One-Bid Wonders

Despite its small stature, the America East Conference – a veritable Little Engine that Could living in the shadows of the college basketball giants – has been known to produce some amazing college players.

The conference has produced even better parents.

I know first hand just how much of a life-changing impact a great dad make on his children. Fittingly, it was through my father that I developed my passion for America East Conference basketball.

And so, in celebrating Father’s Day, I was able to catch up with several prominent former America East players who have grown into great dad’s. One-time America East stars Ryan Stys, Matt Turner, Kevin Reed, Austin Ganly, Ryan Butt, Alvin Abreu and Stijn Dhondt each took time out of their busy Father’s Day plans and celebrations to share their own thoughts and experiences on fatherhood and on their children.

Here are their experiences in their own words: (more…)

(Chestnut Hill, MA) — On a cold winter’s eve on the first of December in 1986, beneath dirty-yellow light which drifted down over creaking wooden-bleachers in a mostly empty Lundholm Gymnasium, the University of New Hampshire Wildcats stepped onto the deadwood floorboards over their home court and knocked off the Boston College Eagles.

It has been 26 years since that frigid night in Durham. 11 times since then, the Wildcats and Eagles have taken the hardwood opposite each other. And 11 times the Wildcats have gone home empty-handed. Many times during that stretch New Hampshire was within one Austin Ganly tomahawk-slam, one Tyrece Gibbs step-back three, one Dane DiLiegro floor-burn dive, and one Alvin Abreu heart-and-hustle play, of an upset win.

Late Sunday afternoon, New Hampshire stood 58 seconds away from finally ripping victory away from Boston College. Three times, the Wildcats were within one play of knocking off the Eagles on their home floor at Conte Forum.

“I’ve been doing this a long time and I’m long past moral victories,” said New Hampshire head coach Bill Herrion, standing outside the team bus following the Wildcats 61-59 overtime loss – a soft rain turning to snow beneath a rapidly-darkening grey sky; the darkened hulk of Alumni Stadium serving as a back drop for the impromptu interview.

“I thought we had a very good chance of winning if we played our game and executed,” said Herrion, “We had chances; we just didn’t get it done.” (more…)

(West Hartford, CT) — As he walked towards the locker room, the final horn of his career having already turned to echoes in an empty arena, New Hampshire senior Alvin Abreu took one last look at his surroundings, and pulled his jersey over his head and off for the final time.

There was no standing ovation in his final moments on the court, no curtain call after he peeled off his number 25 – removing the embroidered “New Hampshire” from his chest – for the final time.

Often, there is no justice in the forgotten corners of Division I basketball.

If anyone ever deserved to set foot on the games biggest stage and experience one moment under the bright lights of the NCAA tournament, it was Abreu. If deserving had anything to do with it, Abreu’s career would have culminated under the blinding spotlight of the NCAA tournament.

Instead, only empty chair backs, dirty orange light, and a sparse crowd of opposing fans who never knew – or cared to know – his story, were the sole witnesses to the end of his career.

As Clint Eastwood’s Will Munny said to Gene Hackman’s Little Bill Daggett in Unforgiven, “‘Deserve’s’ got nothin’ to do with it.”

In the America East, where the entire careers – and an incredible amount of humanity – are played out in the obscurity of empty arenas, it never does. (more…)

(West Hartford, CT) — As Albany head coach Will Brown approached the podium, a question rang out.

“Coach, how many points did you score in your career compared to what Suero scored tonight?” sniped one intrepid member of the media, referencing the 24 points Brown’s star wing, Gerardo Suero, dropped on the Wildcats.

“If I’d have taken as many shots as Suero, I’d be in the basketball Hall of Fame,” said Brown with a wry smile , drawing hearty laughs from Suero, as well as Albany players Mike Black and Blake Metcalf.

Getting into a verbal sparring match with the Great Danes silver-tongued coach is usually akin to bringing a knife to a gunfight, and Brown remains the quickest draw in the America East.

Brown was all smiles following a 63-45 win over New Hampshire in the quarterfinals of the America East Tournament – his first tournament victory in three years. For the first time in a long time, Brown appears to have an on the court arsenal that matches the one he brings to post-game pressers.

More importantly, the Danes finally have the heart and resolve.

