HOOPLA 2023 - The Statesman

OCTOBER 2023

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THE STATESMAN

Gigi Gonzalez’s final year primed to be a big one

By Kevin Yu When looking at the pieces of the Stony Brook women’s basketball team’s puzzle, point guard Gigi Gonzalez may very well be the biggest one.

Gonzalez is the prototypical floor general that most basketball coaches dream of.

Her passing ability and court vision makes everyone around her better, while her handles, shooting ability and speed help her put points on the board. Her quick-twitch reactions, toughness and active hands make her a nightmare on defense for opposing ball handlers and shooters alike.

Gonzalez set career-highs across the board last year in her senior season, leading Stony Brook to become the second-best scori n g offense in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). She earned 2022-23 All-CAA Third Team honors for her performance. She was second in the conference in assists (133) and assists per game (4.3), while her 60 steals tied her for fifth and her 1.9 per game were the seventh most. She was also sixth in the CAA with an .832 free throw percentage.

By earning the All-Conference honor, Gonzalez finally reaped the fruits of her labor.

“It means a lot because we put in so much work and it shows that it does actually pay off,” Gonzalez said in an interview with The Statesman. “It’s important to be recognized for the hard work that you put in.”

Now back for her fifth year with the Seawolves, she was selected by coaches in the conference to the 2023-24 Preseason All-CAA Second Team. After steadily improving through each of her first four years, Gonzalez is ready to go out with a bang.

“From me, expect more dimes, more points, more steals,” Gonzalez said.

As good a player as she has become, the graduate student from Miramar, Fla. did not hit the ground running. Gonzalez put herself on the NCAA Division I map with a promising five-year stint with the Miami Suns in the Amateur Athletic Union and an illustrious four-year varsity career at Nova High School in Florida. Among all the offers she had received, Gonzalez committed to Stony Brook to branch out in an attempt to leave her safe space and find a new place to call home.

However, the start to her collegiate career did not go exactly as she had hoped it would.

Gonzalez’s freshman year was rough, as she was buried on the depth chart and only

appeared in 21 of the team’s 31 games. Even when she saw the court, she barely got any burn, playing just 9.7 minutes per game.

She struggled in her occasional appearances, posting just a .242/.280/.500 shooting line while turning the ball over 34 times.

For Gonzalez, the significant difference in pace from high school basketball to college caught her off guard.

“It was so different,” Gonzalez said. “The speed changes so much. You really don’t have any idea until you come in and play a game.

It was like ‘Wow. This is different. This is not what I have done before.’”

After former starting point guard Kaela Hilaire graduated in spring 2020, space was cleared for Gonzalez to see the floor. However, Stony Brook’s coaching staff brought in then-junior Asiah Dingle from Kent State to assume point guard duties over her. Gonzalez’s sophomore year wound up being a similar story to her freshman campaign, as she averaged only 11.2 minutes per game in 19 appearances.

During her tenure as a bench player, her sensitivity often got the best of her.

“I am very sensitive,” Gonzalez said.

“Coaches have a certain way of saying things sometimes, like yelling. You can’t focus on how they are saying but what they are saying.

At the end of the day they want the best for you … sometimes it’s still hard.”

That same year, Dingle helped lead the squad to its first-ever national tournament appearance, while Gonzalez was relegated to being a role player. Her .400/.217/.714 triple slash was an improvement over the one she had posted in 2019-20, but she still had less assists than turnovers and struggled to see the floor in meaningful moments.

During that time, when Gonzalez became a part of Stony Brook history as a role player, she realized that the team’s goals are more important than her own.

“Sometimes you don’t see what your coach sees,” Gonzalez said. “So you can be mad or frustrated that you are not playing. I try not to go down that route … but there is a bigger picture at the end of the day. As long as my team [is] winning … that’s all that matters.”

After that NCAA tournament appearance, head coach Caroline McCombs was hired by George Washington University to fulfill the same position there. As a result, Dingle put

Point guard Gigi Gonzalez surveys the floor as she carries the ball down the court in practice on Sunday, Oct. 22. Gonzalez is entering her fifth and final season with Stony Brook. BRITTNEY DIETZ/THE STATESMAN.

her name in the transfer portal and took her talents to Fordham, leaving an opening for Gonzalez to fill. Director of Athletics Shawn Heilbron hired head coach Ashley Langford — a former point guard with a skillset similar to Gonzalez’s — to replace McCombs.

Langford gave Gonzalez her vote of confidence and ultimately named her the starting point guard, finally giving her a true chance to prove herself.

“There’s a level of trust and a level of comfort that I have with her when the ball is in her hands and organizing the team,” Langford said in an interview with The Statesman. “Sometimes you can’t even describe it. She’s my point guard.”

Once Gonzalez got her shot as a junior in 2021-22, she broke out. Under Gonzalez’s guidance from the point guard spot, Stony Brook had the highest-scoring offense in the America East Conference (AE).

She finished the season third in the AE in both assists per game (3.9) and assist to turnover ratio (1.6) while scoring 9.6 points per game. With Gonzalez at the helm, the Seawolves earned an atlarge berth to the 2022 Women’s National Invitational Tournament.

Her breakout year was a long time coming.

“It was very different from my previous years, but I felt like I was ready for the moment,” Gonzalez said.

Though Gonzalez’s emotions got the best of her at times, she was able to make the leap from end-of-the-bench backup to frontline starter by working through them.

“There are days where you are not feeling good and feeling up to it,” Gonzalez said. “But you still have to get up and do what you want to do to be where you want to be.”

Gonzalez’s hard work allowed her ascent to continue upon switching conferences.

Unfamiliar opponents did not slow her down, as she became one of the CAA’s best guards.

During her senior season, she had the seven highest single-game scoring performances of her career. In her first career postseason start, she led the wSeawolves to a thrilling comeback win with a team-best 17 points and four steals, while also collecting five rebounds.

Now, after making a strong impression on the CAA, Gonzalez has her team picked to finish second overall in the conference for the 2023-24 season. Her farewell tour with Stony Brook will tip off at Island Federal Arena on Monday, Nov. 6 against the Columbia Lions.

Finally healthy, Stony Brook men’s basketball hopes for major bounce-back

By Kenny Spurrell

Coming off the program’s worst finish in annual preseason poll. However, the offseason 15 years, the Stony Brook men’s basketball gave Stony Brook a chance to get healthy.

Now, with most of last year’s roster back for team is shooting for a massive turnaround.

Expectations were low for the Seawolves another go plus a couple of new players added coming into their first season in the Colonial — to the mix, the Seawolves are ready to run the now Coastal — Athletic Association (CAA), gauntlet in the CAA. Head coach Geno Ford believes that and they still underachieved. A flurry of injuries to key players left little room for error in spite of the low expectations, there are for the rest of the squad, and the team failed brighter days ahead for his team.

“We’ve got to get a lot better. to make something out of nothing.

After finishing last year 11-22 overall and Luckily, our personnel is a lot better,” 6-12 in conference play, they were predicted Ford said in an interview with The Statesman. to finish in ninth place for this season in the “So I think that we’re going to be more

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competitive, and we’re going to be a lot better.”

One player who is not happy about the prediction is small forward Tyler StephensonMoore, who has returned for his fifth season with the Seawolves. He believes that the team is better than some may think, and that they will be using the ninth-place prediction as fuel all season.

