Hofstra Shows Their Pride and Mettle in a Road Win over Elon

Last Thursday evening, I was glued to my computer, watching the live stream of Hofstra vs. William and Mary go not one, not two, but three overtimes.   In the end, the Pride made more shots than the Tribe and held on for a 93-90 victory.   That meant two things to me.

One, Hofstra was now going to Elon Saturday still undefeated in the CAA at 4-0.

Two, I was going to be there at the Schar Center at Elon University to see my alma mater undefeated in conference playing for a chance to be 5-0.

I had decided about a week before the game to go.  All that was left was seeing if my long time color analyst, aka my older son Matthew would go with me.  That took all of a few minutes.  We decided to make it an overnight trip once the forecast came into view; winter storm watch with potential freezing rain.   The Winter Storm Watch for Burlington, North Carolina turned to a Winter Storm Warning on Friday.   Glad we were only staying two miles from the Schar Center.

Saturday was a day full of basketball.  My friend Brad, who held the Wofford all time free throw shooting percentage record until Fletcher Magee destroyed it, is an amazing man.  Not only he is a pediatrician, but someone who loves coaching.  We have coached baseball together for four years.   He coaches FIVE basketball church teams, including his daughter's church team, along with the 10U travel baseball team we coach together.  Brad somehow manages it though he occasionally gets his coaching assistants/friends, including yours truly, to head coach a game when he has a conflict. 

Matt played 6th/7th grade basketball last season with his friends.   When he moved up to 8th grade, many of his travel baseball team friends were only now in 7th grade (Matt's birthday is in July, so he's young for an 8th grader).   And Brad has so many players that he split the players into two teams, one of which has both his sons (one is a 7th grader and one is a 5th grader who's so good he plays with 6th and 7th graders).  So Matt's friends are equally split among the two teams.  Then we have the 8th/9th grade teams that I assistant coach for Brad.   So often on Saturdays, we are watching two 6th/7th grade games, then either watching or coaching the one 8th/9th grade team (I did that the Saturday prior) and Matt is playing in his game while I help coach from the bench.

Matt's game was the final game of the multi church game marathon for us.   And that was after Matt had South Carolina region band tryouts early in the morning (he plays the trombone). Matt's team played another very good team on Saturday.   We were down nine at the half but made some adjustments in the second half and rallied.  But we fell short 39-35.  Matt made two of his three shots from the field, including burying an early first half three pointer.  It was a fun game.

We had already brought our overnight bags with us and after we said goodbye to my wife and my younger son, Jonathan, we headed out for the slightly less than three hour trip to Elon University.  Elon is a private liberal arts college founded in 1889 and is located in Alamance County, North Carolina with about 6700 students. 

The Schar Center is a new 160,000 square foot facility that opened in August 2019.  It houses a practice court, as well as the arena, which seats about 5100.  It's named after two of the school's donors, one of whom is the founder and chair of the fifth largest homebuilding company in the nation.

We got there early and stayed in our car till about 6:00 PM, then headed to our seats.  You have to walk up a flight of stairs to enter the building.   When you walk into the Schar Center, you immediately notice that the arena has a large digital scoreboard on one of the end of the court.  It has a large concourse around the arena where concessions are located on the left and luxury boxes on the right.   The main seating area is the lower bowl.  It's pretty much the standard setup for any new arenas built in the past few decades.   However, Elon did a very nice job with the design. 

After getting some soft pretzels at a pretzel cart, we went over to the main concessions and along with two waters, I got a "Phoenix Dog" , a hot dog topped with barbecue, slaw and fried onions.  It's delicious.  Later, I got a "small" cup of mint chocolate chip from the Smitty's homemade ice cream stand.  As you can see that is not my definition of "small" ( a large is the same amount of ice cream in a large waffle cone) and I was very happy.

We got to our seats and within just a few minutes, Hofstra Head Coach Joe Mihalich came up to say hi.  It turns out besides the small contingent of Hofstra fans behind the Pride bench, Matt and I were likely the only two other Hofstra fans in the building.  And when we came to our seats, you could tell we were Hofstra fans by Matt's gold Hofstra jersey, which he got several years ago.  Coach Mihalich mentioned that he saw Matt's jersey and he wanted to come up to say hi.  He also noted that next time that we were going to go to a road game to contact them so he could leave us tickets.  This was again noted to me when Assistant AD Jay Artinian and Stephen Gorchov when they came by to say hi. 

OK, next time I'll ask for tickets.

Hofstra had entered the game on an eleven game winning streak after the triple overtime thriller and was the only undefeated team in conference at 4-0.  Elon was in last place in the CAA at 1-4 but had just come off a tough overtime loss at the Schar Center to Northeastern.  The Phoenix love shooting the three averaging ten three pointers per game.  And I was in the restroom, the restroom sound system was playing the Elon pre game show.  Elon head coach Matt Matheny was very confident and said he thought his offense would work well against Hofstra's matchup zone, despite Hofstra leading the CAA in three point field goal percentage defense.

Well, anything is possible in the CAA and last Saturday night showed that again.

The Pride jumped out quickly to a 7-0 lead.  Two layups by Jacquil Taylor sandwiched a Justin Wright Foreman three pointer.   But the Phoenix rose from the early seven point deficit and Steven Santa Ana and Tyler Seibring would combine to score Elon's first nine points.  A Seibring free throw would tie the game at nine.   Hofstra would answer and go back up five 16-11 after a Dan Dwyer layup. 

Twice Elon would come back to tie the game only to see Hofstra take the lead.  The Phoenix then finally took the lead 25-23 on a Seibring jumper.  Taylor would tie the game at 25 again with a dunk with 5:24 left in the half.   But the Phoenix would end the half on a 12-4 spurt, hitting five of six shots in that spurt including two three pointers.    The Phoenix had a 37-29 lead at the half.

After the brief 7-0 Hofstra lead, Elon did a very good job of moving the ball around against Hofstra's matchup zone.  I really thought Hofstra should have switched to man to man after halftime given the Phoenix shot 15 of 29 from the field in the first half.  Meanwhile Hofstra was too three point happy in the first half, shooting 4 of 13 from beyond the arc.  Also, they didn't do a very good job of getting Wright-Foreman the ball.  Despite leading the Pride with ten points, he had only seven field goal attempts, making four of them including 2 of 4 from beyond the arc.

 The Pride were on defense on our side of the court Hofstra came out in their matchup zone again in the second half.  Seibring hit the first basket of the second half to put the Phoenix up ten.  From there. Hofstra started chipping away.  First a 9-2 spurt cut the Elon lead to three, 41-38 as Hofstra drove the lane more getting three layups in that spurt.   Then after Elon was up 50-45,  the Pride again answered with a 7-0 run as Jalen Ray nailed a three pointer to put them up 52-50. 

