MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[magicman]

The magicman has been through a rough summer and fall. Things are slowly coming round but there have been many changes in my life and I'm still dealing with a few things...but never fear I have a reputation to uphold and I will have my prognostications up before the first game night. I've been told there are a few coaches checking up on me and I just want to reassure everyone that has inquired that I will be back for another season. Thanks for all the support.  I also have been waiting for team rosters to be posted as some schools weren't in any hurry to get that done. (Including a certain team that has a bird for a mascot and wears red and white uniforms.)

I intend to do some of my homework tonight, if I can stay awake.   

[magicman]

D3hoops has released their preseason All-America Teams.

With the graduation of Kyle Richardson from Plattsburgh State 2 years ago and Brian Sortino from Oswego State this past year the SUNYAC has no representatives on the D3hoops preseason All-America Teams.

Hopefully the one that matters at the end of the season will have a representative from the YAC on board once again, to keep our streak alive. We have had a player from our conference make the D3hoops All-America Team for the last 6 years in a row. Here's a list of all the SUNYAC players that have been D3hoops All-Americans since this website started announcing their teams back in 1997-1998.

2017- Brian Sortino 3rd team Oswego State
2016- Kyle Richardson 2nd team Plattsburgh State, Brian Sortino 3rd team Oswego State
2015- Gordon Lyons 2nd team Geneseo State
2014- John Ivy 2nd team Brockport State
2013- Hayden Ward 2nd team Oswego State
2012- Chad Burridge Honorable Mention Oswego State
2008- Anthony Williams 2nd team Plattsburgh State
2007- Sherod Harris Honorable Mention Brockport State
2001- Tom Williams 4th team Cortland State

Nine players have made ten teams with Brian Sortino the only one to have made it twice.

Here is the link to this year's preseason All-America teams:
http://www.d3hoops.com/awards/all-americans/men/preseason-2018

[Greek Tragedy]

Hope everything is OK, magicman. I'm making an effort to visit other boards this year, mostly to improve my overall knowledge for fantasy leagues!

[magicman]

People Get Ready....What time is it???  It's SUNYAC TIME

And eagle eyed viewers will note that the color red was used in that salutation!!

[Bengalsrule]

  Well today is the DAY!!   SUNYAC 2017 edition gets started.  Not 1 for game predictions (ill leave that to the more "seasoned" veterans of these boards), however a quick look at the rosters reveals 1 thing. The PLATTSBURGH Cards are loaded! Which explains why the Magicman has been so quiet ( because he's been gushing over the abundance of riches that will appear on campus at 101 Broad street). 12 returning members including their top 9 scorers!!!!!!   I can't figure out how they just got 7 votes in the "others receiving votes" category!  I guess that's gonna be Keene States problem Saturday...and the SUNYACs problem later.

   Oswego isn't too far behind with 10 returning players although then entire conference should breathe a sigh of relief when they realize that Brian Sortino is not 1 of those 10 returning players!  Ditto for Geneseo who also has 10 players returning ( although it warms the heart not to see either Justin Ringen or John Decker as 1 of those 10). I have no doubt that the knights will still have sharp shooters galore on their roster! Brockport looks to have a good nucleus of players (8) returning and Oneonta looks like Cam has done some serious recruiting along with keeping 6 seasoned veterans. Cortland returns 1st team All - Sunyac Justin Cooper plus mountain men Zach Lydon (6' 9) and Carrel Joseph (6' 6 ) along with 5 other veterans so expect big things from Team Spanbauer.

  Fredonia returns Ian Help (who does almost everything) and Dante Williams (who does what Ian doesn't). I'm expecting big things from Phil Seymours boys in Chautauqua county! New Paltz is under a new coach (and still has Nick Paquette and Dylan Balducci) and Potsdam's 2nd year coach, Jim Becthel,  still has Dante Langley and Nosa Onabor returning so anything is possible at Potsdam.

My beloved BENGALS lost plenty of firepower ( 4 starters graduated) and look like there is plenty work to to be done at 1300 Elmwood to get ready for the rough and tumble SUNYAC schedule. 1 thing that I know for sure...coach Fajri Ansari will have a tough and athletic team ready when "live bullets" start flying Friday night!

