Nov. 7, 2012

2012-13 Stony Brook Men's Basketball

Game #1: Stony Brook (0-0) at Marist (0-0)
Fri., Nov. 9  •  McCann Center  •  Poughkeepsie, N.Y.  •  9 p.m

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INFO: GAME NOTES (PDF)  |  SEASON PREVIEW

Stony Brook Seawolves (0-0, 0-0 America East)
Head Coach: Steve Pikiell, eighth season
Overall Record: 100-136
Record at SBU: 95-118

Marist Red Foxes (0-0, 0-0 MAAC)
Head Coach: Chuck Martin, fifth season
Overall Record: 31-97
Record at Marist: same

About the Game: Stony Brook begins anew with nine returning letterwinners and four newcomers as it begins its chase for the 2013 America East Championship.  Its first task is a road game with the Marist Red Foxes of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.  The team is coming off its most successful season as a Div. I program, going 22-10, winning the America East regular season title and advancing to the postseason NIT. This is the fifth all-time meeting between these two teams, and the first time since 1976. This is Stony Brook’s 14th season as a Div. I member, and the Seawolves are 5-8 all-time in season openers. Their last season opening win came Nov. 13, 2009, a 75-57 victory over Maryland Eastern Shore. Stony Brook is beginning a stretch of three games in 81 hours.

Scouting Marist: The Red Foxes return all five starters from last season’s team that went 14-18 overall and 7-11 in the MAAC. This will be a veteran team that features four seniors and five juniors, but it is sophomore Chavaughn Morris who returns as the leading scorer after averaging 14.4 points per game in 2011-12. 6-10 center Adam Kemp is a force in the middle, averaging 8.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. He is prone to foul trouble; he had 100 fouls and fouled out of five games last season. Marist played four America East schools last season and went 2-2 in those games.

Meet the Seawolves: Stony Brook returns nine letterwinners from last season’s team, including two starters - Tommy Brenton and Dave Coley. In reality, the roster is so deep with experience that eight of the 14 players on the team have starting experience with the Seawolves. The team returns 53 percent of its scoring and 59 percent of its rebounding from last season.

2011-12 Recap: Last season proved to be Stony Brook’s most successful as a Div. I program. Led by head coach Steve Pikiell, the Seawolves captured their second America East regular season championship in three seasons by running roughshot over the league with a 14-2 record. It was a part of a 22-10 season that matched the 2009-10 team for most wins in its Div. I history. The Seawolves capped the year with their second NIT appearance in three seasons.

Preseason Honors: For the third consecutive season, the league’s preseason vote among head coaches has landed Stony Brook second in the preseason poll. This year, SB is behind only Vermont. The Seawolves had four out of a possible eight first place votes. Senior forward Tommy Brenton was named to the preseason All-America East team after finishing 2011-12 as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-America East.

Meet the New Kids: Stony Brook welcomes four freshmen to this year’s squad and gains the services of a freshman who sat out last season. Carson Puriefoy is a 6-0 point guard who was second-team All-New Jersey last season at Bishop Eustace High School. Jameel Warney is a 6-8, 255-pound forward who was also second-team All-New Jersey out of Roselle Catholic High School. Port Washington, N.Y. native Ahmad Walker is a 6-4 athletic wing, who was the Berkshire School’s all-time leading scorer. Ryan Burnett is a 6-4 wing out of Benedictine Prep in Richmond, Va., and averaged 17 points a game as a senior.

Set Your Alarm Clocks: For the second time in three seasons, Stony Brook will participate in ESPN’s College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon, the network’s 24-hour college basketball event. The Seawolves have been slotted in the 6 a.m. game at Rider on Tuesday, Nov. 13. On Nov. 16, 2010, the Seawolves played the 6 a.m. game at Monmouth and came away with a 51-49 victory.

D is the Key: The math is usually simple for Stony Brook and its defense: hold the opponent under 60 points and it’s a victory. The Seawolves were 16-1 last season when holding their opponent under 60 points.

Rebounding Machines: Last season, Stony Brook was one of the best in the country at rebounding, outrebounding opponents by a 8.3 margin (37.6 to 29.3), which led America East and ranked fourth in the nation.

Pritchard Palace: Stony Brook has won 14 consecutive games at Pritchard Gymnasium, dating back to the 2010-11 season. The team was a perfect 13-0 there last season. Since returning to Pritchard Gymnasium prior to the 2008-09 season, the Seawolves are 38-15 (.717) in the building.

