I'll Be Quirky: Old Westbury

Not those Panthers.

As the Mets’ season unfolded and they went from the edge of disaster to the edge of the World Series, I realized their wild ride carried with it universal lessons to be learned and questions to be asked about fandom — particularly of the college basketball variety.

The Mets’ ability to steer out of their poor start was a reminder to not get too carried away with the day-to-day ebbs and flows and to exercise a little patience as the puzzle that is a season is constructed.

Such a philosophy is especially handy in a sport where twists and turns are baked into the experience — especially in the NIL era in which the Hofstras of the world will be fielding almost entirely brand new teams every season.

There will be days when the Dutchmen look like a bunch of players who have never been on the court at the same time, and days when the chemistry is pristine. There will be days when we wonder if the Dutchmen will ever win another game, and days when a triumphant march through the CAA Tournament feels vividly like the only possible outcome to the season.

Won’t the roller coaster be a little less fulfilling if you were screaming about how not fun this was during the hairiest turns? Is it a little hypocritical to enjoy a stunning turnaround if you’d thrown your hands in the air — metaphorically or otherwise — during a particularly rough stretch? Won’t the highs be more satisfying and fulfilling if we don’t linger and wallow in the lows?

In other words, I am imploring you to do as I say and not as I almost certainly will do.

Welcome to the wild ride that will be the 2024-25 college basketball season and the ninth season (!!!) of I’ll Be Quirky. Once again this is pretty impressive given my raging undiagnosed case of ADD. As always, this is my attempt to link the past with the present in a fun and engaging package as the Dutchmen chase their second CAA championship and that elusive first NCAA Tournament game since March of 2001. Hey we can’t all be Dodgers fans.

As always, I want to acknowledge Islanders statistician Eric Hornick, whose blog “The Skinny” was the inspiration to start this in 2016, as well as Mets blogger and unofficial team historian Greg Prince, whose unique ways of tracking each Mets season via the Faith & Fear In Flushing blog I’ve emulated the last few seasons as well.

Thanks again to Eric and Greg as well as to you for reading. Enjoy the season and all the twists and turns that await!

WE DON’T KNOW WHERE WE’RE GOING BUT WE SURE KNOW WHERE WE’VE BEEN

This season marks the 89th season in which the Flying Dutchmen have played basketball. The program is 1,360-1,009 all-time. No one has played or coached in each of the previous 88 seasons, though I believe this will be the first time Hofstra doesn’t oppose a Drexel team featuring Amari Williams.

While the Dutchmen fell short of the NCAA Tournament last season for the fourth straight season since winning the national title in 2020 (prove me wrong, children!), third-year head coach Speedy Claxton — whom you may recall from such outstanding careers as the one he had at Hofstra from 1996-2000 — still oversaw a successful campaign. 

The Dutchmen finished 20-13 and were third in the CAA with a 12-6 record in league play. It marked the seventh straight season in which the Dutchmen placed within the top four, the longest streak in the CAA since William & Mary had seven straight top-four finishes from 2013-14 through 2019-20. 

Alas, the Dutchmen’s hopes of returning to the NCAA Tournament ended with a 63-59 loss to Stony Brook (really) in the CAA semifinals. At least it wasn’t in overtime! And at least Charleston (barely) beat Stony Brook in overtime in the title game! That would have been a tough one to swallow.

Tyler Thomas continued the tradition of superstar Hofstra guards by averaging 22.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game on his way to winning CAA Player of the Year honors. Yes, I just rewrote this sentence except substituting Thomas’ name and stats in place of Aaron Estrada, who won the CAA Player of the Year the previous two seasons. Thomas is the sixth different player to win the CAA Player of the Year for Hofstra, which has won honor nine times overall, Nice. 

Darlinstone Dubar averaged 17.8 points and a team-high 6.8 reboudns per game while being named to the all-CAA second team. Jaquan Carlos had another impressive year at point guard by averaging 10.8 points per game to go along with a CAA-leading 6.3 assists per game. He was also named to the all-CAA defensive team for the second straight season.

Graduate senior Jacco Fritz, the latest one-year solution at center under Claxton and Joe Mihalich, started at center in all 32 games in which he played and averaged 6.8 points and 5.1 rebounds. Sophomore Silas Sunday came on after the new year and averaged 2.0 points and 2.7 rebounds as Fritz’s backup. German Plotnikov (6.0 points and 2.2 reboudns per game) and Bryce Washington (4.7 points and 2.4 rebounds per game) provided steady glue guy production. 

FINAL 3 STARS OF THE GAME STANDINGS

Tyler Thomas 68

Darlinstone Dubar 58

Jaquan Carlos 37

Jacco Fritz 14

German Plotnikov 10

Bryce Washington 7

Silas Sunday 2

KiJan Robinson 2

A FOND FAREWELL

The Dutchmen bid goodbye to eight members of last year’s team. Graduate seniors Jacco Fritz, Tyler Thomas and Bryce Washington all completed their collegiate eligibility while Darlinstone Dubar transferred to Tennessee, where he will play his free COVID season. Junior Jaquan Carlos, who spent his first three seasons at Hofstra, transferred to Syracuse. Redshirt sophomore reserves Griffin Barrouk (Sacred Heart) and Christian Tomasco (Temple) both transferred while sophomore walk-on Aidan Best, who didn’t play last season, also exited. 

