Stony Brook Seawolves men's basketball

Main article: Stony Brook Seawolves
Stony Brook Seawolves
2014–15 Stony Brook Seawolves men's basketball team
University Stony Brook University
Conference America East
Location Stony Brook, NY
Head coach Steve Pikiell (10th year)
Arena Island Federal Credit Union Arena
(Capacity: 4,160)
Nickname Seawolves
Student section The Red Zone
Colors

Scarlet and Grey

            
Uniforms
Home
Away
Conference regular season champions
2010, 2012, 2013

The Stony Brook Seawolves men’s basketball team is the college basketball program representing Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York. The Seawolves currently participate as part of the NCAA’s Division I basketball, and compete on the America East Conference. The Seawolves currently play their home games in the Pritchard Gymnasium located within the Stony Brook Sports Complex, while the larger Stony Brook Arena is renovated. The team had their most successful year in the 2009–2010 season falling just short of entering their first ever NCAA tournament and participating in the NIT tournament, and are currently coached by Steve Pikiell.

Team history

The Seawolves have an all time win-loss record of 632–618 (.506), 122–199 (.380) in Division I play entering the 2010–11 season. Stony Brook has a 5–9 America East tournament record. The last couple of years have been a tremendous rise in Stony Brook's basketball program achieving post-season play for the first time in the 2009–10 season, as an NIT participant.

Pre-Division I era (1960–1999)

Stony Brook University first fielded a basketball program in the 1960–61 basketball season initially playing their home games at the local Walt Whitman High School (1960–1962) while located at Oyster Bay (at that time State University College on Long Island). The campus relocated to its present site in 1962 and temporarily played their home games at Port Jefferson High School (1962–64) until the construction of the Pritchard Gymnasium in the late 1960s. Since the 1960s the Stony Brook Patriots played at the Division III level and participated several different conferences, also spending many years of its development as an independent program. While first struggling in its initial years with Dan Farrell (1960–64), Stony Brook later enjoyed some success in the Knickerbocker Conference with coach Herbie Brown (Larry Brown's brother). He was head basketball coach at SUNY Stony Brook from 1964–69, earning Coach of the Year honors following the 1969 season. That team's P. A. announcer, Paul (the Bean) Kornreich, was once compared in the local press with the Philadelphia 76'ers famous announcer Dave Zinkoff. Coaches Ron Bash, Dick Kendall, and Joe Castigle helped develop the program in the late 70's and 1980's and by the early 1990s Stony Brook participated in the New York metropolitan based Skyline Conference.

The 1990s saw the University experience tremendous growth in its academic programs leading Stony Brook to become one of the leading public research universities of the SUNY system, and a leading institution at the national level. However, its athletic programs were not on par with the rest of the successes at the university, and then president Shirley Strum Kenny set out to transition Stony Brook to the Division I level. In 1995, then Stony Brook Patriots were renamed as the Seawolves, the basketball program initiated a transition to Division I offering scholarships for the first time in 1995. Division II basketball was played until 1999, when the men's basketball officially entered Division I after a four year transition under the command of head coach Bernard Tomlin. In 2001, after two years of basketball at the D-I Independent level, the Seawolves joined the America East conference.

Early years in Division I and Steve Pikiell (1999–2009)

The initial years of the Stony Brook men's basketball program in an America East play faced many hardships and the team remained in the bottom slots of the conference standings year after year from 2001 through 2008. Through this initial seven seasons Stony Brook didn't have a single conference winning season, even less overall. The program also struggled in the academic end being held in NCAA probation for the 2004–05 season prior to Pikiell's arrival due to a low APR. The program bottomed-out on the 2005–06 season in which the team ended with a 4–24 overall season, and 2–14 in the America East being ranked ninth in the conference standings. The 2006–07 didn't see much improvement as the Seawolves again performed poorly to a 9–20, 4–12 in the America East ending the season last in the standings for the second straight year. A 2007–08 season again reserved the last place for the Seawolves with a 7–23 overall, 3–13 America East record. During this initial seven year stretch the Seawolves were 55–140 overall, 32–84 in the America East. The 2008–09 season showed signs of improvement in the program leading to the first winning season under the America East with an 16–14 overall, 8–8 in America East play allowing the Seawolves to be fourth seeded for the first time in the AE tournament, however, they lost in the opening round against New Hampshire.

