By Dillon Flanigan
Sports Editor
If last season was not exciting enough, the university and its students are in for a treat.
During the 2023-2024 season, the men’s basketball team finished with a regular season with a record of 19-9 and an NE10 conference record of 13-9.
As the No. 6 seed, they defeated American International College, Bentley University and Saint Anselm College to reach the conference championship for the first time under Head Coach Scott Burrell, ultimately falling on the road to the five seed Southern New Hampshire University.
In a disappointing loss, they received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II playoffs, falling in the first round to the NE10 top seed Saint Michael’s College.
“For the guys returning, it puts a little chip on our shoulder. We know what it’s like to be there; we know we can get back,” guard Sean James, a senior, said. “The new guys are just as hungry as us. So, I think that kind of hatred of that moment fuels us this year.”
Unlike in years past, the team lost three starters, not including the fifth’s starting spot that was rotated between guards Logan Bashaw, a senior, Christian Joe, a sophomore, and James.
With Josh McGettigan graduating and Kazell Stewart out with a season-ending injury suffered off-campus, Marty Silvera entered the transfer portal, leaving forward Cherif Diarra, the NE10 defensive player of the year, as the only core starter back.
“This is a total new group of guys. One returning starter from last year’s team, Cherif, and new guys that have to give us a lot of quality minutes,” Burrell said. “Every night, it could be a different person who rises to the occasion. I think there’s a lot of talent on this team. We just got to come together, play hard every night and do the small things. We got to be scrappy.”
Burrell and his staff brought in seven new players to this year’s team. The five transfers have experience playing in a tough atmosphere.
Guards Eljiah Wood, a senior, Albert Vargas, a junior, and Isaac Hester, a sophomore, are joined by forwards Antonio Chandler, a senior, and Jack Margoupis, a sophomore.
The returning cast and transfer crew are joined by only two freshman recruits in guards Christian McClease and Makai Coleman.
“I came out here and worked out with them, so I got a feel for the school and the players before I made my decision,” Coleman said. “I felt like I could be an asset to this team. I could help this team win, and I could be a great teammate.”
Coleman, like Burrell, believes that the scrimmage against the United States Military Academy West Point, a division I school, has shown positive signs on what’s to come.
“It was good to see a bigger, stronger team, a more poised team. We learned a lot about ourselves,” Burrell said. “We had some great moments in the game, and we have some struggles. But with struggles, you learn, and that helps us mature as a team offensively and defensively, and that’s going to help us in those tough games we play.”
Looking to the coming season, in a recent press release, the Owls are projected to come in eighth place in the NE10 preseason coaches poll.
“We lost four starters. That’s hard to replace. I don’t know what teams and coaches research about who you bring in,” Burrell said. “But if they did the research, they are showing a lack of respect for our coaches and our players.”
But as a player who was here last season, James is taking the new team in stride and keeping it in perspective and like Burrell, sees it as a positive and a negative.
“They’re downplaying what we have and the potential of what we can be,” James said. “We’re returning Defensive Player of the Year, Cherif, who is an outstanding player. It’s nothing to gloat about. They just think Cherif is the leading chariot, and he’s going to drive us into the championship.”
James wishes the team was ranked higher but knows that being ranked high puts them on a pedestal that the team does not need, though it puts a chip on the shoulder for those striving to show that they are not an eight seed.
Eight of their first 10 games will be on the road, as the opening tip is Saturday Nov. 9 against the College of Staten Island.
