Men’s basketball preview: Rodriguez, Show lead experienced Bearcats

Binghamton men’s basketball heads into the 2017-18 season with as many weapons and as much optimism as it’s had during head coach Tommy Dempsey’s six-year tenure. With all five starters back and nine of the team’s top 10 scorers returning from a year ago, the Bearcats are eager to turn the corner in conference play and battle for a home playoff game (top-four seed).

Paramount to the team’s fortunes will be the tandem health of leaders Willie Rodriguez and J.C. Show. The pair were set to form a dangerous inside-outside combination last year before each suffered an injury that allowed them to start just one game together on the floor.

“To go through 32 games and have J.C. and Willie play one game together was frustrating,” Dempsey said. “That had a lot to do with us not being as successful as we wanted last season.”

Rodriguez was slowed by a leg injury in the early season but did enough to climb over the 1,000-point plateau (1,105 pts.). He sharpened up by late February and tallied 46 points in his final two outings, including a 20-point, 14-rebound showing against Stony Brook in the America East quarterfinals.

Show led the team in scoring (13.3 ppg.) before his season ended abruptly after 12 games with an arm injury. He surpassed the 20-point mark four times, including a school-record-tying 34 points (record 8-of-11 threes) in a November win over Central Connecticut State. The Bearcats were 7-5 with Show in the lineup and 5-15 the rest of the way without him.

“J.C. is our rock,” Dempsey said. “We have a lot of great pieces but he makes it work. Psychologically what he means to our team is really important. And even with what he showed those first 12 games last year … that was while playing with a torn tricep. His stats were impressive considering he had no use of his left arm. Now that he’s back and playing the point at times, it gives us a big lift.”

In all, Dempsey returns a veteran group of 11 upperclassmen, including eight players who have appeared in 50 or more collegiate games.

“We are a very experienced, healthy team right now,” Dempsey said. “We think the combination of our veteran core of players with our health and a fresh start has us poised to be a really competitive team.”

The Bearcats do lose 1,000-point scorer and four-year guard Marlon Beck plus defensive specialist and team spark John Rinaldi from a 12-20 team that won a school-record nine non-conference games before injuries and road setbacks drained the team down the stretch.

But including the redshirt players who practiced with the program all season, the team returned 13 players and didn’t have to deal with any premature departures – a rarity in the current NCAA basketball climate.

“What we have is unique these days,” Dempsey said. “We will be one of the few teams in the country that doesn’t lose a player to transfer. This group banded together like brothers in the offseason. They knew if we just stayed together that success takes time and it takes grit and perseverance. Right now we have the pieces to be successful and this team is on a mission. This group deserves success and now we just have to go out on the court and prove it.”

GUARDS

Show is healthy and ready to handle the point guard role, but can also move over to the “2” spot when necessary. Junior Timmy Rose (7.3 ppg., 3.6 apg.) will receive ample minutes in the backcourt. He started 27 games last season, shot 46 percent from three-point range and played an average of 26 minutes a game. Rose twice scored 20 or more points in conference play and ranked fourth in the league with a nearly 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Fifth-year senior Yosef Yacob wraps up his collegiate career as he works toward his master’s degree. Yacob has 87 career games under his belt and shot 42 percent from beyond the arc in 2016-17. When healthy, he is a dangerous weapon on the perimeter.

Sophomore Fard Muhammad (5.8 ppg.) has the potential to light it up from the outside as well. He had seven double-figure games and shot 39 percent from deep.

WINGS

Rodriguez will pad his school-record (Div. I era) 1,105 point total in his senior season. The versatile, crafty forward had some uneven play in 2016-17 with his lingering injury, but still averaged 12.0 points and topped the 15-point mark 10 times, including back-to-back 20+ totals to end the season. He has 501 career rebounds and has logged 30 minutes a game throughout his standout career.

Junior Everson Davis (5.6 ppg.) made 17 starts and hit double figures five times last winter, including a 19-point showing at Hartford in the second-to-last regular season game. He is explosive to the rim and has earned an average of 23 minutes a game in his first two seasons.

Junior sharpshooter John Schurman is a three-point specialist who knocked down 48 percent of his threes last year. At 6-foot-6, Schurman can get his shot off and his 14-point showing against Maine in the regular-season finale showed his ability.

After sitting out his first year on campus, redshirt freshman Tyler Stewart joins the rotation where his length and athleticism will be weapons. A 6-foot-7 wing, Stewart averaged 13.6 points and 7.1 rebounds as a senior at St. Andrew’s Episcopal in Maryland.

