CURTIS HENRY
Special to The Leader
After a forgettable 2013-14 campaign that saw the Blue Devils win a mere six games in 25 tries; the men’s basketball team is looking to start fresh this month.
Last season’s record of 6-19 leaves a lot to be desired heading into the new season this month. It wasn’t just how many games they lost last season that is worrisome; it’s how they lost. Twelve of their 19 losses came by 13 points or more. That goes without mentioning a 3-15 conference record, which wasn’t close to getting the team into SUNYAC tournament play.
How exactly do they plan to turn it around this year? Head coach Philip Seymore gave his take on the upcoming season.
“Well we basically have a brand new team,” he said “We brought in nine freshman, three transfers and added a walk-on and only have three returning players from a year ago. It’s an entirely new roster that we’re working with.”
Junior point guard Alex Grace also spoke about the team’s new-look roster.
“They’re athletic, competitive, and they want to get better each day” he said. “They are good listeners, not because they listen, but because they want to listen. They pay attention to detail, they want to get better.”
Among the reasons one can point to for their lack of success a year ago is the team’s overall lack of height. Freshmen Tremaine Shelton (6’8), Tommie Banks (6’7), and Ian Helps (6’5) stand as the three tallest on the squad. They hope to add a key element that the squad was missing last season: size.
But just how important is the size that they added?
“When it comes to guys like [Shelton, Banks and Helps], they bring a lot to the table,” Seymore said. “They’re big. They’re athletic, they can rebound and they can finish. Those are all areas we needed to improve from a year ago.”
With Helps providing a down-low and physical presence, where are his strengths exactly?
“Ian is special,” he continued, “He gets every board possible and really works hard in getting rebounds. He’s a great addition.”
Grace shared similar thoughts about Helps’ ability to crash the boards.
“The guy is a freak. He gets every offensive rebound and knows how to work hard.”
With a roster stocked full of new talent and guys loaded with potential, coach Seymore has had to take a mindful approach this season. He says he needs to keep the end goals in mind.
“Patience. Patience is everything, especially when you have a lot of new guys. It’s a process. The season is a marathon, not a sprint.”
As for this season’s potential goals and expectations, Seymore kept it real.
“This team is loaded with potential. That’s the key word right there, potential,” Seymore said. “It’s not about what we look like to start the year right now, it’s what we look like at the end of January as the season nears. It’s about being good then and hopefully heading into SUNYACs.”
As is typical with players, Grace took a more bold approach with his desires and expectations for the approaching season.
“We want to win every single game,” he said with confidence. “We don’t think that youth should be an issue for us. We have the talent and the depth that we didn’t have last year. We should be able to go out and have a shot to win each and every game.”
This is a youthful team that will potentially experience some growing pains in the coming year. Of the 16 players currently on the roster, eight are freshmen. Not a single senior exists on the current roster, and only three members of the squad are juniors. That leaves the bulk of the team a few years to grow together and to hopefully return as a serious contender in the SUNYAC conference.