MAAC Recap

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference 2005-06 Season Recap

by Matthew Moll

Rivalries were embittered (pick one), records were set (Mr. Clark), teams were upset (Loyola), others were surprised, others surprised to be disappointing (Canisius), all the while shots that appeared to be sure went clank (Manhattan), some looked good but rattled out (St. Peter’s), and still others beat the proverbial buzzers of eligibly (Iona). In the end only one team carries what the others covet.

This could describe a typical college basketball season and it is, even in the MAAC. This microcosm of college basketball that is the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference espouses all things which make college basketball the ultimate venue to display athletic and team triumphs.

The MAAC embodies such truisms and as a small school conference with a lone representative to the NCAA tournament it allows for a live-in-the-now, carpe diem-type urgency on a nightly basis knowing that seeding in the conference tournament will directly hinge on your team’s ability to win now to achieve the ultimate goal. All ten teams ache to wear glass slippers and each player gives every possession meaning even if the eyes of the nation are not present. Yes, the MAAC is the mini-version of what most see on TV, in fact it scrolls across the bottom of a TV broadcasted live from a small multipurpose gym on the East coast. Those who subscribe to the balderdash that the Big Six is the only real basketball clearly have not watched a MAAC or any conference without the comfort of an at-large.

Siena earned the distinction of MAAC’s version of a Cinderella. The Saints began the season off the radar and with the faux approbation to rebuild and wait. The Saints won enough to earn a bye in the conference tourney and the attention of the MAAC community. A tight contest in the second round was a testament to the Saints season and though the end result was a loss, Siena will be heard from again.

Rider, a year removed from the MAAC final, took an unexpected respite from the ranks of the relevant. For the first time in Rider’s MAAC history (1997-2006) the Broncos failed to post double-digit wins. With a talent like Jason Thompson and a capable supporting cast, the Broncos should be back in the fray, but then again that is what Rider had this season.

And of course what conference would not be complete without a power struggle at the top. Iona and Manhattan dueled throughout the season for the top seed in the MAAC. Manhattan won the battles, defeating Iona at home and again on Senior Night to clinch. But it was Iona who won the war, advancing to the tournament while the Jaspers went to another tournament, the NIT.

As is the nature of Division I basketball the coaching revolving door is not immune to the little guys. This season’s triumph story, St. Peter’s (Bob Leckie), the faltering Fairfield Stags (Tim O’Toole), Canisius, whose season looked much like last (Mike MacDonald), and Manhattan’s flight to the big time (Bobby Gonzalez) are all without this its most recent coach. Next season, new suits will patrol the sidelines.

MAAC Tournament Recap

This season’s tournament featured the beginning and ending of several streaks. Loyola’s turnaround season collapsed in the final possession of MAAC round one to Canisius, 74-72. The Greyhounds remain winless in MAAC postseason play, while Canisius advanced for the third straight season atoning for two regular season losses to Andre Collins and Co. Niagara won a MAAC tournament game for the fifth straight season, defeating Fairfield 84-77. Siena’s pleasant return to the competitive ranks earned the Saints a first round bye, but the sizzle was sustained by St. Peter’s in the second round of the MAAC thanks to a late-game Keke Clark runner ousting the re-sanctified Saints 63-62. Rider closed out its inauspicious season with a brutal finish as they were pummeled by the Peacocks 80-51.

For the first time since the new tournament format was installed in 2003 the MAAC regular season champ did not advance to the NCAA tournament. The Manhattan Jaspers took the two-round bye to the NIT as St. Peter’s marched through the semifinals 84-74. The Peacocks were met in the final by Iona (after dispatching Marist), who took an early lead and did not relinquish (80-61) it until the first round against LSU.

Post season recap

For the second time in three seasons the MAAC had one team in the NCAA tournament and another in the NIT.

