UAlbany Men's Basketball Opens Season Against #23 Villanova Tonight At The Pavilion

There are many reasons why University at Albany head coach Will Brown chose to start the season at Villanova, one of the nation’s top-ranked teams, rather than against a soft opponent that would most likely give the Great Danes an easy “W”.

“This is an opportunity to challenge one of the best teams in the country that made the Sweet 16 last year, has all five starters back and is extremely well-coached,” said Brown about Villanova, which hosts the Great Danes tonight at 8 in The Pavilion.

“It’s going to be a tough place to play, with a great crowd at a rel­atively small [6,500-seat] facility. Plus, this game gives us an opportunity to bring Brian Connelly back home. He’s from that area. We’ve also got a strong alumni base in that area.”

But does Brown really expect to give the Wildcats, who are ranked 23rd by The Associated Press and 25th in the ESPN/USA Today preseason poll, a game with a roster that has eight new faces?

“I’m a little different when it comes to scheduling,” said Brown. “Right or wrong, I know we’re a one-bid league at the end of the year, in terms of an NCAA tournament bid. I don’t get caught up with my won-lost record as a head coach or our overall record. I get caught up in making sure we get challenged, getting us better and preparing us for the America East Conference championship. If I can say yes about those three things, then I’ll schedule that program.”

While Villanova features a lineup that has several possible future NBA players on it, Brown hasn’t even decided on his starting five yet.

“Connelly will start, and Will Harris will start. I didn’t bring Will here to sit,” said Brown about the 6-foot-6, 240-pound transfer from Virginia. “But the point guard

[Anthony Raffa versus Michael Johnson] and center positions [Brett Gifford versus Jimmie Covington] have been quite a battle, and so is the wing position [between Tim Ambrose and Jerel Hastings]. With this team, it might be more important who logs more minutes and finishes the game rather than who starts, but we’ve had some very interesting competitions going on for starting positions.

“We’re deep, but I’m trying to figure out the quality of that depth. I hope that translates into good, productive minutes for everybody.”

Connelly, a 6-8 senior forward, is the top returning scorer (10.1 ppg) and rebounder (5.3 rpg) from last year’s team, which finished 15-15 overall and tied for second with Hartford in the America East Conference standings. Harris averaged only 2.7 points and 2.5 rebounds in 15 appearances for Virginia last year, but missed 14 games because of a back injury. He’s healthy now, and should be a formidable weapon at either the shooting guard, small forward or power forward position.

Villanova counters with a lineup that includes junior guard Scottie Reynolds (15.9 ppg, 3.2 assists, 79 three-pointers), who was a second-team All-Big East selection; 6-8 Dante Cunningham (10.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg), the only Wildcat to play in every game a year ago;

Corey Fisher (9.1 ppg, 2.1 assists);
6-7 senior Shane Clark (7.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg); and 6-5 sophomore Corey Stokes (6.4 ppg).

By Bob Weiner