“My group has turned into a very resilient group. This is not the group that we expected to have heading into the America east Conference Tournament,” said Brown. “This group has really come together and played some good basketball.”

Brown was all smiles following a 63-45 win over New Hampshire in the quarterfinals of the America East Tournament – his first tournament victory in three years.

“There is not one team in this league that is winning in this tournament without 2 of their top guys playing so for us to win and advance says a lot about the resiliency of our kids.” (more…)

Alvin Abreu, R-Sr., G, New Hampshire (13.7 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 36.7 3FG%): Alvin Abreu has gone out the way that every since player who ever sets foot on a court should hope to conclude their careers: By leaving every last ounce of himself on the floor. A little over a month ago, when we began outlining our All-Conference Teams, Abreu was not on any of them. But Abreu – who perhaps works harder than any other player in the conference – had the February to end all Februarys, going straight BEAST MODE. The heart and soul of the Wildcats, Abreu put the team on his back and carried them from the Play-in Game to the fifth-seed.

Reason omitted from First-Team: Abreu might have been the best player in the AE during the month of February, but there are three other months, too, and those months had too many games where Abreu had more field goal attempts than points. Volume is valuable when it allows other players to thrive in lower-usage roles, but before the calendar hit February 1, the Wildcats weren’t thriving – they were diving, with the play-in game looking like a possible destination before UNH beat Hartford 52-51 in Durham to begin its race to 5th place. As spectacular as Abreu was down the stretch, his first three months of the season essentially locked him out of 1st-team contention.

Bryan Dougher, Sr., G, Stony Brook (13.4 PPG, 37.3 3FG%, 1.3 A/TO): A tireless worker, consummate leader, student-athlete, all-around good guy and flat-out winner, Dougher may be the single most important player to ever set foot at Stony Brook. Quiet and without a hint of ego or arrogance, Dougher is a silent assassin from long-range, and was the leading scorer for the regular season champion Seawolves. Although still susceptible to athletic guards off the dribble, Dougher made tremendous strides on the defensive end, and also showed off some surprising post-up moves. Dougher has started every single game of his career, and during that time has likely never taken a single player, practice, or moment off – or for granted.

Reason omitted from First-Team: Dougher can shoot the basketball, without a doubt. That, by itself, provides a lot of value – we named Four McGlynn Rookie of the Year, and McGlynn’s value is almost entirely provided by his shooting ability. But while Dougher is a great shooter, he’s not a historically great shooter, and in our eyes a top-5 player in the league has to excel in more than one area. That’s not to say Dougher is weak in every other area. He’s not. Dougher’s defensive ability has improved every season, his leadership is unquestioned, and he’s extremely durable. But it can’t be ignored that Dougher is only meaningfully better than average at one tangible aspect of the game.

D.J. Irving, Soph., G, Boston University (11.3 PPG, 5.4 APG, 2.3 A/TO, 108.7 ORtg): The fastest player in the conference, Irving was the engine that made the Terriers go, and made everyone around him much better. According to virtually every coach in the conference, not only was Irving the best Terrier, but teams would regularly structure their entire gameplan around containing him. Irving’s ability to drive the lane and dish to the open man made the Terriers offense run, and his court presence greatly contributed to the monster offensive season of teammate Darryl Partin, as BU’s point guard had a knack for getting the ball to Partin in the perfect position to score. The Terriers were clearly not the same team without Irving, as evidenced by their 0-4 spell when the guard was dealing with a concussion. Irving also excelled on the defensive end as the catalyst of the Terriers’ traps and presses, and applied constant pressure to opposing ball-handlers in the halfcourt.

Reason omitted from First-Team: Prior to Irving’s concussion, he was having a truly outstanding season and may have been the leading candidate for Player of the Year. And it’s clear that BU suffered in his absence. But after the concussion, while Irving was often good and rarely bad, there were too many games where he was essentially invisible. There’s a difference between looking to set up your teammates, which has always been a big part of Irving’s game, and doing so at the expense of your own offense. Irving reached double figures in points in nine of 11 games before the concussion, but was “held” to single-digit point totals in more than half of BU’s conference games, including three of BU’s four conference losses. Some of those low point totals were the result of teams selling out to keep Irving out of the lane, but there were more than a few occasions where we came to conclude that the biggest obstacle between Irving and the basket was himself.