The Iona Gaels earned a No. 13 seed after sailing through the MAAC tourney. The reward for handling the MAAC: Final Four-bound LSU and SEC Player of the Year Glen “Big Baby” Davis. Iona was able to keep it respectable in the first half, being down only five at intermission, but the power shifted quickly to the bigger and more athletic Tigers. Lead by Davis’ six second half field goals and 13 boards, LSU burned the Gaels from the floor in shooting 65 to Iona’s 37 percent, which included a miserable 3-of-18 from beyond the arc. Steve Burtt, Jr. led the way with 23 while Ricky Soliver added 14.

NIT representative Manhattan managed two wins in the NIT. In the first round the Jaspers defeated Fairleigh Dickenson 80-77, and in the second round upended Maryland 87-84. Both wins were tightly contested and decided at the free throw line and by the opponents falling short at the buzzer. In the nationally televised game in College Park, Md three Jaspers fouled out in the closing minutes, forcing rarely used reserve Franck Traore to join the heroics. Traore’s game-saving rebound and free throws with 31 seconds set the stage for another Terp miss and another Traore rebound. Jeff Xavier led the all scorers with 31. The Jaspers could not continue to eek out close games as the third round proved to be the last, falling 70-66 to Old Dominion.

Hoopville MAAC Player of the Year
Keydren Clark, St. Peter’s, Sr. G, 26.3 ppg., 4.4 apg., 4.1 rpg.

Hoopville MAAC Newcomer of the Year
Kenny Hasbrouck, Siena, Fr. G, 12.4 ppg., 4.3 rpg.

Hoopville MAAC Defensive Player of the Year
Ricky Soliver, Iona, Sr. G, 2.7 steals per game (lead MAAC)

Hoopville MAAC Coach of the Year
Jeff Ruland, Iona

Hoopville MAAC First Team
Keydren Clark, St. Peter’s, Sr. G
Steve Burtt, Jr., Iona, Sr. G
Andre Collins, Loyola, Sr. G
Jared Jordan, Marist, Jr. G
Arturo Dubois, Manhattan, So. G

Hoopville MAAC Second Team
Antoine Jordan, Seina, Sr. G
Jason Thompson, Rider, So. F
Jeff Xavier, Manhattan, So. G
Todd Sowell, St. Peter’s, So. F
Lorenzo Miles, Niagara, Jr. F

Team Recaps

1. Manhattan Jaspers (20-11, 14-4)

Some firsts the Jaspers would have preferred to avoid: The Jaspers were resilient at all points this season sans when a trip to the MAAC final was at stake. Manhattan showed The Signs all season. The Jaspers were able to bounce back from the loss of MAAC 2004-2005 Freshman of the Year C.J. Anderson, defeated eventual NCAA tourney representative Iona twice, and captured the third MAAC Regular Season Championship during Bobby Gonzalez era. All the while, players willingly took on new roles and potentially perplexing losses were simply shrugged off. But for the first time that a Gonzalez coached Jaspers’ team won the MAAC regular season, it did not continue on to the field of 65. The Jaspers had no answer for the St. Peter’s Peacocks, who were rolling while Manhattan rested for two rounds. Winning the regular season did automatically put the Jaspers in the NIT, where they defeated Fairleigh Dickinson and the ACC’s Maryland before bowing out to Old Dominion.

Team MVP: Arturo Dubois, So., F, 15.0 ppg., 8.5 rpg.
Leading Scorer: Jeff Xavier, So., G, 16.6 ppg.
Leading Rebounder: Dubois
Leading assists: Jason Wingate, Sr., 3.0 apg.

Key Losses: Wingate (graduating), Kenny Minor (graduating), Xavier (transferring to Providence), Anderson (dismissed)
Key Returns: Dubois

News: The Big East taketh the Big East giveth backth. Bobby Gonzalez says goodbye to the Jaspers who he guided to three MAAC Regular Season Championships, two MAAC tournament Championships, two NCAA tournament appearances, and one Big Dance win (over Florida 2004). Former Pittsburgh assistant Barry Rohrssen succeeds the Seton Hall-bound Gonzalez. Rohrssen, a Brooklyn native, will look to keep some of his fellow New Yorkers instate now that he has left a program where he recruited the likes of Chris Taft (Xaverian) and Carl Krauser (Notre Dame Academy) to turn football school Pitt into a basketball mainstay.