After Federico Poser's three point play gave the Phoenix a 53-52 lead, Jacquil Taylor tied the game with a free throw.  Ray would then again nail a three pointer to put Hofstra up 56-53. Taylor would follow with a three point play of his own and a layup by Eli Pemberton capped a 9-0 Hofstra run to put them up eight 61-53.

The Pride had made the necessary second half adjustments working the ball inside.  Meanwhile on defense, Hofstra did a better job of extending their matchup zone and getting out on Elon's shooters.  The Pride still had an eight point lead 65-57 with a little under five and half minutes left in the game. 

But nothing is ever easy on the #CAAHoops road.   Elon would answer with a 7-0 run capped by a Seibring three pointer to cut the deficit to one, 65-64.  But Wright-Foreman drove the lane and then made a nice dish to Taylor for a dunk to put Hofstra up 67-64.   From there it was basically down to free throws.  And Hofstra, the leading free throw shooting team in the CAA, continued to excel from the line.  They would hit seven of their last eight free throw attempts to seal the hard earned victory 74-71.


Hofstra held Elon to 9 of 28 shooting in the second half, including an ugly 4 of 18 from beyond the arc.  Elon got their ten three pointers on the game, but it came with 28% shooting from beyond the arc, below Hofstra's CAA leading three point field goal percentage defense. Meanwhile Hofstra shot 46 percent from the field in the second half and a ridiculous 19 of 21 from the line after only attempting two free throws in the first half.

After we left the Schar Center, we made the nearly two and a half mile trip to the Best Western Plus in Burlington, North Carolina.  Little did I know until the next morning that the Hofstra team was staying there.   Jay Artinian walked by the breakfast room and said hi again.  We talked about any road win was a good win.   He had to run because they had to make their flight.    As I checked out, I told the hotel clerk that I didn't know Hofstra was staying there.   She said they were so quiet and well behaved, unlike a lot of other teams that stay there.   She said she told the coach as much earlier that morning.

Coach Mihalich had told me Saturday night that his team was a really good bunch of guys.  The hotel clerk confirmed that.   Turns out they are a really good basketball team that knows how to gut out a tough win.   That will serve them well as conference play only gets tougher.

And oh yeah, I hope to ask for tickets for the February 16th game at UNCW.
 

For Hofstra, The Time Is Now

It's been going on eighteen years since Hofstra Men's Basketball last made the NCAA Tournament.  The Pride moved from the America East to the CAA right after winning their second America East Championship in a row.    They would find the Colonial Athletic Association a much more difficult conference to make their mark in.

Hofstra has had very few significant chances to make the NCAA Tournament since moving to the Colonial.  Twice they lost in the CAAHoops Tournament Finals, both times to UNCW.  In 2006, after knocking off  George Mason in the semifinals, the Pride's late second half championship game rally fell short, losing 78-67 to the Seahawks.  The Pride thought they would get an at large NCAA bid.  But they would be snubbed out of the tournament, settle for a NIT bid and would have to watch George Mason make it to the Final Four that year.

Ten years later, after having a double digit lead for a good part of the game, Hofstra saw UNCW rally to take a lead late in the second half of the championship game.  Hofstra would respond and force overtime.  But the Seahawks would then eventually break a tie with 1:26 left in overtime and win the game 80-73.  Again the Pride would have to settle for a NIT Bid, their fifth in their history.

Needless to say Hofstra fans don't "Feel the Teal".  

When I moved down south nearly six and a half years ago, I kept two of my four Hofstra Basketball season ticket seats.  This allowed my friends Tony, aka Tieff, and Mal to continue seeing the Pride play at The Mack.   I still follow the Pride pretty religiously, watching the Hofstra home games via their online stream site.   Occasionally when the Pride is in the region to play and time has allowed it, I've been able to see the Pride at Appalachian State, Elon, and Charleston, where I got to see a Hofstra win and a good steel drum band.   Finally, when the CAA Tournament wisely moved down to North Charleston in 2017 (sorry folks, but there have been more fans at CAA Tournament games in Charleston than Baltimore), I got to see the Pride lose a first round Pillow Fight game to Delaware.  

During the Christmas holidays, my family travels back up to Long Island to see family and friends.   This allows me to go to a Hofstra game (and even other college basketball games when the schedule allows), see old friends there and relive all the fun I had over eleven years of regular home games at The Mack.  This holiday break was no exception as it allowed my color analyst, aka my older son Matthew and me to see the Pride play an old America East rival, the Fighting Blue Hens of Delaware the last Friday night in December in Hempstead.

After starting the season 3-3, the Pride were in the midst of a seven game win streak and offered up premium game tickets for $7.77.  I went online, got two tickets and we went to The Mack.  

May I digress for a minute?   

I love college basketball, whether it's men's or women's college basketball.  And now living in Columbia, I have had both season tickets to University of South Carolina Men's and Women's college basketball.  Due to travel baseball commitments, I have only kept my USC Women's tickets (and when you live in Columbia, the University of South Carolina IS USC).  

As much as I like watching basketball games in the Colonial Life Arena and I have very good season ticket seats for the women's team, there is nothing like having great season tickets in a 5000 seat mid major arena of your alma mater.    And for eleven years, it wasn't just having terrific seats often watching a lot of good games (and I saw my share when the Pride were in their 2004-2007 heyday).  It was also seeing all your friends, sharing laughs and funny comments.  

It wasn't just a game at The Mack, it was a night on the town, an experience.  That's what made the Hofstra games even more special.  I greatly miss that. 

After saying hi to some long time Hofstra folks, we went to our seats, which was in the same section and not far from my season tickets, section 111, Row D.  I immediately found out that two longtime friends that I knew when they were Hofstra Law students, Michael and Kari Langer, had season tickets right in front of my longtime season tickets.  Michael and Kari came down to say hi while I was saying hi to my good friends Jaden Daly and Bob Sugar.    Michael had a few extra seats in his section and he kindly offered them to me so I could sit near Tieff.  We happily accepted.  

The Mack has undergone some significant changes in the past year.  Gone is the above the court scoreboard.  In its place are two significantly large HD digital scoreboards on our side of the court and two smaller HD digital scoreboards on the other side.  It takes a little while getting used to turning your head on our side to see the large scoreboards.  But it's a significant improvement over the old scoreboard that was a good eighteen years old. 

Even though Hofstra came in on a seven game winning streak and Delaware had just lost to a very bad Delaware State team, you never know what happens in #CAAHoops, especially the first conference game of the season.  Delaware entered the game 8-5.  The Blue Hens had also played two teams Hofstra played; Maryland and Stony Brook.  They lost two close games to the Terrapins and the Seawolves, while Hofstra split with those two teams, losing to Maryland after having an early second half lead and they won at Stony Brook 71-64.  

