Following the departure of sophomore guard Miles Latimer to the Bucknell Bison and the announcement of junior center Jeff Otchere’s plans to graduate transfer, roster spots on the Stony Brook men’s basketball team opened up with the impending loss of 51 combined starts. Those holes were quickly filled up as the Seawolves landed a pair of transfers on Thursday, April 2.
Stadium’s Jeff Goodman reported on Twitter that point guard Juan Felix Rodriguez would be transferring to Stony Brook. Rodriguez announced his commitment on the same day. A 6-foot junior college transfer from Monroe College, he will be a junior next season with two years of eligibility remaining and is a former teammate of junior forward Mouhamadou Gueye, who also played at Monroe for two seasons.
Rodriguez is a 2-time NJCAA Region XV Division I Men’s Basketball Player of the Year and was named to the NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball All-America Second Team on April 6. Last season, he averaged 18.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. Rodriguez looks to help Stony Brook in the assists department, whose leader was junior guard Elijah Olaniyi at 2.1 per game.
“I want to thank all the coaches who spent valuable time recruiting me and helping me throughout this process,” Rodriguez said on Instagram. “After a long and thoughtful consideration I am excited to announce my commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at Stony Brook University.”
According to Verbal Commits, Rodriguez also held a scholarship offer from the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.
Later on April 2, Mount St. Mary’s junior forward Omar Habwe also announced that he had committed to Stony Brook. Habwe had revealed on March 30 that he was planning to graduate transfer and play out his final season of eligibility with a new program.
Habwe, at 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds, started 23 of 31 games during the 2018-19 season, averaging 9.4 points and 4.9 rebounds as a sophomore. However, he was relegated to a bench role during his junior season, starting just two games and seeing his playing time decreased by ten minutes per game.
Habwe shot 39% in three seasons at Mount St. Mary’s, where he started 26 of his 90 career games. He set both career highs in points (24) and rebounds (17) during his sophomore year.