Thomas, who transferred from Sacred Heart prior to the 2022-23 season, scored 1,320 points, 20th-most in school history, while becoming the sixth Hofstra player to win CAA Player of the Year honors. He scored in double figures in each of his final 25 games and 63 times overall in 68 games with the Dutchmen.

Dubar, who transferred from Iowa State prior to the 2021-22 season, scored 1,322 points, 19th-most in school history. Hey! That’s sorta quirky! Dubar scored in double figures in 31 of 33 games last season after doing so 42 times over 67 games in his first two seasons with the Dutchmen.

Carlos finished with 595 points and 399 assists, the latter of which ranks eighth in school history. Those totals are doubly impressive considering he had just 17 points and 19 assists while playing only 163 minutes as a freshman.

Barrouk averaged 2.2 points in 10 games last season and 1.6 points overall in two seasons. Tomasco, who was limited to four games last season due to injuries, averaged 0.5 points and 0.8 rebounds in 17 games over two years. Best scored 10 points while seeing time in six games in 2022-23.

WELCOME BACK

The Flying Dutchmen return five players, including senior German Plotnikov, who started the final 16 games last season. Junior Silas Sunday is back along with redshirt sophomore Khalil Farmer and sophomores Kijan Robinson and Jayden Henriquez.

 

The returnees combined to score 388 points, which represented 15.8 percent of the Dutchmen’s total last year, and played 1,513 minutes, which represented 22.8 percent of the Dutchmen’s total playing time. The returning points and minutes are the lowest for any Hofstra team since at least 1993-94, the first year of the Defiantly Dutch era. 

MY NAME IS…

The Dutchmen welcome nine new players — six transfers as well as two true freshman and one redshirt sophomore.

Michael Graham, a 6-foot-8 graduate student, opened his career at Elon before spending the last two seasons at Loyola Marymount, where he averaged 3.0 points and 4.4 rebounds over 31 games last year. TJ Gadsden, a 6-foot-7 senior, began his career at George Mason (booo!) and spent the last two seasons at Canisius, where he averaged 9.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last season. He was also a teammate of Jacco Fritz in 2022-23. 

Jaquan Sanders, a 6-foot-4 junior, played his first two seasons at Seton Hall and averaged 2.7 points per game last year. He tied a career-high with 11 points in a win over Georgia in the NIT semifinal for the eventual champion Pirates. Jean Aranguren, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, began his career last year with Iona, for whom he averaged 8.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists over 33 games. Cruz Davis, a 6-foot-3 redshirt sophomore, debuted with Iona in 2022-23 and transferred with Rick Pitino to St. John’s last season, when he was limited to four games by injury. Carlos Lopez, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, averaged 9.4 points and 1.7 assists per game for Saint Francis (PA) last season, when he was named to the Northeast Conference all-freshman team.

In addition, Eric Parnell is expected to play after redshirting as a sophomore last season True freshmen Joshua Decady and Amir Williams also join the program.

SPEEDY'S SECOND FOURTH SEASON

Speedy Claxton, the 15th head coach in program history and the first Hofstra alum to patrol the sidelines at his alma mater, directed the Dutchmen to a 20-13 record (12-6 CAA), a third-place finish in the CAA and a trip to the conference tournament semifinals. 

The Dutchmen are 66-34 (.660) under Claxton, which is the third-best winning percentage by a Hofstra head coach through his first three seasons (or the first three seasons of his second tenure). Claxton ranks only slightly behind Paul Lynner and Frank Reilly.

Paul Lynner 57-27 (.679, 1962-65)

Frank Reilly 48-23 (.676, 1947-50)

SPEEDY CLAXTON 66-34 (.660, 2021-24)

Butch van Breda Kolff I 48-27 (.640, 1955-58)

Jack McDonald 27-22 (.551, 1936-39)

Joe Mihalich 54-47 (.535, 2013-16)

Dick Berg 42-40 (.512, 1980-83)

Butch van Breda Kolff II 41-44 (.482, 1988-91)

Jack Smith 27-32 (.458, 1943-46)

Mo Cassara 38-59 (.392, 2010-13)

Jay Wright 31-51 (.378, 1994-97)

Tom Pecora 34-56 (.378, 2001-04)

Roger Gaeckler 27-45 (.375, 1972-75)

Look at those poor starts for Jay Wright and Tom Pecora. They’d better shape up soon!

Three head coaches had one-season tenures at Hofstra. McDonald went 18-6 in the lone season of his second stint in 1946-47 while Joe Harrington went 14-14 in 1979-80 and Mike Farrelly went 13-10 in 2020-21.

Claxton’s 100 games coached rank 10th in program history.

Claxton’s fourth season as head coach begins 25 years after he played his senior season at Hofstra for a fourth-year coach named Jay Wright. After those four sensational seasons at Hofstra in which Claxton racked up 2,015 points and a school-record 660 assists while leading the Flying Dutchmen (who really WERE the Flying Dutchmen back then!) to the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 23 years in 2000, Claxton was drafted in the first round by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2000 and embarked upon a 10-year NBA career. 

