Who does Hofstra play tonight, Sideshow Trey Boyd III, err, Sideshow Bob?
The Flying Dutchmen are one of 214 unbeaten teams in the nation! Which, phew, since the season began with a game against Division III St. Joseph’s.
Regardless, the Dutchmen will look to remain in the unbeaten club tonight, when they visit Princeton in the VBK Kup. As will hopefully remain the routine following all games this year, I ran down the boilerplate material from Monday’s win in Keep It Perky earlier this afternoon. This is all about the individual news and notes from that win as well as a preview of the Tigers. Enjoy!
FOR STARTERS
With the win Monday morning/afternoon, the Dutchmen improved to 52-39 all-time in season openers.
WIRE-TO-WIRE WIN
The Dutchmen never trailed Monday. It was the Dutchmen’s first wire-to-wire win of the season (obvs). They had five wire-to-wire wins last season.
1010101010 WINS
Five players reached double figures for the Dutchmen on Monday, when Trey Boyd III (18 points), Joshua DeCady (12 points), Nick Jefferson (11 points), Tanner Thomas (10 points) and Imanuel Zorgvol (10 points) combined to lead a balanced scoring attack. It was the first time the Dutchmen had five double digit scorers since last Nov. 30, when Cruz Davis (18 points), German Plotnikov (12 points), Preston Edmead (11 points), Victory Onuetu (10 points) and Biggie Patterson (10 points) pulled off the feat in a 77-60 win over Penn. The Dutchmen are 1-0 this season (duh) when five players score in double figures and 15-2 under Speedy Claxton when at least five players score in double figures.
LUCKY TWELVES AND THIRTEENS
Twelve of the 13 players to appear for the Dutchmen in Monday’s game scored at least one point. It marked the first time 12 players scored for the Dutchmen since last Dec. 10, when 12 players scored for the Dutchmen in a 92-23 win over Division III Old Westbury. The 13 players to see the court Monday were the most for the Dutchmen since Dec. 6, 2024, when 13 players appeared in a 114-46 win over St. Joseph’s.
DECADY DANCE
Joshua DeCady, the lone returning player from last year’s CAA champions, had a solid season opener Monday, when he finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in a team-high 28 minutes. DeCady has scored in double figures nine times over 34 games in the last two seasons after doing so just twice in the 25 games in which he played as a freshman in 2024-25. Since the start of last season, the Dutchmen are 18-6 when DeCady starts and 6-4 when he comes off the bench.
HELLO OUR NAMES ARE…
Speedy Claxton’s sixth opening day lineup featured returnee Joshua DeCady, who made his first opening day/night start, as well as four players making their debut for the Dutchmen — senior Trey Boyd III, who was with the team but didn’t play last season, along with Loyola Marymount transfer Tanner Thomas, Loyola Chicago transfer Justin Moore and Quinnipiac transfer Spence Wewe.
Boyd led the Dutchmen with 18 points while DeCady finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in a team-high 28 minutes. Thomas had 10 points, seven rebounds and three steals and Moore collected five points, six rebounds an four assists while Wewe had six points and three rebounds.
Claxton’s first lineup in 2021-22 featured four newcomers. Three newcomers took the floor for the opening tip in the 2022-23 opener and one newcomer was in the lineup for the 2023-24 opener before five newcomers started on opening night in 2024-25 and two newcomers started last year.
ANYTHING ELSE, X?
Singles reference! Xavier Blake led the Dutchmen’s freshmen brigade Monday, when he had eight points and four rebounds in 12 minutes in reserve duty. Blake was joined off the bench by fellow freshmen Michael Cascione, who had two points, two assists and three steals in seven minutes, and Anthony Stennett, who played five minutes. The Dutchmen last had three freshmen appear in the season opener in 2022-23, when Amar’e Marshall, Christian Tomasco and Griffin Barrouk all played against Princeton. Here are some notable debuts by Hofstra freshman since 1991:
2025: Preston Edmead: 16 pts/6 assists/1 reb vs. Central Florida
2024: Joshua DeCady: 11 pts/5 rebs vs. Old Westbury
2023: KiJan Robinson: 11 pts/3 assists/1 reb vs. St. Joseph’s (NY)
2023: Khalil Farmer: 5 pts/3 rebs/2 assists/1 steal vs. St. Joseph’s (NY)
2022: Amar’e Marshall: 15 pts/3 rebs/1 assist/1 steal/1 block vs. Princeton
2022: Christian Tomasco: 2 pts/1 reb/1 block vs. Princeton
2022: Griffin Barrouk: 0 pts/2 rebs vs. Princeton
2021: Jaquan Carlos: 0 pts/2 rebs vs. Duquesne (game no. 2)
