STONY BROOK, N.Y. — College basketball is back again.
Under third year head coach
Geno Ford and highlighted by a highly-touted incoming transfer class, the Stony Brook men's basketball team heads to George Mason on Tuesday night, taking on the Patriots at 7 p.m. in Fairfax, Va.
THE GRITTY
SCOUTING THE PATRIOTS
- The Patriots enter the 2021-22 campaign after an appearance in the Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals a season ago. The squad finished 13-9 overall with an 8-6 mark in league play.
- Picked to finish eighth in the league, junior forward Josh Oduro is set to lead the team. The preseason All-Atlantic 10 Third Team selection averaged 10.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game last season. He was third in the A-10 and 60th nationally in offensive rebounds per contest.
- Kim English enters as a new head coach for the Patriots after most recently serving as an assistant under Rick Barnes at Tennessee. He was an All-Big 12 selection and 44th overall selection of the Detroit Pistons during his playing career and helped his former team, the Volunteers, earn a five seed in the NCAA Tournament.
- The Patriots history as a program is highlighted by a 2006 run to the NCAA Final Four, during which they knocked off blue bloods Michigan State, North Carolina and UConn.
STARTING FROM THE TOP
For the first time since the 2015-16 campaign, the Seawolves were selected Number 1 in the America East preseason poll. Holding five of the 10 first place votes, head coach Geno Ford's club finished ahead of Vermont by three points heading into the year.
New Hampshire and defending champions Hartford round out the top four in a poll selected by the league's ten head coaches. The Seawolves have made three semifinal appearances since that 15-16 campaign and are looking to get back to the final for the first time since that championship season.
THE R3TURN
After starting 18 of his 21 appearances in ACC country at Miami (FL), Newark, N.J., native Elijah Olaniyi is coming home. The two-time All-America East guard and 2017-18 league Rookie of the Year will play his final year of eligibility with the Seawolves.
The Newark East Side grad averaged 18 points per game his junior season at Stony Brook, making 43.5 percent of his shots (and a career high 36 percent from three) to lead his team in scoring and earn First Team All-Conference honors. He's part of a four-man transfer class that leads the country in scoring. He's totalled 1355 in his career, with 1135 of them coming on Long Island.
RECORD-BREAKING HOME COOKIN'
After the Seawolves played just 10 of its 23 games at home last season, Stony Brook will break a program record in that department this season, hosting 17 games at Island Federal Arena.
This will include hosting the Battle of Long Island on Decmeber 8 against Hofstra, part of a six-game homestand and seven home games in the last month of the calendar year. Fans will also see a new team on a regular basis, with NJIT making its rounds to each arena for the first time as a member of the America East.
OLDER AND WISER
With an average age of 21.13, the Seawolves enter the 2021-22 campaign as one of 17 teams in the country with an average age above 21. Just four players on the roster are below 21 entering the campaign.
Eastern Kentucky is atop the age chart coming into the season with an average age of 22.02, the only school in the country touting a mark above 22. The Seawolves are the only America East school inside the top 20.
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