As noted, Hofstra came into the game versus Delaware on a seven game win streak with a twenty point average margin of victory.   But outside of the solid road win over a now 10-3 Stony Brook that has won road games over South Carolina, Rhode Island and Northern Iowa, Hofstra has not faced any real challenges in their win streak.    Their three losses on the season were all on the road to a Marshall team that made the third round of the NCAA Tournament last season, Maryland and VCU in overtime.  Three teams that are now a combined 26-12.  In each game, Hofstra had a lead in the second half.  So the Pride had played well but now came their first conference test.

Delaware won the tipoff and Eric Carter, likely Delaware's best player, made a layup to give the Blue Hens an early 2-0 lead.

It was their only lead of the game.

Eli Pemberton quickly tied the game with a jumper.  It was the start of a 10-0 Pride run, capped by, what else, a Justin Wright-Foreman three pointer.  Delaware would get another layup to cut the lead to six, 10-4.  It was the closest the Fighting Blue Hens would get the rest of the way.  The score was 18-10 Hofstra with a little over eleven and a half minutes remaining in the first half.  

Over the next eleven plus minutes the Pride would go on a 28-5 run.  

Yes, 28-5.  

During those eleven plus minutes, the 1500 in attendance were treated to a dominating performance on both sides of the court.  The Pride moved the ball around on offense and seemingly buried every open shot.   At one point during the run, they made eight of ten shots from the field.   The Pride would finish the first half up 48-18.  They shot 17 of 27 from the field in the first half and 6 of 10 from beyond the arc.  They topped it by going 8 of 9 from the charity stripe.

Meanwhile, Hofstra limited Delaware to 7 of 30 from the field in the first half, including 2 of 13 from beyond the arc.   Makes sense that Hofstra is first in #CAAHoops in Three Point Field Goal Percentage Defense.

After Joe Geyer was kind enough to give Matt, Tieff and I halftime passes to the Hofstra lounge to eat brownies, the second half was really no different as Hofstra extended their lead further, winning the game by FORTY FIVE points, 91-46.  The Fighting Blue Hens only shot 26% from the field and 21% from beyond the arc.  The win became even more impressive after Delaware won their next two games, a road win at Northeastern and a home win over William and Mary, two teams that were picked to finish in the top four of the CAA.

What the stats don't show is how well Hofstra moves the ball on offense.  They also have four deadly shooters in the starting lineup; Wright-Foreman, the reigning 2018 CAA Player of the Year, Pemberton, point guard Desure Buie and transfer newcomer Tareq Coburn.    Throw in Jalen Ray off the bench and you had 75 of their 91 points on the game, including shooting 12 of 18 from beyond the arc.

However, Hofstra has never really had a problem with offense under Coach Joe Mihalich.  Since the 2014-15 season, Hofstra has finished no lower than third in scoring offense in the CAA.  Currently, Hofstra is first in scoring offense, averaging over 82 points per game and first in field goal percentage at 49.1%. 

  

The Achilles Heel has always been defense with the Pride.  Since Coach Mihalich has taken over the team, Hofstra has finished no higher than seventh in the CAA in scoring defense.  Each year, they have given up on average over seventy points per game.  In the last two seasons, the Pride have given up 77 points per game.  Even in the 2015-16 season when they finished first in the regular season, Hofstra gave up 73.7 points per game. 

This year, Hofstra has given up an average of only 66.8 points per game, a difference of over 10 points per game.  The difference?   A much more aggressive defense.  The Pride are second in the CAA in steals at 6.9 per game, as opposed to 5.0 last year.  Hofstra also leads in Three Point Field Goal Percentage Defense at 30.7% per game as opposed to 36.3% last year.  

What the stats don't show and my eye test last Friday night showed was Hofstra playing a much more aggressive zone defense, getting out and contesting shooters much more than they have in the past.  They also really hustle on loose balls and have done a lot better on winning 50-50 balls. Coburn in particular really works hard on the defensive end.  Six foot 10 graduate transfer Jaquil Taylor has also given the Pride a shot blocking presence. He's second in the CAA in blocks at 1.4 blocks per game.  He contests a lot of shots, forcing a lot of misses in the paint, he really moves his feet well on defense and gets his share of rebounds (he had 12 against Delaware).  Carter, who leads Delaware in scoring at 18.2 points per game, got into early foul trouble playing against Taylor and was limited to seven points in the contest.

It was amazing during the game as often I would turn to Tieff or Defiantly Dutch, Jerry Beach, when I was sitting with him and say "Who is this Hofstra team?!"  I was finally seeing a complete Hofstra team.  The team that limited Stony Brook to 64 points on the road. The team that won at Manhattan 80-50.   It was real.

The Pride would win their other game against Drexel in similar fashion on Sunday. They roared out to a 47-27 halftime lead, holding the Dragons to 1 of 9 from beyond the arc in the first half.  Drexel would have much stronger second half, shooting 51% from the field in the half and cut the lead to six, 70-64.  But Hofstra would outscore Drexel 19-11 the rest of the way and win 89-75.  

Hofstra is now on a nine game win streak and a chance for ten in a row today.  But it won't be easy as they play pre-season favorite Northeastern at The Mack.  The Huskies have struggled due to injuries starting out 7-7 on the year.  But they are deep and talented with Vasa Pusica, Jordan Rowland, Shawn Occeus and Donnell Grisham Jr.   It's a critical game for Hofstra to win, plus they need to hold onto the Barone Bowl (sorry Mike Brodsky! ).

Even with Hofstra's terrific start, the College of Charleston, the defending CAA Champions loom large again.  They have actually top the Pride's winning streak as the Cougars have won 10 games in a row.  They even have a big road win over VCU, a team that Hofstra barely lost to in OT.  Charleston has wins over UAB, Memphis and Rhode Island.   With Grant Riller and Jarrell Brantley, the Cougars have an elite 1-2 punch.   They are still the team to beat but this Hofstra team may be the Cougars' best challenger in the CAA.

With half of their rotation - Wright-Foreman, Buie, Taylor and reserve forward Dan Dwyer all seniors and after last season's third place regular season team lost a disappointing quarterfinal game to UNCW (the Teal again!), the Pride know their window to succeed is closing.   With an elite offense and a much better defense, Hofstra knows this is their best chance to finally break the eighteen year glass ceiling and make the NCAA Tournament.

I can tell you this team has me excited.  For the first time in a few years, I have got tickets to see a regular season Hofstra road game at Elon next Saturday evening.  And depending on my schedule, I hope to see them at UNCW and at the final CAAHoops tournament at North Charleston for at least the next few years.  Next year, the CAA Tournament will be in Washington, DC.  

For a long time fan of my alma mater, there's excitement again about the Pride.  However, I know how fleeting college basketball success can be.   

