The designated hitter: Not as bad as an automatic runner at second base, but still not real baseball.
Two hundred and sixty-three days and one drastically changed world later, the defending CAA champion Flying Dutchmen (that does sound good) played basketball again Sunday, when they opened the 2020-21 (?) season with a 70-56 loss to Rutgers. Because this is the 2020-21 season, the Dutchmen are scheduled to play again tonight, when they may or may not host Fairleigh Dickinson. Here’s a look back at the loss to the Scarlet Knights and a look ahead to *takes off glasses, peers closely at the screen* the Knights?
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
The Dutchmen endured 15 ice-cold minutes from the field to end the first half as Rutgers led wire-to-wire in the long-awaited matchup of teams who were primed to make long-awaited trips to the NCAA Tournament in March. Jalen Ray scored a game-high 22 points and drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 10-10 exactly five minutes in, but the Dutchmen were just 4-of-25 from the field the rest of the half as Rutgers went on 22-11 run. The Dutchmen missed 12 straight shots at one point. Rutgers opened the second half on an 13-2 run before the Dutchmen puled within 10 points three times. Isaac Kante pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds and added seven points and two steals. Redshirt freshman Kvonn Cramer had eight points, four rebounds and three steals in his debut.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Rutgers 11/29)
3: Jalen Ray
2: Isaac Kante
1: Kvonn Cramer
SEASON STANDINGS (duh)
Jalen Ray 3
Isaac Kante 2
Kvonn Cramer 1
COACHSPEAK: “We battled. We just couldn’t make any shots. We couldn’t throw it in the ocean. There was a couple of time in the second half I thought we were a play away from making it real interesting.”—acting head coach Mike Farrelly
THE FLYING DUTCHMEN AFTER ONE GAME
As you may have gathered by now, the Dutchmen are 0-1. This ties the 2020-21 team for the 49th-best record through one game. Thirty-six other teams began 0-1, most recently last year’s squad. Things turned out OK after that. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through one game.
NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 1-0
1976-77: 1-0
1999-2000: 0-1
2000-01: 0-1
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 0-1
NIT TEAMS
2005-06: 1-0
2006-07: 0-1
2015-16: 1-0
2018-19: 1-0
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1958-59: 0-1
1961-62: 1-0
1962-63: 1-0
1963-64: 1-0
Some other notable, uhh, one-game starts:
2013-14: Joe Mihalich loses his debut
2010-11: Mo Cassara wins his debut
2001-02: Tom Pecora wins his debut
1994-95: Jay Wright loses his debut, retires in shame
1988-89: Butch van Breda Kolff wins his re-debut
1980-81: Dick Berg wins his debut
1979-80: Joe Harrington loses his debut
1972-73: Roger Gaeckler loses his debut
1962-63: Paul Lynner wins his debut
1955-56: Butch van Breda Kolff wins his debut
1947-48: Frank Reilly wins his debut
1946-47: Jack McDonald wins his re-debut
1943-44: Jack Smith loses his debut
1936-37: Jack McDonald loses his debut in Hofstra’s first game
This feature is inspired by Mets superfan and blogger Greg Prince, who measures how the current Mets compare, record-wise, to previous teams through the same point in the season.
FOR STARTERS
And as you may also have gathered by now, the Dutchmen have lost two straight season openers. It’s the first time the Dutchmen have dropped back-to-back openers since they lost in 2012-13 and 2013-14. The Dutchmen are now 48-37 all-time in season openers. Joe Mihalich-coached teams are 13-10 in season openers (5-3 at Hofstra, 8-7 at Niagara).
IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
The Dutchmen played Rutgers 263 days after the CAA title game win over Northeastern, which means that god-awful off-season lasted 263 days. That was the longest off-season since following the 2001-02 season, when the Dutchmen also went 263 days between their semifinal loss to VCU in the CAA Tournament and the season opener against Gonzaga.
In addition, the Nov. 29 season debut marks the latest the Dutchmen have begun play since the 1992-93 season, when they fell to Manhattan, 80-56, on Dec. 1.
