Everyone knows Al Walker, perhaps the most recognizable man on campus.

But who the heck is Randy Dunton?

Any discussion of BU basketball history has to start with Dunton ‘ quite possibly the man with the biggest impact on Binghamton basketball and the most successful recruiter in BU basketball history.

[[B]]The Big Man[[/B]]

Nick Billings, the 7-foot Alaskan, came to Binghamton in 2002 as a raw defensive talent and quickly established himself as, statistically, one of the best shot-blockers ever to play in the America East.

Billings was noted for his shot-blocking ability, but he’s currently the school’s third-leading D-I scorer with 871 career points behind Troy Hailey and Andre Heard.

Entering the 2003-04 season averaging nearly four blocks per game, Billings even started drawing attention from NBA scouts. An alley-oop to Billings from point guard Anthony Green became one of the Bearcats’ trademark plays as Binghamton continued to emerge as a force in the conference.

But then Green was gone.

The Bearcats brought in a junior college point guard named Darel Lucas to replace Green, and a freshman named Troy Hailey to back up Lucas for a year or two.

Then there was a falling out. The highly touted Lucas kicked off his BU career with an 0-for-9 shooting performance and never seemed to recover. He abruptly quit the team and left the school in December of 2004, leaving the young Hailey to man the point.

Hailey has since become the program’s all-time leading scorer, settling into a two-guard spot next to Mike Gordon. But as Hailey learned the point, Billings became a victim of circumstance.

With Binghamton hosting the conference tournament in March of 2005, there were wide preseason expectations of a Nick Billings block party. But his role decreased to nearly nothing; Billings played a depressing six minutes in his final collegiate game.

Well, great, you say. Everyone knows Nick’s story. But we’re 4-9 now. How does this relate to today? And who’s that Dunton guy?

[B]]Randy’s Role[[/B]]

Randy Dunton was an assistant coach at Binghamton from 2000-02. An ex-assistant coach at Liberty, Dunton was brought in by Al Walker from Marshalltown Community College in Iowa to be an assistant coach, and to help transition the Bearcats from Division II to D-I.

During his two years at Binghamton, Dunton laid the groundwork for the next generation of Bearcats. He landed Billings. And Green. Two of the most important players in Binghamton history were products of Dunton’s recruiting tactics.

He also brought in a small forward named Gabe Martin, who started 19 games as a freshman in 2000-01, averaging 12.3 points per game in 30.3 minutes.

But then Dunton was offered the Holy Grail ‘ a head coaching opportunity, back at Liberty, where he’d spent nine years as an assistant coach from 1989-97. He took the job.

Then, Martin decided to follow Dunton to Liberty, a team that finished a dismal 5-25 in 2000-01. But under Dunton, the Flames went 12-4 in 2003-04, winning the Big South conference and went to the NCAA tournament. Martin, as a senior, led the team in scoring.

Dunton, who says he still follows the Bearcats, had nothing but positive things to say about Al Walker.

‘I have great admiration for Al,’ he said. ‘He’s tremendously diligent, his teams are always well-prepared to play each game. I thought they really stepped forward last year, and it was a solid mid-major college basketball team.’

And after finishing 12-4 and hosting the conference tournament, surely by March 2006, five years after his return to Liberty, Dunton’s fingerprints were long gone from the Bearcats.

Right?

[[B]]Last Man Standing[[/B]]

While Dunton’s program continued to flourish, one last Bearcat remained from the Dunton recruiting class of 2001 ‘ power forward Sebastian Hermenier.

Undoubtedly, ‘Seabass’ was the heart of the Bearcats last season. The fifth-year senior was still at BU due to a medical redshirt he took in 2002. His work ethic and determination rubbed off on the whole team, and his game winning 3-pointer after Duane James was knocked unconscious on Senior Day 2006 was perhaps the most emotional moment in Binghamton basketball history.

The 2006 conference tournament was Sebastian’s ‘ and, indirectly, Dunton’s ‘ last chance at winning an America East championship. But when Hermenier went down with a devastating foot injury that left him on crutches for months, the Bearcats were equally crippled. They were upset in the semifinals by Vermont.

‘No one can replace his leadership and toughness,’ Walker told Pipe Dream last spring after a short-handed Bearcat squad fell to the sixth-seeded Catamounts. ‘You don’t replace a Sebastian Hermenier.’

With Hermenier, Billings and Green all long gone these days, the Bearcats have now officially ended the Randy Dunton era of recruiting. While Andre Heard and Lazar Trifunovic have proved successful, other recruits, like Schafer Jackson and Jordan Fithian, have either fizzled or gotten lost in the mix.

[[B]]We’re Not in Kansas Anymore[[/B]]

Fithian made big news after last season by announcing he would be transferring back closer to home, along with teammate Drew Davison, to play at Division-II Emporia College.

He said personally, he didn’t really fit into the program.

‘I love coach Walker as a man, he just sees basketball differently,’ said Fithian, the 2004 Kansas Mr. Basketball. ‘Maybe I’m wrong and he’s been coaching for ‘X’ many years, and he’s getting paid the big bucks.

‘He’s set in his ways,’ the 6-foot-6 forward continued. ‘He’s going to do what’s best for his team. [But] if you can’t put some points up, you’re not going to win a game.’

Fithian, who missed much of last season with a foot injury, was more confused about Davison’s very limited role in his year at Binghamton, when he averaged just 4.2 minutes per game.

‘Drew wasn’t all that good at defense but could play, and he never got his chance,’ Fithian said. ‘He’s averaging nine points [at Emporia], I knew the kid could play. I don’t feel coach Walker used him at the right spot.’

[[B]]A Laundry List[[/B]]

Fithian and Davison are just two examples of players who departed the program before graduating. Darel Lucas and Gabe Martin both had potential to be impact players, as did Robert Todd, who left the program on March 23, 2004.

‘We sat down and talked, and I suggested it would be positive for him to move on,’ Walker said then of Todd, who never really broke into his own with Binghamton after averaging 10.7 points per game in 2000-01 at Air Force Academy.

Swingman Joel Casseus also left with a year of eligibility remaining after the 2003-04 season. Binghamton alums will also cite the case of Andy Hannan, who left Binghamton after the 2001-02 season and transferred to UNLV.

[[B]]Is this the year?[[/B]]

Six years ago, Walker summed up his long-term goals.

‘Two years from now,’ he said on April 19, 2001, ‘if we’re able to get into the NCAA tournament, that’s going to be a tremendous positive for the University’s visibility.’

Two years later, after Binghamton obliterated Albany 86-59 at the Events Center on Jan. 21, Albany coach Will Brown had nothing but praise for the BU program: ‘They wore us down with their depth. They’re like an NHL team. They just throw guys over the boards; they line shift. Physically, they’re just bigger than us.’

Since that day, Albany has developed national recognition after last season’s near NCAA upset of UConn.

And as for Dunton? His Flames have regressed a little, sitting at 6-6 in Big South play this season. But like the Great Danes, he, too, brought his team to the NCAA tournament.

‘I think that Al had a great season last year,’ Dunton said. ‘They were in a position a year ago where they could’ve won a championship ‘ obviously Albany was very good [and] I think that they’ll be there again.

‘Everybody wants the whole shebang. At these levels, it’s all or nothing, and there’s only one prize,’ he added.

But with Dunton’s star recruits gone, and two straight missed opportunities with the conference tournament held here, it’s just a matter of how long the Binghamton community is willing to wait.