For Hofstra, the time is now. 

Eight Point Halftime Leads Are Never Safe on CAAHoops Pillow Fight Friday (Recap of CAA Tournament Friday Games).

Friday night was my first time at North Charleston Coliseum.   Despite having lived in Columbia, South Carolina for four and half years, I never had an opportunity to see an event at that venue until the chance came to see my tenth CAA Tournament, which was being hosted at the North Charleston Coliseum this weekend.

I can tell you that parking was a breeze, perhaps partly due to three northern CAA teams playing in Charleston on a Friday night.   But I can also tell you, the North Charleston Coliseum is a much better venue than the Richmond Coliseum, home to the CAA Tournament for years.  It was nice not to have to wear two sweatshirts at my seat for a CAA Tournament game.

Going into last night's two CAA Tournament Play In Games, you had two teams, Hofstra and James Madison, who had swept their respective opponents, Delaware and Drexel.  Even though the seeds were relatively close, it stood to reason that the tournament games would play to regular season form.

But that's what makes college basketball conference tournament play so special; the unexpected.   There's a reason why it's called "March Madness".  And we got that last night in front of what was a sparse crowd of 1889 on what's known to CAAHoops fans as "Pillow Fight Friday".

In the first game, #8 Hofstra took on #9 Delaware.  The Pride had won both games against the Blue Hens, but both were close games; two points at the BOB (the Bob Carpenter Center) and eight points at David Mack Arena.  Neither game was particularly high scoring.  Hofstra won the first game 58-56 and won the second game 73-65.  We should have known we were in for a different style game.

The Pride wasted no time taking an early 6-0 lead thanks to good ball movement, a couple of nice outlet passes by Rokas Gustys and two drained threes by Deron Powers and Eli Pemberton.  The Blue Hens would answer with eight straight points, a three pointer by Ryan Daly, an old fashioned three point play by Darian Bryant off an assist from Daly and a layup by Daly.    Daly shredded Hofstra with seventeen first half points.

Both teams would have no problem scoring as Hofstra took a 26-25 lead at the under eight media timeout,   The kicker was Hofstra's leading scorer, Justin Wright-Foreman had been held scoreless for the first thirteen and half minutes of the game.  After the Blue Hens took a 27-26 lead, Wright-Foreman would awaken with a vengeance, as two of his threes started a 12-2 run and the Pride would take a 39-29 lead.    The score would eventually be 47-39 Hofstra at the half.

But in the second half, Delaware's offense turned it up a notch, or perhaps several.  They would shoot SIXTY FIVE percent in the second half, mostly due to working the ball inside the paint (the Blue Hens only attempted two three pointers in the second half, hitting both).  The Blue Hens quickly pecked away at the lead, tying the game at fifty four on a Daly three pointer.  Delaware would finally take the lead, 65-62 on a three point play by Eric Carter with eight and a half minutes left.

Hofstra would answer regain the lead twice, the latest on a Deron Powers jumper that put the Pride up 72-71 with 4:24 left.  But that man Daly, who had twenty seven points and eleven rebounds on the night, would give the Blue Hens back the lead on a jumper.  A Daly free throw on a later possession would give Delaware a 74-72 lead.   Gustys would be fouled while hitting a layup to tie the game at 74 with 2:38 left.  But Gustys would miss the potential go ahead foul shot and the game would remained tied.  From there, Delaware outscored Hofstra 7-2 the rest of the way.  Hofstra had a chance to tie on a three point attempt by Powers with nine seconds left, but it was short.  Delaware had pulled off the comeback, winning 81-76.  Delaware now plays #1 seed UNCW at noon today.

For Hofstra, it was a fitting end to a very disappointing season.  For the twentieth time this season, Hofstra gave up more than seventy five points.  Their record in those games - 5-15.   When they give up less than seventy five points, 10-2.  Simply put, you cannot win if you cannot play defense.

In the second game,  #7 James Madison took on #10 Drexel.  It was as if both teams decided that they had seen enough offense in the first game and they wanted to kick it #CAAHoops old school, with the Dragons playing Bruiser Flint Drexel and James Madison playing a Ron Hunter led Georgia State squad in a seemingly low scoring affair.

To say the first half was a grind it out, CAAHoops rock fight was an understatement.   Each team's first possession resulted in an offensive foul.   Then both teams couldn't complete a pass, let alone take a shot that couldn't hit the side of a barn.    At the under 16 media, it was 4-2 Drexel.  At the under 12 media, it was 9-2 Drexel.

James Madison finally scored some points and at the under eight media, it was 19-10 Drexel.   The Dukes made a run and cut the deficit to two points, 25-23 on a jumper by Joey McLean.  Then after an offensive foul on Ramone Snowden, JMU coach Louis Rowe lost it and received a double technical foul.  Rowe was ejected from the game and suspended for the team's next game (which, spoiler alert, will be later today).   Drexel's Kari Jonsson would hit all four technical free throws to give Drexel a 29-23 lead.  Eventually, the Dragons would go up eight, 33-25 at the half.

So here we had our second eight point halftime lead of the night.   And just like the first game, the lead would disappear quickly.   Perhaps Coach Rowe should get ejected more often, because JMU came out like a house on fire after halftime.   The Dukes would go on an incredible 32-7 run over the first nine minutes of the second half, moving the ball around quickly and burying shot after shot, as the Dukes got balanced scoring.   James Madison nearly shot as well as Delaware did over the last twenty minutes of their game, shooting sixty two percent from the field.

After scoring only two points in the first eight and half minutes of the game, the Dukes scored SEVENTY EIGHT points over the final thirty one and a half minutes to win the game 80-70.  Five JMU players scored in double figures, led by Jackson Kent's twenty points. With the win, JMU plays College of Charleston at 6;00 PM today.

Two eight point halftime leads went up in smoke thanks to strong second half shooting.   Proof that once again, no lead is safe in March.

Certainly not in the CAA.

CAA Tournament - Lovely To See You Again My Friend

When Hofstra moved to the Colonial Athletic Association starting in the 2001-02 season, the first CAAHoops tournament the Pride was in down in Richmond, I was sitting at home in Seaford, NY, listening to the games on WRHU radio.  Chelle and I were renting an apartment on the side of a house from my brother's long time friend Tom Graziose.

The 2001-02 Hofstra season was somewhat similar to the 2016-17 Hofstra season.  The Pride started out the season 4-2, including a win over an eventual Elite Eight team in Kent State.  Then the wheels came off the car, as Hofstra would lose sixteen of their next twenty one games, including their last seven regular season games in conference (Hofstra would start 9-5 this season before a rough stretch in CAA conference play).

