Two hundred and thirty-three days after Aaron Estrada’s tearful embrace with Speedy Claxton in the waning moments of the NIT loss to Cincinnati, the Flying Dutchmen are back and ready to tip off their season this morning against St. Joseph’s. Which means I’m back and ready too!
Welcome to the 2023-24 men’s basketball season and the eighth season (!!!) of I’ll Be Quirky (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. In the aftermath of the World Series, let’s hope this is the season the Dutchmen follow the path of the Texas Rangers instead of the Atlanta Braves.
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 88th season in which the Flying Dutchmen have played basketball. The program is 1,340-996 all-time. No one has played or coached in each of the previous 87 seasons, though there is a fairly good chance every Hofstra team has opposed Nicolas Timberlake.
While the Dutchmen fell short of the NCAA Tournament last season under second-year head coach Speedy Claxton — whom you may recall from such outstanding careers as the one he had at Hofstra from 1996-2000 — the program icon still oversaw one of the the most successful and memorable campaigns in school history.
The Dutchmen finished 25-10, including a program-best 16-2 in regular season CAA action, and won the CAA regular season title via tiebreakers by virtue of an 85-81 win over nationally ranked Charleston on Jan. 28 — the Dutchmen’s second win over atop 25 foe in as many seasons. The regular season crown was the fourth in the last eight seasons for the Dutchmen,
After a 12-game winning streak ended with a loss to UNC Wilmington (who else?) in overtime (how else?) in the CAA semifinals, the Dutchmen received an automatic bid to the NIT (I’m sure schools like Hofstra will have that as a fallback option forever!) and stunned Rutgers 88-86 in overtime in the first round before falling to Cincinnati 79-65.
Aaron Estrada continued the tradition of superstar Hofstra guards by averaging 20.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game on his way to winning CAA Player of the Year honors for the second straight season. Tyler Thomas, a transfer from Sacred Heart, averaged 16.5 points per game, earned second-team all-CAA honors and spent most of the season as one of the best Robins in recent memory before emerging as a superstar in the NIT win over Rutgers. Jaquan Carlos solidified point guard after spending most of his freshman season on the bench and led the CAA with 4.8 assists per game while also being named to the CAA all-defensive team. Darlinstone Dubar averaged 10.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while the graduate senior tandem of Nelson Boachie-Yiadom (3.5 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game and 1.7 assists per game) and Warren Williams (8.0 points per game, 4.7 rebounds per game) provided the steady one-year production out of the five spot that’s become the norm under Claxton and Joe Mihalich.
FINAL 3 STARS OF THE GAME STANDINGS
Aaron Estrada 62
Tyler Thomas 54
Darlinstone Dubar 33
Jaquan Carlos 28
Warren Williams 14
Nelson Boachie-Yiadom 8
Amar’e Marshall 6
German Plotnikov 3
Bryce Washington 1
Griffin Barrouk 1
A FOND FAREWELL
The Dutchmen bid goodbye to six members of last year’s team. Nelson Boachie-Yiadom, Warren Williams and their fellow graduate senior, walk-on Petey Galgano, all completed their collegiate eligibility while while Aaron Estrada transferred to Alabama, where he will play his free COVID season. Amar’e Marshall, an academic sophomore who played as a redshirt freshman last season transferred to Albany while Lual Manyang, who redshirted as a freshman, transferred to Valparaiso.
Estrada, who transferred from Oregon prior to the 2021-22 season, scored 1,219 points, 26th most in school history, while becoming the third Hofstra player to win consecutive CAA Player of the Year honors after Charles Jenkins (2010-11) and Justin Wright-Foreman (2018-19).
Estrada scored in double digits in each of his final 24 games last season and scored at least 10 points in 57 of 63 games at Hofstra after doing so in 13 of the 37 games in which he played for Saint Peter’s and Oregon from 2019 through 2021.
Boachie-Yiadom and Williams combined to average 40.7 minutes per game while manning the middle. Marshall got off to a fast start and had at least 10 points in four of his first 10 games, including 24 points against no. 4 Purdue on Dec. 7. But Marshall got hurt shortly thereafter, fell out of the rotation and scored just 30 points total during conference season.
WELCOME BACK
The Flying Dutchmen return eight players, including three starters in graduate student Tyler Thomas, senior Darlinstone Dubar and junior Jaquan Carlos. Graduate senior Bryce Washington, junior German Plotnikov, redshirt sophomores Griffin Barrouk and Christian Tomasco and sophomore walk-on Aiden Best are also back.
The returnees combined to score 1,483 points, which represented 56.6 percent of the Dutchmen’s total last year, and played 4,221 minutes, which represented 59.7 percent of the Dutchmen’s total playing time. The eight returnees are the most for the Dutchmen since 2020-21, when eight players from the CAA champions came back for the title defense.
