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)