“We definitely felt a little disrespected, but that’s just the chip on our shoulder,” Stephenson-Moore said. “It’s good to know that, if things do go wrong, we have something

to look at and say, ‘Yo, they said we’re going to be ninth place. We need to pick some stuff up.’”

Expectations are high for StephensonMoore in his final season, being tabbed as a member of the 2023-24 Preseason All-CAA Second Team. Though he appreciated the recognition from the conference’s coaches, he feels that he could have done better.

“It’s always good to get respected, but there’s a lot of unfinished business,” Stephenson-Moore said. “I’m trying to obviously go for first team. It’s good to see Continued on page 9

HOOPLA 2023

Stony Brook women’s basketball looking to return to NCAA tournament

By Cameron Takmil Untimely injuries nixed the Stony Brook women’s basketball team’s chances to win a title in its new conference. Now in their second year in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), the Seawolves are ready to rise once again.

In its first year as a member of the CAA, Stony Brook was in second place with only three games left in the regular season. An injury to star center Sherese Pittman derailed the team, causing it to fall from second to sixth place. The Seawolves’ once-promising 2022-23 campaign came to an end in the second round of the CAA tournament, finishing with an 1813 overall record. Even though they were only in sixth place, their 11-7 record in conference play had them just two games behind topseeded Towson.

More than seven months later, the team has a chance to start fresh once again. Recently, the team was picked to finish second in the 2023-24 CAA women’s basketball preseason poll, earning two first-place votes along the way.

Head coach Ashley Langford likened the talent on this year’s team to that of the 2021-22 team that went 23-6 and earned a bid to the 2022 Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

“I think we have more offensive weapons and I think we will be more balanced in terms of scoring this year,” Langford said in an interview with The Statesman. “It reminds me of our first year, where we had five or six people who would pick it up every night.”

Last year, Stony Brook had the second-best scoring offense in the CAA. In the offseason, the offense lost shooting guard Annie Warren,

who is the program’s all-time leader in threepoint makes. However, the Seawolves retained starting point guard Gigi Gonzalez, who has developed into a star.

Gonzalez earned a selection to the 202223 All-CAA Third Team after being one of the best two-way guards in the conference. Her 12.5 points per game were the third-most on the team, and her 4.3 assists per game ranked

“I just feel like it’s going to be a very energized team, a very gritty team, a team that has a lot of edge,” Gonzalez said. “I just feel like we’re never going to give up when we’re on that court together.”

Accompanying Gonzalez on the backcourt are point guard Breauna Ware and shooting guards Kelis Corley, Victoria Keenan and Zaida Gonzalez.

The Stony Brook women’s basketball team celebrates the end of practice on Sunday, Oct. 22. The Seawolves are picked to finish second place in the Coastal Athletic Association this year. BRITTNEY DIETZ/THE STATESMAN.

second in the CAA. Her 60 steals were tied for the fifth-most in the conference. Now a graduate student in her fifth year, Gonzalez was selected to the 2023-24 Preseason All-CAA Second Team.

Gonzalez feels the team is coming into this season with the right attitude.

Corley is the only returning player in the group. She is a taller wing — standing in at 5-foot-10 — who plays good defense and shoots three-pointers. Last year, as the team’s sixth player, Corley had the third-highest shooting percentage (.311) on the team while also racking up 29 steals and 15 blocks over 31 games

played. Corley may very well be the team’s best defender on the wing, and her versatility will get her minutes at small forward as well.

To become more well-rounded, she spent the offseason working on her offensive game.

“I’ve been working on my attacking moves to the basket,” Corley said. “I shoot a lot of threes and I want to work on getting to the basket because teams will expect me to shoot a lot of threes this year.”

Langford expects Corley, who is now a senior, to have a breakout season this year.

“Kelis Corley is number one on my radar,” Langford said. “She’s always a glue player for us, and I trust her tremendously. She’s versatile, she can defend every position, she’s smart, she shoots very well. It’s a breeze for her.”

From the new group of guards who will see action, three are transfers. Keenan is a sharpshooting graduate student that the team acquired from Seton Hall. She knocked down 42.0% of her 88 career three-point attempts there. Gonzalez is a junior combo guard from Florida International who likes to shoot midrange jump shots and play defense.

Ware is a sophomore who likes to attack the basket and create shots for her teammates. She shot 45.0% as a freshman at St. Bonaventure last year and was second on the team with 53 assists despite getting most of her minutes off the bench.

Also in the backcourt is freshman Janay Brantley, a 6-foot point guard who Langford said may see playing time. As a high school senior at Catskill High School in upstate New York, Brantley averaged 28.7 points, 10.6 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 7.2 steals per game.

Continued on page 8

Stony Brook men’s basketball getting boosts from two transfer classes

By Kenny Spurrell Injuries derailed the Stony Brook men’s basketball team’s 2022-23 season before it even started. Head coach Geno Ford brought in five new transfers in the 2022 offseason, with all of them expected to play a major role. However, three of them suffered season-ending (or at least ruining) injuries in the preseason and received medical redshirts so they can make another attempt at a Seawolves debut.

With those three players back and healthy, Ford has brought in an even newer crop of transfers to join them — making his 2023 offseason much bigger than it really appears.

Overall, Stony Brook will be unveiling six transfers this year: three from last year and three from this past offseason. Point guard Dean Noll and small forward Sabry Philip will make their debuts with the Seawolves this year. Also returning to the floor is point guard Aaron Clarke, who had his first game with the team delayed a month by a back injury. Just two games later, Clarke’s season was cut short after just three games by the same affliction.

Accompanying the returning transfers are the newer new guys: small forward Andre Snoddy, center Chris Maidoh and shooting guard Ra’Sean Frederick.

Though these six players were not on the floor for Stony Brook last year, Ford said that they have already built up a strong rapport with their teammates.

“It’s funny, if chemistry was the only thing that mattered, we could be universe champs right now,” Ford said in an interview with The Statesman.

All six of these transfers from the two combined classes bring a different set of skills that collectively deepen the Seawolves’ roster.

However, several of them share a particularly important skill: passing ability.

Not having Clarke or Noll available last year hamstrung Stony Brook’s ability to move the ball and create good looks. The team averaged only 11.8 assists per game, which was tied for eighth in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA).

Now with the two of them back, plus a couple of other good ball-movers Ford loves the selfless look of his offense.

We have a lot of really, really good passers,” Ford said. “It’s the deepest passing roster that we’ve ever had. They share the ball, man. They don’t seem to care who scores or shoots or any of that.”

Clarke and Noll provide the Seawolves a pair of legitimate options to run their offense.

Clarke is a graduate student who has scored over 1,200 points in his career and averages 11.8 points per game in his career. He played for four years at Sacred Heart and did a good job running the show there, posting a career 1.5 assist to turnover ratio. In his 63 career starts with the Pioneers, he averaged 3.6 assists per game. He also does a lot of damage by getting to the charity stripe and getting easy points there, as he has knocked down 83.6% of his career free throw attempts.

In his last full season, he averaged 16.0 points and 4.1 assists per game en route to a 2021-22 All-Northeastern Conference Third Team selection.

