Last year, Lehigh showed signs of contending when they made a great non-league run, but they didn’t get it done in league play. This year, the Mountain Hawks were the best team for much of the season, and they carried that into the league tournament with three wins for the title. A big reason for that was, oddly enough, a freshman. C.J. McCollum wasted no time becoming a star, as he won Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors, the first player in league history to do so. He was second in the league in scoring overall, but it was in league play where he shined the most as he led in scoring, was sixth in rebounding and field goal percentage, third in three-point percentage and seventh in assists and assist/turnover ratio.

McCollum is symbolic of something else that is different about the league, which is the young talent. Oftentimes, young players in a league like this take a back seat to the veterans, but the Patriot League had a lot of young talent this year. Five of the top ten scorers, four of the top nine rebounders and five of the top seven three-point marksmen were underclassmen. McCollum wasn’t the only freshman on his team to be a key player, as Gabe Knutson was also a starter and key player for the Mountain Hawks. Bucknell placed three players on the All-Rookie team, the first team in league history to do that, and all played significant roles for the Bison this season along with sophomore Bryan Cohen, an All-Rookie selection a year ago. Lafayette got to the final in no small part due to the work of sophomores Jim Mower and Ryan Willen. Holy Cross was at times carried by sophomores R.J. Evans and Devin Brown. Jordan Sugars was the main complement to senior Chris Harris at Navy. Stephen Lumpkins teamed with George Mason transfer Vlad Moldoveanu for a solid 1-2 punch inside for American.

While the league is looking different, the young talent is evidence that there is good basketball ahead for the league in the immediate future. The difference in the standings shows that teams have done their best to rise to the level that Holy Cross and Bucknell were at just a few years ago, and some have succeeded.

Final Standings

League Tournament

The story of the Patriot League Tournament was the dominance of eventual champion Lehigh, as the Mountain Hawks won all three games by at least 15 points. They took care of Army in the quarterfinals by pulling away late, while Lafayette and American won at home and Holy Cross was the lone road team to pull out a win as they knocked off Bucknell 67-64 in Lewisburg. The Mountain Hawks weren’t seriously challenged by American in a 79-57 semifinal win, while Lafayette won a back-and-forth battle with Holy Cross 66-63. That set up a championship game between two arch-rivals.

Lehigh led from start to finish, but was challenged in the second half by Lafayette. The Leopards made several runs at the lead, but could never tie the game. The final ten minutes were dominated by Lehigh senior Zahir Carrington, who took home the tournament MVP honors as he helped the Mountain Hawks pull away for a 74-59 win. Lehigh finished the game on a 12-1 run.

Postseason Awards

Player of the Year: C.J. McCollum, Lehigh

Rookie of the Year: C.J. McCollum, Lehigh

Defensive Player of the Year: Bryan Cohen, Bucknell

Coach of the Year: Fran O’Hanlon, Lafayette

All-Conference Team

Chris Harris, Sr. G, Navy

C.J. McCollum, Fr. G, Lehigh

Jared Mintz, Jr. F, Lafayette

Vlad Moldoveanu, Jr. F, American

Kyle Roemer, Sr. F, Colgate

Season Highlights

• Marquis Hall, who had a fine freshman season of his own three years ago, finished his career most importantly with a Patriot League title, but also with a great accomplishment. The two-time Patriot League Scholar Athlete of the Year graduates as the only player in league history to surpass 1,500 points and 500 assists.
• Army got a lot of buzz in non-league play, as new head coach Zach Spiker was getting results right away. The Black Knights haven’t lacked talent in recent years, so their record before league play wasn’t a big surprise. They rode winning streaks of five and four games to a 10-4 mark.
• Vlad Moldoveanu made an instant impact for American once he was eligible in December after transferring from George Mason. He was third in scoring and rebounding in league games, as he didn’t play in enough games to qualify for the overall lead in any categories.
• Lehigh was eighth in the nation in three-point field goal percentage at just under 40 percent from behind the arc.

What we expected, and it happened: Bucknell was more like the Bucknell of a few years ago. The Bison were hit hard by injuries in 2008-09 and also had a coaching change to adjust to. With a year under Dave Paulson and a good freshman class, the Bison had some growing pains in non-league play but finished second in the league behind Lehigh.

What we expected, and it didn’t happen: Holy Cross was the pick of many as the favorite before the season, but they didn’t come close to that, finishing 9-22 and seventh in the standings, a game out of last place. The Crusaders struggled at the defensive end for much of the season, and it showed in the win-loss column. Sean Kearney lasted just one season as the head coach, replaced by former Mount St. Mary’s head coach Milan Brown.

What we didn’t expect, and it happened: Lafayette was in contention for the top spot and made it to the championship game. The Leopards won eight games a year ago and didn’t look the part of a contender coming in, but they were right in the mix for the top spot and gave Lehigh a good game in the final of the tournament before a late run put the game away.

Team(s) on the rise: Bucknell. The Bison are back and the likely preseason favorite next year after a good showing in league play. Four of their top five were freshmen or sophomores this past season.

Team(s) on the decline: Colgate. A couple of years ago, the Raiders were in the title game. Now Kyle Roemer and Ben Jonson are gone from a team that finished sixth in the league.

2010-11 Patriot League Outlook

With the younger talent in the league, the future is bright. Just about every team projects to be better next season, so the league should improve on its non-league mark in addition to having a hotly contested race for the top starting in January. Six of the ten all-league players return, and all of the All-Rookie selections should contend for spots on that team before long.

Lehigh will have a chance to repeat, but the early favorite has to be Bucknell as the Bison bring back a lot of young talent that will only get better. Lafayette should be in the mix as they also bring back a lot, while American had growing pains with a less experienced roster this year. Holy Cross and Army each have the personnel to potentially make a jump into the top half as well.

