GAME DAY INFORMATION |
DATE: November 11-12, 2023
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LOCATION: Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium
Albany, N.Y. |
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GAME DAY LINKS |
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO |
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The last time the University of New Haven men's basketball team played in a game that counted, the Chargers saw a remarkable postseason run end with a loss in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division II tournament.
With four of the top five scorers gone from a team that finished with a 23-7 record, don't expect to hear much about last season's success.
"We don't really talk about last year, it is a totally new team," New Haven coach Ted Hotaling said. "This team has the same goals as last year's team and that is to win championships and to go as far as we can in the NCAA tournament."
Davontrey Thomas (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie), one of the three double-digit scorers on last year's team, leads the list of returning players. The rest of the returnees combined to start just two games during the 2022-23 season.
Whether it is the returning players like Justin Hendrick (Valley Stream, N.Y./St. Francis), Sean Braithwaite (Center Moriches, N.Y./Center Moriches), Jason Edokpayi (Laurel, Md./Mount St. Joseph) and Joshua Hopson (Jersey City, N.J./MacDuffie School) taking on larger roles, redshirt freshman Ethan Simmon (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph Metuchen) being counted on to contribute, freshman Jah'Likai King (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) joined by transfers Keith Warren (Rochester, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit), Tyler Saint-Furcy (Inwood, N.Y./Lawrence Woodmere Academy) and Jojo Lingisi-Ombongo (Hamilton, Ontario/St. Thomas More), this figures to be a deeper team than the one that reached the NE10 tournament title game.
"I think we have a very talented team even though we are young but we have shot makers and we will be a very good team once we get our chemistry down," Thomas said.
New Haven not only has to replace its top two scorers in Ty Perry (Boston, Mass./Brighton) and Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy), but also Majur Majak (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./), who set a program record with 105 blocked shots last season.
"It is definitely different not having a 7-footer back there but this year we are faster on the wing," Thomas said. "I feel like we have to lock in on the perimeter knowing that we don't have Majur back there."
With eight players set to make their New Haven debuts, that could have had the potential for some chemistry issues. However, Hotaling has been thrilled by the way the newcomers have fit in both on and off the court.
"Low maintenance" was how Hotaling describes the 2023-24 team before Thomas chimed in with "no maintenance."
"The newer players have been really coachable, have fit in really well with our guys," Hotaling said. "I think they complement each other really well. We will be a little different than we were last year but sometimes different is good too."
The Chargers might play at a faster pace. With a short rotation, that was not how things were done a season ago. With Hotaling wanting to have a 12-player rotation, there could be contributions from so many different players.
"I think it might be a strength of ours," Hotaling said. "We have a lot of depth across the roster and I think we have a lot of players who can contribute."
The season begins with games on Saturday against Post and Sunday versus Wilmington at the Saint Rose Tip-Off Tournament with the home opener on Nov. 21 against Pace.
"I am excited," Thomas said. "We have a young team but we have a very talented team as well. We have a lot of shot makers so having that aspect on the court, having that dynamic is very good for us."