THE FRESHMAN TRIO
Three freshmen made their debuts for the Flying Dutchmen on Sunday afternoon, including redshirt Kvonn Cramer, who came off the bench to score eight points and record four rebounds and three steals. Cramer is the first freshman to score in his debut since Jalen Ray in 2017 and his eight points are the most off the bench by a freshman in his debut since Eli Pemberton scored 20 points in 2016. David Green made the start at forward and was scoreless in 16 minutes, as was Vukasin Masic in five minutes off the bench. Here are some notable debuts by Hofstra freshmen in the CAA era (2001-present):
2017: Jalen Ray: 10 pts/2 assists vs. Army-West Point
2017: Matija Radovic: 5 pts/5 rebs vs. Army-West Point
2016: Eli Pemberton: 20 pts/4 rebs/1 steal vs. Coppin State
2015: Justin Wright-Foreman: 0 pts/1 reb vs. Canisius
2015: Desure Buie: 2 pts/2 assists/1 steal vs. Canisius
2014: Rokas Gustys: 4 pts/10 rebs vs. Jacksonville
2014: Andre Walker: 4 pts/11 rebs/6 blks vs. Jacksonville
2013: Chris Jenkins: 17 pts/2 rebs/1 blk/1 steal vs. Monmouth
2013: Jamall Robinson: 8 pts/4 rebs/2 assists vs. Monmouth
2012: Jordan Allen: 2 pts/1 reb vs. Monmouth
2011: Moussa Kone: 6 pts/2 rebs/1 steal vs. Long Island U.
2010: Shemiye McLendon: 16 pts/4 rbs/2 assists vs. Farmingdale State
2010: Stephen Nwaukoni: 8 rebs vs. Farmingdale State
2010: Roland Brown: 4 pts/5 rebs/1 steal/1 blk vs. Farmingdale State
2009: Chaz Williams: 7 pts/6 assists/5 rebs/37 mins vs. Kansas
2009: Halil Kanacevic: 12 pts/12 rebs/3 blks 31 mins vs. Kansas
2007: Charles Jenkins: 5 pts/9 rebs/1 assist/1 steal vs. Holy Cross
2007: Nathaniel Lester: 2 rebs vs. Holy Cross
2007: Greg Washington: 2 rebs/2 blks/1 assist/1 steal vs. Holy Cross
2005: Arminas Urbutis: 6 pts vs. Florida International
2005: Greg Johnson: 12 pts vs. Florida International
2004: Antoine Agudio: 20 pts vs. Florida International
2003: Loren Stokes: 2 pts vs. Marist
2003: Carlos Rivera: 10 pts vs. Marist
2001: Kenny Adeleke: 10 pts vs. Florida Atlantic
There were no freshmen on the 2008-09 team.
FRESHMAN INTO THE FIRE
David Green became the first freshman to start a season opener for the Dutchmen since Jalen Ray in 2017. Green is just the third freshman to start his collegiate debut for Hofstra in the Joe Mihalich Era, following in the footsteps of Ray and Jamall Robinson (2013).
SCORELESS STARTERS
David Green (0-for-5 from the field) and Caleb Burgess (0-for-4 from the field) were each scoreless as starters Sunday afternoon. It was the first time the Dutchmen have had two starters go scoreless since Jan. 7, 2018, when Kenny Wormley (12 minutes) and Joel Angus II (nine minutes) did not score.
TWO NEW FACES
The start was also the first of his career for Burgess, which made Sunday the first time since Joe Mihalich’s debut in 2013 that at least two players were making their first starts in a season opener. Graduate transfers Zeke Upshaw and Dion Nesmith started in Mihalich’s debut, as did freshman Jamall Robinson.
COMPLETING THE TRANSFER
Junior college transfer Shawndarius Cowart made his debut Sunday afternoon, when he scored two points on a pair of free throws, had two steals and recorded two assists in 12 minutes off the bench. Here are some notable debuts by transfers since 1991:
2019: Isaac Kante: 8 pts/11 rebs vs. San Jose State
2018: Jacquil Taylor: 6 pts/10 rebs vs. Mount St. Mary’s
2018: Dan Dwyer: 3 pts/6 rebs/2 blks vs. Mount St. Mary’s
2018: Tareq Coburn: 2 pts/2 rebs vs. Mount St. Mary’s
2017: Joel Angus III: 13 pts/6 rebs vs. Army-West Point
2017: Kenny Wormley: 3 pts/2 rebs/4 assists vs. Kennesaw State
2016: Deron Powers: 12 pts/5 assists/4 rebs vs. Coppin State
2016: Hunter Sabety: 2 pts/5 rebs/1 blk vs. Coppin State
2015: Denton Koon: 14 pts/5 rebs/1 steal/1 blk vs. Canisius