Outlook: The once-vaunted sophomore class is down to Dubois, but coming into the season with the MAAC’s best big man will be consolation enough for an adept recruiter such as Rohrssen. This will mean little to the MAAC power Manhattan and the Jasper faithful, who have come to expect the W’s, and with a revamped backcourt and Anderson not in the fold the spotlight will rest squarely on the St. Francis grad.

2. Iona Gaels (23-7, 13-5 MAAC)

When it mattered most: One did not need to be the next Sir Isaac Newton to understand the mathematics of the Gaels’ season. The last time a Jeff Ruland-led team went to the NCAA tournament his seniors were seniors in high school (2001). The three previous seasons, this talented group watched while MAAC rivals danced. It was supposed to be “our time” for the Gaels and its tenured tribunal. As it was written so it began. The preseason favorites were acting like it, winning at one of the most unpleasant places in the nation against a ranked team (Iowa State in Ames) and taking a perennial power (Kentucky) to the brink, grazing the “at-large” discussions four months before the madness, sending a resounding message to others in the MAAC. For a brief moment the sweet went sour. Enter the archrival Jaspers, who brought the pain in New Rochelle, “our house” became “our loss,” to which the Gaels recovered emphatically. The seniors went on to win the next seven and 12 of the next 14, setting the stage for The Rematch. This time Draddy was packed and the top two exchanged heavyweight blows, but again the Gaels fell short. Still a chance to earn that one seed, they thought, but those hopes were dashed after a late-season upset at the hands of an inferior foe. Fast-forward to the MAAC tourney and the Gaels refused to be denied: three wins in three days, all by double-digits, and Iona was in the tournament for the first time since 2001. They gave eventual Final Four participants LSU a game for the first 20 minutes, but then the ride ended, but not before seniors Steve Burtt, Jr., Ricky Soliver, Kiril Wachsmann, and Marvin McCullough took their places in Iona history and the Gaels coming through when many others would have been down.

Team MVP: Steve Burtt, Jr., Sr., G, 25.2 ppg.
Leading Scorer: Burtt, Jr.
Leading Rebounder: Kiril Wachsmann, Sr., F, 8.6 rpg
Leading assists: Ricky Soliver, Sr., G, 4.4 apg.

Key Losses: Burtt, Jr., Soliver, Wachsmann, McCullough (graduating)
Key returns: Anthony Bruin, 7.2 ppg.

Outlook: Next season will be rebuilding time for yet another senior-laden MAAC Champion.

3. Marist Red Foxes (19-10, 12-6)

Record number of wins, but just one short: Matt Brady’s inaugural season as the school’s fifth Division I basketball coach brought a record number of wins for the Red Foxes matching the highest output since joining the MAAC in 1997-1998, highlighted by a mid-season surge of eight straight. Despite the milestones, Marist was still in need of one last push. The Foxes have either advanced or been given a bye in the first round of the MAAC tourney all but three times, yet still remain on the outside of the MAAC tourney final. Marist fell behind early to the Gaels in the semifinal and did not recover. Iona’s 100 to Marist’s 84 were enough to send the Red Foxes back to Poughkeepsie.

Team MVP: Jared Jordan, Jr. G, 16.1 ppg., 8.5 apg.
Leading Scorer: Jordan
Leading Rebounder: Ryan Stilphen, So., F, 7.0 rpg.
Leading assists: Jordan (best in the nation)

Key losses: Carl Hood (graduating)
Key returns: Jordan, Stilphen, and Will Whittington (15.4 ppg.)

