The mantra around the Quinnipiac men’s basketball team this season is one word.
Finish.
“It was about our inability to finish in the tournament last year and not close out after being regular season champions,” said head coach Tom Pecora. “[The players] have had a great work ethic about them and they’ve been very focused.”
After a historic season in Pecora’s first year, the Bobcats are looking to build on and learn from their buzzer-beater loss in the MAAC Tournament to Saint Peter’s. The team is returning four starters – Savion Lewis, Alexis Reyes, Amarri Monroe and Paul Otieno. Monroe, Lewis, and Otieno were named to the All-MAAC Preseason Team, and Monroe was named the preseason favorite for MAAC Player of the Year.
“The most underrated thing in college basketball now is player retention,” said Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports. “That’s what makes the situation here at Quinnipiac so unique.”
There will also be plenty of fresh faces. Seven newcomers joined the team over the offseason. The Bobcats landed transfer guard Ryan Mabrey from the Miami RedHawks and throughout the preseason, it’s looking like Pecora plans to have him start at shooting guard. At 6-foot-5, Mabrey can score at every level and possesses great shooting range.
This is also one of the most talented first-year classes the program has ever brought in. The combination of forwards Braylan Ritvo and Grant Randall brings size, athleticism, and floor spacing to the team. Guards Jaden Zimmerman and Samson Reilly are both tough, physical players who can shoot and create scoring chances. Seven-foot center Spence Wewe gives the Bobcats an elite inside presence on both ends of the floor. All could get serious minutes this year in Hamden.
“Man, they’re long! With the exception of Samson, who’s tough as a pitbull,” Pecora said. “We brought in players that probably, five years ago, would have been recruited at a higher level than the MAAC.”
“These kids are not freshmen,” said Monroe. “If you didn’t know anything about them and came in the gym, you would think they’d been in college for two or three years already.”
The Bobcats were billed as the conference’s top team in the preseason coaches poll. However, the team isn’t letting that pressure push down too hard on them.
“Understanding that for a lot of us, this is our last year… we really just want to finish and leave a legacy,” senior guard Doug Young said. “Being the preseason number one, we’re not ducking no smoke. But we understand what’s at stake.”
Monroe echoed that sentiment.
“Coach P said we’re gonna get some shirts with targets on the back,” he said with a laugh. “We’re gonna embrace it. Show up every night, show up every day in practice and just work, work, work…. We’re ready.”
The Bobcats will get their season underway on Nov. 4 at Yale as the Battle of Whitney Avenue hits the hardwood. Their MAAC schedule begins on Dec. 6 at Rider.