Yet in the 2002 CAA Tournament, the #10 seed Hofstra remembered that it had some talent with Rick Apodaca, Danny Walker and others.   They pummeled the #7 seed Towson 72-52 in the first round play in game.  Then in a quarterfinal against Jerry Beach's all time favorite coach, Jim Larranaga, and #2 seed George Mason, the Pride pulled off a huge upset and knocked out a Patriots team that had won thirteen conference games, defeating them 82-76.  Hofstra would lose their semifinal game to VCU 70-54.

It would turn out to be only one of two times from 2002 to 2012 that I didn't attend the CAA Tournament in Richmond.  Starting in 2003, I would attend nine of the next ten CAA Tournaments. There are so many memories, including spending my last CAA Tournament on press row.  From the first tournament in 2003, seeing Woody Souffrant play the game of his life for Hofstra in a quarterfinal loss to eventual CAA champion UNCW, to the 2006 tournament where Hofstra proved it was the better team than George Mason in the CAA Semifinals, despite an underhanded punch to the groin by Tony Skinn, to the 2012 tournament and seeing George Mason nearly coming back from an early 32-4 deficit vs. VCU, the CAA Tournament always provided a signature moment with this college basketball fan.  You'll see pictures from several CAA Tournaments I have attended sprinkled throughout this blog post.

Then in the beginning of August 2012, I accepted a position with the University of South Carolina School of Law.  I would move down to Columbia, South Carolina in the middle of August and the rest of my family would join me six months later after we sold our house in North Bellmore, New York.    In February 2013, I would get involved in Little League down here, head coaching one team and assistant coaching another team, before eventually joining the Trenholm Little League Board.   As a result, I would not attend the last four CAA tournaments in Richmond and Baltimore respectively.

Then a funny thing happened.   Realizing that Baltimore was not drawing respectable size crowds (the 2016 championship game drew only 3000 fans), despite being a midway point between the farthest northern point in the conference - Boston - Northeastern, and the farthest southern point in the conference - Charleston - College of Charleston, CAA officials decided to go to where the crowds in #CAAHoops are (UNCW and CofC are the #1 and #2 teams in home attendance) and agreed to play in North Charleston Coliseum for the next few seasons.

So yes, despite North Charleston Coliseum being a "neutral site", College of Charleston will have a hometown advantage.  But at least it's a fifteen minute drive or bus ride from George Street to the North Charleston Coliseum, unlike the seven minute walk from VCU to the Richmond Coliseum, another #CAAHoops "neutral site".

So what will the CAA Tournament be like this year.  UNCW is the favorite, having finished first in the regular season with a 15-3 record, just like they did in the 2002-03 season.  College of Charleston is the #2 seed, having finished with a 14-4 record.   Both teams should bring a good number of fans and you figure the North Charleston Coliseum, which seats a little over 13,000, should be at least half full, which is a lot better than the 3000 attendance figure for the 2016 CAA Championship game between UNCW and Hofstra in Baltimore.

As I look at the matchups, the play in games favor the higher seeds.  #7 James Madison swept #10 Drexel during the regular season, as did #8 Hofstra against #9 Delaware.    If both of those games go to form, which they should, JMU will play #2 CofC and Hofstra will play UNCW in the second round.  CofC swept JMU, though the game at Harrisonburg was decided by only two points.  Meanwhile, the Seahawks swept the Pride, but both were close games throughout, with UNCW winning both by single digits.

I think the best chance for an upset is in the quarterfinals where #3 Towson split the regular season series with #6 Northeastern and John Davis, who will be missing the CAA tournament due to a truly sad incident while visiting his family in Philadelphia, played in both those games.   The most entertaining matchup will be #5 Elon vs. #4 William and Mary, as both teams can put up points (William and Mary is second in CAA in scoring offense at 81.7 points per game, while Elon is fourth at 75.4 points per game).

Honestly, I think UNCW has a very hard road to repeating as champion.   They will likely get Hofstra in the quarterfinal round, which is a rematch of the 2016 CAA Tournament Championship, won by UNCW in overtime.  UNCW won both games this season, but both were close games as UNCW won each game by single digits,  In their 84-76 home win, UNCW was only up by three, 75-72 with less than a minute left before C.J. Bryce hit a three pointer to put the game away.   In UNCW's road win over Hofstra, the Seahawks were only up one point, 77-76 with forty two seconds left before scoring the final six points in an 83-76 win.

Hofstra matches up very well for one main reason.  The Pride are third in the CAA in turnovers per game, only behind UNCW and Charleston, only averaging 10.8 turnovers per game.   Given Hofstra is second in the CAA in scoring, scoring 77.3 points per game, again only behind UNCW, the two games with UNCW have been predictably high scoring.

So here are my predictions.  In the Pillow Fight play in games on Friday, JMU takes down Drexel, Hofstra defeats Delaware.   In the Quarterfinals on Saturday, the afternoon session will see two exciting high scoring games.  UNCW barely holds off Hofstra, though I would not be surprised if Hofstra won that game.  In the other afternoon session quarterfinal, Elon squeaks by William and Mary.   In the evening session quarterfinals, College of Charleston handles James Madison, while Northeastern pulls off the upset against Towson.

In the semifinals, UNCW downs Elon in another high scoring game while College of Charleston ends Northeastern's run in the other semifinal.  In the final, I like College of Charleston, because a) they play excellent defense and b) the Cougars do not turn the ball over, which is what UNCW predicates their play on to win games, which they have done so well this season.  But the Cougars keep the mistakes at a minimum and CofC wins in a relatively low scoring affair in the high sixties, low seventies.

No matter what happens, it should be a lot of fun. It will be my tenth CAA Tournament.  My color analyst, aka my older son Matthew, my good friend Tieff and I will be in Section 113, Row A, seats 1-3.  Come visit us starting tomorrow night at 6:00 PM as Hofstra takes on Delaware.

March Madness.  Nothing like it and nothing like being back at the CAA Tournament.

CAAHoops - Lovely to see you again, my friend.

St Bonaventure Rallies Late and Defeats Hofstra 81-75

Last night in Hempstead, St Bonaventure, down four points, 72-68 with 5:15 left, outscored Hofstra 13-3 the rest of the way to win the game 81-75.  The Bonnies' win broke a three game winning streak for the Pride, while the Bonnies won their fifth game in the row.  It also avenged a home loss last season to the Pride up in Oleana, New York.

We're going to do a new segment here breaking down games on the College Hardwood.   It's called "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly".

The Good - For St. Bonaventure, the dynamic duo of Jaylen Adams (31 points) and Matt Mobley (23 points) combined for fifty four points, twenty rebounds and shot seven of thirteen from beyond the arc.  This is a nightly occurrence for the two players, who both average over twenty points per game.  The Bonnies also out-rebounded the Pride 32-22.