Darryl Partin, R-Sr., G/F, Boston University (19.7 PPG, 160 FTA, 37.2 Shot%): Partin had an absolutely monster offensive season, finishing second in the conference in both overall scoring and scoring in conference games at 19.7 and 19.6 points per game, respectively. Partin excelled as a pick-and pop offensive player, and his lightning-quick release from anywhere on the court was deadly on catch-and-shoots running around screens. When he caught fire, no one on the league could get hotter than Partin, who could put points up by the barrelful. Although far from a good defensive player, Partin made strides on the defensive end of the ball as well.

Reason omitted from First-Team: Remember how we described Dougher as one-dimensional? Copy that for Partin. And while Partin’s ability to create his own shot may be far more robust than Dougher’s ability to do the same, nobody said anything about that created shot for self being a quality look. Partin may have invented the heat check. BU needed someone to absorb volume on offense, but that inevitably led to a predictable problem: Partin, a good shooter when spotting up or coming off screens, ended up taking a lot of contested leaners, long jumpers and 3′s off the dribble. If those sound like low-percentage looks, that’s because they were, which is why one of the most prolific scorers in the league had an effective field goal percentage of just 47.6. And when a player learns to expect that those low-percentage shots are occasionally required, it’s difficult to turn off the faucet and eschew those same types of looks earlier in the shot clock – Partin could be expected to throw up one of those shots early in the possession a few times a game. Did that make him difficult to guard? Yeah, probably, because any spot on the court could turn into a scoring opportunity. But it also meant too many empty possessions to be a first-team player on our list.

Gerardo Suero, Jr., G/F, Albany (21.7 PPG, 37.3 Poss%, 242 FTA, 107.8 ORtg): On the offensive side of the ball, Suero is not only the most physically gifted player in the league, but possibly one of the most gifted players the league has seen in a long time. Suero’s 21.7 points per game not only lead the league, but they are the highest single-season average the America East has seen since Taylor Coppenrath and Jose Juan Barea surpassed it in 2004-2005. In the past decade, only three times (Coppernath in 03-04 and 04-05, and Barea in 04-05) has an America East player scored at a higher clip. Suero’s package of size (6’4” 215), strength, athleticism, and ability and propensity to attack the hoop off the dribble are something the conference has not seen in a very, very long time. He was also a solid rebounder who got teammates involved distributing the ball.

Reason omitted from First-Team: Gerardo Suero averaged 4.2 turnovers per game. If that sounds like a lot, it’s because it is. It’s 4th in the nation. That number jumps to 4.7 in conference play. Gerardo Suero is also, by our reckoning, the worst defender among any current AE rotation player and quite possibly the worst defender we’ve ever seen in this conference. Is his scoring ability otherworldly? Yeah it is. But this is the blueprint for how a player can make more than 200 field goals and more than 200 free throws, lead the entire nation in percentage of possessions used, average almost six rebounds per game as a wing, and still miss out on 1st-team honors. Being benched after giving no effort whatsoever in a key game on national television doesn’t help either.

(Durham, NH) – Good teams find a way to win even when they don’t play well.

Visiting Stony Brook lost the turnover battle to host New Hampshire (14 to 12), and the Seawolves were outshot from both the floor (31.1 percent to 36.7) and behind the arc (18.8 percent to 28 percent), while registering only 4 assists to 14 turnovers. Stony Brook leading scorers Bryan Dougher and Dave Coley, along with starting forwards Dallis Joyner and Al Rapier, were all held below their season averages.

Yet, at the final buzzer, the Seawolves stood comfortably in control, with a 57-48 win.

Stony Brook won the game on the defensive end, on the glass, and at the free-throw line. The Seawolves out-rebounded New Hampshire 40-24; the 14th straight game in which the Seawolves have out-rebounded their opponent. Stony Brook made 26 of 33 free-throws to UNH’s 5-7, and scored 10 points off turnovers, compared to New Hampshire’s three.

“We knew it’d be a grind and it was,” said Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell. “Lucky to get on the bus with a win. Did enough to win; our defense again held a team to under 50 points.”