2014: Juan’ya Green: 14 pts/9 assists/5 rebs vs. Jacksonville
2014: Ameen Tanksley: 16 pts/3 assists/2 assists/1 blk vs. Jacksonville
2014: Brian Bernardi: 22 pts/3 assists/2 rebs/1 steal vs. Jacksonville (6-8 3PT)
2014: Malik Nichols: 15 pts/3 assists/2 rbs/1 blk vs. Jacksonville**
2013: Zeke Upshaw: 22 pts/3 assists/3 rebs vs. Monmouth (2-8 3PT)
2013: Dion Nesmith: 10 pts/5 assists/2 rebs vs. Monmouth
2012: Taran Buie: 14 pts/2 assists/2 rbs vs. South Dakota State
2012: [name redacted]: 12 pts vs. Monmouth
2012: Daquan Brown: 2 pts/1 assist vs. Tulane
2011: Stevie Mejia: 7 pts/1 rb/4 assists/1 steal vs. Long Island
2011: Bryant Crowder: 13 pts/6 rbs/1 steal vs. Rhode Island**
2010: Mike Moore: 13 pts/4 rbs/4 assists vs. Farmingdale State
2010: Dwan McMillan: 15 pts/2 rbs/6 assists/1 steal vs. Farmingdale State**
2010: Brad Kelleher: 2 pts vs. Florida Atlantic**
2008: Tony Dennison: 5 pts/4 rbs/1 assist vs. Clemson**
2008: Cornelius Vines: 12 pts/3 rbs/3 steals vs. Clemson**
2008: Miklos Szabo: 4 pts/11 rbs/2 assists/1 steal vs. E. Tennessee State**
2007: Darren Townes: 5 pts/5 rbs/1 steal/1 blocked shot vs. Holy Cross**
2007: Dane Johnson: 3 pts/1 rb/3 blocked shots vs. Holy Cross**
2004: Kenny Harris: 3 pts/1 rb/1 assist/2 steals vs. Florida International**
2004: Adrian Uter: 0 pts/2 rbs/1 block vs. Florida International**
2000: Osei Miller: 2 pts/2 rbs vs. Northern Illinois
1999: Greg Springfield: 7 pts/5 rbs/10 blocked shots vs. New Mexico State***
1998: Jason Hernandez: 7 pts/ 2 rbs/1 assist/2 steals vs. Maryland
1998: Abdul Sylla 0 pts/3 rbs vs. Youngstown State
1997: Mike Renfro 6 pts/3 rbs/1 assist/1 steal vs. Bucknell**
1996: Lance Dunkley 2 pts/3 rbs/1 assist vs. Stony Brook**
1996: Duane Posey 8 pts/4 rbs/1 assist/2 blks vs. Stony Brook
1995: Seth Meyers 14 pts/5 rbs vs. Stony Brook
1995: Lawrence Thomas 20 pts/4 rbs/2 assists vs. Villanova
1994: Jamil Greene 1 pt/2 rbs/1 assist vs. New Hampshire**
1993: Chris Johnke 0 pts/5 rbs vs. Iona**
1991: Demetrius Dudley 33 pts/7 rbs vs. Navy
**--junior college transfer
***--10 blocked shots are a school record
TWO BATTLING AT THE ONE
With Desure Buie’s graduation, point guard is vacant for the first time since the dinosaurs roamed the Earth (or the opening weeks of the 2017-18 season, one or the other). Caleb Burgess (28 minutes) and Shawndarius Cowart (12 minutes) split the position Sunday and combined for two points on 0-for-5 shooting from the field. The duo also combined for four steals, five assists and six turnovers.
RAY OF LIGHT
Jalen Ray scored his 900th career point Sunday, and 11 more for good measure. His 911 points leave him 15 shy of surpassing Aurimas Kieza on the CAA-era scoring list.
KAN DO
Isaac Kante recorded a career-high 17 rebounds Sunday, the most rebounds by a Hofstra player since Jacquil Taylor tied his career-high with 17 rebounds against Towson on Feb. 21, 2019. The last Hofstra player to record more than 17 rebounds in a game was Rokas Gustys, who had 21 rebounds against Drexel on Feb. 17, 2018. And as Hofstra SID Stephen Gorchov noted, Sunday marked the second straight game in which Kante set a career-high in rebounds. He had 15 boards against Northeastern in the CAA title game on Mar. 10.
A QUIET HALF
The Dutchmen scored just 21 points in the first half Sunday, their fewest in a first half since they scored 23 against VCU on Nov. 24, 2018 and their fewest in any half since they were limited to 19 points in the second half against St. Bonaventure on Dec. 7, 2019.
DON’T FALL TWO UNDER .500!
The Flying Dutchmen fell under .500 on Sunday for just the third time since the end of the 2016-17 season, when they finished 15-17. So that got me thinking: How many programs have gone that long or longer without falling two games under .500?