SPEEDY’S SELECT COMPANY (part one)

Speedy Claxton is one of just four head coaches out of the 57 hired prior to the 2021-22 season to earn at least 20 wins in each of the last three seasons — and one of only three to do it at one school. Tommy Lloyd has recorded 88 wins at Arizona while Hubert Davis has 78 wins at North Carolina. Steve Lutz, who is now the head coach at Oklahoma State, collected 69 wins between Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Western Kentucky.

SPEEDY’S SELECT COMPANY (part two)

Speedy Claxton is one of five Division I men’s basketball coaches who played at their alma mater and later played in the NBA:

SPEEDY CLAXTON, Hofstra

Hubert Davis, North Carolina

Penny Hardaway, Memphis

Mark Pope, Kentucky

Mike Woodson, Indiana

SPEEDY’S SELECT COMPANY (part three)

Speedy Claxton is one of just four Division I men’s basketball coaches who have won an NBA title.

SPEEDY CLAXTON, Hofstra (2003 San Antonio Spurs)

Mark Madsen, California (2001 and 2002 Los Angeles Lakers)

Darrell Walker, Little Rock (1993 Chicago Bulls)

Mo Williams, Jackson State (2016 Cleveland Cavaliers)

Overall, Claxton is one of 19 former NBA player now coaching a Division I men’s basketball team.

SPEEDY CLAXTON, Hofstra

Steve Alford, Nevada

Hubert Davis, North Carolina

Johnny Dawkins, Central Florida 

Bryce Drew, Grand Canyon

Kim English, Providence

Penny Hardaway, Memphis

Fred Hoiberg, Nebraska

Bobby Hurley, Arizona State

Mark Madsen, California

Cuonzo Martin, Missouri State

Mark Pope, Kentucky

Roger Powell Jr., Valparaiso 

Damon Stoudamire, Georgia Tech

Rod Strickland, Long Island University

Reggie Theus, Bethune-Cookman

Darrell Walker, Little Rock

Mo Williams, Jackson State

Mike Woodson, Indiana

COMING HOME

Overall, there are 49 Division I head coaches directing their alma maters:

SPEEDY CLAXTON, Hofstra

Casey Alexander, Belmont

Adrian Autry, Syracuse

Jeff Boals, Ohio

Alvin Brooks, Lamar

Ed Conroy, The Citadel

Chris Crutchfield, Omaha

Hubert Davis, North Carolina

Travis DeCurie, Montana

Jamie Dixon, Texas Christian

Fran Dunphy, La Salle

Quinton Ferrell, Presbyterian

Joe Gallo, Merrimack

Corey Gipson, Austin Peay

Stan Gouard, Southern Indiana

Anthony Grant, Dayton

John Griffin III, Bucknell

Penny Hardaway, Memphis

Stan Heath, Eastern Michigan

Mitch Henderson, Princeton

Shaheen Holloway, Seton Hall

George Ivory, Mississippi Valley State

Cornelius Jackson, Marshall

Jon Jaques, Cornell

Mike Jones, Old Dominion

Ben Johnson, Minnesota

Andy Kennedy, Alabama-Birmingham

Chris Kraus, Stonehill

Rob Krimmel, Saint Francis (PA)

Kevin Kruger, UNLV

Jay Ladner, Southern Mississippi

Chris Markwood, Maine

Cuonzo Martin, Missouri State

Mike Martin, Brown

Thad Matta, Butler

Matt McKillop, Davidson

LeVelle Moton, North Carolina Central

Saah Nimley, Charleston Southern

Matt Painter, Purdue

Mark Pope, Kentucky

Keith Richard, Louisiana-Monroe

David Richman, North Dakota State

Tevon Saddler, Nicholls

Jon Scheyer, Duke

Patrick Sellers, Central Connecticut

Tony Skinn, George Mason (never heard of him)

Larry Stewart, Coppin State

John Tauer, St. Thomas (MN)

Mike Woodson, Indiana

In addition, Hofstra is one of just three Division I schools with a former NBA player as its head men’s basketball coach and a former MLB player as its head baseball coach.

Speedy Claxton, Hofstra (Frank Catalanotto)

Bobby Hurley, Arizona State (Willie Bloomquist)

Mark Madsen, California (Mike Neu)

HOW MANY UNICORN SCORES WERE THERE LAST SEASON?

The Dutchmen had seven unicorn scores — scores by which they’d never previously won — last season:

11/6/23: 101-48 over St. Joseph’s (NY)

11/20/23: 102-68 over Buffalo

11/22/23: 97-92 (OT) over High Point

11/30/23: 82-63 over South Florida

2/1/24: 72-71 over Stony Brook

2/3/24: 59-56 over Towson

2/24/24: 87-64 over Elon

The Dutchmen have recorded 53 unicorn scores since we first started tracking them in 2018-19 — 10 in ’18-19, followed by 13 in 2019-20, none in the weirdness that was 2020-21 when the Dutchmen played just 23 games and none were decided by more than 18 points and then 11 in ’21-22 and 12 in ’23-24.

The term unicorn score was coined by Mets superfan, historian and blogger Greg Prince to describe a score by which the Mets had never previously won. You may also know it as a “Scorigami,” a term popularized in the NFL.

