State Player of the Year. She also reached the 1,000 mark in both points and rebounds. Her resume was enough for a nomination to make the 2021 McDonald’s All-American Game, but she fell short of making the final roster.

“It was an honor to be recognized in that way,” Pittman said. “I wasn’t really upset. I think the people who made it, you know, they deserved it. It was cool to be nominated.”

Pittman committed to play basketball at James Madison University following her senior year. It was an easy decision at the time, due to the school being in Harrisonburg, Va. — just a two-hour drive from her hometown.

“I really liked the school a lot,” Pittman said. “So I think overall, it was everything that I wanted in my college experience.”

In her freshman season at James Madison, Pittman averaged only 4.9 minutes-per-game in 13 appearances. Despite not seeing much playing time, she took the year as a learning experience and understood her role on the team.

“Even though I wasn’t playing, I still learned a lot,” Pittman said. “You see things differently when you’re not playing versus when you are playing … so I don’t think it was discouraging, it was actually kind of helpful.”

Though Pittman understood her place on the team, she decided that she would rather play than sit. She put her name into the transfer portal and was contacted by a familiar face: Stony Brook head coach Ashley Langford. Before being hired by Stony Brook in 2021, Langford was the assistant coach at James Madison and recruited Pittman to the school. Once Langford saw her name in the portal, she quickly pounced on the opportunity and recruited her again.

“I think after my first year, I just needed something different,” Pittman said. “So when [Stony Brook] were recruiting me, [Langford] is who I was talking to … I saw that she got the head coaching job here at Stony Brook. It’s just a really nice school, nice academics, great basketball program. So I felt like Stony Brook was a better fit than JMU.”

Pittman hit the ground running at the start of her Seawolf career, recording 13 points, nine rebounds and a block in her debut against Syracuse. Just two games later, Stony Brook completed a 26-point comeback against Iona, with Pittman scoring the game-winning putback before getting the stop on defense to secure the victory.

“Coach [Langford] tells us every time we play, ‘Just do what you do,’” Pittman said. “So I just went out there and did the best I could do. I didn’t really think too much of it. I just knew … we were down 26, so I just knew we had to win.”

Throughout the season, Pittman cemented herself as one of the top players for the Seawolves, displaying her talents in multiple facets of the game. Her 13.7 points per game placed her second on the team only behind guard Annie Warren (16.7), and her 8.2 rebounds per game placed her second in the CAA. She has also been fully available, as she has started all 25 of the Seawolves’ games this year and played in 32.3 minutes per contest.

Pittman has also been Stony Brook’s best player on defense. She currently leads the team with 20 blocks, good for 0.8 per game and has also swiped up 32 steals (1.3 per game).

Pittman credits her breakout to the chemistry Stony Brook has on and off the court.

“My teammates trust me, my coaches trust me, so really, we all just trust each other,” Pittman said. “We all want to win ball games … whatever I have to do to help my team win and put us in the best position to win, that’s what I do.”

Led by Pittman’s high-level of play, the Seawolves have been the second-best scoring offense in the CAA this year. They have made a lot of noise in the conference this season, currently sitting tied for third place in the standings and just one game back of North Carolina A&T for second place. With only four games left in the regular season, Stony Brook will vie for a regular season championship and the top seed in the 2023 CAA Women’s Basketball tournament.

Pittman believes that Stony Brook could be the team to beat come playoff time.

“I think we can do a lot of damage,” Pittman said. “I think as long as we take it one game at a time, and not look too far ahead at our end goal and just take it step by step, I think we’ll be okay.”

Knowing that Stony Brook is a contender for the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, Pittman believes that her top moment from this year is yet to come.

“Do I have a favorite moment? No. Not yet.”