Injuries derailed the Stony Brook men’s basketball team’s 2022-23 season before it even started. Head coach Geno Ford brought in five new transfers in the 2022 offseason, with all of them expected to play a major role. However, three of them suffered season-ending (or at least ruining) injuries in the preseason and received medical redshirts so they can make another attempt at a Seawolves debut.

With those three players back and healthy, Ford has brought in an even newer crop of transfers to join them — making his 2023 offseason much bigger than it really appears.

Overall, Stony Brook will be unveiling six transfers this year: three from last year and three from this past offseason. Point guard Dean Noll and small forward Sabry Philip will make their long-awaited debuts with the Seawolves this year. Also returning to the floor is point guard Aaron Clarke, who had his first game with the team delayed a month by a back injury. Just two games later, Clarke’s season was cut short after just three games by the same affliction.

Accompanying the returning transfers are the newer new guys: small forwards Andre Snoddy and Ra’Sean Frederick alongside center Chris Maidoh.

Though these six players were not on the floor for Stony Brook last year, Ford said that they have already built up a strong rapport with their teammates.

“It’s funny, if chemistry was the only thing that mattered, we could be universe champs right now,” Ford said in an interview with The Statesman.

All six of these transfers from the two combined classes bring a different set of skills that collectively deepen the Seawolves’ roster. However, several of them share a particularly important skill: passing ability.

Not having Clarke or Noll available last year hamstrung Stony Brook’s ability to move the ball and create good looks. The team averaged only 11.8 assists per game, which was tied for eighth in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA).

Now with the two of them back, plus a couple of other good ball-movers acquired through the portal, Ford loves the selfless look of his offense.

“We have a lot of really, really good passers,” Ford said. “It’s the deepest passing roster that we’ve ever had. They share the ball, man. They don’t seem to care who scores or shoots or any of that.”

Clarke and Noll provide the Seawolves a pair of legitimate options to run their offense. Clarke is a graduate student who has scored over 1,200 points in his career and averages 11.8 points per game in his career. He played for four years at Sacred Heart and did a good job running the show there, posting a career 1.5 assist to turnover ratio. In his 63 career starts with the Pioneers, he averaged 3.6 assists per game. He also does a lot of damage by getting to the charity stripe and getting easy points there, as he has knocked down 83.6% of his career free throw attempts.

In his last full season, he averaged 16.0 points and 4.1 assists per game en route to a 2021-22 All-Northeastern Conference Third Team selection.

After joining Stony Brook, he injured his lower back last preseason. The injury delayed his debut with the team until Dec. 3, 2022 against Yale, where he showed a glimpse of what he is worth. In just 22 minutes off the bench, Clarke dropped 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field and was 3-of-5 from deep. Just two games later, he reaggravated the injury and was sidelined for the rest of the season.

Not only is Clarke bringing his talent back to the floor, but also his experience.

“I feel like Sacred Heart did a good job of … putting me up against very good competition,” Clarke said in an interview with The Statesman. “I’ve played some of the best teams around. Plus, I’ve been able to see how to win games.”

Noll will be Clarke’s partner in crime. Though Noll is a point guard by trade, he will start on the backcourt beside Clarke at the shooting guard position. Last year, he came over after a four-year career at Cornell, but he tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during a scrimmage to end his season before it began.

The last time Noll was on a basketball court, he was the second-leading facilitator of the 17th-highest scoring offense in the nation. He averaged 10.3 points and 2.7 assists per game on that Cornell squad. He began that season as the sixth man, but after becoming the starting point guard, Noll averaged 3.1 assists per game.

On top of his scoring and playmaking chops, Noll will be a big contributor on defense. He finished eighth in the Ivy League in steals per game (1.2) in his senior season. Stony Brook needs his active hands, as it ranked second-worst in the CAA in last season. His performance on both ends of the floor garnered him a selection to the 2021-22 All-Ivy Second Team.

“I think I can help make winning plays, get people scoring opportunities and score myself by creating my own shots,” Noll said in an interview with The Statesman. “I think I can help play good defense, guarding whatever player I need to whether that’s in a small lineup or a big lineup.”

