When point guards Marlon Beck II and Yosef Yacob entered Binghamton’s men’s basketball program as freshmen last season, they were greeted by a desolate backcourt. With ample playing time up for grabs, each took advantage of that opportunity.
Beck started 20 games for head coach Tommy Dempsey while averaging 9.2 points, 2.9 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game. Yacob started 22 games, finished second in scoring on the team with 11.5 points per game and was an America East First-Team All-Rookie selection.
Despite each of their successes, neither Beck nor Yacob was immune to the growing pains that nearly any freshman forced into a major role will experience. Each struggled with turnovers: Yacob averaged 3.25 per game and Beck added an average of 2.13 per contest.
This year, Binghamton’s situation is different. With all five active freshmen reputed to be prolific scorers, BU’s point guards will be able to pass the ball more, sacrificing their own numbers to increase their offense’s efficiency.
“Last year there were a lot of games where I did score a lot of points,” Beck said. “But this year I want to have a better balance and get my assists up, [get my] assist-to-turnover ratio better, different things like that. So that’s something I’m really working on.”
“I think the biggest thing is just leading the team and head-hunting who should get shots and what plays would work and seeing the mismatches as a point guard rather than just playing the game and not really thinking about it,” Yacob added.
With Binghamton lacking depth in 2013-14, Beck and Yacob played a significant portion of each game on the court together, sharing ball-handling responsibilities. This season could be a different story. In addition to the new freshmen — three of whom are guards — the Bearcats return their star in junior wing Jordan Reed and can also call upon junior guard Karon Waller, who performed well in limited playing time last season. Those options could mean that the two may not have to share the backcourt as often, though Dempsey will determine whether the pair will play together based on the flow of each game.
“We haven’t made lineup decisions yet, but we can go a lot of different ways,” Dempsey said. “I think it’s what the game calls for. Against some of the pressing teams that we’re going to see earlier in the year, we’re going to see them on the floor together. They like to play together and they play well together so I think … every night you’re going to see them on the floor together for stretches, but I also have to be smart in how I use them.”
For a Bearcat team looking to make a splash in the America East Conference this season, that increased availability will be key. But with fewer minutes to go around, Beck and Yacob — who are good friends off the court — understand that when it comes to practice, they’re competing for playing time.
“[It] kind of pushes me every day to just wake up and say, ‘Okay, I’m always competing for anything,’” Beck said. “Whether it’s time or a spot, [or] anything with one of my best friends off the court. I think it means a lot, where we’re great friends off the court but when it comes to on the court, if we’re not on the same team in practice, we know we’re going head-to-head with each other.”
Yacob echoed his friend’s sentiments on their on-and-off court relationship.
“We both push each other, on offense, on defense, on trying to lead our teams,” Yacob said. “It’s a great thing we have because we’re friends off the court, but once we get on the court, it’s my team versus your team and we play against each other, we compete, because we know it’s going to make us better in the long run.”