Here's to hoping that all of the SUNYAC teams sweep their non-conference opponents. Right now Massey has the SUNYAC ranked 15th Out of 47 conferences ( 48 if you include the div 3 independents). Any possibility of moving up will have to be based in large part on what we do against Non SUNYAC teams. Once we start beating up on each other then ......

Good luck to Fredonia at Penn State Behrend, Oneonta at Keystone (enjoy All-Time) and Cortland hosting Ithaca in their annual "Cortaca" matchup!  Something tells me that someone else will come with predictions for those game.. ( maybe 2 "someone else" in fact).

Lets go SUNYAC BROCKPORT.....BUFFALO STATE....CORTLAND...FREDONIA...GENESEO...NEW PALTZ...ONEONTA...OSWEGO...PLATTSBURGH...POTSDAM

[All-Time]

Let The Games Begin.
I expect the Sunyac teams to come out roaring tonight.
Love Fredonia, Cortland and my Red Dragons to sweep.
Enjoy the games

[magicman]

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends... to steal a phrase from Emerson, Lake and Palmer. For all you young ballers out there that have never heard of Emerson Lake and Palmer here's a clip from their 1970 hit single Lucky Man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn_1d_DUE08

There will be a Lucky Man come Saturday evening,  February 24th when a YAC coach gets to hold the trophy that signifies the winner of the Conference Tournament. Who will that be? Will it be Coach Dunne from Brockport, or will Coach Leone from the Oswego Lakers get to hoist it once again. Coach Spanbauer likes his chances, but probably won't tell you that he does. And what about Coach Curle who missed the playoffs completely last year in somewhat of a shocker. (I know I was shocked even if he wasn't) Will the Cardinals be able to turn things around and get back to the playoffs?

How will 2nd year head coach Cameron Conover follow up his successful debut as he led the Oneonta Red Dragons to the championship game of the SUNYAC, against Oswego and came within a whisker of winning the big prize as they trailed the Lakers 72-70 with 16 seconds left in the game. The Lakers hit their free throws to win 75-70 but Oneonta proved they belonged in the big game. Now Coach Conover is faced with the loss of the Red Dragons scoring triumvirate of Frankie Kelly, Lawrence Coleman, and all time scoring leader, Mikey McElroy. Losing any one of those players hurts, but losing all 3 in a single year  certainly makes one wonder where the offense that was ranked  #1 in the YAC and 28th in the country will come from this year.

Where does Buffalo State fit into the picture. They lost 4 of their 5 double digit scorers from last year. They do have Mike Henry back and if you're going to get just one of your starters back, he's a good one to get. But there are 10 new faces on the 15 player roster. They brought in several new big men, a 6'7" freshman and a 6'8" sophomore, but they are unknown factors at the present time. I think Coach Ansari and the rest of the Bengal staff may be in for a long cold winter. With 7 freshman on the team it has "a rebuilding year" written all over it. But there's a lot of talent in the Queen City area and I'm sure the Bengals coaching staff went out and found some players. How soon can this team come together will be the question. 

Geneseo suffered some big losses as well with the departure of Justin Ringen, John Decker and Jack Eisenberg...3 starters that accounted for nearly 60% of their offense. Coach Minton will be working overtime to get the Knights up to speed. Senior guard Kevin Crockett is the only returning double digit scorer and he will get help from  junior big man Jack Manke and sophmore guard Tommy Eastman who showed promise last year as a freshman scoring 175 points and grabbing nearly 4 rpg while averaging 19 minutes of floor time per game.  The Knights do return 6 players that averaged double digit minutes last year but they need to figure out where the offense will come from and who the go to guys will be. A problem they haven't had for the last few years.