After joining Stony Brook, he injured his lower back last preseason. The injury delayed his debut with the team until Dec. 3, 2022 against Yale, where he showed a glimpse of what he is worth. In just 22 minutes off the bench, Clarke dropped 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field and was 3-of-5 from deep. Just two games later, he reaggravated the injury and was sidelined for the rest of the season.

Not only is Clarke bringing his talent back to the floor, but also his experience.

“I feel like Sacred Heart did a good job of … putting me up against very good competition,” Clarke said in an interview with The Statesman.

“I’ve played some of the best teams around.

Plus, I’ve been able to see how to win games.”

Noll will be Clarke’s partner in crime.

Though Noll is a point guard by trade, he will start on the backcourt beside Clarke at the shooting guard position. Last year, he came over after a four-year career at Cornell, but he tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during a scrimmage to end his season before it began.

The last time Noll was on a basketball court, he was the second-leading facilitator of the 17th-highest scoring offense in the nation.

He averaged 10.3 points and 2.7 assists per game on that Cornell squad. He began that season as the sixth man, but after becoming the starting point guard, Noll averaged 3.1 assists per game.

On top of his scoring and playmaking chops, Noll will be a big contributor on defense. He finished eighth in the Ivy League in steals per game (1.2) in his senior season.

Stony Brook needs his active hands, as it Continued on page 10

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THE STATESMAN

Aaron Clarke hopes to play crucial role in second shot with Stony Brook

By Alex Streinger When point guard Aaron Clarke arrived at Stony Brook last year, he was expected to play a significant role for the school’s depleted men’s basketball team. Unfortunately for Clarke and the Seawolves, he sustained a nagging lower back injury during the preseason which spoiled those plans and sidelined him for most of the 2022-23 season.

Without Clarke, Stony Brook played the season without a true point guard and the offense finished with the second-fewest points per game in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). His absence contributed to the Seawolves posting their worst record in 15 years.

“It was very disappointing,” Clarke said in an interview. “Putting in all that work in the offseason and expecting to be a key contributor on a team [but] not being able to play.

I just took it as another lesson in life and thought of a way and an opportunity to grow from it.”

Clarke wound up making his debut with Stony Brook on Dec. 3, 2022 against the 8-1 Yale Bulldogs and proved exactly why he was brought in. In only 22 minutes of play off the bench, Clarke scored 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting. His great debut allowed the Seawolves to give Yale a run for its money, but they fell just short 77-72.

Playing in front of Stony Brook’s home crowd that night was a big uplift for him.

“Our fans came out that game and were loud and rowdy,” Clarke said. “It was special to get out there and at least play in front of the home crowd and see how we are as fans and as a team.”

Clarke played the next two games against Bryant and his former school, Sacred Heart, but struggled. In those games, he combined for just 10 points on 3-of-18 shooting, but he did collect 10 assists and four steals.

However, the Sacred Heart game wound up being the end of his season. With just 36 seconds left in the first half, Clarke drove the lane and drew a foul, but he came up lame afterwards. He clutched his back, knocked down both free throws and then finished the game. After leading the Seawolves to the comeback win over his former team, the training staff re-evaluated Clarke’s back.

That is where Clarke, his family and coaches drew the line and called it quits on the year.

“After the Yale game, we thought I could get through just rehabbing and not practicing,” Clarke said. “But the Bryant game wasn’t good — and the Sacred Heart game was worse — so we thought we should shut it down.”

After Clarke was shut down for the year, a bigger problem was discovered by his doctors: tests revealed no structural damage to his back.

Instead, it turned out that he suffers from an autoimmune disease that was causing his aches and pains. To treat his condition, he took the rest of the year to recover while receiving biweekly Adalimumab (Humira) shots.

Clarke’s rehabilitation was not the easiest, as it was his first major injury.

“It was a lot of physical and mental work I had to go through,” Clarke said. “The back injury itself was tough to go through.

I’m just trying to figure out what I can and can’t deal with and what to stay

away from in the weight room and what I [can] do in the weight room.”

By playing in only three games and having his season cut short by injury, Clarke received an injury redshirt, giving him the opportunity for a sixth year. However, the decision to continue balancing graduate school and basketball was not an easy one to make.

Clarke only finalized the decision to exercise his extra year of eligibility towards the end of the 2022-23 season.

Looking at the core of returning players inspired his decision to come back.

“We had multiple people out for the year,” Clarke said. “We thought that we would be a pretty good team this year, and I felt like the pieces we were adding back and the trust I had in Coach [Geno] Ford and the coaching staff that we could be a really good team.”

Now that he is healthy, Stony Brook is gaining a huge asset. Clarke was an integral part of Sacred Heart’s team for his four years there. His scoring and passing numbers went up in all four years of his career with the Pioneers, where he became a 1,200-point scorer. He averaged 11.8 points and 2.8 assists per game there and proved himself a reliable free-throw shooter with a career percentage of .838. He was efficient as a facilitator, as he turned the ball over fewer than two times per game and posted a 1.5 assists to turnover ratio.

In each of Clarke’s last three years with Sacred Heart, he averaged over double-digit points per game. As a freshman in 2018-19, he led the Pioneers’ second unit with 8.3 points per game while playing in all 32 of their games.

In the 2021-22 season — his senior year — Clarke posted a career-best .421/.307/.872

shooting line. He ranked seventh in the Northeast Conference (NEC) in points per game (16.0) and second in assists per game (4.1). His breakout final year with Sacred Heart landed him a spot on the 2021-22 AllNEC Third Team.

Clarke’s time with the Pioneers was crucial towards his development as a player.

“It made me a better point guard overall,” Clarke said. “It was big learning how to lead a team and how the college game is played and what you have to do night in and night out to win games, because it’s very hard to win games in college.”

As a high schooler, Clarke also had a winning track record. During his freshman year at Roselle Catholic High School, he won both the New Jersey State Championship and the Tournament of Champions in 2015.

He then transferred to Pope John XXIII Regional High School where he became their all-time leading scorer. There, he won the New Jersey Herald’s Player of the Year award in 2017 and Sportzone’s Player of the Year.

After graduating from Sacred Heart, Clarke searched for a change of scenery and found the ideal landscape with Stony Brook.

While recruiting him, head coach Geno Ford and assistant coach Jalen Avery told Clarke that they wanted him to run their offense. The family-oriented nature of their program helped sell him on the idea.

Now that Stony Brook’s championshipcaliber, All-Conference facilitator is back and healthy, the team has a chance for a major bounce back. His comeback tour will tip off on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at the St. John’s Red Storm.

Point guard Aaron Clarke (center) prepares to pass the ball while being defended by power forward Leon Nahar in practice on Sunday, Oct. 15. Clarke is back for his second year with Stony Brook after an injuryriddled 2022-23 season. BRITTNEY DIETZ/THE STATESMAN.

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HOOPLA 2023

Toby Onyekonwu preparing for breakout sophomore year

By Nayden Villorente

After bringing in a pair of All-Conference point guards to lead its offense, the Stony Brook men’s basketball team expected itself to be a dynamic offense. But when both of the players suffered significant injuries before the 202223 season tipped off, their jobs were placed on the shoulders of then-freshman shooting guard Toby Onyekonwu.

As it turned out, Onyekonwu was not too shabby himself. He wound up being the team’s most promising young player, as he knocked down 34.3% of his three-pointers and led them with 81 assists and 2.9 per game in his first year. On a team with four players who were 6-foot-10 or taller, the 6-foot Onyekonwu was the Seawolves’ fourth-leading rebounder.