In mid-December, freshman Albert Odero will become eligible and his elite athleticism will add another dimension to the backcourt. Odero is a former all-state guard one hour along Interstate 88 at Oneonta High. Last winter he averaged 26.0 points and 10.3 rebounds at St. John’s Catholic Prep (Md.).

FRONTCOURT

Senior Bobby Ahearn and junior Thomas Bruce are the leading returnees in the post and newcomer Caleb Stewart will provide another scoring threat.

Ahearn, the team MVP in 2016-17, averaged 9.7 points and 4.6 rebounds. He dropped in seven or more field goals in seven games and shot a team-best 54 percent from the floor. Ahearn also kept defenses honest by hitting 21 three-pointers. He has played in 90 collegiate games and is a fan favorite for his never-quit, blue-collar mentality.

Bruce has matured into a physical presence on the floor. With a chiseled 6-foot-9 frame and improved shooting touch to compliment his shot-blocking skills, Bruce has the tools to emerge as one of the dominant centers in the conference. He was named to the America East All-Defensive Team last year after averaging 7.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in league play. His blocks average was second-highest in the conference and he added five double-figure scoring performances.

“Thomas is one of the more talented big guys in the league,” Dempsey said. “People forget that he played his first game here at age 17 and he’s still only 19 and maturing as a player and a young man. So he’s had two really solid years but still hasn’t been all he can be … his ceiling is as high as anyone in the America East.”

Stewart brings a confidence and unique skillset into his first season at Binghamton. He has played 60 collegiate games at a pair of Division II programs (691 pts.) and at 6-foot-9 with a shooter’s touch, he will warrant solid minutes in the frontcourt.

Senior center Dusan Perovic is another big man with an inside-outside game. Perovic played in all 32 games last season and is capable of surprising opponents with an outburst, as his 21-point, eight-rebound showing against Long Beach State showed. His signature game at Binghamton was a record-tying 34-point performance (11-for-18) against Boston University as a freshman.

Athletic junior Jordan McRae adds depth and a team-first mentality off the bench.

SCHEDULE

The Bearcats will see six first-time opponents in 2017-18, including Morgan State (season opener at home on Nov. 10) and all four teams at the Cancun Challenge. The Challenge starts with away games at Atlantic-10 member George Mason (Nov. 16) and Missouri Valley member Evansville (Nov. 18) before heading to Mexico for the final two games. There, Binghamton will face Big Sky member Montana State (Nov. 21) and either Cal State Northridge or Southeast Missouri State in the final game (Nov. 22).

A first-time meeting with Big Ten member Penn State (Dec. 19) highlights the seven-game December schedule.

Binghamton will continue series’ against state rivals Cornell (Nov. 13), Colgate (Dec. 2) and Army (Dec. 6) and also face familiar foes in Loyola and LIU Brooklyn.

The America East schedule is a home-and-home matchup with all eight opponents (16 games) that stretches over the final two months. The top eight teams will advance to the conference quarterfinals on March 3, with the top four teams serving as hosts. For the second straight year, all America East home and away games will be broadcast on ESPN3. The championship game will be shown to a national television audience on ESPN2 on March 10.

OUTLOOK

A similarly-deep and experienced 2016-17 Bearcats team was picked to finish fourth before the injuries and February slide put them in the No. 7 slot. And with the addition of three long, athletic players (C. Stewart, T. Stewart, Odero), Binghamton has arguably more depth and talent than last year’s squad.

But behind a formidable duo of reigning champion Vermont and runnerup Albany, the top tier in the America East also remains strong. Last season’s host teams (top four seeds) won their quarterfinal games by an average margin of 23 points and home teams are 21-3 in the last two years, demonstrating the great value of a top-four regular season finish. Eighteen all-stars return across the conference, including the Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and four first-team All-Conference selections.

The Bearcats were voted in a tie for sixth (with UMass Lowell) in this season’s Preseason Coaches’ Poll. UMBC (3), Stony Brook (4) and New Hampshire (5) followed Vermont (1) and Albany (2) in the poll.

Binghamton had six single-digit league losses a year ago before pushing Stony Brook to the closing minutes in the quarterfinals. Now a veteran group that has weathered the storm together has an opportunity to push its way into that upper echelon.

“This team has incredible spirit,” Dempsey said. “I love coming to practice every day because these guys are in it together and they work hard. We are coming off a summer where we played well and strung together some good performances (on the Canadian Tour). We should be able to find wins early in the year and if that happens and we stay healthy, we could be a team that finishes considerably higher than expected.”