If the league has the kind of year it could next year, ultimately it would be safe to say that the rest of the league succeeded in getting better to catch up to Holy Cross and Bucknell. They had little choice but to do so, and having done so the Crusaders and Bison are certainly not dominating the league any longer and not because they have fallen apart.

Sure, the Seawolves’ only win was over the University of Marlyand-Eastern Shore, a team at the bottom of the Division I ranks, and losses to Lafayette and Wagner are certainly uninspiring on paper, but those are three games that Stony Brook may well have not shown up for last year.

No one is predicting that Stony Brook will compete for a league title this season, but the Seawolves look very improved over last year’s squad. Last year the Seawolves played as five individuals; this year they actually look like a unit on the floor. Last year it seemed that Stony Brook played five athletes with no real position on the floor; this year the Seawolves have gone with a real lineup. Brian Dougher, Jonathan Moore, Chris Martin, and Marques Cox rotate through the guard position, Tommy Brenton and Muhammad El-Amin see time on the wing, and Brenton, Dallis Joyner, Danny Carter, Andrew Goba and Demetrius Young playing in the low post.

The Seawolves have been in every single game they have played, and could have won all three games that they have lost so far. Pikiell has developed a set 9-man rotation, and the Seawolves have begun to work the ball into the low post (a huge step in the right direction from last year).

On the court, the Seawolves look like a completely different team than last year’s squad. Last year Stony Brook ran an offense that resembled five chickens running around with their heads chopped off. Stony Brook lead the conference in three pointers attempted while finishing dead-last in three-point shooting, as the Seawolves played like five individuals auditioning for the And-1 Mix-Tape tour. This season, Stony Brook looks like a team on the floor, have taken more shots from around the hoop than behind the arc, while actually moving the ball around on offense.

Perhaps most indicative of the Seawolves’ new direction has been the lack of playing time for Young, a 6’6″ leaper, as well as super athlete Jermol Paul and pint-sized chucker Michael Tyree, as Pikiell is going for production and performance above raw athleticism this year.

Especially encouraging for Stony Brook was Tuesday night’s performance against American. Stony Brook fell 56-53, but they played as equals with the best team in the Patriot league all night, which is not bad for an America East cellar-dweller. The Seawolves not only played as a team, but they fought all the way to the end in a game that they would have simply rolled over in last year.

“I’m extremely proud of the energy and effort our players showed tonight,” said Pikiell. “We played some excellent basketball against a terrific American team and unfortunately they just made a few more plays than we did down the stretch.”

Stony Brook still isn’t distributing the ball particularly well, but that may well be due to having two first-year players handle the point guard responsibility. That’s a role that freshman Dougher and junior college transfer Moore may grow into as the season progresses.

Brenton, a true freshman, has not only been Stony Brook’s best player, but the best freshman in the conference through the first two weeks. Pikiell raved about Brenton’s desire and work ethic in the low post, calling him the best rebounder on the team before the start of the season, and he has more than lived up to the billing, pulling down a league-leading 11.3 rebounds per game through for games. A natural wing at 6’5″, Brenton has played far bigger than his size, controlling the glass through tenacity and guile rather than size. He’s also shown a nice touch around the hoop.

“Tommy is a coach’s dream, he’s relentless around the hoop, our toughest player, and incredibly smart, and he just gets the job done,” said Pikiell. “He’s going to be a very special player for us before all is said and done.”

Martin has also been one of the best bench players in the conference, averaging 8.8 points in only 13 minutes a game. And he has been coming on stronger as the young season progresses: after only playing four minutes in the season opener, Martin scored 11 points in 14 minutes of action versus Lafayette, 14 points in 16 minutes versus Wagner, and 10 points in 18 minutes versus American. At 6’1″, 230 pounds and less than 10 percent body fat, Martin is a unique player in the conference. Already with the ability to handle the ball and run the point, and a developing outside shot, he can also post up America East guards at will, and has all the makings of an All-Conference player by the time he becomes an upperclassman. Martin is proving to be a weapon off of the bench, and more importantly gives the Seawolves’ offense a new dimension, as he can put the ball on the floor and really get to the hoop.

And the Seawolves have the look of a team that will be playing it’s best basketball at the end of the season, as Joyner, a 6’8″, 250-pound bruiser, and Carter, a 6’9″ sharpshooter, have shown flashes as true freshmen, and will only get better as the year goes on. Ditto for Dougher, who has started all four of the Seawolves’ games at point guard as a true freshman. The learning curve is especially tough at the point guard position for first-year players, but Dougher has a bulldog mentality and some legitimate skill to go with it, and has the tools to be a fine floor general.

The biggest lift for Stony Brook, however, will be the return of Desmond “Big Des” Adedeji, a 6’10″, 315-pound nightmare in the middle and the Seawolves’ best player. Fans are quick to overlook the fact that Stony Brook has been in a position to win every game they have played this season despite playing without their centerpiece, as Pikiell’s offense had been designed to revolve around Adedeji, The impact that Adedeji could have – the ideal word here is “could” – can not be overstated, as there may not be a player in the conference that can stop him if he gets the ball on the low blocks. Adedeji has tremendous hands, a soft touch, is an exciting finisher around the hoop, and can run the floor like a deer, and could average 15 and 10 right away.

Adedeji has served four games of a six game suspension, and the lay-off combined with off-season surgery and the year he spent away from the court last season as a transfer (from Dayton) should temper immediate expectations for Adedeji, but the talent and potential are there, and the Seawolves are only going to get better with his return.

Stony Brook is still a long way from becoming the “Evil Empire” that some boastfully predicted a few years back. But there may finally be light at the end of the tunnel for the Seawolves, and they could certainly play the roll of spoiler at the end of the season.