Those in attendance for Binghamton University’s Basketball Media Day, held in the Events Center this past Tuesday, got the unexpected privilege of helping second-year men’s head coach Kevin Broadus assemble his starting lineup for the upcoming season.
“You tell me who should start, because I don’t know yet,” said Broadus when asked who he thinks will be in the starting five. “I’m going to let [the players] figure it out in practice.”
With nine fresh faces joining a group of only seven returning players from last year’s team, there are a lot of questions surrounding the Bearcats that have yet to be answered. Per NCAA rules, today is the first day teams are allowed to hold team practices — hence Late Nite Madness — and Broadus will be looking to fill the gaping holes left by team leader Mike Gordon, who graduated last semester, and Lazar Trifunovic, who transferred after leading the Bearcats in scoring last season.
Luckily, there are many candidates on this year’s team to help out in leadership and scoring roles.
Seniors Reggie Fuller, Dwayne Jackson and Jaan Montgomery, all of whom are returning contributors from last year’s squad, understand that they will be relied on heavily for leadership.
“I have to be a captain and leader this year,” Fuller said. “The main focus for the guys this year is to win … We have a lot of proving to do, and I’m up to that challenge.”
But Fuller is not the only player Broadus is asking to lead on the court.
“[Coach wants me] to shape up into a leadership role … he has really high expectations of me this year,” Montgomery said.
In terms of scoring, the newcomers seem primed to assist in more ways than one. Broadus boasts that Binghamton fans will see “a different kind of athleticism” this year. Guard Malik Alvin, a transfer from Chipola College, is known for his ability to explode past defenders. Emanuel “Tiki” Mayben, also a guard, described Alvin’s speed as being “outrageous.” Mayben brings with him from Hudson Valley Community College an innate ability to pass the ball. Sean Watson, a senior transfer student who averaged 22.1 points per game last season at Howard Junior College, is a more traditional scoring wing. D.J. Rivera, who will play this year despite playing last year at a Division I basketball school (St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia), is a high-flying wing player.
Also expect to see a change in defensive strategy this year. Broadus, who has “played man-to-man everywhere I’ve been” and used such language as having to “take your pride and throw it out the window” when referring to playing zone defense, said that he feels a zone may be what is best for the team due to its relative lack of height. This should be to the benefit of Montgomery, who had his most successful game last year against Vermont, in which the team played zone for one of the few times, if not only time, of the season.
Broadus has high expectations for his team, despite the wealth of unknowns.
“We’re excited as a staff … to put a good product out on the floor and hopefully move us to the upper echelon of the [America East Conference],” he said. “That’s our dreams and our goals this year: to move a couple steps closer to postseason play.”
However, he did acknowledge that it will be hard work to get everyone playing together right away.
“We know that with a lot of newcomers there come a lot of personalities, and we have to try to mend all these personalities together and make them as one.”
The first test of this year’s mix begins at the team’s season opener against Buffalo State on Nov. 14, at 7 p.m. in the Events Center.
For now, you can check the team out for yourself during Late Nite Madness tonight at the Events Center. Some of the players’ athleticism will be on full display during the slam dunk contest, in which Rivera, Fuller, Alvin and Watson will be participating. Rivera is the heavy favorite, though 6-foot Alvin had this to say when asked who was going to win the dunk contest: “Me.”