Together We Transform Thursday – July 18, 2019
Thank You President Stanley…
Every two weeks for the last five years, I met with President Stanley to provide updates and discuss pertinent issues.
Yesterday was our last meeting before he departs for Michigan State. I will always be grateful to him for providing me with the opportunity to come to Stony Brook. Although I knew that I was ready to be an AD back in 2014, Sam believed in me and my vision for Stony Brook Athletics.
We have elevated our program in so many ways over the past five years, and his support has been an important element toward our success.
…Now it's Time
Although there are uncertain times during a presidential transition, I can say with absolute certainty that we are ready to break through in a major way this year. For us to gain the national relevance that we aspire to achieve over the next 3-5 years, we have to look at the last year of our five-year plan in 2019-20 as the springboard.
I am an overly optimistic person by nature, but I am also a realist. We clearly have more work to do and are just scratching the surface of what we can be. More of our teams need to reach NCAA postseason play and we must continue to knock off Power 5 opponents. The next five-year plan will be ambitious, but this is the time to decide what we want to be. I want to be great. Our coaches, staff and student-athletes want to be great.
I'm looking forward to working alongside our Interim President Michael Bernstein, who is extremely knowledgeable about Division I athletics, as we continue to build our program.
Welcome to Debbie DeJong
Debbie DeJong, who most recently served as AD at LIU and led the Division I unification effort of their Post and Brooklyn campuses over the past year, will join our Stony Brook Athletics family beginning July 29.
She will lead our compliance efforts and assist the department in various capacities as a member of our leadership team.
Prior to being elevated to AD at LIU Post in 2017, Debbie served as Senior Associate AD for Compliance/SWA. Before her time at Post, she was Associate AD for Facilities and Recreation and head softball coach at Dowling College. Debbie was also a member of the softball coaching staff at St. Johns, where she was head coach for her last two seasons there.
I am excited to welcome Debbie, her partner Melody and son Tyler to our team!
Stay tuned as I will have additional announcements regarding staff over the next couple of weeks. As I said before, it's a big year for our department so we're going to ramp it up!
Men's Basketball Open Practice
July 31 will be your first opportunity to see our men's basketball team in action prior to their European tour that will take them to Spain and France in August.
Here is what you don't know, but will soon learn: the 2019-20 Seawolves are going to be really, really good. I have watched summer workouts and can tell you that the athleticism, length and skill of this group is off the charts. Wait until you see transfers Mo Gueye and Frankie Policelli (we're still waiting to hear from the NCAA on Frankie's waiver but should know something soon), who has an NBA body.
As for Mo, he was a 5-9 point guard as a high school sophomore before growing a foot taller over the next two years. His offensive game is truly dynamic and
Geno Ford predicts that he and Jeff Otchere will be the top two shot blockers in our league. I've also been impressed with our two freshmen, Tavin Pierre Philippe and Tyler Stephenson-Moore, who are absolute studs and could be playing for any number of high major programs.
Add in point guard Makale Foreman, who was one of our top players last year despite sitting out as a transfer, to our returning group with standouts like Elijah Olaniyi, Andrew Garcia and Miles Latimer and we have something very special. I already know that we won't be picked to win the league, but I could care less. I know that we have the best team in the America East.
Just saying.
Keep believing!
Warm regards,
Shawn