Recent success (2009– present)

After coming off their most successful season in 2008–09 the Seawolves showed signs of a more improved team. In the 2009–10 the Seawolves marked a 22–10, 13–3 record to propel them to the top of the ranks of America East conference in the 2009–2010 season. Ranked as top seed for the AEC tournament, the Seawolves posted a Quarterfinals 68–59 victory over 8th seeded Albany advancing to the semifinals to face off the Boston Terriers. The Seawolves played against Boston University in a decisive game but ending in a 70–63 loss against BU, erasing their chances of reaching their first ever NCAA tournament. However, due to their regular-season record the Seawolves were invited to the post-season NIT but lost to the top seeded Illinois in a sellout crowd at the Stony Brook Arena. After a successful season for the Stony Brook Seawolves, with increased expectations for the upcoming year and increased interest from fans, the Seawolves were able to obtain their largest broadcasting package in the school’s young Division I history. A 2010–2011 season broadcastin package included a historic three regular season national broadcast on the ESPN network, a game on SNY, and five games spread throughout the season to be broadcast on MSG+PLUS across the tri-state region. New expectations also came in with disappointments as one of the prominent players was lost with a season-ending injury, the forward Tommy Brenton who was out for the entire season with a medical redshirt.

2010–11 Season

The 2010–2011 season started with a season opener game against the Connecticut Huskies at the Gampel Pavilion resulting in a 79–52 loss to the eventual national champions. The Seawolves then opened their home season two days later with a 80–43 win against Division III Mount Ida. The Seawolves posted a second straight win at Monmouth on for a 51–49 end of the game for their first ever national broadcast on ESPN (College Tip-off Marathon). The Seawolves went on to win their third straight with a 66–59 over Fairleigh Dickinson. Coming back home the Seawolves played against Wagner, losing a close 58–54 game in which free-throws percentage largely affected the team. After the lost against Wagner, the Seawolves hosted Lehigh at the Gymnasium and at one point in the second half held to a 14 point lead, however, a late run by Lehigh allowed the team to get tie and eventually beat the Seawolves on overtime by a score of 79–76. The Seawolves then traveled to New York, NY to play a match up against the Columbia Lions, a game which the Seawolves lost by a score of 73–72 which resulted in the third straight lost by the Seawolves by four or less points, and the second straight lost in which the Seawolves held substantial leads in the second half but weren't able to close it. The Seawolves then traveled to Holy Cross to play a game which also resulted to be very close but which ended on Seawolves favor with a game winning layup by Dave Coley with a second of regulation to capture the Seawolves fourth win of the season, a score of 54–53. The Seawolves battled Sacred Heart but fell at home to a score of 75–66 and then traveled to South Bend, Indiana to face off against No. 24 Notre Dame, their second Big East team of the season. Seawolves battled Notre Dame for most of the first half keeping a score of 29–26 but allowed an 8–0 run to end the half leading to an eventual 88–62 loss.

The Seawolves opened conference play with a win against UMBC and continued throughout the season with struggles in the offensive end and with injuries affecting their sole senior Chris Martin and other players for most of the season. Due to injuries, Pikiell resorted to using the bench more often allowing for Sophomore like Leonard Hayes to get more playing time. Hayes was able to show his potential, entering the starting five and showing his improvement in the conference tournament. Overall, Stony Brook ended the regular season with a 13–16 record and 8–8 in the America East and headed to the tournament as the number fifth seed. In their quarterfinal match against Albany the Seawolves were able to use strong defense and a stellar offense to drag a 67–61 win against Albany at Hartford against an opponent that swept them in the regular season. The Semifinals then played the next day against No. 1 Vermont ending in a surprising offensive effort by Stony Brook, who led from the beginning to the end, to capture a 69–47 promising win against a Vermont team who also swept them in the regular season. For the first time in Stony Brook's Division I program history, the Seawolves were to participate in the America East championship game. Their next match up was announced to be the No. 2 Boston Terriers. On March 12 the Championship was hosted at Agganis Arena at Boston. Again, Stony Brook showed a strong first half outing and a strong defense for most of game and held to a lead of up to 15 points. However, with less than a minute in the clock the terriers tied the game thanks to the John Holland (America East POY), and then captured the lead with a decisive foul on Stony Brook with 2 seconds of regulation left. Boston went on to win 56–54 to end the Seawolves hopes for their first-ever NCAA tournament bid. Chris Martin is to graduate, and Tommy Brenton (injured Junior) is set to return for the 2011–12 season