Outlook: Jared “Dime Drop” Jordan will be back to defend his assist title to a team that will boast experience. Stilphen has two more years of eligibility to become one of the MAAC’s premier big men now that the battle within the once-strong MAAC sophomore class has dwindled.

4. Siena Saints (15-13, 10-8)

Nothing like the ninth circle: Reeling and left for dead after a transfer and a tendon rupture; the Saints were touted as the new cellar dwellers for the MAAC. Then something strange happened: the games were played and by mid-season new head coach Fran McCaffery and Co. had exceeded detractors’ expectations in the process made some MAAC noise. Siena went into the MAAC tourney with a two game winning streak, one over last season’s champs and another over this season’s tourney representative, but could not take the momentum past the MAAC first round. The Saints did end the season winning five of the final nine, but did not have enough against St. Peter’s.

Team MVP: Antoine Jordan, Sr., G, 17.1 ppg., 8.1 rpg.
Top Scorer: Jordan
Top Rebounder: Jordan
Top Assists: Kojo Mensah, G, Fr., 4.1 apg.

Key losses: Jordan (graduating), Mensah (transferring)
Key returns: Nine letterwinners, including Michael Haddix, who will return after red-shirting due to a ruptured Achilles tendon, and MAAC Freshman of the Year Kenny Hasbrouck.

News: Levi Osby, who transferred from NJCAA Fredrick Community College during the 2004-2005 season, will not return to Siena next season. Osby averaged 11.8 minutes per game.

Outlook: McCaffery is writing the book on how to turnaround small programs and next season could be yet another case study and the crème le crème of MAAC 180s. If Haddix is able to return to his pre-injured ways and jell with his coach and running mates the Saints have reason to believe that the MAAC crown could return to Albany for the first time since 2002. These of course are big ifs, but doubters have been warned and the Saints have been anointed.

5. Saint Peter’s Peacocks (17-15, 9-9)

Just short of magic: Last-shot-minded Keydren Clark and the rest of the Jersey City Kids did not begin the season with the sense of urgency usually associated with a prolific individual career overshadowed by the lack of success for the whole. Instead, the Peacocks were entrenched in the tragedy after the loss of one of their own, George Jefferson. In honor of the would-be senior, the team went forward and nearly made it to the promised land of 65. First came the blowout of Rider. Next, the cardiac arrest that was Siena. Then the Looming Giant and History: St. Peter’s debunked history on March 5th and sent regular season champ Manhattan to the NIT. Unfortunately for St. Peter’s, storybook endings are not always fit for reality. The run ended as it began: with a double-digit loss, but this time the Peacocks were to head home. SPC did not exit the tournament before Clark set school (which might stand for 100 years) and national records (6th all-time), as well as momentarily being the NCAA all-time career three-point leader (now behind J.J. Redick).

Team MVP: Keke Clark, Sr., G, 3,058 career points, 4.4 assists per game.
Leading Scorer: Clark, 26.3 ppg.
Leading Rebounder: Todd Sowell, Jr., F, 10.2 rpg.
Leading assists: Clark

Key losses: Keydren Clark (graduating)
Key Returns: Sowell and Raul Orta

News: Coach Bob Leckie decided after six seasons with the Peacocks it was his time to pursue other interests. Leckie brought the Peacocks within a sniff of the NCAA tourney in his final season. The school hired Seton Hall assistant John Dunne to succeed him.

Outlook: Leckie turned this team around from a five win team to three consecutive winning seasons. With Clark and Leckie no longer Peacocks the team is set to have an overhaul, which will be on the shoulders of new coach Dunne and the Orta-Sowell combination.

6. Loyola Greyhounds (15-13, 8-10)

Call it a turnaround: The previous four campaigns, the Greyhounds combined for 16 wins. Loyola last posted double-digit wins in 1998-1999 and had not completed a winning season since 1993-1994. Two seasons into the Jimmy Patsos era, the totals speak for themselves. Along with the wins, one-season Maryland transfer Andre Collins, and a revived fan base turned the once national laughing stock into conference mediocrity with the hope for more. Though the strides have been great, the one-stop train of Collins could not advance the ‘Hounds out of the MAAC tourney first round for the first time since 1998.