For Hofstra, it was the return of Rokas Gustys' offensive game.  Gustys just missed a double double with twenty points and nine rebounds on nine of fourteen shooting from the field.  It was the most field goal attempts he had all season and only the third time this season where he had ten or more field goal attempts.   For someone who shot sixty six percent from the field last season and fifty one percent this season, that's just simply not enough field goal attempts for the big man.

Other than Gustys, freshman Eli Pemberton continues to impress, scoring fifteen points, his eighth double figure scoring game of the season.  Deron Powers had six assists and only two turnovers.  Also, Hofstra did a good job in the second half on defense, holding St Bonaventure to thirty three points and forcing sixteen turnovers the whole game.   However, see "The Ugly".

The Bad - For St Bonaventure, sixteen turnovers, compared to Hofstra only having eight, eliminated any advantage they had on the boards.  Consequently the Pride had seven more field goal attempts.  The Bonnies also had significant foul trouble last night with three players having four fouls, including their two starting front court players, Denzel Gregg and Josh Ayeni,  Fortunately, David Andoh gave St. Bonaventure good minutes off the bench, plus eleven points and five rebounds, along with the two starting guards Mobley and Adams combining for twenty boards.

For Hofstra, where to begin.  First, any time your assist-to-turnover ratio is 2-1 on the night, seventeen assists to eight turnovers, you should win the game.  Alas, the Pride went scoreless over the last five minutes and fifteen seconds of the game to negate that.

And it was easy to see why.  Shot selection. After Ty Greer's tip in made it 72-68 Hofstra with 5:15 left, the Pride were one of ten from the field to end the game.   Their next three shots were three point attempts, with Bernardi hitting one of them.  After that, it was either Deron Powers throwing up bad layup attempts (3 of 13 from the field) or the Pride taking three point attempts or outside jumpers.

After Rokas Gustys scored on a tip in with 6:44 left in the game, he touched the ball on offense only once the rest of the game, getting fouled on a put back attempt with less than a minute left in the game.  He missed both free throws, more on that later, but that's not the point.

This was eerily similar to the 2016 CAA Championship Game between Hofstra and UNCW.  In that game, with 12:30 left, Gustys made a layup to put Hofstra up 56-48.  It was his eighth field goal in only ten attempts at the time.  It was also his last field goal attempt of the second half and he didn't even get fouled and go to the foul line those last twelve and half minutes!  To me, that was the main reason why Hofstra lost in overtime to UNCW (Gustys would hit his only field goal attempt in overtime to finish with eighteen points in the championship game).

To be perfectly blunt, if you cannot get the ball to your leading scorer, a fifty percent plus field goal shooter, in the last six plus minutes of a close game, you deserve to lose.

The Ugly -  For the seventh time in ten games, Hofstra gave up eighty or more points.  It looked like it was going to be another ninety points plus allowed, as St. Bonaventure had forty eight at the half. Amazingly in these seven games, they are 3-4.  But given their record, that also means they are undefeated, 3-0, when they give up less than eighty points.  Simply put, you cannot win consistently night in and night out when seventy percent of the time you are giving up eighty plus points per game.

As aforementioned, I've been saying how Hofstra must get the ball in the hands of Gustys more.  Consequently, he needs to shoot MUCH better from the free throw line.   He has been simply awful, shooting eighteen percent from the charity stripe this season compared to forty three percent last season.  Gustys needs to get to at least shooting fifty percent from the line, otherwise he won't get the ball more down the stretch. 

St Bonaventure will give #CAAHoops folks a chance to compare the two teams from the 2016 CAA championship game, as they next host UNCW on Saturday.  As for Hofstra, they get Kentucky in the Barclays Center on Sunday.  

Back to Where It All Begins

Ten years and two days ago, my dear friend Tony Terentieff, known on this blog as Tieff, was driving another dear friend Mal Galletta, now head coach of the St John's University golf team, and I home from Richmond, Virginia.   We had just seen Hofstra rally from a halftime deficit to convincingly defeat George Mason in the 2006 CAA Semifinals.   The Pride had won their previous game in the quarterfinals against VCU basically on the Rams home court of the Richmond Coliseum.

Charles Jenkins FT - Feb 15, 2011

We were riding home, convinced that we had seen Hofstra, the alma mater of Tieff and I, at least get in the NCAA tournament as an at large.  They had a terrific RPI, a 14-4 conference record and swept the Patriots, another team in contention for an at large bid and once nationally ranked in the polls.   We couldn't stay for the CAA Tournament championship due to Tieff having an important meeting that Monday.

For those of you who follow college basketball religiously like I do, you know what happened.   Despite a heroic comeback by Hofstra after being down 23 points to come within 3 points late,  UNC Wilmington held on for the 78-67 victory and the CAA championship.   Hofstra was forced to wait to watch their fate on Selection Sunday.  And we all know what happened...

George Mason got an at large bid and ended up going to the Final Four.   Hofstra got snubbed and went to the NIT, winning two games there before losing to fellow CAA conference rival ODU in the NIT Quarterfinals.

That 2005-06 season was also the College Hardwood blog's first season of covering college basketball.  The site had a different name back then and it's evolved over the years.  Amazing that it is ten plus years later.  It was a terrific first season, albeit it had a bittersweet ending as far as being a Hofstra fan.

Matt with Hofstra Pride Club T-Shirt

The next season, 2006-07 was supposed to be OUR season.  The Pride were favored to win the CAA with Lethal Weapon 3, the superstar guard trio of Loren Stokes, Antoine Agudio and Carlos Rivera leading the way to the championship.  

It never materialized as Tom Pecora never recruited a frontcourt to replace Adrian Uter and Aurimas Kieza, two key players on that 2005-06 team.   The season basically ended again on the Richmond Coliseum court, being unceremoniously knocked off by, who else, George Mason, in the CAA Quarterfinals 64-61, basically three weeks after knocking off the Patriots on their home court.

We were there again for that tournament and sat near the Hofstra basket for that quarterfinal game.  We watched Hofstra roar back from a fifteen point halftime deficit to cut the lead to three and had a chance to tie, only to see Greg Johnson vaper lock and try to drive in for a layup.  Somehow George Mason vaperlocked too and two Patriots' players went after Johnson.  We waited for the kickout to an open Hofstra player on the wing.  It never happened as Johnson actually TRIED hitting a layup and missed.

BracketBuster Game vs. Wright State - Feb 2011

Unlike the year before, where we had an ecstatic ride home, we drove home stunned, knowing there was again only the NIT bid.  For two Hofstra graduates, two long time Dutchmen basketball season ticket holders, it was the ultimate punch in the gut.  For me, 2007 actually hurt more than 2006.  Unlike 2006, where Hofstra seemingly had a chance to make the Tournament, but never truly was the favorite during the season, in 2007 Hofstra was the team favored to win the CAA.   2007 was supposed to be OUR time.

