Stony Brook Starters Almost Set

After a season where the Stony Brook Seawolves won their most games in school history, they arguably return a more talented group in hopes of increasing their chances of breaking through to the NCAA tournament. The talent comes mostly from within after Jameel Warney burst on the scene as Rookie of the Year and has made improvements to his game. Seniors Dave Coley, Anthony Jackson and Eric McAlister share the captains spots and they along with Warney will fill out four of the five starting slots.

The one open competition right now is to replace last year’s America East Player of the Year Tommy Brenton, who graduated and is playing in Japan, may come down to some talented freshmen. Roland Nyama and redshirt freshman Ahmad Walker appear to have an inside track at the small forward spot. Pikiell said Walker may be the team’s best defender and that he is relentless on the backboards, but that Nyama, a true freshman, may break through.

“He’s our best athlete,” Pikiell said of Nyama who came to Stony Brook by way of two prep school years after coming from Germany. “He’s really going through a lot of adjustments, but you can see his abilities on the floor. I think his potential is off the charts good.”

Another factor on the roster will be junior college transfer Rayshawn McGrew who Pikiell said will help his team a lot once he fully understands their system.

“He’s our best screen setter right now,” Pikiell said. “He’s going to bring a different dimension to us and gives us another big option in the post as he continues to grow.”

McGrew will likely be a role player this season while junior Anthony Mayo is expected to step into a larger role for this season after improving his game over the summer. Pikiell said he would like to tandem the junior and sophomore Warney more often than he was able to do last season.

Entering last season Pikiell was concerned which upperclassmen would step into their roles and he was rewarded with strong showings by Coley and McAlister who made consistent starts last season. This year Pikiell said he feels like his team has more scoring options, despite missing Brenton.

“I know a lot more about this team than I did last year’s team,” Pikiell said. “We’re certainly going to miss Tommy, his IQ especially his ability to rebound, but I really think we can make up for that in a lot of different ways.”

Ryan Restivo covers the America East for Big Apple Buckets, read his America East preview on ESPN.com as part of the ESPN Insider College Hoops 2013-14 Preview. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ryanarestivo or contact Ryan at rrestivo[at]nycbuckets.com.