2020: Kvonn Cramer: 8 pts/4 rebs/3 steals vs. Rutgers
2020: David Green: 0 pts/1 reb vs. Rutgers
2020: Vukasin Masic: 0 pts/1 reb vs. Rutgers
2019: Caleb Burgess: 0 pts vs. San Jose State
2019: Jermaine Miranda: 0 pts/2 rebs vs. San Jose State
2018: Kevin Schutte: 0 pts vs. Mount St. Mary’s
2017: Jalen Ray: 10 pts/2 assists vs. Army-West Point
2017: Matija Radovic: 5 pts/5 rebs vs. Army-West Point
2017: Stafford Trueheart: 0 pts/1 reb vs. Kennesaw State
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
2000: Joel Suarez: 22 pts vs. Northern Illinois
1999: Rick Apodaca: 5 pts/2 assists vs. New Mexico State
1999: Danny Walker: 0 pts vs. New Mexico State
1998: No freshmen
1997: Roberto Gittens: 15 pts/6 rebs vs. Bucknell
1997: Norman Richardson: 2 pts/3 rebs vs. Bucknell
1996: Speedy Claxton: 13 pts/9 rebs vs. Stony Brook
1996: Joe Brown: 4 pts/3 rebs vs. Stony Brook
1995: Tim Beckett: 6 pts/7 rebs vs. Stony Brook
1995: Anthony Davis: 7 pts/2 assists vs. Stony Brook
1995: Ahmad Jackson: 2 pts/4 rebounds vs. Stony Brook
1993: James Parisi: 23 pts/7 rebs vs. Lehigh
COMPLETING THE TRANSFER
This is one of the most 2026 sentences you’re going to read: A whopping nine transfers combined to score 75 points Monday in their debuts for the Dutchmen on Monday. The nine transfers and 75 opening day (or night) points are, of course, the most since at least 1991 and almost surely the most ever. The Dutchmen had five transfers debut in the 2021-22 opener against Houston and received 67 points from transfers Brian Bernadi, Juan’ya Green, Malik Nichols and Ameen Tanksley in the 2014-15 opener against Jacksonville.
On Monday, senior Trey Boyd III had a game-high 18 points in his first game action since the end of the 2024-25 season, when he was with Division II Pace. Junior college transfer Nick Jefferson, a sophomore, had 11 points and six assists in 26 minutes. Junior Riley Dunn, another junior college transfer, finished with two points, eight rebounds and three blocks while sophomore Elijah Gelin, also a junior college transfer, added four points and one rebound.
Five Division I transfers also debuted for the Dutchmen. Graduate student Tanner Thomas, the brother of former Hofstra star Tyler Thomas, collected 10 points, seven rebounds and three steals in just 16 minutes in his first game action since Mar, 12, 2025, when he was playing for Sacred Heart. Graduate student Justin Moore (Loyola Chicago) collected five points, six rebounds and four assists. Senior Deywilk Tavarez (Loyola Chicago) had nine points, seven rebound and two steals. Graduate student Imanuel Zorgvol (Youngstown State) had 10 points, six rebounds and a team-high four blocks. Spence Wewe (Quinnipiac), a fellow center, finished with six points, three rebounds and one block.
Here are some notable debuts by transfers since 1991:
2025: Biggie Patterson: 3 pts/3 rebs/1 assist vs. Central Florida
2025: Victory Onuetu: 8 pts/4 rebs vs. Central Florida
2025: AJ Wills: 3 pts/1 assist/1 steal vs. Central Florida
2025: Joshua Aaron Reaves: 0 pts/3 rebs vs. Central Florida
2024: Cruz Davis: 19 pts/8 assists/7 rebs vs. Old Westbury
2024: Jean Aranguren: 25 pts/5 rebs/3 assists vs. Old Westbury
2024: Jaquan Sanders: 15 pts/3 rebs/2 assists/4 steals vs. Old Westbury
2024: Michael Graham: 6 pts/8 rebs/2 blks vs. Old Westbury
2023: Jacco Fritz: 0 pts/6 rebs/6 assists/1 blk/1 steal vs. St. Joseph’s (NY)
2023: Silas Sunday: 8 pts/7 rebs/2 assists/1 steal vs. St. Joseph’s (NY)
2022: German Plotnikov: 9 pts/3 rebs/2 steals/1 assist vs. Princeton
2022: Tyler Thomas: 6 pts/1 reb/1 assist vs. Princeton
2022: Bryce Washington: 3 pts/1 reb vs. Princeton
2022: Nelson Boachie-Yiadom: 2 pts/2 rebs vs. Princeton
2021: Zach Cooks: 26 pts/4 rebs/3 assists vs. Houston
2021: Aaron Estrada: 15 pts7 rebs/2 assists vs. Houston
2021: Darlinstone Dubar: 9 pts/7 rebs/2 steals vs. Houston
2021: Abayomi Iyiola: 6 pts/11 rebs vs. Houston
2021: Jarrod Simmons: 0 pts/1 reb vs. Houston
2020: Shawndarius Cowart: 2 pts/2 assists/2 steals vs. Rutgers**
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
FIRST THINGS FIRST
Joshua DeCady, the lone returnee from last year’s team, appropriately opened the scoring for the Dutchmen on Monday morning, when he hit a layup with 18:45 left in the first half. In a fun bit of quirkiness, he’s the 20th different player in the last 20 years to score the first points of the season for the Dutchmen, The last player to score the first points of the season in consecutive years was Loren Stokes in 2005-06. Which is convenient because that’s as far back as the play-by-play logs go at the Hofstra site!