With point guards Aaron Clarke and Dean Noll back and fully healthy for the 2023-24 season, Onyekonwu will return to his natural position of shooting guard. Now back in his comfort zone, Onyekonwu is primed to build on his promising freshman season.

“I have to improve, I’m not going to say those are any type of good numbers, but I’m going to say that I could improve all aspects of the game,” Onyekonwu said in an interview with The Statesman. “I’m still young, I have so much more I could bring to the team and I think this year is going to show that.”

If his previous years spent playing the two are any indicator, Onyekonwu has a great chance to break out. After all, it was his days playing that role that led him to NCAA Division I basketball.

Onyekonwu’s journey started in his hometown of Joliet, Ill. when he was six years old. He started playing in a recreational basketball league at a gym close to his childhood home.

As a little kid, he fell in love with being on the court before he even knew why.

“As soon as I started playing, I knew it was something I wanted to do,” Onyekonwu said. “Me and my best friend signed up to play and his dad was the coach. We didn’t really know too much about what was going

on, but we were just out there playing with each other.”

After playing basketball in the recreational league throughout elementary school, Onyekonwu transitioned into playing Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball in middle school. His lessons learned in the AAU prepared him for an illustrious — and also rootless — high school

Coming into his senior year of high school, he had not received a Division I offer and began to worry. However, his 15-game heater caught the attention of head coach Geno Ford and his staff, who offered him a scholarship.

The offer came as a relief to Onyekonwu, who had uprooted himself twice in high school just to get an opportunity to play in college.

Shooting guard Toby Onyekonwu (right) looks to pass the ball while point guard Dean Noll (left) defends him in practice on Sunday, Oct. 15. Onyekonwu is entering his second year after a promising freshman season. BRITTNEY DIETZ/THE STATESMAN.

career that led him down the path to where he is now.

Onyekonwu began his high school varsity basketball career at Plainfield East High School in Illinois as a freshman for the 2018-19 season. In his sophomore year, once the COVID-19 pandemic rolled around, Onyekonwu sought out other opportunities to play. He took his talents to the West Coast and transferred to Trinity Prep in Las Vegas, where he spent his junior year.

He moved back home for his senior year and attended Joliet West High School for the 2021-22 season. Due to complications caused by his transfer, Onyekonwu was ineligible to play until January 2022, when he made his debut and scored 33 points. According to Shaw Local News Network, Onyekonwu averaged 23 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals per game in only 15 games played.

“I think it was just a weight lifted off my shoulders,” Onyekonwu said. “I was able to finally get to say, ‘Okay, I can go to college now and not have to stress about that anymore.’”

Though he was relaxed by his offer from Stony Brook, he was put back on edge by his first true assignment in the NCAA: run the offense on opening night at the University of Florida. The daunting task of having to play a new position at a big-time program in front of a large crowd got inside of Onyekonwu’s head.

“It was overwhelming,” Onyekonwu said.

“Not overwhelming like I can’t do it, but [I had] never played point guard. So it was like, ‘Alright, you got a big responsibility now.’”

Onyekonwu struggled to adjust to the speed and physicality of the Division I level. Through his first six games (all starts), he shot just 29.4% and 21.4% from deep while turning the ball over 3.5 times per game. In a practice leading

up to the Seawolves’ Nov. 29, 2022 matchup with St. Joseph’s University, Onyekonwu broke his nose, sidelining him for three and a half weeks.

In his absence, former point guard Kaine Roberts was put in the starting lineup, enabling Onyekonwu to take a step back and learn.

“For that time it allowed me to really see and get a better mental approach to the game,” Onyekonwu said. “Things started to slow down for me. I was just taking my time with everything, putting more work in with Coach [Jalen] Avery and just studying the game a little bit more.”

He returned to the floor wearing a protective facemask on Dec. 18, 2022 against Army West Point. Onyekonwu was a changed man, as he shot 39.2% from the field and 37.7% from three-point range over the rest of the season. Arguably, his best game came against cross-town rival Hofstra on Jan. 4, 2023.

Once he shed the facemask, his stock continued to rise. In a six-game stretch from Jan. 19 to Feb. 4, Onyekonwu cracked double figures in every game while posting a .441/.500/.765 shooting line. He averaged 12.8 points and 3.8 assists per game during that hot streak.

With Clarke and Noll returning to the floor, Onyekonwu’s load will be significantly lighter and his job will be simplified. He can focus more on displaying his scoring ability off the wing like he did in high school, rather than needing to be the team’s lead facilitator every night.

Though these variables have Onyekonwu primed for an easier and more successful sophomore year, he is more focused on winning a title rather than receiving an honor.

“Just winning; that’s probably the biggest thing for me,” Onyekonwu said. “Our goal is to go to the NCAA tournament. We have guys that are capable of getting Player of the Year, but I think most of the guys on the team [just] want to win.”

Big wave of transfers has Stony Brook women’s basketball contending for CAA title

By Alex D’Amaro After losing superstar shooting guard Annie Warren and a couple other impact players, the Stony Brook women’s basketball team went shopping to address its depth issue.

Head coach Ashley Langford stayed busy this past offseason, bringing in four new transfer students. All of them bring a different set of skills and figure to play key roles this season, regardless of where or when they play.

The Seawolves struggled last year on defense. They allowed 65.8 points per game, which was the third-most in the Colonial — now Coastal — Athletic Association (CAA).

They also did not make many splash plays on defense, as they made the fifth-fewest blocks and the sixth-fewest steals in the CAA. Langford brought in multiple defensive specialists, the first being 6-foot-2 center Khari Clark. Now a graduate student, Clark played four seasons for the Loyola Marymount Lions of the West Coast Conference (WCC). While there, Clark did a little bit of everything.

She spent her freshman and junior seasons coming off the bench. In her sophomore and senior years, she was a regular in the Lions’ starting five. As one of the team’s defensive stalwarts throughout her career, she blocked 111 shots and picked up 88 steals across 117 games. Last year, her 32 blocks in 30 games led the WCC. As a shot blocker, she ranked in the conference’s top 10.

Clark stressed the importance of teamwork on defense to create a well-rounded team.

“It’s all about communication,” Clark said.

“Making sure we communicate and know where we are at all times on the floor … that will help a lot.”

Clark has some offense in her game, too.

She averaged 6.6 points in only 19.8 minutes per game with Loyola Marymount while shooting 43.8% from the field. She has averaged 7.7 points per game over the last three years, including a career-high 9.9 in her sophomore year of 2020-21.

Langford will look to utilize her height and skill set down low.

“She gives us a low post presence, which we were missing last year,” Langford said. “I don’t think people realize … how good she is at inside scoring. Smart player, high IQ. I’m looking forward to her.”

Clark can stretch the floor as well and shoot from mid-range, meaning that she may see a lot of action at power forward this year.

She is also respectable from the free-throw line, as she has knocked down 70% of her career attempts. Last year, she knocked down 82.9% of her free throws. However, she has only attempted 16 three-pointers in her career — a number she wants to increase.

