UALBANY VS. BRYANT

ALBANY — In October, the America East women’s basketball coaches spoke. In November and December, the University at Albany players answered. Now, the preliminaries have ended.

The 40th season of America

East women’s basketball begins Thursday night. UAlbany, despite being picked just third in a preseason coaches’ poll, was dominant in non-conference games, finishing 11-2 and leading the AE in seven team statistical categories.

“Everybody’s record really doesn’t matter because it’s apples to oranges,” sixth-year coach Colleen Mullen said Wednesday as she prepared her team for her conference opener against Bryant. “Everybody’s had a different non-conference schedule, everybody’s played different opponents. Now it’s about how you do in your league and how you do against like opponents.”

Still, there’s no denying how the Great Danes played in the first two months. Their only losses came in the season’s second game at Fordham, 66-63, and on a Thanksgiving weekend trip to No. 4 Stanford, 79-35. UAlbany is on a seven-game winning streak, all double-digit victories.

The Danes lead the America East in scoring (68.0), scoring defense (51.2), scoring margin (+16.8), field-goal defense (.359), 3-point shooting (.398), rebound margin

(6.6) and turnover margin (2.7). Their nonconference record is 3 1 /2 games better than preseason favorite Vermont (8-6) and 4 1 /2 ahead of Maine (7-7), picked No. 2 in the preseason poll.

“It’s kind of fun to be picked third,” Mullen said. “I know Helene Haegerstrand wasn’t back on the team, and we had a lot of new players when they picked us. … Honestly, I don’t blame them. I thought that it was pretty generous to pick us at third, with how many people that we lost and only returning five players.

“The preseason poll is what it is, but I’m the type of person that likes to be the underdog. I like to be the one that has that underdog mentality. Although our record is 11-2 and we’re coming in with an X on our backs, I still feel like our team carries themselves as the underdog mentality. We have something to prove to ourselves, and we have something to prove to the league.”

Bryant (7-6) was selected seventh in the preseason poll. The Bulldogs and Danes each have victories over nonconference foes Central Connecticut State, Dartmouth and Stonehill. Their other common opponent is Merrimack, which lost to UAlbany but defeated Bryant.

UAlbany won both meetings against Bryant last season.

“It definitely feels like a new season,” UAlbany junior guard Lilly Phillips said. “Also, just finishing the winter break off, you come back and have a restart.”

One significant change in this year’s America East is a Thursday/Saturday scheduling format. The conference previously scheduled most games on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

After Thursday night’s game, UAlbany will stay home to face NJIT on Saturday afternoon.

“I think they’re hopeful that we’ll move to true travel partners, where it’s easier for the UMBCs and the Maines to travel,” Mullen said. “It kind of hurts us because we’re so centrally located that we have easier trips. It’s just something to adjust to. I love Wednesday/Saturday because it’s two days to prep, the game, two days to prep, but the landscape is ever-changing.”“It’ll definitely be a change,” Phillips said. “I’m not really sure yet because we haven’t actually done it, but it’ll be interesting. Everyone’s going through the same thing, so it’s not like we’re the only one who has a one-day prep.”

With a new twist, the Premier Lacrosse League will again open its season at the University at Albany.

The PLL will hold its training camp on campus and play its opening weekend May 31 to June 2 at Casey Stadium. It’s the third straight year the league will begin at UAlbany and its fifth overall appearance at the school.

“UAlbany has been a fantastic host for our training camp and opening weekend in years past, even hosting the most watched outdoor pro lacrosse game in Game 1 of our 2023 season,” PLL co-founder and CEO Mike Rabil said. “We look forward to kicking off this historic season for the PLL in Albany once again.”

This year, the PLL is assigning each of its eight teams to a home city and state. The opening weekend will be the inaugural home games for the New York Atlas, which will play two games on back-to-back days at Casey Stadium.

“We’re thrilled to give fans across New York the opportunity to welcome the Atlas home to the state at UAlbany this season,” Rabil said.

The Atlas went 2-8 last season. They were led by attackmen Chris Gray, a North Carolina graduate who had 37 points, and Jeff Teat, a Cornell alumnus who had 36 points. The Atlas’ Trevor Baptiste of the University of Denver led the league by winning 77.4 percent of his faceoffs.

The other PLL teams are the Boston Cannons, California Redwoods, Carolina Chaos, Denver Outlaws, Maryland Whipsnakes, Philadelphia Waterdogs and Utah Archers.

The PLL remains a touring league that will play eight of its 10 regular-season weekends in teams’ home locations.The other two regular-season weekends, the All-Star Game and the playoffs, will be held at neutral sites.

The league includes several UAlbany alumni, featuring attack Connor Fields and goalie Blaze Riorden.

“The UAlbany community could not be more excited to continue our partnership with the PLL for another year of world-class lacrosse,” UAlbany athletic director Mark Benson said. “Albany has become the perfect venue to open competition each new season, and this year is made even more special with the privilege of debuting the Atlas as New York’s home team. We look forward to continuing the great tradition of lacrosse in the Capital Region.”

UALBANY AT HARVARD

ALBANY — When he first arrived on campus more than three years ago, Will Amica brought with him a lot of promise for the University at Albany basketball program.

The lone freshman on the roster in the final season of the tenure of former coach Will Brown, Amica played nine minutes that first season. Elbow and head injuries limited him to just one game. Since then, Amica has been plagued by problems in both hips, undergoing surgery on both.

Entering this season, he had totaled nine games, scoring 18 points in 70 total minutes.

