Together We Transform Thursday - March 21, 2019
 
As teams across the country gathered on Sunday to hear the announcement of the 68-team NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament field, ours came together for a vastly different reason.
 
Less than 24 hours before (Saturday around 5 p.m. to be exact), Jeff called to let me know that he had accepted the head coaching job at his alma mater, Ohio University. Just as the case had been when Steve Pikiell left for Rutgers in 2016, Jeff was completely transparent with me throughout the process. Ohio was aggressive in pursuit of Jeff, and the opportunity to return to home as head coach proved too strong for him to pass up.
 
Jeff's name had come up for other openings and would have again next year with our entire team returning intact. I appreciate the work that Jeff put into our program, and he has left Stony Brook men's basketball in a prime position to win multiple America East championships. That's our goal and we will not waver from that. Although I didn't expect Jeff to leave this soon (and neither did he, by the way), he is a great coach whose work at Stony Brook was recognized and admired. This was also the case for another recent hire, women's soccer coach Brendan Faherty, who departed for Yale after three successful seasons as a Seawolf. Now the question that I'm sure you are asking is where do we go from here?
 
Before I talk about moving forward, let me take you back to Sunday. When I spoke to Jeff the night before, we agreed to get together in my office at 1 prior to meeting with the team in the locker room at 2. Jeff was very emotional when he spoke to guys, and he could barely get the words out. After he left the locker room, I spoke to the guys and told them that I loved them and had their back. I also let them know that Geno Ford would coach them in the CBI, which we had been preparing for over the previous few days.
 


Geno primarily spoke to the guys about sticking together and rallying around each other. Rather than practice, the team was given the day to process the news. I met with several of our players in my office before heading home around 5. Later that night, I got the call from the CBI that we were headed to Tampa to play USF on Wednesday night. With this week being spring break at Stony Brook, it was a perfect chance to get away as a group. Our team is extremely close and they were excited about playing together again.
 
The result of last night's game was tough, but I'm so proud of the resiliency that our guys showed in an overtime loss to a good South Florida team. We will miss our lone senior, Jaron Cornish, who is one of the most positive young men that I have ever been around. With all but one player returning, the opportunity to win has never been greater. As I finish writing this on the plane back from Tampa, I owe this team - as well as our campus and community - a head coach who gives us the best chance to win right now.
 
The Search
 
Throughout all of this, I have been working extensively on the coaching search. I won't comment on who I have spoken to but needless to say there is a tremendous amount of interest in our job. If I could share the texts, emails and calls that I have received since Sunday, you wouldn't believe it. What I can tell you is that whomever I ultimately hire will be expected to lead this group to the top of the America East next year.
 
My goal is to move as quickly as possible but - like every coaching search that I have done – I will not rush. I will take the time necessary to ensure that the right leader is identified. In the meantime, I thank you for your support of our young men all season long. Although the script may not have turned out the way we had originally written it, this year produced 24 wins and countless memories. I am going to make sure that the next chapter for this team is our best yet.
 
In Other News...
 
This is a very busy and exciting time in our department. There is so much more that I would like to talk about this week, but hopefully you will understand why time prohibits me from doing so.
 
Baseball and softball are on fire, football begins spring practice next week, we have a huge lacrosse doubleheader at LaValle Stadium on Saturday as well as our annual Danni Kemp fundraiser at The Bench. As always, please check StonyBrookAthletics.com for the latest news on our teams.
 
We have a lot of winning to do this spring. It's time to be all in. As always...
 
Keep believing!
 
Warm regards,
 
Shawn