In basketball, the addition of one player can completely invigorate a team’s play and change the course of a program. When the New York Knicks added Patrick Ewing to their roster before the 1985-1986 campaign, they went from a struggling team to a title contender for the next decade.
Thirty years after Ewing took his talents from Georgetown to New York, his niece, Binghamton sophomore forward Alyssa James, played her first game for the Bearcats and took head coach Linda Cimino’s rebuilding plan into the fast lane.
In the 2014-15 season, the Bearcats were dead last in the America East (AE) with a 4-26 record. With a first-year coach on the sideline and a young, inexperienced roster on the court, Binghamton looked exactly as it was: a program in the first year of its rebuilding process. Fast-forward to 2015-16, and Binghamton is certainly not playing like a team in just the second year of its rebuilding process, finishing with an 8-8 record in conference play.
But there is no mystery as to how the Bearcats have been able to turn it around so quickly: a fearless shot-blocker and rebounder in James.
James played her first year of college basketball with coach Cimino at Division II Caldwell College in 2013-14, transferred to BU last year but was not allowed to play because of NCAA transfer rules. Once Cimino was hired to take the helm at Binghamton, James knew that her best chance to succeed in college basketball was to follow Cimino and transition to the Division I level.
“I had never even been to [BU] before the first day of the 2014 summer session,” James said.
In her opening game as a Bearcat, James faced off against national powerhouse Michigan. While the Bearcats lost the game, James tallied 17 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and four blocks. Her performance was a real statement for James and Binghamton; BU was done being stepped on and James was ready to turn the Bearcats into a contender in the AE. This is exactly what she has done throughout the season.
James has had an incredible first year at the DI level, but it hasn’t been without its ups and downs. While her 33-point performance against Columbia, or her near triple-double featuring a Binghamton record nine blocks against Xavier were very encouraging performances, there have also been games where James can’t seem to get it going down-low offensively. As a sophomore with two more years left in her Binghamton career, consistency is something that will come with time and experience at the Division I level.
Despite a slew of individual achievements this season, James sees her contributions to the team as paramount.
“I’m just glad that I can help out my team,” she said. “It’s never been about personal feats for me.”
When it comes to James’ ambitions for herself and the Bearcats over the next two years, she is setting her goals high enough that even she can’t block them.
“We’re on our way to being a more winning program, but I hope by my senior year we can have a championship already and be on our way to another one,” James said.
Considering the Bearcats have earned their most wins in 2015-16 in five seasons, James has every reason to be optimistic.