After nearly two years, the State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team is back in the Hawk Center.
 
Like nearly every program across the country, the Hawks didn't have a season last year due to COVID-19, and this fall was their first taste of competitive basketball since ending in February 2020. On Wednesday, their long wait is over, as they'll be wearing their home white jerseys playing in front of a crowd in the Hawk Center ready to earn their first win of the year against visiting Farmingdale State.
 
"Not being able to play for two years was really rough and I'm glad to be back," said SUNY New Paltz junior guard/forward Brandon Scott. "I love the guys on the team. I love the coaches and I'm ready to get back to it."
 
"I've been dying to play basketball for the past two years. It feels good to be back," added Hawks junior forward Isaiah Bien-Aise. "We're finally in the Hawk Center. Regardless of the COVID guidelines it feels good to be back at school. Feels good to be back at practice and have some type of normality and some type of peace. Basketball is what I cope with."
 
 
Scott, Bien-Aise and Jackson Vertucci become the elder statesmen on a program that enters the season with 11 new faces on its roster from two years ago. The trio have the most collegiate experience, as they enter their third season on the floor. They are joined by returning second-year players Rylan Blondo, Tyreik Frazier and RJ Meyers-Turner who donned the SUNY New Paltz orange and blue as freshmen during the 2019-20 season. Added to the program were sophomore transfers Jonah Bevacqua and Solomon Neuhaus who have had experience at the collegiate level, as the pair saw time on the floor as freshmen at Hunter College and Gettysburg College, respectively.
 
"Like most teams, we have about 11 guys who have never played a college game," said SUNY New Paltz coach Keith Kenney. "We've had groups of guys that were both in the program last year who have never met. Some guys were home, some guys were on campus, so as a coach our main goal is cohesion and getting everyone to know everyone and hopefully that carries onto the floor. So far we think this team has come together and really are happy with the quality of guys that we have."
 
Joining the program as first-year players are Sean St. Lucia, Dakoda Smith, Lucas Seyoum, Philip La Rosa, Matt McCabe, Alex Krupinski, Isiah Folk, Luca Sanna and Mitchell Cummings. St. Lucia, Smith and Seyoum have already impressed the coaching staff thus far and will earn an opportunity to contribute early on, while Neuhaus and St. Lucia will help facilitate the team's offense. 
"Sean impressed us in last year's workouts even without the season, just on his ability to be a floor general and to be able to lead guys at such a young age," Kenney said. We're happy he's with us and we're excited that he can do some things. Solomon is a transfer who can play-make and score and shoot, so we're excited that we have him and what he does. I think we have a good group of freshmen from this year, but as with freshmen we have to see when certain guys will be ready.

"Two other guys that are technically in the sophomore class but haven't played yet is Lucas Seyoum and Dakoda Smith. They are two really good versatile players who can do a lot of different things. We'll rely on [them] to do multiple things and play different positions. Guys who have returned are in a completely different role."
 
The Hawks looked to up their scoring efficiency from two years ago, as they graduated their two leading scorers in All-SUNYAC selection Tristian Wissemann and starting point guard Jake Passaretti. The two combined for 650 of SUNY New Paltz's 1,781 points scored in 2019-20. Wissemann, who finished his career as one of 20 players in program history to surpass the 1,000-point mark, was also third on the team in rebounds and started every game, while Passaretti was the team's assist and steals leader, also starting all 25 contests.
 
As a team, SUNY New Paltz averaged about 71 points per game and surpassed 80-plus points six times throughout the year, shooting less than 40 percent from the floor and 32 percent from the perimeter, while allowing nearly 80 points against a contest.
 
"I think what we really wanted to hit was that we were a really poor shooting team, so we wanted to improve our shooting, which in this day and age opens up everything else on offense," Kenney said. "That was a point of emphasis and we had to replace a lot of good older guys, so we really wanted to look for guys that were high-character guys and self-starters and hard workers and I think we've done that, but we'll see how that plays out."
 
SUNY New Paltz hopes to improve upon a 7-18 season two years ago and 3-15 in the conference after finishing 14-11 overall in Kenney's second year, just missing the postseason by a game that season. The Hawks haven't made the postseason since 2013. 
 
"That is our goal. We want to make playoffs, but we want to go further and try to win a championship here," Scott said. "That was one of the things that I wanted to bring to this program since I've came here was to re-build the program and make it into what I know it can be. I'm here to win a championship and nothing less."
 
Meyers-Turner is SUNY New Paltz's top scorer returning, as the then-freshmen averaged more than 10 points per game coming primarily off the bench, scoring in double figures 12 times during his first year including putting up a career-high 27 points against SUNY Potsdam. Bien-Aise followed, averaging about eight points, six rebounds and more than an assist a contest during the 2019-20 season after playing in 24 of 25 games. Scott, playing in 17 matchups, averaged about five points and four rebounds, but emerged as one of their best defenders.
"Our goal is always to compete at the top of conference with those teams and we have in the past at times," Kenney said. "Most teams are overhauled, and most teams are in the same situation where they have a lot of new guys and they're trying to figure it out. But as usual, SUNYAC basketball is tough, and we know there really is not off-nights top to bottom. Anybody can beat anyone, and anyone can lose to anyone. We found that out over the years. We can compete with the top teams, but we can't take anyone else lightly either."
 
The biggest obstacle for the team is creating chemistry on the floor after only playing together for the last several weeks of preseason, but practice has gone smooth with the Hawks showing glimpses of what their ceiling can be from their young squad.
 
"The energy is amazing. I love practicing with them, hanging out with them on and off the court. I definitely love these guys to death. I would do anything for them. I just love the guys energy and their will to put in the work and we're going to get to it," Scott said. "We're here. We've got each other's backs throughout everything no matter what, so I think our chemistry is going to be our biggest strength. We can score and shoot the ball. We're just ready to go. We're excited."
 
SUNY New Paltz got on the floor for the first time Nov. 9 in an exhibition game against Army West Point. Although the Division I Black Knights defeated the Hawks, Kenney's group impressed, playing with Army for most of the game, showing good signs entering the regular season Wednesday.
 
"Our biggest strength is our will not to give up," Bien-Aise said. "Even if we're tired, anything like that there's some guys that can back that up. I like the fact that we have people to rely on in terms of if say some guys aren't feeling well we have some backups [that can fill in] — I like that, and I feel like just our toughness. These kids are really tough. The majority of these kids come from winning high school cultures, so just to have that head space that's what I like. I think that's one of our top strengths."
 
SUNY New Paltz will face a Rams team playing in their third game of the year. Farmingdale lost its two opening contests against NYU and New Jersey City to scores of 73-56 and 85-63, respectively. Dominique Senat is the Rams leading scorer through two games, averaging 15.5 points per game, while shooting 60 percent from the floor. Freshman Jevon Santos follows, averaging 12 points per game on 40 percent shooting.
 
Although the Hawks already saw some action on the road, Wednesday will be their first game at home in the Hawk Center in nearly two years.
 
"Last year was rough for everyone around our department and our country, so we always preach to be grateful to play and it's a privilege, but this year we really want to stay positive and never lose sight that we didn't get to play last year and never lose sight that it is not certainly guaranteed. But yeah, we're excited to be in front of fans. We're excited just to play. We're excited just to put the uniform on. With so many new guys that I've felt like I've been around for a couple years actually haven't put the New Paltz uniform on yet, so that's really exciting."
 
SUNY New Paltz is set to open up their 2020-21 season at home in the Hawk Center against Farmingdale at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Season Preview Video Featuring Brandon Scott & Isaiah Bien-Aise


******************************
To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.