The answer: Sixty-nine (nice?), including 60 programs that haven’t been two games under .500 sine prior to their 2016-17 finale and eight others who haven’t been two games under .500 since the end of the ’16-17 season. The latter group includes St. John’s, North Carolina State and Texas.
Among true mid-majors (defined by me as schools outside the Power 6, AAC, A-10, West Coast and Mountain West), Hofstra’s streak is exceeded by just 16 schools and matched by two more. Among the mids that have gone longer without falling two games under .500 than the Dutchmen: Charleston, which hasn’t been two under since the end of the 2014-15 season, Here’s the full list and the date the program was most recently two games under .500:
Louisiana Tech: 2/16/12
New Mexico State: 1/3/15
UAB: 1/17/15
Charleston: end of ’14-15
San Francisco: end of ’14-15
Furman: end of ’14-15
Vermont: 12/8/15
Northern Kentucky: end of ’15-16
UNC Greensboro: end of ’15-16
Loyola Chicago: end of ’15-16
Georgia Southern: 11/22/16
Belmont: 11/25/16
Liberty: 1/3/17
Buffalo: 1/31/17
Murray State: 2/25/17
South Dakota State: 2/18/17
HOFSTRA: end of ’16-17
Hawaii: end of ’16-17
Western Kentucky: end of ’16-17
(Dear Dutchmen: Please win tonight so this stat remains current, thank you in advance)
SEEKING A SPLIT
The Dutchmen lost their season opener for the ninth time this century. They won the second game to get back to .500 five times, most recently last season, when the Dutchmen beat Monmouth, 94-74. The previous victory following a season-opening loss was in 2013-14, when the Dutchmen beat — drum roll please — Fairleigh Dickinson, 80-58, for the first victory of the Joe Mihalich Era.
GET WELL SOON, JOE
With Joe Mihalich on a medical leave of absence since August, associate head coach Mike Farrelly made his head coaching debut Sunday. This marks the first time a Flying Dutchmen head coach has been sidelined since February 1994, when Butch van Breda Kolff was hospitalized and Joe Dunleavy went 1-3 in his place.
Mihalich is 141-92 in seven seasons at Hofstra and 406-295 overall in 22 seasons as a head coach. He is fifth on Hofstra’s all-time win list after vaulting past Jay Wright last season.
OVER THE AIR
Hofstra will provide a video feed (with a FloHoops subscription) and radio feed of today’s game, as well as live stats, at the Pride Productions hub.
FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON AND THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
Fairleigh Dickinson, under eighth-year head coach Greg Herenda, is 0-2 this season after falling to Quinnipiac, 84-66, on Wednesday and losing to Rutgers, 96-75, on Friday. That means the Dutchmen are seven points better than Fairleigh Dickinson, so let it be written, so let it be done. The Flying Dutchmen lead the all-time series 17-4, though the Knights won the most recent game on Jan. 5, 2014 with an 86-67 victory in New Jersey. That completed a rare (for those days, anyway) same-season home-and-home series.
Fairleigh Dickinson was picked to finish first in the preseason NEC coaches poll. The Knights had two players, senior guard Jahlil Jenkins and senior forward Elyjah Williams, selected to the preseason all-NEC team. However, FDU lost two more starters on the day of the season opener when guards Devon Dunn and Xzavier Malone-Key opted out.
Sophomore guard Brandon Rush (18.0 ppg) leads four Knights players averaging in double figures through the first two games. Williams is averaging 12.5 ppg, Jenkins is averaging 11.0 ppg and freshman Pier-Olivier Racine is averaging 10.0 ppg while pulling down a team-high 9.0 rebounds per game.
At KenPom.com today, Hofstra is ranked 152nd while Fairleigh Dickinson is ranked 254th. KenPom.com predicts an 81-73 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 12-point favorites. The Dutchmen are 1-0 against the spread this season after covering Sunday by a point or half a point, depending on your book. Those guys know their stuff.
Hofstra is 113-58 all-time against current Northeast Conference members. This is the Dutchmen’s first game against an NEC foe since Nov. 9, 2018, when they opened the season by beating Mount St. Mary’s, 79-61.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
The designated hitter isn’t real baseball bias! (Ron Blomberg, the former Yankees player and the first DH in baseball history, went to Fairleigh Dickinson after his playing days)
Seth Greenberg bias! (The former Virginia Tech coach and current ESPN broadcaster played at and graduated from FDU)
George Martin bias! (The Giants’ Super Bowl-winning defensive end went to FDU after his playing days and graduated in 2018)
You sorta still play football bias! (FDU’s Florham Campus plays Division III football)
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