2011-12 Season

The Seawolves earned their second regular season championship after winning 14 games in the conference season for their first time ever. They clinched the top seed of the America East tournament and defeated Binghamton 78-69 in the first round. Stony Brook faced off against Albany in the semifinals and came out victorious on a decisive buzzer beater tip-in by Dallis Joyner to advance to the finals by a score of 57-55. The Seawolves would go on to play against the Vermont Catamounts on a soldout Stony Brook Arena falling by the score of 51-43 and failing to earn their first trip to the NCAA. By means of earning the regular season championship the Seawolves secured the autobid to the NIT and faced top seeded Seton Hall in a close matchup that went down to the last bucket as the Seawolves fell to Seton Hall 63-61 to close their season 22-10, 14-2.

Facilities

Further information: Pritchard Gymnasium

The Seawolves currently play most of their home games in the Pritchard Gymnasium constructed in the late 1960s with a capacity of 1,600. In the early 1990s, Stony Brook, anticipating a transition to Division I, embarked in the construction of a $17 million, 4,000 seat arena in the west-end of the Stony Brook Sports Complex. The arena became the new home of the Seawolves men's and women's basketball program. In 2007 it was announced that the arena would undergo a $20 million renovation project. The arena was scheduled to be returned for use by 2010–11 season, however, the project has been put on hold until the 2012–13 season. While most of the games are currently in the gymnasium, the arena has been used for special occasions like the 2010 NIT first round against Illinois and also hosted one game of the 2010–2011 regular season due to its larger seating capacity and better media accommodations.

Coaches

Head coaches

The following have been the head coaches of Stony Brook men's basketball since 1960

Current coaching staff

Name Type College Graduating year
Steve Pikiell Head Coach Connecticut 1990
Jay Young Associate Head Coach Marist 1986
Lamar Chapman Assistant Coach Lane 1993
Dan Rickard Assistant Coach Stony Brook 2004
Bryan Dougher Director of Basketball Operations Stony Brook 2012

Postseason results

The Seawolves achieved their first National Invitation Tournament (NIT) appearance in the 2009–2010 season. They returned to the NIT in the 2011–12 season. In 2012–13 they again won the American East regular season title but failed to win the conference tournament and received an automatic bid to the NIT. They achieved their first ever postseason tournament victory by defeating Massachusetts in the first round before losing to Iowa. Their overall combined NIT record is 1–3

NIT results

Year Round Opponent Result/Score
2010 First Round Illinois L 66–76
2012 First Round Seton Hall L 61–63
2013 First Round
Second Round 		Massachusetts
Iowa 		W 71–58
L 63–75

CBI results

The Seawolves have appeared in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) twice. Their record is 0–2.

Year Round Opponent Result/Score
2014 First Round Siena L 55–66
2015 First Round Mercer L 70–72