HE’S DARLINSTONE DUBAR, HE HAD ALL THE KEITH HERNANDEZES

Darlinstone Dubar collected a team-high nine Keith Hernandezes — i.e. scoring the points that put the Dutchmen ahead for good in a victory — last season. The Keith Hernandez honors Hernandez holding the all-time lead in game-winning RBIs with 129 before Major League Baseball inexplicably discontinued the stat following the 1988 season. 

Darlinstone Dubar 9

Tyler Thomas 6

Jacco Fritz 2

Silas Sunday 1

Bryce Washington 1

Jaquan Carlos 1

ALL-TIME STANDINGS (or at least since the 2022-23 season)

Tyler Thomas 16

Darlinstone Dubar 14

Aaron Estrada 4

Warren Williams 3

Jacco Fritz 2

Jaquan Carlos 2

German Plotnikov 2

Silas Sunday 1

Bryce Washington 1

CLUB TWENTY

The Dutchmen won at least 20 games last year for the third straight season and the 26th time in program history. Fifteen of those 20-win seasons have happened in the 31 seasons of the Defiantly Dutch era (1993-present). I’m not saying it’s all because of me, but I’m not NOT saying it’s all because of me.

MARATHON MEN

The Dutchmen played 33 games last season, which was tied for the seventh-longest season in program history. Three other teams played at least 33 games. All 10 seasons in which the Dutchmen have played at least 33 games have happened since 2005-06.

DOUBLE-DIGIT COMEBACKS…

The Dutchmen won three games in which they trailed by at least 10 points. They authored their biggest comeback on Jan. 18, when they overcame an 18-point deficit to beat Hampton 86-77.

…AND DOUBLE DIGITS WEREN’T ENOUGH

The Dutchmen also lost three games in which they led by at least 10 points. Balance! They squandered a 13-point lead twice, first in an 81-78 loss to Monmouth on Jan. 27 and then again in a 79-77 loss to Drexel on Feb. 15.

GO FOURTH, YOUNG DUTCHMEN

The Dutchmen were picked fourth in the CAA’s preseason poll of league coaches and sports information directors.

1.) Towson (10 first place votes)

2.) Charleston (three first place vote)

3.) UNC Wilmington (one first place vote)

4.) HOFSTRA

5.) Delaware

6.) Northeastern

7.) William & Mary

8.) Monmouth

9.) Stony Brook

10.) North Carolina A&T

11.) Drexel

12.) Elon

13.) Campbell

14.) Hampton

This marks the second straight season in which the Dutchmen have been picked to finish fourth in the CAA’s preseason poll and the fourth time overall. They were also picked fourth in 2005-06, i.e. the year of the great screw job, and in 2017-18. 

A school picked second in the preseason has won the CAA Tournament just twice since the CAA expanded prior to the 2001-02 season. James Madison earned the automatic bid in 2012-13 while Charleston did so in 2022-23.

THE CAA HOLDS STEADY…FOR NOW

The CAA (which was rebranded as the Coastal Athletic Association prior to last season, once again, the Coastal recycles TO THE EXTREME!!!) will remain at 14 schools this season. The CAA expanded to 13 with the addition of Hampton, Monmouth, North Carolina A&T and Stony Brook in 2022-23 before increasing to 14 with the addition of Campbell last season. Delaware is in its last season in the league before takes its pie-in-the-sky pursuit of college football glory to Conference USA. Have fun playing Sam Houston State, guys!

SEASON OPENERS

Hofstra is 51-37 all-time in season openers. The Flying Dutchmen won their second straight opener last Nov. 6, when they beat Division III St. Joseph’s (NY) 101-48. 

Today marks the earliest season opener in program history, beating…last season! Hooray for leap years! For comparison’s sake, in my first year on campus in 1993-94, the Dutchmen didn’t open until Nov. 27, which was two days after Thanksgiving. And we liked it!

Most lopsided season-opening win: 101-48 over St. Joseph’s, 2023-24

Most lopsided season-opening win over DI foe: 94-61 over Jacksonville, 2014-15

Most lopsided season-opening loss: 96-57 to St. Joseph’s 1965-66, 60-21 to NYU, 1936-37

OVER THE AIR

This afternoon’s game is slated to be carried live on FloHoops.com (subscription required, check out options here). Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.

OLD WESTBURY AND HOFSTRA VS. NON-DIVISION I FOES

Old Westbury (which some of you might now as SUNY College at Old Westbury or just SUNY Old Westbury) is a Division III school located in, well, Old Westbury. The Panthers finished 2-23 last season and 2-14 in the Skyline Conference.

Their head coach is Hofstra alum Bernard Tomlin, a 1976 graduate who capped his career by leading the Flying Dutchmen (who really were the Flying Dutchmen back then!) to their first NCAA Tournament as a Division I program. Tomlin, who is beginning his 23rd season as Old Westbury’s head coach, also coached Stony Brook from the 1991-92 through 1998-99 seasons, back during Stony Brook’s Division II and Division III days, and was among the finalists for the job following the 1993-94 season, when some guy named Jay Wright emerged from the pack.