Combo guard Zaida Gonzalez is another key piece who will help address the defensive issues from last year. She spent the first two years of her career at Florida International University (FIU), where she, like Clark, played multiple roles. She was a full starter as

a freshman and a rotational player in year two, amassing 64 games played with FIU. She averaged only 19.6 minutes per game with the Panthers. However, in her limited time, she still recorded 43 steals. She also has good size for a guard, as she stands at 5-foot9, which makes her an effective rebounder.

Gonzalez totaled 146 rebounds at FIU, 47 of which came on the offensive end.

Gonzalez plans to show off her defensive skills this year.

“I love defense,” Gonzalez said. “You’ve got to get a stop before you can go on offense.

Defense comes first … I take pride in defense.”

As for the offensive side of the ball, Gonzalez’s numbers at FIU do not pop.

She shot only 37.3% from the field and 24.4% from deep. She attempted 90 threes with the Panthers. She has improved from the free-throw line, going from 65.3% as a freshman to 73.8% as a sophomore.

Continued on page 8

5

THE STATESMAN

HOOPLA 2023

THE STATESMAN

Women’s basketball return Continued from page 3 Rounding out the backcourt is point guard Khalis Whiting, a sophomore who only played 21 minutes last year. She knocked down six of her eight free throws as a freshman.

In order for Stony Brook to improve, it is going to have to play much better defense.

Last season, the Seawolves had the third-worst scoring and second-worst shot defense in the CAA. They allowed the fourth-highest threepoint field goal percentage. The team was also mediocre on the glass, hauling in the seventh-most rebounds per game in the conference.

Langford believes that playing good defense will be the difference between Stony Brook falling short and winning it all.

“To win a championship, we have to defend much better,” Langford said.

“Defense determines if we’re going to win the game and offense determines how much we’re going to win by. That’s always been my philosophy.”

Not only will the guards need to defend better, but the frontcourt will be integral in the team’s hopeful defensive turnaround.

Leading the frontcourt is Pittman, who was a 2022-23 All-CAA Second Team selection and a 2023-24 Preseason All-CAA First Team. She was Stony Brook’s best big last year, averaging 13.7 points per game across 27 appearances. Her .488 field goal percentage was just one point shy of the CAA’s lead, and she also posted a respectable .712 free throw percentage.

She developed a face-up game throughout the season, finding her points not only in the paint but also from mid-range. Continued

progress in that area will be vital for the team’s success, and Pittman knows that.

“I’ve been working on the three ball a lot, trying to get a lot more consistent with that,” Pittman said. “I want to rebound more [and] play harder. I want to play at a higher level than last year.”

Pittman’s defense was solid last year. Her 24 blocks were the ninth most in the conference, and she averaged 1.2 steals per game. She made a huge impact on the boards, averaging the second-most rebounds per game (8.2) in the CAA. She also led the conference with 3.4 offensive rebounds per game.

Power forward Shamarla King and center Khari Clark will get minutes alongside Pittman on the front court.

King is a 6-foot senior who has experience playing shooting guard and small forward, but she started 23 games at the four last year in place of former power forward Nairimar Vargas-Reyes. King averaged 8.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game last year. Shooting and defense are King’s bread and butter, as her 42.1% field goal percentage was the thirdhighest on the team and her 32 three-point makes were tied for the second most.

King was the CAA’s 12th-leading rebounder despite not being a full-time starter until the second month of the season. In her 23 starts, she averaged seven rebounds per game, which would have ranked 10th in the conference.

King wants the defense to communicate better and be more aggressive this year in order to improve as a unit.

“We’ve got to make sure that we’re guarding the ball very well this year,” King said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re in the right spaces on the court … so that we can trust that our teammates are behind us; that they’ve got our back. And once you’re pressuring the ball, you’re not going to allow the ball to go into the basket.”

Langford seconds King’s opinion.

“As a player you have to have a defensive mentality; it has to be a little bit innate,” Langford said. “You have to communicate tremendously on the defensive end, talking all the time. You can be a good one-on-one defender, but if you can’t talk and help your teammate, that’s how you have breakdowns.”

As for Clark, she is a graduate student who transferred after four years at Loyola Marymount. She does a lot of things well, such as score inside, defend in the post, rebound and block shots. Her 6-foot-2 frame makes her a viable option at center, but her ability to stretch the floor has earned her a lot of minutes at power forward.

Langford said that Clark’s presence will likely shake up the lineup, as Pittman may move to the power forward spot, which would relegate King to the three if Langford opts for a big lineup. She will definitely play alongside Pittman, but her exact role is not defined yet.

Clark was a top-10 shot blocker in all four years of her career at Loyola Marymount, and she was a backup in two of those seasons. She has averaged as many as 9.9 points per game in a season and owns a 6.6

career average. She is also good from the free-throw line, sinking exactly 70% of her attempts after making 82.9% of them last year.

Other players may fill in on the frontcourt, such as small forwards Lauren Filien, Dallysshya Moreno and Hannah Simmons.

Filien is a returning sophomore who only played 44 minutes and took eight shots, yet she made five of them and went 4-for-7 from deep.

She also hit both of her free throws. Filien brings size as well, as she is 6-foot-1.

Moreno and Simmons are both freshmen with two different skill sets and intangibles.

Moreno is a 6-foot freshman who Langford said “loves to play defense.” Simmons is a 5-foot-9 shooter off the wing who averaged 10 points per game on 55% shooting as a senior in high school according to her college recruiting page.

Stony Brook also boasts a pair of 6-foot-3 centers off of the bench in senior Liza Field and sophomore Delaney Yarborough. Neither played very much last year, but their height gives them more options off the bench.

Power forward Nyajuok Toang is a returner who would have likely been a defensive role player this year, but she is out indefinitely with an undisclosed knee injury.

If the Seawolves’ offense carries over into this year and their defense takes the leap they are hoping to, then they may capture their first CAA title. Their quest for an NCAA tournament appearance will begin on Monday, Nov. 6 at Island Federal Arena when they host the Columbia Lions at 6:31 p.m.

Mike Anderson, Kevin Yu and Aidan Steng contributed to reporting.

She spent the summer working on her shot and intends to show improvement this season.

Ware’s skill set gives her the potential to run Stony Brook’s second unit as the sixth player. Langford believes she offers a different style than starting point guard Gigi Gonzalez. “[Breauna] is more crafty,” Langford said.

“Having her and Gigi offset each other is nice.

If we want to put Gigi on the wing, we can put her on the wing now.”

While she had an impressive field goal percentage, free throws were not Ware’s strong suit. She shot 67.2% on 64 attempts.

Ware is looking to improve from the charity stripe for both her and her teammates’ sakes.

“As a point guard, we’re the head of the snake,” Ware said. “If I start missing free throws, it trickles down to my team.”

By adding these four transfers, Langford has raised external expectations for her team.

Stony Brook was recently picked to finish second in the 2023-24 CAA women’s basketball preseason poll.

However, the Seawolves’ goals go far beyond second place, and the new girls on the block are in lockstep with that thinking.

“This is the first time I’ve experienced everyone being on the same page,” Ware said.

“Our chemistry is amazing and our goal is to win a championship.”

Mike Anderson contributed to reporting.

Women’s basketball transfers Continued from page 3 However, those numbers may increase this year. Gonzalez believes that some of her struggles came from the system she played in.