2026-27: Joshua DeCady layup
2025-26: Silas Sunday layup
2024-25: Jaquan Sanders 3-pointer
2023-24: Jaquan Carlos 3-pointer
2022-23: Darlinstone Dubar layup
2021-22: Aaron Estrada layup
2020-21: Jalen Ray jumper
2019-20: Tareq Coburn layup
2018-19: Dan Dwyer free throw
2017-18: Joel Angus III jumper
2016-17: Jamall Robinson 3-pointer
2015-16: Rokas Gustys layup
2014-15: Moussa Kone layup
2013-14: Jordan Allen free throw
2012-13: David Imes 3-pointer
2011-12: Nathaniel Lester jumper
2010-11: Charles Jenkins jumper
2009-10: Miklos Szabo jumper
2008-09: Cornelius Vines 3-pointer
2007-08: Antoine Agudio 3-pointer
2006-07: Loren Stokes jumper
2005-06: Loren Stokes layup
TWICE AS NICE?
The Dutchmen are looking to open 2-0 for the first time since 2024-25 and the 30th time in program history.
OVER THE AIR
Tonight’s game is slated to be carried live on ESPNPlus, which you have if you have the Disney Bundle, which you have if you have a child under 18. (Alas mine mostly watches Max, Netflix and YouTube, sigh) Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
PRINCETON AND THE IVY LEAGUE
Princeton, under 16th-year head coach Mitch Henderson, is 1-0 after opening its season Monday with a 78-46 win over Division III Carnegie Mellon.
Princeton was picked to finish fourth in the eight-team Ivy League. Incredibly, the Tigers return EVERY SINGLE PLAYER from last year’s team, which finished 9-20 and didn’t qualify for Ivy Madness. Not surprisingly, they are the only team in the nation returning 100 percent of last year’s roster.
Junior Jackson Hicke led Princeton with 15.4 ppg and ranked second with 5.2 rpg last season. Junior Dalen Davis (14.7 ppg) and sophomore Jack Stanton (10.9 ppg) also averaged in double figures while sophomore Malik Abdullahi (5.9 rpg) led the Tigers in rebounding.
The Dutchmen and Tigers have a whopping seven common foes this season. Once the power four leagues finish breaking up the NCAA, we’ll just be playing each other in a round-robin format anyway. Princeton faces CAA foes Stony Brook (Nov. 11), Monmouth (Nov. 20), UNC Wilmington (Nov. 27) and Northeastern (Dec. 6) while the Dutchmen visit the Ivy League’s Columbia on Dec. 8.
The Dutchmen will also play Vermont in the Island Invitational finale on Nov. 29 before visiting Saint Mary’s Dec. 1. (Two days later!) The Tigers visit Vermont Dec. 3 and head to Saint Mary’s on Dec. 29.
Hofstra is 5-4 all-time against Princeton but lost the most recent meeting between the teams on Nov, 10, 2023, when the Tigers overcame the first half ejection of Henderson to earn a 74-67 win at the Arena. The loss snapped the Dutchmen;S three-game winning streak in the series dating back to 2019, when the series resumed following a 28-year pause.
The schools schools share a pretty neat link in legendary coach Butch van Breda Kolff, who went a robust 136-43 for Hofstra from 1955 through 1962 before going to Princeton, whom he directed to a 103-31 record, four NCAA tournament appearances and a Final Four berth in five seasons. Van Breda Kolff headed to the NBA following the 1966-67 season and was replaced by Pete Carril, who spent the next 29 seasons at the school and earned his final win with one of the most iconic upsets in NCAA Tournament history, the Tigers’ 43-41 victory over defending national champion UCLA on Mar. 14, 1996. Carril died Aug. 15, 2022 at age 92.
Van Breda Kolff, of course, returned to Hofstra for the 1988-89 season and went 79-91 over the next six seasons before retiring following the 1993-94 campaign, when he was replaced by Jay Wright. And how is this for quirky and neat? Van Breda Kolff’s second stint at Hofstra lasted 170 games. (You might have figured that out earlier) Tonight marks the 170th game at the helm for Speedy Claxton, who was recruited to Hofstra by Wright. Quirky!
Hofstra is 33-19 all-time against Ivy League schools. The Dutchmen, who beat Penn and fell to Columbia last year, are slated to play multiple Iy League schools for the second straight season.
At KenPom.com this afternoon, Hofstra is ranked 144th while Princeton is ranked 154th. KenPom.com predicts a 73-71 loss for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 2 1/2-point underdogs. The Dutchmen were 20-13 against the spread last season.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER (OR BLUESKY) IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Your coach got ejected at Hofstra bias! (And then Princeton won!)
You have an unfair advantage because everyone from last year is back bias! (Can’t mention that quirky stat enough)
You’re going to lose because Ted Cruz went there bias! (America’s LOL mascot)
Sideshow Bob rowed against Princeton alums in prison bias! (It’s true)
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