Old Westbury returns its top three scorers from a season ago in guard Amadi Lee-Kane (17.5 points per game), forward Jamari Williams (10.7 points per game) and forward Chris Smith (7.6 points per game). Lee-Kane (5.5 rebounds per game) and Smith (5.3 rebounds per game) also ranked second and third on the Panthers in rebounding while Lee-Kane and Williams were in a virtual tie for the team lead in assists at 2.2 assists per game.

The Flying Dutchmen have won their last 24 games against non-Division I foes dating back to a 70-54 loss to Florida Southern during the 1988-89 seasons. This marks the ninth time in the last 10 seasons the Dutchmen have played at least one non-Division I foe. There were no non-Division I games in 2020-21 due to the pandemic.

There is no line on this game, because even degenerate gamblers do not bet on Division I vs. non-Division I games. The Dutchmen were 14-18 against the spread last season.

THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY

Not the financial panthers bias! (Yet another Homer Simpson daydream)

Dry campus bias! (Per Wikipedia, which is never wrong, alcohol is not allowed on campus)

You used to be a college bias! (Old Westbury became a university in 2023)

This shouldn’t be this hard bias! (As always and please, for the love of all that is holy)

I'll Be Quirky: Hofstra vs. Stony Brook (CAA semifinals)

The IIIrd matchup of the season between Springfield and Shelbyville is for (almost) all the marbles! 

Remember how you thought Tyler Thomas’ season-saving, game-winning shot in the final second against Stony Brook on Feb. 1 was a great way to close out the season series and further ratchet up the intensity in the Long Island rivalry? Boy do I have a surprise for you!

It’s the Flying Dutchmen-Seawolves III: In 3-D tonight, with a berth in the CAA championship game on the line. Intense! The third clash of the season was set up last night, when the Dutchmen gradually pulled away for a 73-58 win over Delaware after Stony Brook advanced to the semis by virtue of their 91-88 double overtime win over Drexel. A Long Island team? Winning a CAA Tournament game in double overtime? In this economy?

We already ran down the boilerplate postgame material from the Delaware win in this morning’s Keep It Perky. This afternoon will be all about the Dutchmen and Speedy Claxton notching another 20-win season, the team-related quirkiness and individual news from the victory over the Blue Hens and a preview of the Shelbyville Seawolves. Enjoy!

TWENTY'S THE MAGIC NUMBER…

…for pitchers (well, back when wins mattered) and college basketball programs. And I’ll fully acknowledge I didn’t expect to be typing this note when the Dutchmen were 8-9 overall and down 18 points to Hampton on Jan. 18. But Sunday’s win — the 12th in the last 14 games — assured the Dutchmen of the 26th 20-win season in program history, including the 17th in the Division I era (dating back to 1966-67), the 12th since joining the CAA in 2001-02, the fifth in the last six seasons and the third in as many seasons for Speedy Claxton. Pretty good run!

No other current CAA school has as many 20-win seasons as a member of the CAA and only Charleston (13 20-win seasons, including eight as a member of the Southern Conference) has more 20-win seasons since 2001-02. And among former CAA members, only VCU (16 20-win seasons and with 19 wins this season) has as many or more 20-win seasons since 2001-02. Once again, pretty good.

SELECT COMPANY

With their 20th win of the season Sunday, the Dutchmen became just the 27th Division I program to record at least five 20-win seasons in the last six campaigns — a stretch that, of course, includes the 2019-20 season, when the NCAA Tournament wasn’t played due to the pandemic, and the 2020-21 season, which was shorter than usual for most schools due to the pandemic. Hofstra is one of just 13 mid-majors (defined by me as everyone outside the power six conferences, the American and the West Coast Conference) to win at least 20 games in at least five of the last six seasons. Here’s the list, starting with the mid-majors and then including all the other schools from those other boring big leagues.

HOFSTRA

Belmont***

Colgate

Dayton

Drake***

Liberty***

Louisiana Tech

Loyola Chicago

San Diego State***

Toledo

UNC Greensboro

Utah State

Vermont

Auburn 

Baylor***

Colorado

Creighton***

Duke

Gonzaga***

Houston***

Kansas***

Memphis***

Oregon***

Saint Mary’s

San Francisco

UAB

Virginia 

***—has won 20 games in each of the last six seasons except Liberty, which is at 18 wins heading into the Conference USA Tournament 

In addition, 12 schools won at least 20 games in four of the previous five seasons and are still playing in or have yet to begin their conference tournaments.

SPEEDY’S SELECT COMPANY

Speedy Claxton was one of 13 first-year head coaches to win 20 games in his debut season in 2021-22. And now he’s just the third third-year head coach to win 20 games in his third season in 2023-24, following in the footsteps of Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd (33 wins in 2021-22, 28 wins in 2022-23 and 24 wins so far this season) and North Carolina’s Hubert Davis (29 wins in 2021-22, 20 wins in 2022-23 and 25 wins so far this season). The only other third-year head coach with a chance to record a third straight 20-win season is Indiana’s Mike Woodson, who went 21-14 and 23-12 in his first two years and has directed the Hoosiers to an 18-13 record entering the Big 10 Tournament. 

SPEEDY’S ALL BY HIMSELF

Speedy Claxton established his own exclusive club Sunday, when he became the first coach in Hofstra history to win 20 games in each of his first three seasons at the helm. The only other coach to win 20 games in each of his first two seasons is Paul Lynner, who did so back in 1962-63 and 1963-64. Not too shabby.