MY NAME IS…
The Dutchmen welcome seven new players — four transfers as well as two true freshman and one redshirt freshman.
Jacco Fritz, a 6-foot-10 graduate student, averaged 7.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 99 games over four seasons at Canisius, where he was named to the MAAC’s all-freshman team in 2019-20. He’s also from the Netherlands, so he’s a true Flying Dutchman! EricParnell, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, averaged 10.1 points and 4.5 rebounds last season for Eastern Florida State, a junior college. Silas Sunday, a 7-foot sophomore, averaged 1.5 points and 1.6 rebounds over 27 games last season for Iona. Myles Wilmoth, a 6-foot-9 senior, averaged 1.4 points and 1.6 rebounds over 59 games the previous three seasons at Butler.
In addition, Khalil Farmer is expected to play after redshirting as a freshman last year. True freshmen Jayden Henriquez and KiJan Robinson also join the program.
SPEEDY'S SECOND THIRD SEASON
Speedy Claxton, the 15th head coach in program history and the first Hofstra alum to patrol the sidelines at his alma mater, won CAA Coach of the Year honors last season, when the directed the Dutchmen to a 25-10 record, the CAA regular season title and a win over Rutgers in the first round of the NIT.
The Dutchmen are 46-21 (.687) under Claxton, which is the third-best winning percentage by a Hofstra head coach through his first two seasons (or the first two seasons of his second tenure). Claxton is in a virtual tie with Frank Reilly, who ranks behind only Paul Lynner.
Paul Lynner 46-13 (.780, 1962-64)
Frank Reilly 31-14 (.689, 1947-49)
SPEEDY CLAXTON 46-21 (.687, 2021-23)
Butch van Breda Kolff I 33-19 (.635, 1955-57)
Jack McDonald 17-14 (.548, 1936-38)
Mo Cassara 31-34 (.477, 2010-12)
Butch van Breda Kolff II 27-30 (.474, 1988-90)
Joe Mihalich 30-37 (.448, 2013-15)
Dick Berg 24-31 (.436, 1980-82)
Jack Smith 15-25 (.375, 1943-45)
Jay Wright 19-36 (.345, 1994-96)
Roger Gaeckler 16-32 (.333, 1972-74)
Tom Pecora 20-41 (.328, 2001-03)
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 third season as head coach begins 25 years after he played his junior season at Hofstra for a fourth-year coach named Jay Wright. After 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
Speedy Claxton is one of six 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
Juwan Howard, Michigan
Kenny Payne, Louisville
Mike Woodson, Indiana
Claxton is also one of 22 Division I coaches to play in the NBA.
SPEEDY CLAXTON, Hofstra
Steve Alford, Nevada
Hubert Davis, North Carolina
Johnny Dawkins, Central Florida
Bryce Drew, Grand Canyon
Kim English, Providence
Penny Hardaway, Memphis
Steve Henson, Texas-San Antonio
Fred Hoiberg, Nebraska
Juwan Howard, Michigan
Bobby Hurley, Arizona State
Mark Madsen, California
Kenny Payne, Louisville
Roger Powell Jr., Valparaiso
Lorenzo Romar, Pepperdine
Jerry Stackhouse, Vanderbilt
Damon Stoudamire, Georgia Tech
Rod Strickland, Long Island U.
Reggie Theus, Bethune-Cookman
Darrell Walker, Little Rock
Mo Williams, Jackson State
Mike Woodson, Indiana
Overall, there are 50 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
Matt Crenshaw, IUPUI
Chris Crutchfield, Omaha
Dan D’Antoni II, Marshall
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
Juwan Howard, Michigan
George Ivory, Mississippi Valley State
Ben Johnson, Minnesota
Andy Kennedy, Alabama-Birmingham
Chris Kraus, Stonehill
Rob Krimmel, Saint Francis (PA)
Kevin Kruger, UNLV
Jay Ladner, Southern Mississippi
Carmen Maciariello, Siena
Chris Markwood, Maine
Mike Martin, Brown
Thad Matta, Butler
Grant McCasland, Texas Tech
Matt McKillop, Davidson
LeVelle Moton, North Carolina Central
Bryan Mullins, Southern Illinois
Matt Painter, Purdue
Kenny Payne, Louisville
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 two 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)
HOW MANY UNICORN SCORES WERE THERE LAST SEASON?
The Dutchmen had 12 unicorn scores — scores by which they’d never previously won — last season:
11/11/22: 83-78 over Iona
11/14/22: 85-80 over George Washington
11/17/22: 85-76 over San Jose State
12/22/22: 96-48 over Old Westbury
1/11/23: 77-57 over Monmouth
1/26/23: 82-65 over Not Twitter Guy
1/28/23: 85-81 over Charleston
2/2/23: 76-72 over Towson
2/8/23: 72-53 over Northeastern
2/16/23: 73-43 over Hampton
2/25/23: 84-52 over Northeastern
3/5/23: 94-46 over William & Mary
The Dutchmen have recorded 46 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. So they’ll have either nine or 14 unicorn scores this season!