Fredonia almost made the playoffs last season and they did manage to win 3 games against some of the better teams in the conference. Most impressive was their win over conference champion Oswego, and road wins in Plattsburgh and Geneseo. The big question is can they ratchet those results up a notch and make the playoffs? They return their main offensive weapon in big man Ian Helps who returns for his senior season but they lost 3 starters and 5 players that gave them double digit minutes. Freshman big man 6'7" Jonathan McDonald could be a bright spot among the new recruits. He had 10 points and 8 boards against DI Fordham in an exhibition game 2 weeks ago. Returning guard Dante Williams figures to be an important part of the Blue Devils offense as he averaged nearly double figures last season and almost 6 boards a game. They will be a work in progress until they figure out where the offense will come from. They lost more than half of their point production and Helps will need all the help he can get as other teams will certainly key on him when Fredonia has the ball. Coach Phil Seymour is beginning his 5th year as the Blue Devils coach and last year's 10 wins represent the most under his direction. The 7 conference wins was also a high water mark. He'd like to get over the hump and have his first winning season but I think the odds are against him. I think he 'll come closer but 11 or 12 wins are where I see the Blue Devls peaking this season. But I won't mind if the team makes me eat those words. I'd love for all the YAC teams to have a winning record. 

What's going on in Potsdam? My alma mater has certainly fallen on hard times over the past 8 years where they have a won-lost record of 38-162. That's a average of less than 5 wins per year and over 20 losses per season. They won 3 games last year which was 2 more than they did the year before. It was Coach Jim Bechtel's first season at the helm and he brought in lots of new faces. The good news is most of those new faces have returned for another go around. 11 guys returned off a roster of 14 that started the 2016-17 season. Plus he brought in another large recruiting class of 6 freshman so the numbers are there and hopefully so is the talent. The coach did an excellent job of recruiting when he was at his last stop as the head man at SUNY-Canton. He had his work cut out for him at Potsdam (and still does)and the program needs to make some more gains this year. It will be interesting to see if the Bears can take a step forward this year. I think they will but I don't see them making the playoffs, unfortunately, but I'm more than willing to be proven wrong...are you listening Coach?...Please prove me wrong! I've suffered long enough.

That brings us to New Paltz and what the Hawks can do to improve upon a winless SUNYAC campaign of  a year ago. They can only improve upon that 1-23 mark. They lost 5 games by 6 points or less and the one game they did win was against their 2nd toughest non-conference opponent...Springfield College.

New head coach Keith Kenny certainly knows how to play the game as he scored nearly 2000 points in his 4 year college career at Cobleskill and then New Paltz (actually 1918 points). He was a two time SUNYAC All Conference 1st team selection and has the 5th highest scoring average in SUNYAC history (20.5 ppg).  He scored almost a thousand points at both colleges in only 2 years at each school. That's one heck of an accomplishment. 

What appears to be a bright spot for the Hawks is Kevin Coyle, a 6'4" guard/forward. Coyle only played in 2 games last year, but is listed on the current roster. He opened up with 26 points against Vassar College and only saw action in the next game. The Hawks also return 7 of their top 10 rotation players that each saw action of at least 10 minutes per game. They lost leading scorer Andrew Seniuk but will get the services of Dylan Balducci and Nick Paquette, their two main 3 point shooters, to fire up shots from behind the arc. Also back after a year's absence is 6'5" forward Brandon Guest who averaged 8.4 ppg and 5.9 rpg in the 2015-16 season. With his availability and the return of Coyle perhaps the Hawks will be able to generate some offense and get some much needed help off the glass. New recruits were 4 freshman guards who have some solid high school credentials and may get some playing time early on. I think the Hawks and Coach Kenny will improve considerably upon last year's misfortunes. The improved play of both the Hawks and Potsdam will help out the strength of our conference as they have held us down for the past few seasons. 

I think the contenders this year are the schools I mentioned in my 2nd paragraph. Brockport, Cortland Oswego and Plattsburgh, not necessarily in that order. One of these schools will win the crown and the other 3 will come in 2nd 3rd and 4th. Tomorrow or later tonight if I have time, after I attend the Cardinal's Red and White scrimmage at 6 PM, I'll make my picks and talk more about these 4 teams.

Geneseo, Oneonta, Buffalo State are the pretenders. They are in the playoff mix but I don't see any of them winning the YAC championship this year. One of them will miss the playoffs like the Cardinals were the odd man out last year.

Once again I see Fredonia, Potsdam, and New Paltz bringing up the rear of the conference, again not necessarily in that order, just that they will occupy the last 3 spots.  But all three could surprise and have different reasons for doing so. I've been a follower of this conference for over 52 years and I've seen plenty of surprises over the years. Surprises that many of the current group of coaches weren't even born yet to witness.

Time for some predictions on tonight's games. Back in a few minutes.

