Since the arrival of head coach Steve Pikiell a mere six seasons ago, no one can argue the fact that Stony Brook men’s basketball has come a long way. Inheriting a 12-17 team with no history of winning and only four years of Division-I basketball under its belt, Pikiell saw promise where others did not.
His foresight was finally rewarded last year as the Seawolves put together the greatest season in school history finishing 22-10 on their way to an America East regular season championship and a ticket to the historic NIT tournament. Pikiell won America East Coach of the Year, and senior forward Mohammad El-Amin won America East Player of the Year, both firsts in school history.
But with the 2009-2010 season firmly behind them, the Seawolves found themselves in an unfamiliar situation. For the first time in a long time, Coach Pikiell and his team entered the 2010-2011 season with high expectations, finishing second in the America East preseason polls, and being given a nine-game television contract including three games broadcasted nationally on ESPN’s family of networks. And with four of five starters returning, the team and its fans were confident that they would be able to handle the heightened expectations.
That has not been the case.
Inconsistent basketball and nagging injuries have been the story so far this season for the Seawolves. The team lost junior forward Tommy Brenton (Columbia, Md.) for the season with a knee injury he suffered in an offseason pickup game. Brenton led the America East in rebounding the previous year pulling down 9.7 per game, and was named to the America East All-Defensive team. Senior guard Chris Martin (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) soon followed, sidelining two key starters.
Having trouble stringing together wins, the team has started out the season 7-9, 2-2 in the AE, and is now near the bottom of the conference. The offense has been anemic, and its 37% FG percentage is good for dead last in the conference, evident in their most recent game against New Hampshire where the Seawolves were held to only 16 points through the first 30-plus minutes.
“That’s been the way the year has kinda gone, there’s gonna be a slump,” Pikiell said. It’s just who we are, its been on our resume all year. We’re still waiting to turn the corner on that.”
Junior guard Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) has not handled the loss of star forward El-Amin too well, shooting an abysmal 30% from the floor.
“The best player last year used to guard Mohammad El-Amin,” Coach Pikiell said. “Now they guard Bryan, and they’re well prepared. He’s not gonna get a lot of open looks.”
And he hasn’t. In four conference games this season, Dougher is 6-40 from the field, including an 0-10 performance in a loss to Binghamton, and and a 2-12 performance against New Hampshire at home. The second team all-conference guard was looked at as the go-to guy in Pikiell’s offensive system, as his individual success plays a large role in the team’s overall success.
“His role is to score, his role is to be a leader,” Coach Pikiell said of Dougher. “He makes big plays for us down the stretch too; he just has to grind through this.”
However, not all news has been bad as sophomore guard Marcus Rouse (Upper Marlboro, Md.) has put together an impressive campaign since returning from a knee injury, averaging 16.7 PPG in conference play including a career-high 19-point performance in a loss to Vermont.
Freshman guard Dave Coley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) has played huge minutes for the Seawolves so far in the season. His great defense and solid rebounding has made it difficult for Coach Pikiell to take him off the floor.
“These guys were supposed to be backup guys for 8 minutes a game,” Pikiell said. “I can’t take Dave out of the game now, that wasn’t the game plan going into the season. That’s what has evolved with injuries, and with scratched corneas, and everything else that we’ve gone through. These guys have to evolve and be major players for us, help us win basketball games.”
Now more than halfway through the schedule, and in the thick of conference play, the Seawolves need to do just that; win basketball games. A 7-9 record is not where Coach Pikiell hoped his team would be at this point in the season, and with the early success of conference powerhouse’s Maine and BU, Stony Brook cannot afford to dig itself into a bigger hole.
Sooner or later, youth and inexperience will begin to fade, and when it does the expectations this team brought upon itself after its stellar 09-10 season will return and the team better be ready because now that the fans have gotten a taste of winning, mediocrity is no longer accepted in Seawolves country.
