| |
LOCATION: West Hartford, CT
CONFERENCE: America East
LAST SEASON: 11-16 (.407)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 9-9 (5th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 3/2
NICKNAME: Hawks
COLORS: Scarlet & White
HOMECOURT: The Sports Center (4,475)
COACH: Paul Brazeau (Boston College '81)
record at school 90-103 (7 years)
career record 90-103 (7 years)
|
ASSISTANTS: Stan Nance (Rutgers '78)
Kevin Mouton (San Francisco '89)
Jay Murphy (Boston College '84)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 11-6-17-15-11
RPI (last 5 years) 176-266-128-153-208
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference quarterfinal.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
|
Since Paul Brazeau's arrival in Hartford seven years ago, the Hawks have been the rock of America East. Just once under Brazeau has Hartford finished out of the league's top five, and every year the Hawks have at least met preseason expectations. At the same time, Hartford has never won a title or been to a conference tournament title game. The Hawks have won enough to be respectable, but not enough to be exceptional. "If you are in the Big East or the ACC or the Big Ten and you finish in the top half six out of seven years, you are going to the NCAA Tournament. In our conference one team goes," Brazeau said. "Yeah, we finished with a couple of thirds, but you go home when it's over. It's a little sense of pride, but we haven't won a championship." None of that is going to change in the first season of the new millennium. With two major personnel losses and four outstanding America East teams at the top of the league, Hartford can expect to finish in the second division this year. A team that was already near the bottom of America East in scoring margin must replace two of its top three scorers and its best defender. Versatile guard Justin Bailey (20.1 ppg, 2.26 spg) was the top player in both categories, but is now gone. Center Chris Eames (9.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg) joined Bailey at graduation, leaving some big shoes to fill. Brazeau coached Vin Baker for one season, but other than that, Bailey is the best player he has had. Hartford will try to compensate for his departure by a committee of veteran guards. Five-foot-10 senior Darrick Jackson (8.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 60 assists, 35 steals) is the top returning backcourt scorer. He also hit a team-leading .371 percent of his three-point shots. Jackson has played both guard positions throughout his career, but will probably do most of his work on the wing this season. That's because another 5-10 senior, Ryiad King, should move into the starting lineup. King is purely a point guard. In his first season in West Hartford after transferring from Western Wyoming Junior College, King (2.2 ppg, 1.9 rpg) played in 27 games, averaged 17.4 minutes and took just 59 shots. He did have a team-leading 66 assists and is Hartford's best backcourt defender.
|
Blue Ribbon Analysis |
|
BACKCOURT B BENCH/DEPTH D+
FRONTCOURT D+ INTANGIBLES C+
If Hartford basketball were ice cream, it would be vanilla. Not that the Hawks are boring or plain. They are just steady, reliable and don't offer much in the way of surprises. The backcourt is small but quick. Head coach Paul Brazeau intends to turn that into a more press-oriented, up-tempo style. "We need to create some offense from our defense with steals into layups," Brazeau said. Ryiad King and Darrick Jackson will have to turn their speed into easy offense, or otherwise they may not score enough. Neither is a great shooter. That role is reserved for Mantas Storpirstis, who, if healthy, gives Hartford something it did not have for most of last year a consistent three-point threat. Rob Sawicki has the ability to become one of the top big men in America East by the time he is through. That means he needs to raise his game another level this year if Hartford is to compete anywhere near the top of the conference. The biggest boost, though, could come from Josh Odugbela, the best player in the class of newcomers. He could be the other frontcourt weapon the Hawks desperately need. Brazeau has once again put together a team that can compete in America East almost every night. Unfortunately, there are just too many other teams in the league that are simply more talented than the Hawks. "You can be better than a year ago and I don't know how much it's going to change where you finish in the league," Brazeau said. "We all improve, but this conference from top to bottom is really competitive. We are all getting more good players. Now four through seven on everybody's teams are much better," Brazeau said. Hartford's probably aren't quite good enough this year and the team may be too reliant on freshmen. That top-five streak may take a hit this season. |