“Mid-range is my game, I just wasn’t able to shoot [them] at my previous school,” Gonzalez said. “It wasn’t a shot that they really liked. I love mid-range. I would also say, at FIU … it was partially confidence with three-pointers. I just wasn’t shooting as many [of them].”

Gonzalez likes to drive the lane and get points around the basket. Langford believes that she will bring playmaking to the table.

As for her three-point game, she is confident that being with a new team will help her improve her numbers.

“I could shoot my three,” Gonzalez said.

“I’m definitely a three-level scorer, and that’s what it’s going to be here.”

After losing Warren — the program’s all time leader in three-pointers — to graduation, shooting guard Victoria Keenan will try to boost Stony Brook’s three-point game. Keenan spent four years with the Seton Hall Pirates.

But, she dealt with knee injuries that caused her to play in only 41 games in four years.

When Keenan was healthy, she was a lethal shooter. Her .420 three-point percentage will provide a boost to a Seawolves team that shot 31.1% from deep last season. Warren (.402) and former power forward Nairimar VargasReyes (.353) were the only two players from last year’s squad that shot over 35% from deep.

8

Now that both Warren and Vargas-Reyes are gone, Keenan fits a vast area of need.

“We needed a shooter,” Langford said. “She’s a sharpshooter with deep range.

We need her to come stretch the floor for us.

She fits exactly what we want.”

While Keenan’s three-point shot is her strong suit, she will look to improve her ability to get to the free-throw line.

Now a couple of years removed from her knee injury, Keenan plans to draw more fouls.

“I’m very confident in my foul shots,” Keenan said. “I didn’t like to drive because of my knee, but this year it’s going to be totally different.”

Point guard Breauna Ware rounds out Stony Brook’s transfers. As a scorer, she is effective at going downhill and getting to the basket. In her first and only season with the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, she averaged 6.0 points per game while shooting 45.0% from the field.

As a freshman, she was the team’s top option off the bench, averaging 17.6 minutes per game. Her 53 assists were the second most despite playing only the sixth-most minutes.

Ware is not much of a jump shooter, attempting only 15 three-pointers last year.

Instead, she plays as a prototypical point guard.

“I’m a playmaker for sure,” Ware said.

“Getting my teammates involved first, then it opens up the floor for me. Get to the hole, andone, drop-down passes to my bigs.”

Center Khari Clark (left) defends a shot from shooting guard Zaida Gonzalez (center) while fellow shooting guard Victoria Keenan (right) looks on. The three are all transfers who have deepened the Stony Brook women’s basketball team with their arrivals. BRITTNEY DIETZ/THE STATESMAN.

HOOPLA 2023

The Stony Brook men’s basketball team breaks a huddle at practice on Sunday, Oct. 15. The Seawolves are looking to bounce back after a rough 2022-23 season. BRITTNEY DIETZ/THE STATESMAN.

Men’s basketball bounce-back

Continued from page 2 some hard work pay off in the long run. I’ve been through an up-and-down career.”

Last season, Stephenson-Moore was selected to the 2022-23 All-CAA Third Team and led Stony Brook in scoring with 14.3 points per game. He was expected to do it all for the Seawolves, guarding the opponent’s best player on most nights while playing the sixth-most minutes per game in the country (37.4).

Starting the season with more healthy bodies than a year ago, Stephenson-Moore should not have to carry that type of load anymore. Point guards Aaron Clarke and Dean Noll are back healthy after suffering seasonending injuries. Clarke only played three games, while Noll never took the floor.

Clarke and Noll will serve as the starting backcourt, and Stephenson-Moore — a shooting guard by trade — will remain at small forward after playing it for most of last season.

The pair of All-Conference point guards are bound to improve Stony Brook’s scoring — something they were the second-worst at in the CAA last season. Clarke has over 1,200 career points and an average of 11.8 points per game through five years, while Noll averaged 10.3 in the 2021-22 season with Cornell. The two are also good facilitators, as they both average over three assists per game when placed in the starting lineup.

In their absence last year, shooting guard Toby Onyekonwu was called on to run the offense as a point guard for much of the time. He played in 28 games and started 14 in his freshman season but will be relegated to a bench role this year.

However, this is not the worst thing for the sophomore, as he will be able to slide back to his natural position at shooting guard while Clarke and Noll will be tasked with most of the ball-handling responsibilities. He may even become their sixth man.

Despite the deeper guard rotation, Onyekonwu is unlikely to see a drastic drop in

minutes. As a freshman, he averaged 7.3 points and 2.9 assists while shooting 34.3% from three-point range and 78.7% from the freethrow line. Freshman point guard Kaiden Space will also see some minutes.

Joining Onyekonwu and Stephenson-Moore on the wing is sophomore shooting guard Jared Frey, who Ford has tabbed as the “best threepoint shooter he has ever seen.” Frey only played one game as a freshman: the season opener at Florida. He will likely split minutes between the two and the three this year, as he will be the Seawolves’ three-point specialist this year. His younger brother Peyton — a 6-foot-6 freshman small forward — has also joined the team.

Though the team returned nine players from last year’s roster, one important one is missing: power forward Frankie Policelli. He was Stony Brook’s second-leading scorer and the CAA’s leading rebounder from last season, but he made the move to Charleston for his final year, leaving 13.7 points and 9.4 rebounds to be made up for.

The starting frontcourt is to be determined.

No matter who is starting at what position, it is certain that plenty of minutes will go to center Keenan Fitzmorris, who played in all 33 games last season and started 29. He was the team’s third-leading scorer at 9.8 points per game, shooting 53.5% from the floor and 28.1% from beyond the arc. He also ranked sixth in the CAA with 31 blocks.

Though this will only be his second full season, Fitzmorris has the experience to be a leader on both ends of the floor.

The Seawolves were able to hang their hat on their defensive rebounding numbers last season, pulling down 26.3 per game which was the second-best mark in the CAA. To help replace Policelli’s production in that area, Fitzmorris will have to improve on his ability to clean up the glass.

The 7-footer will look to raise his average of 3.9 rebounds per game from last year and is

confident that he and the other big men will be able to make up for Policelli’s loss.

“I’m ready for the challenge,” Fitzmorris said. “I’ve worked on that in the offseason. The key is being aggressive and pursuing it and really being minded to do that.”

Another candidate to start is center Chris Maidoh. The graduate student averaged 4.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 15.7 minutes per game in his four years at Fairfield.

At 6-foot-10, Maidoh brings some muchneeded defensive versatility to a team that was towards the middle of the pack in the CAA on that end. Ford confirmed that there will be lineups with both Maidoh and Fitzmorris on the floor, meaning that the former will likely play some power forward as well.

Ford also said that center Rocco Muratori will get minutes in the big-man rotation this year. In his freshman season last year, Muratori only played 6.5 minutes per game.

He is a mountain of a man, standing in at 7-foot-3 and weighing 275 pounds. That size will give the Seawolves a big advantage at the rim while he is on the court.

The most athletically versatile big on the roster is power forward Leon Nahar. The 6-foot-10 sophomore has a clean jump shot and good handles, which convinced Ford to float him on the wing last year. Nahar is another distributor, as he put his passing ability on display last year. Ford plans to use him more after he averaged only 7.5 minutes per game as a freshman. His versatility may lead to him playing all three positions on the frontcourt.