The Seawolves defense ranks as the league’s best in scoring defense (55.1 ppg) and field goal percent defense (.396) in America East games. In 12 conference games, America East opponents have only broken 60 points against Stony Brook three times.

New Hampshire managed just four offensive rebounds to Stony Brook’s 12, as the Wildcats were outscored 10-3 in second chance points.

“We don’t really have an inside game where we can just throw it to the post, and, consequently, we had nothing on the offensive glass,” said New Hampshire head coach Bill Herrion. (more…)

(Providence, RI) — With sophomore forward Pat Konan lying under the hoop, writhing in agony and grabbing his knee, it seemed like déjà vu all over again for the University of New Hampshire.

Last season, the Wildcats lost top scorers Alvin Abreu and Ferg Myrick to knee injuries – Abreu to a torn ACL, Myrick to a ruptured patella tendon – and a once-promising season was rudely interrupted.

When Konan, a sophomore transfer from Liberty and arguably the Wildcats top talent, went down with 4:40 left in the first half and had to be carried off the court by teammates, it looked as if history were repeating itself once again.

But unlike last season with Abreu and Myrick, Konan’s injury wasn’t catastrophic, and he returned in the second half to help propel the Wildcats to a much needed 69-56 road win over Brown University. (more…)

The University of New Hampshire gave host Boston College a serious

scare Monday night, taking the Eagles to the wire before falling 67-64.

“I really liked the way we competed tonight – we played really hard,” said New Hampshire head coach Bill Herrion.

The Wildcats played their usual suffocating defense, dominated the glass, and displayed a new dimension on offense: attacking the rim aggressively off the dribble in the half court, and pushing the ball in transition. But the Wildcats fell into some familiar, and troubling, trends on offensive end – wasted possessions, forced and ill-advised three-pointers – which handicapped their comeback attempt.

Chandler Rhoads scored 20 points, Alvin Abreu added 17 – 15 in the second half – and Brian Benson ripped down 12 rebounds, rejected 3 shots and added a monster dunk.

Herrion had been raving about the work Rhoads put in over the offseason to become a scoring threat, and the 6’4” wing did not disappoint. Moved off the ball after spending his first two seasons at the point, Rhoads got out in transition, and was unstoppable at times attacking the hoop, going right by – and at times right through – Eagle defenders.

“Chandler Rhoads is a workhorse,” said Herrion. “He’s like a fullback in football. He’s like Larry Csonka: You just keep handing the ball off, he keeps getting first downs and moving the chains. Really he’s just a tough, tough, kid – his game’s improved tremendously.”
(more…)

An abridged version of this article appears on boston.com

There’s a saying among coaches about the unheralded players who arrive with no hype or expectation, who play with a chip on their shoulders and something to prove, never taking a moment of their time in uniform for granted: They’re “hungry.”

For his entire career, Lexington native Dane DiLiegro has been starving.

Unwanted and un-recruited out of high school, even by Division III colleges, DiLiegro has travelled a winding path to become an international pro. At every stop along the way, he has been told that he wasn’t good enough – to start in high school, play in college, or play professionally – knocks that he says have only driven him to excel. (more…)

Tuesday, February 22 was Senior Night in Durham for Wildcat seniors Dane DiLiegro, Tyrone Conley and James Valladares. The trio, who entered UNH as freshmen in the summer of 2007, were honored before tip-off of the final home game of their college careers.

Although his name did not even garner a line in the pregame media notes (which he typed up), it was also a senior night of sorts for another member of the Wildcats family. After four years as the Sports Information Director for Wildcat Men’s Basketball, Eric Coplin was working his final game in Durham after accepting the head Sports Information position at Saint Anselm College.

While the Wildcat seniors took the floor one by one with their families,

received flowers and posed for pictures before a rousing ovation, and got to soak in their final moment in the spotlight, Coplin was busy handling out press notes and credentials, designing, adjusting and then re-adjusting seating charts for the media, and making sure every single need of every single credentialed member of the press was met. From two hours before tipoff until the final press conference ended an hour and a half after the final buzzer, Coplin was a tornado, hustling one sideline to the other, making sure that every aspect of game-day behind the scenes went off without a hitch.

It had been his normal game-day routine for every single home game of the past four years. (more…)