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 TYLER THOMAS, HE HAS ALL THE KEITH HERNANDEZES
Tyler Thomas collected a team-high 10 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.
Tyler Thomas 10
Darlinstone Dubar 5
Aaron Estrada 4
Warren Williams 3
German Plotnikov 2
Jaquan Carlos 1
CLUB TWENTY-FIVE
The Dutchmen’s 25 wins last season were the sixth-most in school history. The 2018-19 team won 27 games, while the 1951-52, 2000-01, 2005-06 and 2019-20 teams all won 26 games.
MARATHON SEASON
The Dutchmen tied a school record by playing 35 games last season. The 2018-19 team, which went 27-8, is the only other team to play 35 games in a single campaign.
DOUBLE-DIGIT COMEBACKS…
The Dutchmen won four games in which they trailed by at least 10 points.
…AND DOUBLE DIGITS WEREN’T ENOUGH
The Dutchmen also lost four games in which they led by at least 10 points. Balance!
GO FOURTH, YOUNG DUTCHMEN
The Dutchmen were picked fourth in the CAA’s preseason poll of league coaches and sports information directors.
1.) Charleston (10 first place votes)
2.) UNC Wilmington (three first place votes)
3.) Drexel (one first place vote)
4.) HOFSTRA
t5.) Delaware
t5.) Towson
7.) Northeastern
8.) William & Mary
9.) Stony Brook
10.) Elon
11.) Monmouth
12.) Campbell
13.) Hampton
14.) North Carolina A&T
This marks the third time the Dutchmen have been picked to finish fourth in the CAA’s preseason poll. 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 last season. If these trends continue…
SPEAKING OF EXPANSION…
The CAA will have a league-record 14 schools this season following the addition of former Big South school Campbell. The CAA had 13 schools last season, up from a 10-team alignment from 2014-15 through 2020-21. The CAA had a 12-team alignment from 2005-06 through 2011-12 and a 10-team alignment from 2001-02 — when the America East four arrived and saved the league, once again, you’re welcome! — through 2004-05.
At 23 seasons apiece, the America East four are now tied for the third-longest tenure in the CAA behind William & Mary, a founding member of the league in 1982-83, and UNC Wilmington, which joined in 1984-85.
POOCHIE THE ROCKIN’ DOG
The CAA underwent a name change this summer, when it rebranded itself as the Coastal Athletic Conference. I think that means the CAA should have gone and gotten Stanford and Cal. Nobody said which coast! Anyway, the Coastal recycles. TO THE EXTREME!
SEASON OPENERS
Hofstra is 50-37 all-time in season openers. The Flying Dutchmen snapped a streak of three straight season-opening defeats last Nov. 7, when they edged Princeton 83-77.
Today marks the earliest season opener in program history, albeit only by a meter of a few hours. The Dutchmen fell to San Jose State, 79-71, on Nov. 6, 2019, in a game that tipped off at 7 PM. Hofstra will be the second Division I team to tip off this season, following IUPUI by half an hour. Bet you never thought you’d see an IUPUI reference again, did you?
Most lopsided season-opening win: 95-53 over Puerto Rico, 1949-50
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 morning’s game is slated to be carried live on FloHoops.com (subscription required). Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
ST. JOSEPH’S AND HOFSTRA VS. NON-DIVISION I FOES
St. Joseph’s is a Division III school located in Patchogue. The Golden Eagles compete in the Skyline Conference and went 13-12 (10-6 Skyline) under first-year head coach AJ Uhl last season, when they fell to Yeshiva in the first round of the conference tournament.
St. Joseph’s returns its top three scorers from a season ago in guard Xavier Allen (17.0 points per game) and forward Spencer Malloy (15.0 points per game), each of whom played in all 25 contests, as well as forward Alec Tabada (14.4 points per game), who played 11 games. Molloy (8.9 rebounds), Allen (7.8 rebounds) and Tabada (7.2 rebounds per game) were also the Golden Eagles’ top three rebounders.
The Flying Dutchmen have won their last 23 games against non-Division I foes dating back to a 70-54 loss to Florida Southern during the 1988-89 seasons. This marks the eighth time in the last nine 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.
This is the first time the Dutchmen have opened their season against a non-Division I foe since Nov. 13, 2010, when they beat Division III Farmingdale State 102-62.
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 21-11-2 against the spread last season.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Not those Golden Eagles bias! (Marquette is also nicknamed the Golden Eagles)
Not that St. Joseph’s bias! (That’s Saint Joseph’s of the Atlantic 10)
Get your own colors bias! (Per Wikipedia, which is never wrong, St. Josephs colors are blue and gold)
This shouldn’t be this hard bias! (As always and please, for the love of all that is holy)
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