Now in his fourth year, Amica is healthy again and making a growing contribution to the Great Danes (8-6), who will finish their nonconference schedule Tuesday night at Harvard (8-4).

“He really wants to be a part of the impact,” third-year coach Dwayne Killings said. “He wants to win, he wants to have success. He’s trying to do his part. He’s an easy guy to root for.”

Amica, a 6-foot guard, has averaged 11 minutes the past six games as he works his way into UAlbany’s playing rotation. In12 games this season, he has 22 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists, which may seem modest but they all surpass his career numbers coming into the season.

The injury bugaboo finally has been pushed to the background.

“I feel like I got my explosiveness back,” Amica said. “I can run, jump. Everything feels good.”

That has been a long time coming for the young man out of Syracuse and a former player for the AAU Albany City Rocks. He potentially could have had a large role as a freshman under Brown.

“He checked every box,” Brown said of Amica’s recruitment, “and I thought he would be a really good program kid. Coming out of high school, I was so impressed with his athleticism. He played so much bigger than what he is. Also, defensively, he was a guy that could be a pest, to guard other point guards 94 feet. We had high expectations for him when we recruited him. We were excited when he committed to us and decided to sign with us.”

At no time did Amica believe he wouldn’t be back, despite the endless hours of doctor visits and rehab. He has tremendous parental support — “You see a lady, standing behind the bench, just being loud, that’s my mom,” he said — and an exceptional amount of fortitude to persevere.

“I just had to tell myself just stay patient,” he said. “I trusted myself, I trusted my body, and I knew eventually I would come around and start to feel the way I did feel before.”

“Will’s a great kid, and he’s got a great spirit,” Killings said. “He’s the same guy every day. He’s a low-maintenance guy. He’s good in the classroom, good in the community. He’s where he needs to be (on the court), gives you what he has. He comes and plays with this burst of energy and speed that is really good. We’re finding ways to use him more.”

Amica, on schedule to graduate in May with a degree in business economics, is listed on the roster as a senior, but he could have two years of eligibility remaining because of an injury redshirt and the COVID-19 year. Those are decisions to be made after the season.

“Right now, I’m just being where my feet are,” he said. “I’ve got more years of eligibility. After I graduate this year, I’m going to focus on getting my master’s after that. That’s as far as I’ve looked so far.”

“The biggest focus for Will is graduating,” Killings said. “He’s a smart kid, capable student. With all these guys, let’s focus on the season, nothing else, nothing beyond it. Just get focused on the season, the week, the day that we’re in, and at the end of the journey, then we figure out the next best thing to do.”

The next thing for the Great Danes to figure out is Harvard, which defeated UAlbany 60-53 two seasons ago in the only previous meeting between the schools. The Crimson have victories over Massachusetts and Army. UAlbany lost to UMass and defeated Army in November.

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UALBANY AT LIU

ALBANY — For college basketball players, this is the most wonderful time of the year, and it’s not because Santa filled their stockings with Air Jordans or NIL bonuses.

The University at Albany returned Tuesday from a brief holiday break to get ready for a Thursday night meeting against Long Island University at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The best thing about being back on campus? No classes. Students are gone until mid-January.

“It’s a perfect time, honestly,” redshirt sophomore guard Justin Neely said. “We’re still in-season, the semester just finished up, and all we have is basketball. You work out, get extra lifts in, practice. You have more time to get some recovery and film. It’s a great time right now.”

Coach Dwayne Killings gave his Great Danes (7-6) three days off after their 89-73 loss Friday at South Florida. They practiced Tuesday in Albany and headed to Brooklyn on Wednesday.

“For our guys, now it’s a chance for them to be professionals, like pro athletes,” Killings said. “It’s just basketball. It’s a chance to really get better.”

UAlbany’s second game of the season at Barclays Center — the Danes lost to Temple 78-73 on Dec. 10 in Brooklyn — comes in the middle of a four-game road stretch. The team closes out its nonconference schedule Tuesday at Harvard, then begins America East play on Jan. 6 at NJIT.

With no other students on campus, the between-semesters respite means the players and coaching staff will have plenty of time together, both in Albany and while traveling.

“We’re a close-knit team,” sophomore Jonathan Beagle said. “It’s fun hanging out with the guys and being able to just play basketball. We get to lock in on lifting and basketball practice and trying to get better every single day and trying to reach our full potential as a team.”

“Nobody being here, what else is there to do besides be with each other?” redshirt sophomore Ny’Mire Little said. “We definitely bond more, see each other more, try to come together more, stay longer in the locker room. We can do more stuff longer because we don’t have school.”

“When I came in here in my freshman year, my first semester,” sophomore Marcus Jackson added, “I was like, ‘I’ll be good, I’ll be able to handle the school, the basketball. I’ve played basketball my whole life.’ Then it hit me right in the face. My time management was awful. That was something I learned. I cherish the times we don’t have any classes. There’s a little more personal time and time to spend with the guys.”

They will be on the court together Thursday in the Brooklyn Nets’ home arena, where LIU (1-10) awaits. The Sharks’ lone victory came Nov. 24, an 83-68 triumph over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

LIU, which has dropped six in a row, has three losses against teams in the top 100 of the NET rankings: Florida International (6), Miami, Fla. (61), and Rutgers (84). The Sharks also have lost to Pepperdine and UCLA. UAlbany is ranked 223rd by NET and LIU 347th.

Columbia is the lone common opponent between UAlbany and LIU. The Danes defeated the Lions on Nov. 11, 78-75, and the Sharks lost 10 days later, 77-67. Both games were at Columbia.