After a disappointing season in which it went 5-11 in America East (AE) play and was eliminated by UNH in the quarterfinals, the Binghamton men’s basketball team is preparing to start over again. In order to improve on its sixth place conference play, BU will look to address its issues shooting from the field.
Although they struggled offensively for much of the season, the Bearcats won three of their final five regular-season games, moving up to fifth place in the conference standings. At a low point, their 36.2 percent clip from the field ranked 349th of 351 Division I teams. But in those last five games, BU shot 45.8 percent from the field. The Bearcats will look to build on this improvement during their summer practices.
Seven of its players are currently participating in the first of two summer workouts and five more are set to join them for the second session, which is set to begin on July 11. Senior guards Marlon Beck and John Rinaldi will not participate in either session due to internships, while junior forward Dusan Perovic is playing with the Montenegrin national team.
Among those who will join the second session of workouts are incoming freshmen guard Fard Muhammad and forward Tyler Stewart. Both will use the time to get acclimated to Division I’s pace of play.
“It’s important that the new players come in and establish a routine,” said BU head coach Tommy Dempsey. “Your hopes are that they start to become good workers for you and that they learn that it’s going to be a difficult transition to play and workout at game speed on a Division I level.”
Dempsey views Muhammad and redshirt sophomore J.C. Show, who transferred last season but sat out a year due to NCAA rules, as keys to improving the team’s shooting clip. Muhammad averaged 17 points per game and shot 41 percent from beyond the arc in high school while Show shot 37 percent from 3-point range during his freshman season at Bucknell.
“We have very high expectations of J.C. [Show] and he has very high expectations of himself,” Dempsey said. “I think he has set a tone where the other players on the team understand he is going to come in and be a big part of this team and he’s really going to try to help us get to the next level …Fard Muhammad is probably one of the better shooters I’ve ever recruited. When you can shoot the ball better as a group, that can open up the driving lanes for some of your guys to attack the paint.”
Heading into last season, Binghamton was plagued by inexperience — it had no seniors to guide the team. Before the season even began, the Bearcats lost junior guard Yosef Yacob, one of only three upperclassmen, who required season-ending surgery after aggravating a shoulder injury.
“Part of this process has been just growing up as a group,” Dempsey said. “This will be the first year that we won’t be so reliant on freshmen.”
Dempsey believes that after last year’s challenges, the Bearcats now have what it takes to improve next season.
“It’s difficult to win with a really young team,” Dempsey said. “We’re hoping to take the next step up as the guys get a little older and a little more experienced.”