The College of Staten Island men's basketball squad should have plenty to be excited about. Potentially, the team should return 11 players, including all five starters from last year's two-time defending CUNYAC Championship squad, a team that compiled a 22-6 overall and 14-2 conference mark. Still, questions abound for the new installment of the Dolphins and 24th-year Head Coach Tony Petosa, who now sits 28 victories shy of 400.
Why the looming questions? Of Petosa's roster of 18, four will temporarily be watching from the sidelines clearing eligibility issues, while another four have spent a majority of their time on the trainer's table. Against the backdrop of a renovation project to the Sports & Recreation Center that is limiting CSI's ability to practice in its main arena, the coaching staff is in a word, frustrated.
"We are facing our biggest opponent right now," the coach said, "Ourselves." Indeed, the eligibility issues the Dolphins face could hamper the team significantly to start the year and even if all four current ineligibles return along the way alongside the injury-clearing personnel, it's going to stunt the Dolphins' ability to hit the ground running.
"There are a lot of mixed emotions right now," Petosa explained. "If our kids do what they need to do, we can be a very strong team. If we don't, this can be quite an adventure, and that's the frustrating part at this point, because many of our limitations have nothing to do with playing basketball."
The coach has logic on his side on this one. When the ball gets rolled out, the Dolphins will be looked at as the favorites on talent alone. The team stands to return its two CUNYAC All-Stars in
Bloochy Magloire and Jonathan Chadwick-Myers, who combined in the back court to score almost 40 points per game last year. Together with interior threats
Javon Cox (12.7 ppg., 9.2 rpg.),
Dylan Bulger (10.5 ppg., 8.3 rpg.) and Matt Van Manen (7,0 ppg., 6.3 rpg.), the Dolphins have enough weapons to give opposing team fits. Returners
Kevin King and
Louis Valdes, who returns after missing almost the entire 2012-13 campaign to injury, add depth to the squad, as do fellow returners
Kurt Manesy and sophomores
Khari Rollock,
Michael Tate, and
Kevin Swanberg.
If the powerful returning lineup wasn't good enough, Petosa is high on his incoming class in 2013-14, a group that has the potential to hit the ground running, one that will have to if CSI finds itself short on numbers at the start of the season, which begins this week at Mary Washington. Staten Island standouts Frankie Schettino (G, Moore Catholic),
Will Fonseca (C/F, Susan Wagner),
Andrew Cannon (G, St. Peter's), and
Thomas Delahanty (Monsignor Farrell) are all showing good signs this preseason, and can lobby for significant minutes. Fellow recruits
Ryan Colone (Franklin, NJ),
Mohamed Marie (Brooklyn, NY), and
Matthew Ullmann (East Hartland, CT), are also developing players who will push those in front of them.
The crafty mix is enough to make the Dolphins a legitimate contender, according to Petosa. Last year's Dolphins were one of the best in program history defensively, allowing a stingy 63.6 points per game and 38.4% shooting from the field, and Petosa knows that the team can ride that same wave this season.
"We are a very good defensive team on the ball," said Petosa. " And if we can turn things around the other way and get open looks and high percentage shots on offense, we can do some good things."
Two years ago the Dolphins made a legitimate run at a national title, extending to the NCAA Division III Sweet Sixteen. From there, the bar has been set high but according to Petosa, the team will have to improve in a few key areas to get back to that caliber of basketball.
"We have to be a smart team and make good decisions," he said. "Our talent got us out of a few jams last year when we got careless, but if we want to turn the corner this year we have to be a very smart basketball team and make our style of play deliberate. Do we have the talent? There is no question."
No stranger to guarded optimism, Petosa will always opt for the wait-and-see approach with his team. The going will undoubtedly be tough. As back-to-back CUNYAC champs the Dolphins will likely enter the season complete with a giant bull's-eye on its back. The Last time the Dolphins ever won three consecutive CUNYAC titles was between 1981-83. Petosa was a freshman on the 1982-83 team that accomplished the three-peat.
"These runs don't happen often," he said. "If you're lucky, you maybe get a legitimate shot once every four or five years, but we've been very fortunate to be contenders and put ourselves in a position to win each year. The same is true this year, but it won't be given to us, and we certainly need to help ourselves along the way."
For now, CSI will choose to enter 2013-14 with plenty of questions and by season's end, will hope to have provided the answers.
CSI will tip its season this Saturday, travelling to Mary Washington College where they will face Eastern Mennonite in their opener on neutral turf. Like last year, the season will feature 16 CUNYAC contests, five more than the team played back in 2011-12. Highlights of the season include the 12th Annual CSI Tournament of Heroes, where CSI will welcome in Rivier College, Randolph College, and New Jersey City University. January will feature a home date with John Jay College (1/15) in a rematch of last year's CUNYAC Final and a January 25th date with Brooklyn College at 1pm that is preceded by the Matty White Men's Basketball Alumni Game at 11:00am.