It turns out it would be another ten years before it was truly a chance to be our time again.

The man, the myth, the ultimate Hofstra fan, Defiantly Dutch,  poignantly wrote early this morning this paragraph on his terrific blog post "Tonight is What It Means To Be Young".

If we’re being honest, the only time in life it’s probably acceptable to invest any sort of self-identity in a college sports team is those four or five or six years we’re actually in college. Those are the years where the players are our peers, in which we attend class with them, eat lunch next to them in the cafeteria and throw back beers with them at the bars near campus.

And Dutch nailed that for the most part.   Unless you're someone who ended up working at his alma mater right after graduation for nearly a quarter of a century.  Someone like me.

Hofstra Winning at Drexel - January 2011

When I graduated with a computer science degree back in May 1988, I didn't plan that I would end up working at Hofstra for such a long time.   It just worked out that way.  An opening for a systems manager position at Axinn Library, where I had been a student assistant, led to my first full time job.  Nearly five years later, a director of IT position at the now Maurice A. Deane School of Law would continue my long standing relationship with Hempstead, New York.   I would later become an Assistant Dean there, proof positive that anyone can become an Assistant Dean.

For twenty eight straight years, four as an undergraduate student, twenty four as an administrator, Hofstra was my home.  I met my wife of nearly twenty years, Michelle, my first day at the School of Law.  Just about all my friends are directly or indirectly through Hofstra.

Along the way, I became a passionate supporter of Hofstra Men's basketball.  I was there in 2001 when the Dutchmen cut the nets for their second straight automatic NCAA Tournament bid in the America East, their last season in the conference.   And for the past 15 years, I have been a Hofstra season ticket holder, even after I moved down to South Carolina (more on that in a second).

Defiantly Dutch w "Hostra" Ticket

I've seen my share of lows and highs with the Dutchmen/Pride.   I've had so much fun on so many different road trips, trips for Delaware barbecue (Delaware played "Hostra" that day), a Bracketbuster trip to Wright State,  You always celebrated a win with a DQ blizzard!

And there were so many crazy games.  There was the 2010 blizzard game against Drexel where there were more 3.0 scholar athletes in attendance than the rest of the fans. And finally, one of the best birthday presents I ever got, an overtime win on my birthday, courtesy of The Wolf, Charles Jenkins.  That game was the beginning of my older son Matthew's love of basketball.

There were so many #CAAHoops Tournament road trips to Richmond, nine in total.  In fact, there was one  #CAAHoops road trip which I did with that crazy Defiantly Dutch fellow, the only one that I ever covered from press row (experience of a lifetime).  

Hofstra vs. ODU - 2011 CAA Semifinals

But you can't be a Hofstra fan without your share of heartache.  And there was so much heartache in the CAA tournaments.  As mentioned, 2006 and 2007 come to mind.  There's also 2010 with Hofstra blowing a late lead and losing to Northeastern in the quarterfinals.  Oh yeah, the last second loss in 2009 to ODU in the CAA Quarterfinals, the only CAA tournament I didn't go to in the span of ten years, due to my younger son's surgery.   And 2011 was tough too, because it was the last tournament with The Wolf.




March 2012 was the last time that I was in attendance for a CAAHoops Tournament.   During the summer of 2012, I accepted my current position as Assistant Dean for Academic Technology for the University of South Carolina School of Law.   I moved down to Columbia, South Carolina in August 2012.

Matthew pitching Sunday in USSSA Travel Ball Tourney

Since then, my life has changed radically, albeit for the better.  Since he was two years old, Matthew has loved baseball and thank goodness for him, he has a lot more talent than his equally baseball loving father ever had.   I've been fortunate to coach him and his younger brother Jonathan these past few years.
Baseball just happens to start in February in South Carolina and the fall season runs through November.  I've become very involved in our local little league down here, Trenholm Little League and currently, I am the league president.  In the span of barely three years, I have countless memories of the games and experiences of my two sons.

Gustys layup  as Hofstra defeats Sacred Heart

With all the responsibilities of being a league board member and a coach for ten months of the year, other than my full time work responsibilities, I don't have time for other things.  Thus my college basketball writing has been little to non-existent.   I find time when I can to cover basketball, like when I was in NY for the holidays for the "Jordan Allen Invitational", where the Pride didn't look anything like the eventual 2015-16 CAA Regular Season Champions.

So when the CAA Tournament started this weekend with Hofstra as the #1 seed, unlike years prior, where I would have a prime seat at Richmond Coliseum for three days straight, I was in a ballpark in West Columbia, South Carolina with Matthew and ten of his equally talented and wonderful teammates.

Thus I never got to see any of Hofstra's quarterfinal win on Saturday as I was in a dugout keeping score in our second win of the day, a 10-2 victory.  But I was literally wearing Hofstra on my sleeve, as underneath my Columbia Thunder travel ball coach's shirt, I was wearing my long sleeve Hofstra basketball shirt.

The combination had brought us such good luck that I wore the same combination, albeit after a washing, yesterday.   Matthew started at pitcher in our third game of the tournament.  Playing one of the better AA teams in the state, Matthew only gave up two runs on two hits in three innings, struck out three with one walk.  We would eventually win the game 6-5.

Since we had a long break before our championship game, we were able to go home and watch a good part of the William and Mary/Hofstra CAA Semifinal game on NBCSN.   It was like being in the stands, screaming happily at times, other times yelling angrily when the Pride failed to cover an open Tribe shooter.

But we had to leave for the ballpark with the Pride trailing by two.  On the twenty minute drive there, I had the phone mounted on the dashboard with the ESPN play by play gamecast on my screen.   I gave Matthew updates as we got close to the field.  Then Koon gave the Pride a 69-67 lead.  As I parked the CRV, the final came across.  Hofstra won 70-67.  Matthew and I high fived and then went to our game.

Hofstra wasn't the only team that won yesterday.  We won our championship game 8-3.  It was our second tournament title of the Fall 2015-Spring 2016 10U AA season.  It's a wonderful group of players, all of them from our Trenholm Little League and the core of them have played together since their District 3 winning Coach Pitch Baseball All Star team back in Spring 2014.

I have never been to a #CAAHoops championship game.  All those years I went to the CAA Tournament, I never stuck around till Monday.   So when Defiantly Dutch asked me today if I was coming up to Baltimore, I told him that I couldn't.  Too much going on here.   But I will be my home in Forest Acres at 7:00 PM, wearing my Hofstra basketball long sleeve shirt underneath my Columbia Thunder coach shirt.   I have learned if it ain't broke, don't change a thing.

Next year, the CAA Tournament comes to my neck of the woods, Charleston, which is 90 minutes way from me.  Guaranteed I will be there for that tournament and likely the championship.  But that's then, this is now.  .