"Darrick and Ryiad played together toward the end of last year. It makes us small, but I like some things out of that," Brazeau said. Six-foot-three junior Keyon Smith (7.2 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 24 assists, 31 steals) was Hartford's most improved player a year ago, raising his scoring average nearly six points. He made 10 starts as Brazeau searched for the right mix. The wild card in the guard group could be 6-4 sophomore Mantas Storpirstis (4.7 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 20 assists, .354 3 PT), who came on late last season. A broken foot hampered the Lithuanian native early in the year. Once healthy, Storpirstis became the deadly shooter Brazeau recruited. He scored 15 points in the regular-season finale, an 86-78 victory over Boston University, and averaged 9.0 points in the final month. "His year was acclimating to American basketball and the foot thing forced him to miss some critical time. But when he got back, he came on. He basically beat BU," Brazeau said. Hartford could also get a boost from two freshmen. Six-foot-two Wayne McClinton comes from a winning high school program at St. Anthony's in Jersey City, N.J. Like Jackson, McClinton can play both guard spots. McClinton averaged 12.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.3 assists, playing mostly off guard in high school. During summer pickup games with his new teammates, he handled more lead-guard responsibilities and was solid. It may take 6-1 Bryan Evans more time to adjust to the college game. At Brewster (N.Y.) High School, Evans didn't face the same high-level competition as McClinton. Evans scored 1,603 points in his career, including 140 three-pointers. The depth Brazeau has in the backcourt does not exist up front. Six-foot-10 junior transfer Rob Sawicki was consistent and solid after coming north from South Alabama, but everyone else in the mix has little or no experience. Sawicki was second on the team to Bailey in scoring (10.4 ppg) and led the Hawks in rebounding (6.5 rpg). He posted five double-doubles and was Hartford's top low-post threat. "We need Rob to be at least that. I hope he can get us 13 (points) and nine (rebounds). Rob is learning that every year he has to get better," Brazeau said. Six-foot-eight sophomore Rob Doss (1.9 ppg, 1.3 rpg) and 6-9 sophomore Todd Jones (0.8 ppg, 0.9 rpg) saw spot duty last season. Brazeau hopes their numbers can improve enough and, in tandem, compensate for those lost by Eames. Jones is the more physical of the two. Doss is a slasher and will shoot the jumper. That's it for returnees in the frontcourt. Brazeau could go exceptionally small and play King, Jackson and Smith at the same time. That helps get more experience in the lineup, but Hartford will still need size, meaning freshmen Josh Odugbela (St. Andrew's HS/Barrington, R.I.) and Pierre Johnson (Duval HS/Seabrook, Md.) will play. The 6-8 Odugbela was an honorable mention McDonald's All-American. He scored more than 1,000 career points and led St. Andrew's to a pair of New England Private School Championships. If Odugbela, who averaged a double-double (17 ppg, 10 rpg) last year, is ready, he could even move into the starting lineup quickly. The immediate expectations aren't as high for Johnson, who averaged 24.0 points and 12.0 rebounds as a senior. He should be more of a role player to start. Six-foot-eight junior Garvin Gordon comes to Hartford from Sheridan (Wyo.) Community College. If the two freshmen falter, his experience could push Gordon into some important minutes. He averaged nine points and five rebounds at Sheridan.
 | The 19th edition of Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook is on sale now. To order, call 800-828-HOOP (4667), or visit their web site at
http://www.collegebaskets.com
|
| |
Conferences
America East
ACC
Atlantic 10
Big East
Big Sky
Big South
Big Ten
Big 12
Big West
Colonial
Conference USA
Independents
Ivy League
MAAC
Mid-American
Mid-Continent
Mid-Eastern Athletic
MCC
Missouri Valley
Mountain West
Northeast
Ohio Valley
Pac-10
Patriot
SEC
Southern
Southland
Sun Belt
SWAC
TAAC
WAC
West Coast
|