Rounding out Stony Brook’s frontcourt rotation will be small forwards Andre Snoddy, Sabry Philip and Ra’Sean Frederick. Snoddy averaged 8.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game in his two seasons at Central Connecticut State University. He has a jumper, as he shot 30% from deep last year. He likes to play team-friendly basketball, as he guards all positions on defense while also playing a role in the squad’s ball movement.

Standing at 6-foot-6, 223 pounds, Snoddy will most likely split his time between the two forward positions this year. Though it is unclear if he will be in the paint or on the perimeter more, Snoddy and his coaches are confident that he will be a threat anywhere he is on the court.

“A lot of coaches call me a mismatch threat,” Snoddy said. “Oftentimes when I have a smaller guy on me, I can finish inside on them. But if I have a bigger guy on me, I can beat them off the dribble.”

Philip is an athletic wing who missed all of last year with an Achilles tear that he suffered prior to the start of the season.

He is a strong defender and a big-time threat to score when going downhill.

His fast-paced and hard-nosed mentality will bring significant change this year.

“On the offensive end, I’m able to make plays and get us extra possessions with offensive rebounds,” Philip said. “I like to play in transition. It starts on defense; you’ve got to get a stop. Any way of getting it: a deflection, a block, a rebound. Just trying to push off that, that’s really my game.”

As for Frederick, he is a 6-foot-5 wing who averaged 11.2 points on 45.5% shooting from the field last season at Hutchinson Community College in the NJCAA. For the first time in several years, Stony Brook is taking some roster continuity into its next season. With all of the new and old Seawolves entering the upcoming season fully healthy, they have a realistic shot to accomplish what they sought out to a year ago.

Their quest for a bounce-back season begins on Tuesday, Nov. 7 in Queens, N.Y., where they will be hosted by the St. John’s Red Storm. Stony Brook will look to spoil the highly-anticipated debut of new St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino.

Mike Anderson and Alex Streinger contributed to reporting.

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10

From left to right: small forward Andre Snoddy, center Chris Maidoh, small forward Sabry Philip and point guard Dean Noll in practice on Sunday, Oct. 15. The four transfers will make their Stony Brook debuts this season. BRITTNEY DIETZ/THE STATESMAN.

Men’s basketball transfers Continued from page 3 ranked second-worst in the CAA in last season. His performance on both ends of the floor garnered him a selection to the 2021-22 AllIvy Second Team.

“I think I can help make winning plays, get people scoring opportunities and score myself by creating my own shots,” Noll said in an interview with The Statesman.

“I think I can help play good defense, guarding whatever player I need to whether that’s in a small lineup or a big lineup.”

Coming off ACL reconstruction, Noll has impressed some of his teammates.

“He’s come in this offseason really locked in, so I would expect some good things to come from Dean,” small forward Tyler Stephenson-Moore said in an interview with The Statesman.

“Don’t let that lackadaisical look from Dean fool you.

He competes.”

With a lack of available wings last season, Ford was unable to take StephensonMoore off the court very often. He wound up playing 37.4 minutes per game which was the sixth-most in the nation. He logged all 40 minutes 12 times last season and even played for 44 in a game against William & Mary on Feb. 16, 2023.

This season, wing depth is not an issue. Philip — who missed last season with an Achilles tendon tear — is back and will help carry the load. Snoddy will also play a significant role at forward

and give Stephenson-Moore some much-deserved rest.

Philip is a muscular, athletic, 6-foot-4 wing who takes defense seriously.

As a scorer, he drives the ball towards the basket effectively and is known for his emphatic finishes at the rim. He started his college career at the NCAA Division I level with the University of San Diego, where he appeared in 22 games off the bench but only played in 104 total minutes. After that, he transferred to Navarro College, a junior college (JUCO) in the NJCAA. Philip played at Navarro for two years and averaged 9.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest his junior season, leading Navarro to a Region XIV Tournament appearance. He has a lot of bounce in his step along with a very muscular build, which allows him to be hard-nosed in the paint and win rebounding battles.

The graduate student plans to help on both ends of the floor, and he does not lack any confidence.

“I’m a dog, I’ll say that,” Philip said. “A lot of competitiveness is what you’re getting [with me]. It starts on defense, so I take a lot of pride on that side and I try to get out on the wings and put on a show.”

Snoddy was perhaps the most highly-touted acquisition of this past off-season.

The 6-foot-6, 223 pound junior spent two years at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU), averaging

9.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists last season.

Snoddy is a skilled wing that can stretch the floor, as he shot 30% from threepoint territory last season.

He will most likely split his minutes between both forward positions, as he has the ability to both play on the perimeter and crash the glass to grab rebounds.

With Snoddy’s size and mobility, he brings a ton of versatility on the defensive side of the ball.

“Last year, I was guarding one through five,” Snoddy said. “There were times when I played the five and I was guarding the five. There were times when I got switched onto the guards. I tell Coach Ford and Coach [Jalen] Avery, ‘You put me on whoever, and I’m up for the challenge.’”

Snoddy also prides himself on his ability as a playmaker.

Ford and the staff plan to use him as a “point forward,” and may utilize his passing ability on drive and kick plays.

The departure of former power forward Frankie Policelli this past offseason also means the loss of his 9.4 rebounds per game. Snoddy — who averaged 7.8 rebounds per game in his career at CCSU — will help make up for the loss of rebounding.

However, he was not the only player that Ford brought in to help clean up the glass.

At 6-foot-10, Maidoh is equipped to help the Seawolves in the battle for rebounds. Maidoh will step into a bigger role this year after averaging

only 15.7 minutes per game in four years at Fairfield.

Maidoh averaged 4.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game over his four-year career with the Stags. His size gives Stony Brook somebody who can post up, set screens and be a lob target. His ability to erase mistakes at the rim will be of value, as the Seawolves were the third-worst shot-blocking team in the CAA last season.

Ford had high praise for Maidoh’s defensive ability. “[In] 25 years, I don’t think I’ve ever had a front court guy be as good a team defender as he is,” Ford said in a press conference. “We just got the right guy. Chris Maidoh has been terrific.”

Rounding out the group is Frederick, another JUCO transfer. He played his freshman year at Clarendon College before spending his sophomore year at Hutchinson Community College. In his sophomore season, Frederick averaged 11.2 points, five rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting 45.4% from the field and 24.7% from deep.

With a pair of AllConference point guards back healthy, a beefed-up wing rotation and the addition of more size down low, the Seawolves are a much deeper team this year. These two trios of transfers help bolster their roster, giving them great opportunity for a bounce-back season.

Mike Anderson and Alex Streinger also contributed to reporting.

HOOPLA 2023

Ashley Langford has become Stony Brook royalty, and for good reason

By Mike Anderson After an electric first two years at the helm, Stony Brook women’s basketball head coach Ashley Langford is officially here to stay for the long run. She has more than proved her worth since arriving on the scene in 2021, leading the Seawolves to 41 wins, votes in the national polls and the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).

Director of Athletics Shawn Heilbron saw all he needed to see and extended Langford’s contract through the end of the 2027-28 season, ensuring that Stony Brook’s young stud is here to stay.

Langford is thankful for the support from her higher-ups, especially through the bumps in the road.

“I really think that Shawn and Debbie [DeJong] are awesome,” Langford said in an interview with The Statesman. “There’s a lot of challenges and there’s a lot of things that I didn’t know. I think in my first year, I got hit with a lot of challenges that maybe some head coaches never do, and I got them all in one year.”