We're "Back to Where It All Begins". Back to when the College Hardwood first started.  Back to Pride vs. Seahawks for the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  Figures the only two times Hofstra has been in the finals, UNCW has stood in the way.

May this time be a different, happier ending for the Pride. The Pride owe the Seahawks one.  As Moonlight Graham so eloquently said in Field of Dreams "Win one for me, boys".

GO HOFSTRA!

2015-16 Hofstra Pride Preview - It's All About The Frontcourt

Coming off a 20-15 season, their first winning season since the 2010-11 season, the Hofstra Pride under head coach Joe Mihalich are the fashionable pick to win the CAA and head to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001.  They are lead by one of the best returning guard trios in the country; Juan'ya Green, Ameen Tanksley and Brian Bernardi.  The Pride are the most talented, experienced group returning to #CAAHoops this season after Northeastern and William and Mary, the 2014-15 CAA champion and the CAA runnerup respectively lost key players to graduation.

Does that sound familiar? It should.

The 2006-07 Hofstra Pride were picked to finish first in the CAA that season.  The Pride were coming off a terrific 2005-06 season where they went 26-7 and reached the CAA Tournament Finals.  Despite beating George Mason in both their matchups, including a resounding 58-49 defeat of the Patriots in the CAA Tournament semifinals, the Pride were snubbed from the CAA Tournament.  Undaunted, the Pride knocked off Nebraska and St Joseph's in the NIT Tournament before losing to fellow CAA member Old Dominion in the NIT Quarterfinals.

It made sense that the 2006-07 Pride would be the CAA favorites the following season. They were also returning their star guard trio of Loren Stokes, Antoine Agudio and Carlos Rivera.  UNC Wilmington, George Mason and Old Dominion, the other top three teams from the season before, also lost key players to graduation.  It seemed to be Hofstra's time.

It wasn't.  Hofstra stumbled out of the game in the 2006-07 season, losing their first three games. Though the Pride would finish third in the CAA in the regular season, they would lose in the CAA Tournament Quarterfinals to none other than George Mason.   Hofstra made the NIT again, but lost by 12 points at DePaul finishing the season with a disappointing 22-10 record.

So why did the 2006-07 Pride not live up to the billing despite Stokes, Agudio and Rivera combining for nearly 54 points per game and the team shooting 45 percent from the field?

The answer was the frontcourt.

In 2005-06, the Pride were more than just Stokes, Agudio and Rivera.  Starting Senior forwards Adrian Uter and Auremis Kieza by themselves combined to average 20 points and 15 rebounds per game.

In 2006-07, Chris Gadley, Zygas Sestokas, Arminas Urbutis and Mike Davis Sabb, the entire Hofstra forward rotation that were reserves the previous season (and combined to average 5 points and 6 rebounds per game in 2005-06), combined to average 17 points and 15 rebounds per game.

So in total, the 2006-07 frontcourt averaged eight less points and six less rebounds per game than the season before. It showed on scoring defense. The 2006-07 Pride gave up 2.6 more points per game, 69.8 in 2006-07 than they did in 2005-06, 67.2, even though their scoring offense was basically the same as the season before (73.1 in 2006-07, 72.9 in 2005-06).  Their rebounding margin in 2005-06 was +2.1.  In 2006-07, it was - 0.7.  Both categories were the difference in several games.

The 2014-15 Pride's leading scorers were Green, Tanksley and Bernardi. They combined to average 45 points and 13 rebounds per game.  They also combined to hit 230 three pointers.  That's not a misprint.  Two Hundred and Thirty.  Ridiculous.

But the 2014-15 Pride were much more than that trio.  Two now graduated key members were the fourth and fifth leading scorers, Dion Nesmith and Moussa Kone, who combined to average 20 points and nine rebounds per game.

Again, sounds pretty familiar, right.

The difference between this upcoming season and the 2006-07 season though might be that there is more scoring and rebounding ability in this team with returning players Malik Nichols and Rokas Gustys.  Nichols and Gustys combined to average 11 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, while each player averaged only about 17 minutes per game. The pride also have another guard returning, Jamall Robinson, a six foot five junior, who averaged 4 points and 2 rebounds per game in seventeen minutes per game.

Throw into the mix a returning six foot ten Andre Walker, who averaged double digit minutes in 7 of the first 9 games last season before being relegated to the bench.  Walker should see more action this season and hopefully live up to the billing he had coming out of The Bullis School in Maryland.   The Pride sorely need his shot blocking ability on defense.

Also, the Pride have added graduate transfer student Denton Koon, who played for Princeton and averaged 10.5 points per game as a sophomore and 7.7 points per game as a sophomore. The six foot eight Koon missed the entire 2014-15 season due to a knee injury.  The Pride also added six foot ten Ibrahim Djambo, a transfer player from Clemson.  However, Djambo is missing the entire fall semester due to having to go home to his native Mali for family reasons.  It remains to be seen if Djambo will return for the spring semester for Hofstra.

The Pride are also adding two highly touted freshmen guards in Justin Wright-Foreman and Desure Buie.

There will be no question that the Pride will score.  They led the CAA in scoring at 78 points per game.  They can also rebound, as they had a + 2.3 rebounding margin, good for third in the CAA.  The question is defense, as Hofstra was eighth out of ten teams in scoring defense, as they allowed an average of 70.2 points per game.

However, the new NCAA rules changes, the new 30 second shot clock and the new hand check and bumping rules, if strictly enforced, should open up more scoring.  This should only help teams like Hofstra that are built on offense.

But having a change in the NCAA rules won't make it easy for Hofstra, as a lot of the other top CAA contenders return a significant number of starters from last season.  Northeastern returns four of their starting five from last season's CAA championship team;  Quincy Ford, David Walker, T.J. Williams and Zach Stahl.   William and Mary returns double digit scorers Omar Prewitt, Terry Tarpey and Daniel Dixon.  James Madison returns its three top scorers from last season - Ron Curry, Yohanny Dalembert and Jackson Kent.

We'll know pretty quickly how good Hofstra really is when the Pride go to the Paradise Jam on November 20, with their first opponent being Florida State.  You can find the Hofstra schedule here.

Green, 17.1 points per game, and Tanksley, 16.2 points per game, are the two leading returning scorers from the CAA (W&M's Marcus Thornton graduated and Drexel's Damion Lee graduate transferred to Louisville). Those will be givens again, as well as Bernardi averaging 11.6 points per game.

The question will be can Gustys, Nichols, Robinson and Koon, along with others, not only makeup for the loss of Kone and Nesmith, but actually improve the numbers on scoring and defense.  If so, then Hofstra will have its first NCAA appearance in fifteen years.

For those who bleed blue and gold, that's a long time coming.