By Anthony Gulizia, News Staff
Senior leadership is an asset that binds a team together, delivering guidance throughout the ups and downs of a long season. After losing two seniors last year in sharpshooter Chaisson Allen and Vinny Lima, the men’s basketball team lacks a true senior on the floor.
But what coach Bill Coen and the Huskies do have is a group of young, experienced players led by junior guards and captains Jon Lee and Joel Smith who are ready to lead the team in the 2011-12 season.
“It started at the end of last year and Chase did a good job passing the mantle to them and they’ve really taken it to heart,” Coen said. “They’ve demanded a certain level of work ethic and they’ve inspired their teammates – they’ve been terrific. We’re well-suited in the leadership category.”
Coen did say that it would be “difficult and near impossible” to replace Chaisson Allen, but that the squad is prepared to counter his departure with teamwork and execution.
Alongside Smith and Lee, the Huskies return a strong core in sophomore center Ryan Pierson, junior forward Kauri Black and sophomore guard Alwayne Bigby, who missed all of last season with an ankle injury.
“Just to have [Bigby’s] passion and intensity, he adds so much to the team,” Coen said. “He’s done well in preseason workouts and we’re looking to have him back being part of things.
Northeastern also added senior forward Kashief Edwards, a transfer from Niagra University, who will be immediately eligible as a graduated senior.
Edwards brings a strong resume from his former college, as he led the Purple Eagles with 186 rebounds. The 6-foot-5-inch forward is a strong offensive rebounder, which should give the Huskies a lot of second chance scoring opportunities.
Lee and Smith, who played minimal time their freshman seasons in 2009 and 2010 respectively, saw a heightened role last year and will power the offense this season.
“My personal goal is the same as the team’s goal, and that’s just to win,” Lee, who averaged 11.8 points per game last season, said. “Nobody really knows who we are, and we’d like to change that.”
One thing the Huskies are set to improve on is its rebounding, as the team ranked last in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) last year.
Pierson and Black will also contribute, and Coen said he expects to get some help from the incoming freshman class.
The Huskies brought in guard Demetrius Pollard, Reggie Spencer, Quincy Ford, Marco Banegas-Flores, and walk-on Devin Figueroa, all of whom look to contribute immediately.
“We’ve made [rebounding] a point emphasis, and I think we addressed that in our recruiting,” Coen said. “We got Reggie Spencer, who’s a terrific rebounder, and Kashief Edwards who was a terrific college rebounder at Niagra.”
There’s no question the Huskies return a strong core form last year’s season and feature a strong group of freshmen, but Coen said how the team gels in the early stages of the season will be critical to the team’s performance.
“Team culture is critical to your success,” Coen said. “A team of five guys can beat a collection of talent of five guys, and that’s how we have to play this year. We have to be a team and we have to be unified. We have to be smart and play together.”
The season kicks off tomorrow when the Huskies head across town to face Boston University 5 p.m tomorrow.
Red vs. Black scrimmage
For the first time this season, Huskies fans got a preview of the team at the intra-squad scrimmage at Solomon Court Monday.
The black team, which featured sophomore forward Alex Bates, senior forward Kashief Edwards, freshman guard/forward Quincy Ford, junior guard Jon Lee, freshman guard Demetrius Pollard and freshman forward Reggie Spencer came away with a 61-53 victory over the red.
The red team consisted of sophomore guard Chris Avenant, freshman guard Marco Banegas-Flores, sophomore guard/forward Alwayne Bigby, junior forward Kauri Black, freshman guard Devin Figueroa, sophomore center Ryan Pierson and junior guard Joel Smith.
“When you have people in the stands, it’s always a fun night for our guys,” Coen said. “Overall, I was pleased with our effort. We played hard, but we still have some things to clean up.”
The fans got a good idea of what to expect from Edwards, who led all scorers with 19 points.
Lee, who had 16 points, played as expected along with Smith. The two were solid on both sides of the ball, and were very vocal, leading their respective teams with the control that looked promising for the team captains.
The scrimmage was a great opportunity to see the freshmen play for the first time, and Spencer showed great force under the glass, leading the game with 10 rebounds.
“He’s a very talented freshman, with tremendous size, length and ball handling skills,” Coen said. “We’re excited to have him in our program.”