Team MVP: Andre Collins, Sr., G, 26.1 ppg.
Top Scorer: Collins
Top Rebounder: Michael Tuck, So, F, 6.2 rpg.
Top Assists: Collins, 4.7 apg.

Key losses: Collins
Key returns: Tuck (9.1 ppg.), Shane James (7.8 ppg.) Hassan Fofana (7.8 ppg.)

News: Stephen Stewart, an assistant under Jimmy Patsos last season, took an assistant position at Delaware.

Outlook: Next season will be a test of whether or not Patsos can win without a star. Patsos will have another Maryland transfer for the entire year in Fofana, and if he is able to produce to his potential the Greyhounds could have a solid go-to guy. But without Collins, the offense will have a complete makeover and it will be up to Patsos’ star to shine.

7. Niagara Purple Eagles 7-11, 11-18

The year after Juan: Last season the Purple Eagles recovered from a slow start to earn an NCAA birth. This season the Eagles lost six of the first seven contests en route to the team’s lowest finish since 2000-2001 and the lowest win total since 1999-2000. Niagara struggled with a depleted lineup because of injury, particularly to Charron Fisher, who had the team’s highest average points per game. That left the team to sport the moniker the “Magnificent Seven.” The defending MAAC champs managed a win for the sixth consecutive time in the MAAC tournament before exiting in the second round to close out Joe Mihalich’s seventh season.

Team MVP: Lorenzo Miles, Jr. G, 15.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.3 rpg.
Top Scorer: Charron Fisher, So. G, 18.3 ppg.
Top Rebounder: Clif Brown, Jr. F, 8.2 rpg.
Top Assists: Stanley Hodge, So. G, 3.8 apg.

Key losses: James Mathis (graduating)
Key returns: Miles, Fisher, Brown, and Hodge combined 59.8 ppg.

Outlook: Next season the Purple Eagles will have one of the most experienced teams, but will have one of the shallowest benches. Next season the “Magnificent Seven” should balloon to around 10, but few will have logged significant minutes, leaving the Eagles’ durability in question.

8. Fairfield Stags (9-19, 7-11)

Plenty of butter not enough rolls: Other than beginning the season and ending the season with four-game losing streaks, the Stags did not slump disastrously or fledge noticeably. Longest winning streak: two. How many times did it happen? Twice, equaling nearly half of the season’s win total, which is far from the necessary output the Stags needed to compete. Fairfield’s offense struggled throughout the season, as the team only had one player average in double-digits and was third from the bottom in scoring in the league. The team’s struggles only slightly improved when second leading scorer Dewitt Maxwell returned from his absence for the first third of the season. The Stags’ stagnant offense and struggle to shore up the middle on D put Fairfield at the lower end of the MAAC for most of the season.

Team MVP: Terrance Todd, Sr. G, 18.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg.
Top Scorer: Todd
Top Rebounder: Dewitt Maxwell, Sr. G, 6.6 rpg.
Top Assists: Herbie Allen, Fr. G, 2.8 apg.

Key losses: Todd and Maxwell (graduation)
Key returns: Allen, Michael Bell (7.8 ppg.)

News: Fairfield decided not to renew coach Tim O’Toole’s contract. O’Toole spent eight seasons at the helm, compiling 112 wins. O’Toole was replaced by former Boston College assistant Ed Cooley. Cooley spent the last nine seasons at BC and the last 10 under Al Skinner, spending one season at Rhode Island.

Outlook: Ed Cooley’s initial priority for his first head coaching job will be trying to find a team to play around Herbie Allen. Allen can create shots for others, but needs someone to do the finishing. While the Stags were unable to put up big numbers, their opponents filled up the stat sheets, scoring an average of 79 points per game, the worst in the MAAC.