   
     

[fisheralum91]

Very well done magicman,
If only someone would do the same prognostication for the E8!

[magicman]

Very well done magicman,
If only someone would do the same prognostication for the E8!

Thanks, fisheralum91. There was a time when I did considerable posting over on the E8 board and the Liberty League board as well but then there were considerably more posters on those boards to enjoy a give and take with. They have been rather quiet for the past few years. maybe they will come back a bit this year as Fisher is supposed to do well.  You may see me over there from time to time. Certainly glad to see you over here!! 

[magicman]

Three games on the schedule to open up the 2017-18 season. Hope it is a prosperous one for the SUNYAC with lots of victories.


Nov. 15   

Fredonia State  at  Penn State-Behrend        6:00 PM

I think that  the Lions will be a bit too much too handle for the Blue Devils. I see this one staying close but  Behrend wins it 76-67. Hope I'm wrong on this one.


Oneonta State at  Keystone        7:00 PM

The Red Dragons will find that Keystone will be a battle as they return quite a bit from last years team. Ultimately I think the SUNYAC team will prevail  by a 79-72  final score.


Ithaca  at Cortland State        7:00 PM

Cortland State looking for a little revenge in this version of the Cortaca Bowl to make up for the licking they got on the gridiron last Saturday. Cortland won by 38 points last year. Both squads have much of the same personnel returning but I don't think it will be a blowout of last year's magnitude. These Red Dragons will win by an 87-75 final score.

[All-Time]

Magicman you never cease to amaze me.
Now I know what you've been doing for the past couple of weeks.
Your Posts are incredible.
Welcome back my Friend.
Looking forward to a fantastic season in the SUNYAC.

[FranElia]

FYI - my apologies to the loyal fans for no live stats from the Cortland game tonight. We're probably going to go a while without them. Long story that I can't get into here, but the decision was out of our hands.  We at least will hopefully have video for most of the games.  -- Fran

[Greek Tragedy]

FYI - my apologies to the loyal fans for no live stats from the Cortland game tonight. We're probably going to go a while without them. Long story that I can't get into here, but the decision was out of our hands.  We at least will hopefully have video for most of the games.  -- Fran

I couldn't get video either.

[magicman]

Fredonia falls to Penn State Behrend 75-46 to get the YAC off on the wrong foot to start the season.

I had the Blue Devils losing by a more respectable score of 76-67. Pretty much nailed the Lions score but Fredonia was nowhere near the 67 points I projected them to put on the board. I mentioned in my preview that they were going to be a work in progress until they figured out where the offense was going to come from. 46 points won't get it done on just about any night. Hope they figure it out and quickly or it will be another long season.

Neither team wanted to score in the early stages of the game as it was 1-0 Fredonia for the first 4 minutes of play. Slowly Behrend started to open some daylight, and by the 10 minute mark of the 1st half was ahead 11-6. Two minutes later they were up 17-6 and with 6:31 left in the period had built the advantage to 28-11. The Blue Devils did manage to get it back to single digits as the half ended and went into the break down 31-22.

Behrend scored the first couple of baskets to start the 2nd period and by the 16:13 mark the lead was 40-24 and the Lions never looked back.The lead shifted between 15 and 25 points the rest of the way and the final score was the largest lead of the night.

Ian Helps led the Blue Devils with 10 points and added 5 rebounds. Dante Williams and De'Quan Smith both added 8 points wile Kay Jackson had 7. Chris Marinez led the team with 6 rebounds.

Behrend was led by Andy Niland with 28 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 assists. Justin Gorny had 16 points and 6 rebounds. Mike Fischer added 11 points and 4 assists.

The Lions dominated play outshooting Frednia in every phase of the game and had 42 rebounds to 26 for the Blue Devils.

Fredonia will be back in action on Friday as they take on John Carroll in the first round of the Hilbert College Tip Off Tournament at 6 PM.

[magicman]

FYI - my apologies to the loyal fans for no live stats from the Cortland game tonight. We're probably going to go a while without them. Long story that I can't get into here, but the decision was out of our hands.  We at least will hopefully have video for most of the games.  -- Fran

Thanks for the information Fran. I know you'll do your best to give us the media coverage we clamor to have.    A much closer game tonight than last year's edition.