Sneakers echoed through Cabot Center as the Northeastern men’s club basketball team scrimmaged late into the night, chasing one goal: returning to the National Club Basketball Men’s National Championship, and this time, reaching the finals.
After exiting in the first round last season, the men’s club basketball team is determined to advance further this year. Opening the season strong, the team has established a 6-0 record and hopes to keep this momentum going as it closes the semester and prepares for more challenging competition in the second half of the season.
“I went to nationals last year, and there’s eight teams making it to nationals around the country. It’s the real deal,” said Kyle Wellenkamp, a third-year civil engineering major, team treasurer and forward. “The competition is there. I know it’s not [Division I], but club is serious.”
Wellenkamp is ready for his chance to take his game to the next level. When he first started playing, he made the B team and moved up to the A team a year later. Currently, there is only an A team, and players like Wellencamp are focused on ensuring the team remains focused and connected while nurturing the brotherhood forming between many new players.
“We all get along very well and have fun playing together,” said Zubin Acuña, a third-year business administration and data science combined major, club president and guard. “I’m more so just motivated by my teammates and making sure that I’m playing my best so I can help the team out.”
Acuña, originally a practice player, rose to his position as president and took on the responsibilities that came with the role. Despite the humble beginnings of his club basketball journey, Acuña is now a leading figure on the team who had a major role in decision-making during tryouts and serves as a role model for new players.
The responsibilities of leadership fall not only on Acuña and the captains, but also on the rest of the executive board and upperclassmen, all keeping the team focused and motivated.
“A lot of the guys, especially the older ones, they’re super knowledgeable. Everybody’s super outgoing, everybody’s super nice, very easy to talk to. And at the end of the day, you’ve got to really want to play basketball, and I think everybody here has that common goal,” said Soham Nighojkar, a rookie guard and second-year computer science major. “It’s a new team, a lot of new players, so just try to be as open as you can, and obviously, the more you come to practice, the more you get out of it.”
Over the years, the team has seen many changes both in leadership and rosters, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the expectation to promote team chemistry, remain organized as a club and maintain the commitment it takes to make it to nationals year after year. Having many players graduate, especially after making it so far in the previous season, can pose a challenge when rebuilding a team whose goal is to match the previous year’s success, if not surpass it. So returners, including fifth-year mechanical engineering student and forward Jon Khazzaka, emphasize the importance of establishing the tone early on.
“We had a really close group of people the last couple years, and now we’re just working on getting the team chemistry better for the new team,” Khazzaka said. “I guess a big thing is you’ve got to work hard. You gotta be organized … a lot of these club teams aren’t really that organized, and we’ve usually been more organized, that was where we got our success from.”
The team practices twice a week, Tuesdays from 9 to 11 p.m. and Thursdays from 7 to 9 p.m., and plays a doubleheader every weekend. So far, it’s won both of its scrimmages against Worcester Polytechnic Institute and swept two doubleheaders against Brandeis University and Harvard University. As a guard-heavy team, its primary strategy involves high shooting volume, an emphasis on passing and quick ball movement and a strong defense.
“Next semester, we’re going to definitely get way better competition. We’ve got a tough schedule coming up,” Wellenkamp said. “I would say our biggest strength is shooting the ball. We have a ton of guards on the team, not a lot of bigs. Our biggest weakness is just maybe our energy and not playing up to our level, especially against lower teams. We fall down to how they play, and we got to keep it up here.”
The time commitment associated with the club isn’t much of a challenge for players. Most new team members adjust to the addition of games and practices to their schedules while keeping up with their academics.
“It’s not too hard to balance because we only have practice two times a week. Practices are at night, so I just do my work before,” said Seydina Sow, a rookie shooting guard and second-year computer science and mathematics combined major. “I would say it’s more chill compared to what I expected. At the end of the day, we’re all college players who just love basketball.”
With a 15-man roster including five new players this year, rookies like Sow work to find their place on the team while still hoping to make an impactful contribution. This process is made easier with the help and guidance of returners who welcome the younger players to integrate with the team.
“I’ve been playing basketball all my life. People have been telling me to try out, and I’ve met a lot of great people on the team, so that’s what led me to join,” Sow said. “I’m a sophomore, and I think I’m one of the youngest on the team, so I think just looking up to the other guys has been really easy for me, and they’ve kind of been my mentors.”
For third-year business administration major and guard Christian Sundstrom, joining the club team was a goal he achieved this year. After being cut from tryouts last season, he was determined to try again, and that persistence was rewarded with triumph.
“It’s really fun. It’s pretty serious too, but I like it. It reminds me of high school and being on a team again,” Sundstrom said. One of the team’s main focuses is ensuring it runs its plays right. Although at times tedious, the captains hope that quickly getting into their set and staying disciplined on offense will in turn translate into an attitude that leads to a unified defense.
“I’m most excited to hopefully make it to nationals and be able to travel and play other schools from across the country,” Sundstrom said.
Beyond the X’s and O’s, each player has his own reason for showing up to the late-night practices. For most, it’s a lifelong love for basketball and the competitive outlet they’ve been missing since high school. For others, it’s the community and finding a group of people that care about the game as much as they do.
“For me, I think it was to definitely find people who have similar interests, definitely find out where the competition is on campus and kind of missing playing the high-level competition that I got to play in high school,” Nighojkar said.
As the team looks forward, it carries past memories and highlights as motivation to keep building upon what it already has.
“My favorite memory would probably be regionals last year when we won. Jon Khazzaka, shout out to him, hit a clutch game winner,” Acuña said.
Examples like this are a reminder of what the team is capable of and the energy it wants to recapture as this new roster builds its own narrative. As the season ramps up, the goal remains simple: to get back to nationals and push past the first round. With a new team and newfound motivation with the early success in the season, the men’s club basketball team is confident that it’s moving in the right direction.
“I think making sure we’re keeping each other accountable, and most importantly, having fun because if we’re not doing that, then something’s wrong,” Acuña said.