9. Canisius Golden Griffins (9-20, 6-12)

More isotope than element: The past five seasons have been losing ones for the Golden Griffins, this season the Griffs failed to reach double-digit wins for the first time in that stretch. In the end Kevin Downey’s career numbers remained impressive, but the effort went for not and coach Mike MacDonald will not return after nine years. The Griffs ended the 2005-2006 campaign winning four of the last seven, including a last-second MAAC tournament win over Loyola.

Team MVP: Kevin Downey, Sr. G, 15.6 ppg, 3.3 apg.
Top Scorer: Downey
Top Rebounder: Corey Herring, Jr. G, 5.3 rpg.
Top Assists: Downey

Key losses: Kevin Downey and Jon Popofski (graduating)
Key returns: Darnell Wilson, Jr. F (12.9 ppg), Corey Herring, Jr. F (14.4 ppg).

News: Canisius named former Hofstra University assistant Tom Parrotta the program’s 22nd head coach. This is Parrotta’s second stint in the MAAC; his first run was with Niagara under Jack Armstrong and Joe Mihalich. This is Parrotta’s first NCAA Division I head coaching position.

Outlook: Next season Canisius returns three starters and 10 letter winners from last season and unless there is a change in fortune for this group, Parrotta will need to work his recruiting magic and hope for the best in season two. Darnell Wilson should emerge as the team’s leader and may make a push for MAAC first team honors.

10. Rider Broncos 4-14, 8-20

In the Interim: Bad news for interim head coach Tommy Dempsey was his first try was a struggle. The good news is that he will have a second after Rider dropped the “interim” title and he was hired as the Broncos head coach.

The former interim’s season began much better than it finished. The Broncos were victorious in four of their first eight contests, falling by only a bucket to small school stalwart Bucknell before buckling at the start of conference play. Rider went on to lose six straight, but recovered for a short stint, winning three of the next four (the best stretch of the season). The once-promising Broncos would falter finishing the season winning one game in 11, concluding the season with a seven game losing streak.

Team MVP: Jason Thompson, So. F, 16.6 ppg, 8.4 rpg.
Top Scorer: Thompson
Top Rebounder: Thompson
Top Assists: Paul Johnson, Sr. F, 3.1 apg.

Key losses: Johnson and Edwin Muniz (both graduating).
Key returns: Thompson and Terrance Mouton

News: Rider named Dempsey head coach in April, officially replacing current Athletic Director Don Harnum, who coached from 1997-2005. Dempsey, 32, is the third youngest coach in NCAA Division I. Dempsey’s first official hire was naming Fred Dupre associate head coach; he has been an assistant for five seasons at Rider.

Outlook: Jason Thompson has the potential to carry this team, but so far potential has not been enough. The combination of Thompson and Mouton has (you guessed it) the potential to be as lethal as any combo in the MAAC, but they will need some help from soon to be sophomore Lamar Johnson to come into his own and compliment the duo.

2006-2007

Forty percent of the MAAC will have someone new drawing the X’s and O’s before the start of summer ball. A total of 30 years of MAAC experience will be replaced with a new crop of coaches on the rise. Gone as well will be the most recent installment of rival New York high schools, the Jr. and the Fohawk, the Gonz, some of the sophomores, and Mr. 3000.

Marist and Siena, two teams who in recent preseasons went through erroneous requiems, look to slug it out with Niagara (if they field a full team) atop the conference. Manhattan should enter the equation around mid-season while the rest are going through major changes and will have an off season of uncertainty.

The conference will still be guard heavy, but with Arturo Dubois, Todd Sowell, and the up-and-coming Ryan Stilphen patrolling the lanes the power may shift to those with power. Until such a shift occurs, the MAAC remains a guard-oriented conference where teams who log the most court time in the past rule the present.