Coming off ACL reconstruction, Noll has impressed some of his teammates.

“He’s come in this offseason really locked in, so I would expect some good things to come from Dean,” small forward Tyler Stephenson-Moore said in an interview with The Statesman. “Don’t let that lackadaisical look from Dean fool you. He competes.”

With a lack of available wings last season, Ford was unable to take Stephenson-Moore off the court very often. He wound up playing 37.4 minutes per game which was the sixth-most in the nation. He logged all 40 minutes 12 times last season and even played for 44 in a game against William & Mary on Feb. 16, 2023.

This season, wing depth is not an issue. Philip — who missed all of last season with an Achilles tendon tear — is back healthy and will help carry the load. Snoddy will also play a significant role at forward and give Stephenson-Moore some much-deserved rest.

Philip is a muscular, athletic, 6-foot-4 wing who takes defense seriously. As a scorer, he drives the ball towards the basket effectively and is known for his emphatic finishes at the rim. He started his college career at the NCAA Division I level with the University of San Diego, where he appeared in 22 games off the bench but only played in 104 total minutes. After that, he transferred to Navarro College, a junior college (JUCO) in the NJCAA.

Philip played at Navarro for two years and averaged 9.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest his junior season, leading Navarro to a Region XIV Tournament appearance. He has a lot of bounce in his step along with a very muscular build, which allows him to be hard-nosed in the paint and win rebounding battles.

The graduate student plans to help the Seawolves on both ends of the floor, and he does not lack any confidence.

“I’m a dog, I’ll say that,” Philip said. “A lot of competitiveness is what you’re getting [with me]. It starts on defense, so I take a lot of pride on that side and I try to get out on the wings and put on a show.”

Snoddy was perhaps the most highly-touted acquisition of this past offseason. The 6-foot-6, 223 pound junior spent two years at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU), averaging 9.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists last season.

Snoddy is a skilled wing that can stretch the floor, as he shot 30% from three-point territory last season. He will most likely split his minutes between both forward positions, as he has the ability to both play on the perimeter and crash the glass to grab rebounds. 

With Snoddy’s size and mobility, he brings the Seawolves a ton of versatility on the defensive side of the ball.

“Last year, I was guarding one through five,” Snoddy said. “There were times when I played the five and I was guarding the five. There were times when I got switched onto the guards. I tell Coach Ford and Coach [Jalen] Avery, ‘You put me on whoever, and I’m up for the challenge.’”

Snoddy also prides himself on his ability as a playmaker. Ford and the staff plan to use him as a “point forward,” and may utilize his passing ability on drive and kick plays.

The departure of former power forward Frankie Policelli this past offseason also means the loss of his 9.4 rebounds per game. Snoddy — who averaged 7.8 rebounds per game in his career at CCSU — will help make up for the loss of rebounding. However, he was not the only player that Ford brought in to help clean up the glass.

At 6-foot-10, Maidoh is equipped to help the Seawolves in the battle for rebounds. Maidoh will step into a bigger role this year after averaging only 15.7 minutes per game in four years at Fairfield.

Maidoh averaged 4.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game over his four-year career with the Stags. His size gives Stony Brook somebody who can post up, set screens and be a lob target. His ability to erase mistakes at the rim will be of value, as the Seawolves were the third-worst shot-blocking team in the CAA last season.

Ford had high praise for Maidoh’s defensive ability.

“[In] 25 years, I don’t think I’ve ever had a frontcourt guy be as good a team defender as he is,” Ford said in a press conference. “We just got the right guy. Chris Maidoh has been terrific.”

Rounding out the group is Frederick, another JUCO transfer. He played his freshman year at Clarendon College before spending his sophomore year at Hutchinson Community College. In his sophomore season, Frederick averaged 11.2 points, five rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting 45.4% from the field and 24.7% from deep.

With a pair of All-Conference point guards back healthy, a beefed-up wing rotation and the addition of more size down low, the Seawolves are a much deeper team this year. These two trios of transfers help bolster their roster, giving them great opportunity for a bounce-back season.

Mike Anderson and Alex Streinger also contributed reporting.