Kraus earned Jim Phelan Coach of the Year honors from the NEC this season (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard) |
BY Jason Snow
THE ENTERPRISE
Just 11 months ago, Stonehill College celebrated its promotion to NCAA Division 1 athletics.
Both the men's and women's basketball teams were fresh off the latest winning seasons within their respective sustained runs of Div. 2 success the past decade, but were soon to be faced with the biggest challenge yet.
For the men's team, how about a first-game matchup with a UConn Huskies team that eventually earned a No. 4 seed in the ongoing NCAA Tournament?
That's when head coach Chris Kraus, in his 10th season, said the magnitude of the transition truly sank in.
"Under those lights, in front of 10-12,000 people in an arena that sits 15-16,000. It felt a little bit different, that's for sure," said Kraus. "Playing those guys right off the bat, with multiple NBA players and one of the top teams in the country, we were like, 'OK, this is different. This is exciting and it's a tremendous opportunity.'"
Opening night on Nov. 7 ended with Stonehill suffering an 85-54 defeat at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut, but it was the first building block in what turned out to be a 14-17 season for the Skyhawks that also featured matchups against the March Madness-bound Providence Friars (100-76 loss) and a narrow defeat to Boston College (63-56 final).
The team finished tied for second in the Northeast Conference (NEC) standings at 10-6, behind Merrimack (12-4). The Skyhawks held sole possession of first place in the league with two weeks left and were tied for it with two games to play.
"It was definitely a huge transition for the school, for the players, for everybody involved. There was a lot of excitement, a lot of anticipation and curiosity, but for our program specifically, we were really proud and impressed with our guys for how they did," said Kraus. "I think they surprised a lot of people and proved to everybody in the NEC, NCAA and surrounding, that we belong."
Brown and the Skyhawks finished their inaugural season strong with three wins over the last five (PHOTO BY Ryan Feeney) |
It was a similar story for the women's team, which finished the season 9-20 with nine losses coming by single digits. The Skyhawks won three of their final five games and brought league champ Fairleigh Dickinson to a thrilling finish (63-61 loss) in the season finale on Senior Night.
"I loved how we finished," said head coach Trisha Brown, a Norwood native in her 22nd season.
"I think we're really close," she added, noting the tight games. "I felt good about our ability to compete."
Though the Stonehill men's and women's teams as a whole were newcomers to the Div. 1 level, both relied on battle-tested upperclassmen all season long.
For the men, fifth-year senior forward Andrew Sims made the All-NEC first team with averages of 15.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game; fifth-year senior forward Isaiah Burnett (12.2 points, 4.6 rebounds per game) made the second team; and postgrad forward Max Zegarowski (12.6 points, 4.2 rebounds per game, 41.9 percent shooting from 3-point land) made the third team.
Fifth-year guard Shamir Johnson (7.6 ppg) and fifth-year guard Josh Mack (6.3 ppg) also had impactful seasons.
For the women, fifth-year senior guard Emily Bramanti made the All-NEC first team, averaging 14.9 points per game, 3.7 rebounds and 3 assists, while fifth-year senior guard Sophie Glidden (10.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists) and postgrad guard Maddie Loder (10.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists) also had notable seasons.
Bramanti's career season was headlined by a 38-point outburst that led the Skyhawks to a 81-74 win over Bryant on Dec. 11. She hit 13 of her 19 shots from the field, including 6 of her 8 attempts from long range.
"Teams scouted us well. They knew how good she was, so they pressured her full-court for 40 minutes and that's something she wasn't used to seeing, but she got so much better at handling that pressure and understanding how to get her looks: coming off screens, her change of pace," Brown said of Bramanti. "For a player like Emily to end up first team all-conference in this transition year, it was so nice to see but speaks volumes of who she is."
BUILDING UP
Sims earned All-NEC first team honors for his efforts in the Skyhawks first Division I season (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard) |
Each team also had young players contribute throughout the season.
For the men, junior guard Thatcher Stone started 30 of the team's 31 games and averaged 5.6 points per game. Sophomore forward Christopher Melis and freshman guard Ethan Meuser appeared in key roles off the bench.
For the women, freshman guard Melissa Whitmore (5.8 ppg) started 13 of the 20 games she appeared in. The reserves of sophomore forward Maureen Stapleton, junior Jada Thornton, sophomore Sharn Hayward and freshman Colleen McCullagh each appeared in all of the team's 29 games, while junior forward Cameron Ward played an average of 20 minutes per game in the 14 games she played in.
"Our players were really excited about (the Div. 1 jump)," Brown said. "That showed every day in their intensity and their competitiveness. We talked about having patience this year, but they certainly understand we can compete at this level."
Will the Div. 1 transition change much about how each program goes about its recruiting and roster construction?
"I don't think the type of student-athlete we'll recruit will change in terms of what we look for in character, work ethic and commitment: people that are going to enhance the Stonehill community. But we can certainly look at a different level of athleticism and, in terms of our post play, maybe some bigger kids," said Brown, who spent nine seasons as an assistant at Harvard before her 22-year stint at Stonehill. "When you're a Division 1 program, it opens some recruiting doors that we would have to bang down (in the past). They're a little more open to speaking with us, in terms of AAU programs and things like that, because we're Division 1 and a lot of kids feel like Division 1, that's where they want to be."
"Exactly what Trisha said," Kraus agreed. "You can build teams at the high school level, elementary school level, college level, the same way: culture, hard work and doing it together is a priority."
STEADY IMPROVEMENT
Bramanti also earned All-NEC first team honors for the Skyhawks (PHOTO BY Brian Foley) |
When asked about her standout takeaway from the season, Brown didn't hesitate.
"Our improvement, for sure," she said. "That's the one thing we talked about going into the year, in terms of the transition. Setting our goals with, let's get better every day. Our players were so locked in with the hard work it would take."
The women's team debuted with a 1-6 start, five of the defeats coming by double-digits. By season's end, the Skyhawks grinded out wins over Central Connecticut State (73-66), Queens College (82-71), University of New Hampshire (57-50) and the University of Hartford (62-35) before winning three of four heading into Senior Night.
As for the men, Kraus' Skyhawks secured a January win over Fairleigh Dickinson -- the same team that recently made history as just the second No. 16 seed ever to upset a No. 1 in the NCAA Tournament -- and proceeded to win five of the following seven games.
"We're already there in terms of competing at a high level. The challenge at the NCAA level – whether its Division 1, 2 or 3 – is to do it consistently," Kraus said. "That's where we are right now in all of (Stonehill's) programs, to maintain a high level of consistency. We've typically been there as a Division 2 program in the NE-10, where we were one of the top teams in the league and region. Now, that's our challenge. I think we've got a really good group of guys, a great returning group, but recruiting is going to be the way to win and compete consistently."
"We really enjoyed this team," added Kraus. "(Especially) being in the trenches and in the grind with them. Obviously, winning games is phenomenal and the success we had, we're going to remember that and be proud of it."