The Line’s the Key: Last season, Stony Brook’s win-loss record could be tied to its ability to get to the free throw line more than its opponent. SBU was 19-2 in games in which it has equal or more free throw attempts than its opponents (averaging 20.4 attempts in wins) and 3-8 in games in which it has fewer attempts than its opponents (averaging 11.5 attempts in losses).

Amazing Turnaround: Stony Brook’s second regular season championship in three years continues to tell the story of the program’s turnaround under head coach Steve Pikiell. In his first season, Stony Brook was 4-24 overall and 2-14 in America East. By his fifth season, the team won the league with a 13-3 record. Now Stony Brook has become a force in America East and is annually competing for the league championship. The Seawolves have the third-most America East wins in the nine-team conference since the start of the 2008-09 season.

Approaching a Record: The countdown has begun for Tommy Brenton to become Stony Brook’s all-time leading rebounder. Already the program’s leader in its Div. I history, he is just 70 rebounds away from securing the all-time mark. He is also 164 rebounds away from becoming just the eighth America East player to reach 1,000.

Replacing Some Offense: The Seawolves lost a ton of offense to graduation last season. Bryan Dougher is the program’s all-time leading Div. I scorer with 1,609 points and led the team in scoring in each of the last two seasons. Dallis Joyner was the team’s best offense inside the paint, leading America East in field goal percentage at 61.1%.

Incredible Academic Progress: Head coach Steve Pikiell came into Stony Brook with a team on NCAA probation for poor academics. In 2004-05, prior to Pikiell’s arrival, the team’s rolling Academic Progress Rate (APR) according to the NCAA was 880 and that particular team’s APR was 804. In 2009-10, the team achieved a perfect 1000, and the rolling APR according to the NCAA was 951, an incredible turnaround in a short period of time.

Four Athletes, Four Graduates, Four Pros: Bryan Dougher, Dallis Joyner, Al Rapier and Danny Carter all graduated Stony Brook with their bachelor degrees this past spring, and all four of them are now professional basketball players. Joyner is currently playing for Maccabi in Israel. Carter is back with his former Reading Rockets club in England. Rapier is enjoying his season with Sambaense in Portugal. Dougher just signed with the Redwood Hawks in Australia and will start playing in March.

Fulfilling a Hoop Dream: On Oct. 11, the Seawolves took time out to shoot around with Arthur Plowden, a heart transplant patient at Stony Brook Medicine, who was the first person to receive a Left Ventricle Assist Device (LVAD) at a Long Island Hospital two years ago. He had a heart transplant this past July and was eager to return to the court. Seawolves head coach Steve Pikiell heard of Arthur’s amazing story and invited him to come play with the team. Arthur and members of the senior class played a game of HORSE before Pikiell presented him with a signed basketball from the team and season tickets to the 2012-13 season at Pritchard Gymnasium.

Face Time: As has been the case over the last few seasons, Stony Brook will receive plenty of airtime on the ESPN family of networks. The Seawolves are slated for at least seven games on an ESPN branded network, including the annual America East showcase game on ESPNU - the Seawolves will play at Vermont on Jan. 18.

Up Next: Stony Brook will open its home schedule and put its unbeaten Pritchard Gymnasium streak on the line Sunday afternoon vs. Mount Ida. Tip-off is 4 p.m.

2012-13 SEASON PREVIEW

You have to be in it to win it. And Stony Brook has certainly been in “it” over the last four seasons as head coach Steve Pikiell has successfuly built a program that will annually compete for the America East Championship. Enterin his eighth season at the helm, Pikiell has led the Seawolves to a .500 or better record in the conference in four straight seasons, and in that span the team has captured two regular season championships, appeared in the America East Championship final twice and reached the postseason NIT twice. This season, Pikiell will have a different look to his team as he seeks to replace three starters lost to graduation. He returns nine letterwinners and although the personnel is slightly different, the goal remains the same: contend for the regular season championship and put the team in the best position possible to win the America East Championship and earn a bid into the NCAA Tournament.

GUARDS
5 Returning, 3 New, 1 Lost
Stony Brook returns five guards, including one starter, but will have to find a way to replace the scoring and leadership abilities of Bryan Dougher, who graduated last spring. He left Stony Brook as the program’s all-time leading scorer in its Div. I history, amassing 1,609 points. Replacing him at point guard is no easy task, but Pikiell has two very talented candidates in junior Anthony Jackson (Columbus, Ohio) and freshman Carson Puriefoy (Wenonah, N.J.). Jackson has spent the last two seasons as Dougher’s backup and has played very well. He displays confidence and intelligence on the court when he has the ball and has developed into a capable shooter. Last season, he was second in America East in three- point shooting, making them at a 40.7% rate. Puriefoy comes into the fold as a highly touted recruit. He was an All-State performer as a senior at Bishop Eustace High School in New Jersey last year, averaging 22.5 points, 5.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals per game. He is fast, smart with the basketball and an excellent distributor and facilitator.