Though Langford’s rookie season was loaded with roadblocks — such as her team being banned from the America East Conference playoffs and the late-season fallout — she has been fighting through adversity since the day she was born.

Langford grew up in Harrisburg, Pa. alongside her older sister Jessica. Their mother suffered from mental illness, so they were raised by their father, Sterling. Though Langford’s mother was not in the picture, their relatives helped Sterling take care of the girls.

“Obviously I had some adversity just with [my mother],” Langford said. “But never really felt like I didn’t have what I needed.”

Langford’s father is an older man who grew up in Waco, Texas and is now 78 years old. He is a Black man who grew up right in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement in America, served in the military and got a job as a postal inspector. He was able to provide himself with a good living by taking his education seriously and learning strong discipline.

“My dad was really my backbone, and he supported me in everything,” Langford said. “I owe a lot of who I am to him. His journey and how much he valued education was instilled to me from the beginning, and it doesn’t really matter where you’re from. It’s about how you can pave your own path.”

As a child, Langford gravitated towards sports. She played just about everything, including baseball and football. She also did ballet, swimming, and gymnastics.

In fact, ballet was her real passion.

“Ballet was my first love,” Langford said.

“I went all the way until it was time to get toe shoes, and thank God I stopped, otherwise my feet would be a wreck.”

Langford only got into basketball by happenstance. Her next-door neighbor used to babysit her when she was a child, and the boys in the house would play pickup outside with the other kids on the block. Wanting to stay involved, she would play against the other boys.

By the time she was eight years old, she had fully ditched her leotard and tutu for a jersey and basketball shoes. She joined her local 10-and-under team in Harrisburg.

When she was 13 years old, she joined the historic Philadelphia Belles team. She stuck with the Belles through the rest of her high school career.

Langford also played four years of high school varsity girl’s basketball. She spent her first three years at Central Dauphin High School before transferring to Harrisburg High School for her senior year.

Her performance as a point guard for the Belles and varsity basketball caught the attention of several NCAA Division I schools. The one that won her over was Tulane University in New Orleans.

Langford had a historic run at Tulane.

Under future Hall of Fame coach Lisa Stockton, she became one of the greatest players in program history. Langford started in all 121 games of her four-years with the Green

and marketing. During Langford’s senior year, Stockton approached her with the idea of getting into the coaching business. She offered Langford a chance to join the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) “So You Want To Be A Coach” program: a workshop that offers advice and networking opportunities to aspiring female coaches.

Langford originally had no interest in coaching. However, those who were accepted into the program would receive a scholarship to attend graduate school. With the prospect of getting her master’s in business administration (MBA) for free, Langford accepted the opportunity, which opened the door for her next career.

Langford impressed during the workshop and was accepted into Auburn University, where got her MBA and became a graduate assistant to then-head coach Nell Fortner.

While on Fortner’s staff, Langford helped recruit players, which helped her discover the passion that comes with being an NCAA coach.

Head coach Ashley Langford (center) talks to her team during a practice on Sunday, Oct. 22. Langford’s contract was recently extended as she enters her third year with Stony Brook BRITTNEY DIETZ/ THE STATESMAN.

Wave. She is the program’s all-time assists and assists per game leader with 722 and 6.0, respectively. Her assists total ranks second alltime in Conference USA’s history.

Her 121 starts and 4,162 minutes played are also Tulane career records.

“My thought process as a freshman is that I just want to play minutes,” Langford said. “So then, one of my teammates — the starting point guard — she ends up getting pregnant. Now it’s my turn.”

By Dec. 18, 2005, Tulane women’s basketball became the first team to resume activities in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. After being able to take the court, Langford wound up leading the Green Wave to four consecutive winning seasons, a regular season title in 2006-07 and the 2007 WNIT. After finally being able to take the court, Langford wound up leading the Green Wave to four consecutive winning seasons, a regular season title in 2006-07 and the 2007 WNIT. In May 2009, she graduated from Tulane with a double major in business management

“I first got competitive with recruiting,” Langford said. “We’re trying to recruit top50 players in the nation. I’m helping the recruiting coordinator, I’m doing the mailouts. I’m thinking, ‘I want to get these kids.’ It was like gameday to me.”

Langford then spent time working with a player one-on-one in practice for the next couple of weeks, showing her moves that would help her convert on her layups.

“A couple of games later, she gets to the rim, makes an and-one, and she kind of looks over to the bench at me,” Langford said.

“At that moment, I was like, ‘This is what I’m supposed to do.’ I had just helped someone achieve their goal, and that was joy for me.”

After two years at Auburn, Langford landed several Division I assistant jobs. In the 2011-12 academic year, she served as an assistant coach at Bucknell University and worked with their guards. For the following three years, Langford served as an assistant on Denver University’s staff, working as both the recruiting coordinator and the guards coach.

Afterwards, she spent 2015-16 with the U.S. Naval Academy, where she was once again a recruiting coordinator while also assisting with the team’s post players. In 2016-17, she became one of the top assistants on Old Dominion University’s coaching staff. Langford caught the attention of Sean O’Regan — the head coach of James Madison University’s (JMU) women’s basketball team.

Langford took a big pay cut and downgraded from top assistant to third assistant just to be a part of the Dukes’ program. She spent four seasons with JMU, where she took vast developmental steps as a coach.

“I felt like in my four years there, I really came into myself as a coach. I just thrived there,” Langford said.

The work that she put in for O’Regan in the film room, with the players and as a recruiter earned her a promotion to associate head coach in the 2020-21 season.

Langford’s promotion came as both a reward and a validation of her ability.

“It just showed me that he recognized that [O’Regan] trusted me,” Langford said. “I think a part of it was confirmation that I could do this; that maybe I could be a head coach.”

The ensuing offseason brought Langford to the next stop in her meteoric rise. After former head coach Caroline McCombs led Stony Brook to the 2021 NCAA tournament, George Washington University offered her a higher-paying position, leaving a vacancy.

By that point in time, Langford had already completed her first interview for a head coaching gig at another institution.

While in the airport on the way back to JMU, Langford’s phone rang. Heilbron and DeJong were on the other line.

Though Langford was not actively seeking a way out of JMU, Stony Brook was her match made in heaven.

“I loved Harrisonburg [Va.], but I wish it was closer to a city. ” Langford said. “So when Stony Brook came into the picture, it was like, ‘Well, that just fits.’”

The rest became history. Langford signed up to be the next head coach of Stony Brook women’s basketball and promptly led them to a 23-6 record and the 2022 WNIT. The offseason that followed brought the loss of four impact players, including three starters.

To combat the issue, she rebuilt the team and led the Seawolves to their first-ever postseason win in the Coastal Athletic Association.

By being transparent with her players, Langford has done a good job of getting them to enjoy their time here.

“I really try to connect with them on some level, whatever that may be,” Langford said. “I really just try to connect with them as women and humans. Sometimes I’m really silly, sometimes I’m really serious. I’m just trying to give them all of me so that they can see that I’m just a person, too.”

Now, Langford can get nice and comfortable in the place that embraces her for who she is and her ability.

“This community — Stony Brook Nation — is love,” Langford said. “That’s important to me, and I feel that. I love it here.”

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