College basketball season is just starting to heat up with practices starting the other day. The Siena Saints will be looking to rebound after a 13-7 season, a season worthy of a third place finish in the Metro Atlantic Athletic conference.
That third place finish in the MAAC regular season was promising for the Saints, seeing how Iona (2nd) had NBA bound AJ English, and Monmouth (1st) who knocked off several ranked teams.
When the MAAC Tournament came around, the Saints played with more energy than ever behind a home crowd. Their season came to an end in the semi-final round against the Iona Gaels, after one of the most historic comebacks in school history. The Saints came back from 20+ to make a ball game of it, but came up short. The Iona Gaels did go on to win the MAAC Tournament and play in the NCAA Tournament.
The past is the past and with a new year brings new hope for Siena.
The Saints are listed as one of the top 20 teams that are returning the most talent in the entire nation (Bleacher Report). Despite the losses of Ryan Oliver, who ranked 5th in minutes last year as a senior, Kenny Wormley, Kinnon LaRose, Imoh Silas, Jimmy Paige, the Saints are returning more than 80% of their points last year.
The Saints are returning their star frontcourt of Brett Bisping (15.9 ppg), who lead the team in minutes played, as well as his side-kick Javion Ogunyemi (14.9 ppg) who lead the team in blocked shots (71). Throw in the presence of Lavon Long who is a big man with a nice jumper and the frontcourt of the Saints will be dominant.
In addition, they will also have a healthy Marquis Wright this season, who still managed to average 14.5 ppg after missing half the season. Add freshman standout Nico Clareth (13.1 ppg) to that backcourt and opposing teams are gonna have a hard time containing them.
It’s this experience that has star player Nico Clareth optimistic about their chances this year.
“We are more experienced and have a returning core group. The fact we are the same team just more experienced.”
As if it could get better, the Saints are bringing in some freshman who can shoot the three-ball, and will be adding Shen-grad Thomas Huerter who will add some versatility to the mixture.
“He’s a good player with a open ear for anything he can learn, very athletic, and can shoot” Nico Clareth told me.
Kadeem Smithen, a redshirt freshman, averaged 21 points per game in high school and has some major explosives much like Nico Clareth.
The freshman class that the Saints are bringing in this year is very strong, including their top recruits Sammy Friday and Khalil Richard. Nico Clareth had nothing but high praise for the incoming freshman class, saying:
“They can, will, and are helping us a lot whether its on the court come game time or in practice scrimmaging.”
Last year, Siena traveled to Cameron Fieldhouse to battle Coach K and Brandon Ingram, in addition to Wisconsin to highlight their non-conference matchups.
This year, they will travel to one of the best environment’s in college basketball, Allen Fieldhouse, to take on the star-studded Kansas Jayhawks. When asked what it’s gonna be like playing in a top 5 venue in all of college basketball, Clareth said, “It should be fun.”
Another game that’s highlighted on the Saints schedule this year comes in late November, when for the first time ever, Siena will travel to the University at Albany for the “Albany Cup”. Despite the change, Clareth isn’t too concerned about the change.
“It should be fun, it’s a different environment. I don’t know what to expect, but I know our fans are gonna come out and support… I’m excited”
Here is the complete Siena basketball schedule, as published earlier by Dylan Rossiter.