Season-by-season results

Season Coach Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Dan Farrell (Independent) (1960–1964)
1960–61 Dan Farrell 0–8
1961–62 Dan Farrell 2–8
1962–63 Dan Farrell 4–6
1963–64 Dan Farrell 6–7
Herb Brown (Independent/Knickerbocker) (1964–1969)
1964–65 Herb Brown 6–9
1965–66 Herb Brown 5–14
1966–67 Herb Brown 9–10
1967–68 Herb Brown 7–15 3–4
1968–69 Herb Brown 16–9 7–2
1968–69 Herb Brown 16–9 7–2
1969–70 Herb Brown 16–9 7–2
Rollie Massimino (Knickerbocker) (1969–1971)
1969–70 Rollie Massimino 18–6 8–0
1970–71 Rollie Massimino 15–10 7–2
Don Covaleski (Knickerbocker) (1971–1974)
1971–72 Don Covaleski 16–10 7–1
1972–73 Don Covaleski 10–11 6–2
1973–74 Don Covaleski 12–10 7–1
Dr. Ron Bash (Knickerbocker) (1974–1978)
1974–75 Ron Bash 2–22 2–6
1975–76 Ron Bash 15–11 7–1
1976–77 Ron Bash 21–6 7–2
1977–78 Ron Bash 27–4 5–2
1978–79 Ron Bash 24–3
Dick Kendall (Independent) (1978–1984)
1979–80 Dick Kendall 19–9
1980–81 Dick Kendall 16–12
1981–82 Dick Kendall 10–15
1982–83 Dick Kendall 13–12
1983–84 Dick Kendall 11–14
1984–85 Joe Castigle 16–11
Joe Castigle (Independent/Skyline) (1984–1991)
1984–85 Joe Castigle 16–11
1985–86 Joe Castigle 20–8
1986–87 Joe Castigle 21–6
1987–88 Joe Castigle 18–10
1988–89 Joe Castigle 16–12
1989–90 Joe Castigle 24–5 4–0
1990–91 Joe Castigle 23–4 9–1
Bernard Tomlin (Skyline/NECC) (1991–1999)
1991–92 Bernard Tomlin 17–10 7–3
1992–93 Bernard Tomlin 16–12 6–4
1993–94 Bernard Tomlin 12–12 6–4
1994–95 Bernard Tomlin 13–13
1995–96 Bernard Tomlin 9–17 6–14
1996–97 Bernard Tomlin 10–16 6–12
1997–98 Bernard Tomlin 13–13 10–6
1998–99 Bernard Tomlin 11–16 10–8
Nick Macarchuk (Independent/America East) (1999–2005)
1999–2000 Nick Macarchuk 6–23
2000–01 Nick Macarchuk 17–11
2001–02 Nick Macarchuk 6–22 5–11 9th
2002–03 Nick Macarchuk 13–15 7–9 7th
2003–04 Nick Macarchuk 10–20 5–13 7th
2004–05 Nick Macarchuk 12–17 6–12 7th
Steve Pikiell (America East) (2005–present)
2005–06 Steve Pikiell 4–24 2–14 9th
2006–07 Steve Pikiell 9–20 4–12 9th
2007–08 Steve Pikiell 7–23 3–13 9th
2008–09 Steve Pikiell 16–14 8–8 4th
2009–10 Steve Pikiell 22–10 13–3 1st NIT 1st round
2010–11 Steve Pikiell 15–17 8–8 5th AE Tournament Finals
2011–12 Steve Pikiell 22–10 14–2 1st NIT 1st round
2012–13 Steve Pikiell 25–8 14–2 1st NIT 2nd round
2013–14 Steve Pikiell 23–9 13–3 2nd CBI First Round
2014–15 Steve Pikiell 23–12 12–4 2nd CBI First Round
Total: 655–630 (.510)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Rivalries

Albany is Stony Brook's SUNY rival and biggest rival in general in athletics. This has led to intense competition in basketball games each year. Fans and players of both schools show a lot of passion in these rivalry games.

A heated rivalry between Vermont and Stony Brook was inevitable. Since 2009, Pikiell has won three America East regular-season titles and the Catamounts were the primary team Stony Brook had to knock off.

The Seawolves and the Hofstra Pride have a geographical rivalry, a battle for Long Island supremacy. Due to a Hofstra decision, the rivalry was put on hold and since 2008-2009 Hofstra quit playing any games against the Seawolves for six years. Hofstra and Stony Brook resumed men's basketball rivalry in 2014.[1] Hofstra leads the all-time series 19-4, since many of the games were played in the days of pre-Division I era (1960–1999) of Stony Brook.

References