THE DEFENSE DOESN’T REST

As you may have surmised by now, the Dutchmen won while surrendering fewer than 60 points Sunday night. The Dutchmen are 10-0 this season when allowing fewer than 60 points and have won 57 straight games when surrendering fewer than 60 points dating back to Feb. 10, 2014, when they fell to James Madison, 59-53.

A SECOND-HALF TEAM

The Dutchmen again scored more points in the second half than on the first half Sunday night, when they followed up a 35-point first half with a 38-point second half. The Dutchmen are now averaging 39.7 points per second half (1,270 points overall) and 34.7 points per first half (1,111 points overall). In a quirky twist, the Dutchmen’s first- and second-half averages have remained the same following the last three games. The Dutchmen have scored more points in the first half than in the second half just six times in CAA play and nine times overall this season. (These figures don’t include the nine points the Dutchmen scored in overtime of the 97-92 win over High Point on Nov. 22)

TWO TWENTY-SOMETHINGS

Darlinstone Dubar (23 points) and Tyler Thomas (20 points) each scored at least 20 points Sunday night. It was the ninth time this season two Hofstra players have scored at least 20 points and the sixth time Dubar and Thomas were the tandem, though the first time since a 69-68 loss to Campbell on Jan. 13. The Dutchmen are 5-4 this season when two players score at least 20 points. And to update a note established last season by Hofstra SID Stephen Gorchov and WRHU alums Kevin Dexter and Rob Joyce, the Dutchmen now 34-16 since the start of the 2013-14 season (Joe Mihalich’s first season) when at least two players score 20 points.

DUBAR MOVIN’ ON UP

Darlinstone Dubar continued climbing the all-time Hofstra scoring list Sunday, when he scored 23 points to increase his career total to 1,317 points and leapfrog past Kenny Adeleke and Desure Buie into 19th place. Dubar is 14 points away from surpassing Dave Bell for 18th place and 28 points away from moving past Barry White for 17th place.

17.) Barry White 1,444

18.) Dave Bell 1,330

19.) DARLINSTONE DUBAR 1,317

20.) Desure Buie 1,310

21.) Kenny Adeleke 1,296

22.) TYLER THOMAS 1,288

23.) Mike Tilley 1,286

24.) Roberto Gittens 1,240

THOMAS MOVIN’ ON UP TOO

Tyler Thomas, who joined Dubar in the 1,000-point club on Jan. 25, resumed climbing the all-time Hofstra scoring list Sunday, when he scored 20 points to increase his career total to 1,288 points and move past Mike Tilley into 22nd place. Thomas is nine points away from surpassing Kenny Adeleke for 21st place and 23 points away from moving past Desure Buie for 20th place. Let’s hope tonight turns into a rough week for Buie and Adeleke on the all-time standings, shall we?

19.) DARLINSTONE DUBAR 1,317

20.) Desure Buie 1,310

21.) Kenny Adeleke 1,296

22.) TYLER THOMAS 1,288

23.) Mike Tilley 1,286

24.) Roberto Gittens 1,240

(This is the first time I’ve been tracking two 1,000-point scorers playing at the same time, which is sorta neat but also sorta depressing because in the NIL era the first time may be the last time, eat Arby’s)

D-STONE THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE

Darlinstone Dubar reverted to his double-double form at the perfect time Sunday night, when he finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds. The double-double was the eighth of the season for Dubar but his first since Jan. 22, when he had 30 points and 11 rebounds in the 80-74 win over Stony Brook. Dubar entered this season with just two double-doubles in his first two seasons with the Dutchmen. He is the first Hofstra player with at least eight double-doubles in a season since Isaac Kante recorded eight double-doubles during the 2019-20 campaign.

D-STONE’S TOURNAMENT DOUBLE-DOUBLE

Darlinstone Dubar, as you may have just read, posted a double-double Sunday night, when he had 23 points and 11 rebounds. At least one Hofstra player has recorded a double-double in CAA Tournament play in six of the last seven seasons.

Rokas Gustys 12 pts/10 rebounds vs. UNC Wilmington (QFs), 3/4/18

Jacquil Taylor 16 pts/11 rebounds vs. James Madison (QFs), 3/10/19

Eli Pemberton 19 pts/12 rebounds vs. Drexel (QFs), 3/8/20

Tareq Coburn 13 pts/12 rebounds vs. Delaware (SFs), 3/9/20

Isaac Kante 14 pts/13 rebounds vs. Delaware (QFs), 3/7/21

Aaron Estrada 22 pts/10 rebounds vs. William & Mary (QFs), 3/5/23

Darlinstone Dubar 23 pts/11 rebounds vs. Delaware (QFs), 3/10/24

D-STONE’S BACK

Darlinstone Dubar’s resurgence continued with Sunday’s strong effort (once again, he had 23 points and 11 rebounds). He has scored in double figures in 31 of 32 games this season after doing so 42 times over 67 games in his first two seasons with the Dutchmen. Dubar has scored 124 points in the last six games since his streak of consecutive double-digit scoring efforts was snapped at 27 games when he was limited to nine points in a 79-77 loss to Drexel on Feb. 15.