Whoever wins the point guard battle will have a talented running mate at the shooting guard position. Junior Dave Coley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) has developed into a go-to scorer. In his sophomore season, he increased his scoring average by 3.5 points per game while also increasing his shooting percentage by nearly 10% (.317 to .409). He has a strong and quick first step, knows how to break defenders off the dribble and knows wehen to pull up shots versus driving to the basket. He spent all summer working on his shot and will look to further better his shooting percentage. An added bonus is that he’s one of the team’s best defenders and will often draw the assignment of stopping the opposing team’s best defender.

Off the bench, Stony Brook will have veteran guards with the ability to make big shots and defend well. Senior Leonard Hayes (Voorhees, N.J) is a 6-4, three-point specialist who also has vastly improved on defense. Although he did not shoot as well in his junior year (.270) than his sophomore year (.451), he is a candidate to go on shooting hot streak at any time. Senior Marcus Rouse (Upper Marlboro, Md.) is a 6-1 off-guard providing an offensive spark with steady hands. He’s capable of putting up big offensive nights without turning the ball over. For his career, he has a 39.8 shooting percentage and a 1.2 assist/turnover ratio.

Stony Brook has two talented freshmen at the guard/ wing position. Ryan Burnett (Richmond, Va.) played for a deep Benedictine Prep team and averaged 17 points a game for it as a senior. He is long, athletic and can shoot well. Ahmad Walker (Port Washington, N.Y.) returns to Long Island after spending three years at the Berkshire School in Sheffield, Mass. Perhaps one of the most athletic players on the team, Walker was a four-sport star at Berkshire and became the school’s all-time leader in scoring with 1,745 points. He has excellent offensive instincts and can score by attacking the basket.

Adding depth to the squad is junior Ben Resner (Farmingdale, N.Y.), who is 6-2 and appeared in six games last season.

FORWARDS
5 Returning, 1 New, 3 Lost
Despite losing three forwards to graduation, including All-America East performer Dallis Joyner, Stony Brook will prove to be incredibly deep and talented in the paint. The group will be led by senior captain Tommy Brenton (Columbia, Md.), who is the team’s most indispensible player. He is the team’s best defender, rebounder and distributor, leading the Seawolves in rebounds, assists and steals in 2011-12. The numbers and his reputation as a defensive hound helped him earn America East Defensive Player of the Year honors. Whether playing the wing or power forward, Brenton will disrupt offenses, clean up the glass and make everyone around him better. Although offensively, he has taken a back seat to other scorers like Dougher and Joyner, Brenton will be counted on to add to his career 7.4 points per game average. He has the skills to provide much more offense.

Expected to either start or be the sixth man is senior Ron Bracey (Cincinnati, Ohio). Bracey will be looked on to have the type of senior season Al Rapier had in 2011- 12 that includes improvement on both ends of the court. Bracey worked hard to get into better shape this summer, losing 25 pounds and working on his offensive game. He can score from anywhere on the court, spot-up the jumper and back down in the post.
Three forwards will battle for playing time and each brings their own unique skill set. 6-8 junior Eric McAlister (Hightstown, N.J.) is an incredible athlete and brings junp-shooting and shot-blocking abilities to the team. 6-9 sophomore Anthony Mayo (Philadelphia, Pa.) is coming off an injury-plagued year and was medically redshirted. He is offensively polished with a strong 15-foot jump shot, and he also is the team’s best shot blocker. He had 26 blocks as a freshman in 2010-11. Redshirt freshman Scott King (Derry, N.H.) is 6-9 a deadly three-point shooter and can be instant offense for the Seawolves. His size will cause problems for perimeter defenders.

There is one newcomer among the forwards and he is poised to make an immediate impact. 6-8 freshman Jameel Warney (Plainfield, N.J.) comes in as one of the program’s best recruits ever and was ranked No. 5 among all New Jersey recruits last year. Warney is long and built to bang in the post. He has a polished offensive game and is a strong shot blocker. Last year for Roselle Catholic, he earned All-State honors after averaging 17.0 points, 13.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.5 blocks per game. He will challenge for the starting spot vacated by Joyner and could challenge to be America East’s best interior player.

Stony Brook Seawolves Men's Basketball

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