D-STONE NEARLY PULLS THE LAETTNER

Darlinstone Dubar did a pretty nifty Christian Laettner impersonation (minus stepping on someone’s chest) Sunday night, when he scored his 23 points while going 9-of-11 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Dubar hit his first eight shots (including one 3-pointer) and each of his first two free throw attempts before a 3-pointer rimmed in and out with 9:36 left.

CRAZY EIGHTS

Darlinstone Dubar was perfect from inside the 3-point line Sunday night, when he was 8-of-8 on his 2-point field goal attempts. Dubar is the first Hofstra player to be perfect from inside the arc (minimum eight attempts) since Tyler Thomas was 8-of-8 on his 2-point field goal attempts in the 88-86 overtime win over Rutgers in the first round of the NIT last Mar. 14.

BACK TO THE EIGHTIES

Darlinstone Dubar finished 9-of-11 (81.8 percent) from the field Sunday night. It was the second time in three games Dubar has made at least 80 percent of his shots. He was 11-of-13 (84.6 percent) from the field in a 69-58 win over UNC Wilmington on Feb. 29. Prior to Dubar, the last Hofstra player to shoot at least 80 percent in two games at any point in his career was Rokas Gustys, who was 9-of-10 against James Madison in an 86-82 overtime loss on Jan, 16, 2016 and 9-of-11 against UNC Wilmington in the 80-73 overtime loss in the CAA championship game on Mar. 7, 2016. Bad times and a long time ago!

JAQUAN THE STAT-STUFFER

Jaquan Carlos, as newly minted MAAC Coach of the Year Tom Pecora (LOL Fordham) used to say about Loren Stokes, stuffed the stat sheet Sunday night, when he finished with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists. The 18 points were tied for his third-highest single-game total behind a 19-point effort against UNC Wilmington in a 79-73 overtime loss in the CAA Tournament semifinals last Mar. 6 and his 23-point game in an 80-74 win over Stony Brook on Jan. 22. He also had 18 points against High Point in  97-92 overtime win on Nov. 22.

In addition, the solid all-around game Sunday marked the sixth time this season Carlos has finished with at least 10 points, five rebounds and five assists and the 10th time he’s done so in the last two seasons. That’s tied with Justin Wright-Foreman for the third-most such games among Hofstra players since the 2010-11 season, the start of the Play Index era at College Basketball Reference, behind only Juan’ya Green (23) and Aaron Estrada (17).

CARLOS KEEPS CRACKING HIS SLUMP

Jaquan Carlos continued emerging from his slump Sunday night, when he finished with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists. Carlos has 67 points, 36 rebounds and a whopping 50 assists in his last six games after collecting just 40 points, 27 rebounds and 29 assists in his previous six games from Jan. 27-Feb. 15.

TYLER THOMAS THE THIRD OPTION?

Hey, that’ll work. Tyler Thomas had an off-game by his standards Sunday night, when he scored 20 points while going 6-of-22 (27.3 percent) from the field, including 3-of-9 from 3-point land. The overall shooting percentage and 3-point shooting percentage were each the lowest for Thomas since Jan. 25, when he was 4-of-17 (23.5 percent from the field) and 1-of-10 from 3-point land in a 64-55 win over William & Mary.

TENS AND TWENTIES FOR TYLER

Even in the midst of a quiet shooting game, Tyler Thomas still finished with 20 points Sunday night. Thomas has scored in double figures in 24 straight games, 54 of his last 56 games and 62 times overall in the last two seasons. The 20-point effort also marked the 22nd time this season he has scored at least 20 points and the 32nd time he’s done so in the last two seasons.

PUTTIN’ ON THE FRITZ

Jacco Fritz was limited to 22 minutes by first-half foul trouble Sunday night, when he scored six points while hitting all three of his field goal attempts. It was the fourth time this season Fritz has been perfect from the field and the first time since Jan. 13, when he was 4-of-4 in the 69-68 loss to Campbell.

GERMAN FOR STARTERS

German Plotnikov had one point and two rebounds in 36 minutes Sunday night, when the Dutchmen improved to 12-3 since he moved into the starting lineup. Plotnikov is averaging 8.3 points and 2.6 rebounds over 30 minutes per game as a starter after averaging 3.7 points and 2.0 reboudns over 14 minutes per game in his first 13 appearances of the season.

ONE IS NOT JUST A SONG BY METALLICA OR U2

German Plotnikov scored one point Sunday, when he split a pair of free throws with 7:28 left in the first half. Plotnikov is the first Hofstra player to score exactly one point in a game since KiJan Robinson had one point in the 62-57 win over Iona on Dec. 6.

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY

Silas Sunday played 18 key minutes Sunday night, when he finished with five points and two rebounds while filling in for Jacco Fritz. Sunday played just 16 minutes combined in the final three games of the regular season, a span in which he was scoreless with five rebounds. In addition, Silas went 3-for-4 from the free throw line after entering the game just 1-of-3 from the line all season. Quirky!

SEVEN WISHES?

Bryce Washington’s quiet stretch continued Sunday night, when he had two rebounds and didn’t attempt a shot in eight minutes. He has gone scoreless in three consecutive games in which he’s played for the first time since Dec. 29, 2022-Jan. 11. 2023 when he went scoreless in three straight games. The Dutchmen are now 8-2 in the last nine games in which Washington scores fewer than seven points after going 0-8 when he scored fewer than seven points as a starter this season.

OVER THE AIR

Tonight’s game will be carried live on CBS Sports Network, which is channel 215 in the Optimum/Altice Are Our Overlords Universe. Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.

BACK IN THE SEMIS

The Dutchmen are in the CAA semifinals for the second straight season, the fifth time in the last six seasons, the seventh time in the last 10 seasons and the 11th time since joining the league prior to the 2001-02 season. Pretty good run! The seven semifinal appearances in a 10-year span are the most by a CAA school since Northeastern reached the semifinals eight times from 2012-21. 

Hofstra fell in the semifinals in 2002, 2005, 2011, 2015, 2021 and 2023, reached the title game before losing in 2006, 2016 and 2019 and, of course, won it all in 2020.

This is the Dutchmen’s 16th trip to the conference semifinals dating back to 1994. Hofstra fell in the America East semifinals in 1998 and 1999 and won it all in the ECC in 1994 and in the America East in 2000 and 2001.

SCOUTING STONY BROOK

The Seawolves, under fifth-year head coach Geno Ford, advanced to the semifinals by overcoming a 13-point second-half deficit to upset Drexel, 91-88, in double overtime in the third quarterfinal Sunday night. Aaron Clarke (27 points) and Chris Maidoh (26 points) each set career-highs for scoring in the instant classic. Stony Brook, which improved to 19-14, earned the no. 7 seed by finishing 10-8 in CAA play. The Seawolves began tourney play Saturday by beating 10th-seeded Northeastern, 75-65.

The Dutchmen and Seawolves had one common opponent in non-conference play. The Dutchmen beat St. Joseph’s (NY) 101-48 on Nov. 6, four days before the Seawolves earned a 91-50 win over the local Division III foe.

In CAA regular season play, both teams swept Northeastern, won their lone meetings against UNC Wilmington, Not Twitter Guy and North Carolina A&T and lost their only games against Campbell. The Dutchmen swept Hampton, whom Stony Brook beat in the lone meeting between the teams, and split with Drexel, which beat the Seawolves in the lone regular season clash. Hofstra won its lone meeting with William & Mary, whom Stony Brook swept, and lost to Monmouth, which split with the Seawolves. The Dutchmen beat Delaware, which split with Stony Brook and defeated Towson, who beat the Seawolves. Hofstra was swept by Charleston, which beat Stony Brook.

The Dutchmen, who were picked to finish fourth in the CAA preseason poll, are ranked 108th at KenPom.com. They’ve maintained their KenPom.com positioning or moved up following each of the last eight games following a nine-game span in which they fell or stayed the same following each game. College basketball, the best way to drive yourself insane. The Seawolves, who were picked to finish ninth, are ranked 176th.

According to KenPom.com, the Dutchmen rank fourth in the CAA in conference-only offensive efficiency (111.3 points per 100 possessions) and second in defensive efficiency (102.6 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 65.7 possessions per 40 minutes, the ninth-most in the league. The Seawolves rank fifth in the CAA in offensive efficiency (108.7 points per 100 possessions) and fifth in defensive efficiency (104.7 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 67.4 possessions per 40 minutes, the fifth-most in the league. That’s consistent!

Graduate student Tyler Stephenson-Moore, who was named to the all-CAA second team, leads the Seawolves with 16.1 points per game. Graduate student Aaron Clarke, who played four seasons at Sacred Heart and spent three seasons as teammates with Tyler Thomas, is averaging 14.0 points per game. Graduate student Keenan Fitzmorris, who began his career at Stanford, is averaging 10.9 points per game. Sophomore guard Andre Snoddy, who played his first two seasons at Central Connecticut, leads Stony Brook with 7.2 rebounds per game while graduate student Chris Maidoh, who played four seasons at Fairfield, is averaging 5.5 rebounds per game.

KenPom.com predicts a 74-69 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 7 1/2-point favorites. The Dutchmen are 14-17 against the spread this season.

ALL-TIME VS. STONY BROOK

Hofstra is 28-6 all-time against Stony Brook, including 10-2 since the series resumed in 2014. The Dutchmen swept the regular season series for the second straight year this year, when Darlinstone Dubar tied a career-high by scoring 30 points in an 80-74 win out east on Jan. 22 before Tyler Thomas hit a semi-miraculous jumper in the final second to cap a 13-point comeback in a 72-71 win at the Arena on Feb. 1. 

Hofstra is 46-40-2 in all sports against Stony Brook since the two schools began scheduling each other again in the spring of 2014, including 42-29-2 since the 2016-17 school year began.

THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY

Your coach didn’t score 2,000 points in college bias! (But Geno Ford’s 1,752 points at Ohio University are pretty damn good anyway)

Kirk Cousins isn’t going to play for any of your former coaches this upcoming season bias! (Cousins signed today with the Falcons, because everyone knows the cool kids play for Raheem Morris)

Why can’t the Mets get World Series winners like Travis Jankowski bias! (Oh Mets, will you ever stop Metsing?)

We’ve won as many football games since the start of the school year as you bias! (I know this was used prior to both regular season games but I’m sorry, facts are facts)