The Oswego State men’s basketball team had a very successful season last year that included a SUNYAC Championship and a trip to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Div. III Tournament. Heading into the 2019-20 season, the Lakers are confident they can achieve the same level of success. 

Despite losing three key pieces of last year’s team in Tyler Pierre, Quinn Carey and Allen Durutovic due to graduation, the Lakers have 10 returning players, including three starters in junior Liam Sanborn, senior Joe Sullivan and senior Brandan Gartland.

Head coach Jason Leone had nothing but good things to say about the departing seniors, knowing how big they were to the team and what kind of leaders they were. 

“The key element that we lose with those guys is how committed they were to the team’s success and our process-oriented approach,” Leone said. “Things did not go well at times last year and they were very reliable pieces of our team where they didn’t let their emotions get the best of them. They stayed with the plan … It is not a matter of if things are going to go wrong, but when they are going to go wrong and how you handle them. They were leaders and they were incredibly mature.”

Leone knew the departure of those seniors would have an impact on the team, but he was fully prepared for the situation this offseason. 

“When you lose players to graduation, most coaches don’t think of it as a replacement. It’s more of, OK, ‘how are we going to identify what our makeup is going to be next year?’” Leone said. “Our team will look a little bit different in terms of some of our on the court emphasis, but it doesn’t mean that our team won’t be just as good or better.”

Sanborn, who was an All-SUNYAC First Team selection last year and the starting point guard for the Lakers, knows what those players meant to the team but he, as well as everyone else on the roster from last year know that it is a team effort and it is on every single one of them in order to succeed. 

“They were a big part of our leadership but I think everyone that is returning played a pretty big part last year and gained a lot of valuable experience,” Sanborn said. “So, we got to carry over what we did from last year into the new season.”

The Lakers certainly have a different look to their roster to start the season. There are many new players on the team, including five incoming freshmen, two transfers as well as players from last year who did not receive much playing time. 

“For us, we’ve got our three starters, but everybody else on our roster is either a sophomore that has not had the opportunity to get much of a chance in the games or a freshmen or transfer,” Leone said. “We’re working through a period where we’re really teaching a lot and we’re trying to build and improve daily. So, where we’re going to be in the beginning of the season is certainly not where we’re going to end up by the end of the year.” 

With a new team, learning and adjustments are expected to occur frequently. Much of these younger players are going to hop right into bigger roles than expected for the team and at some point, they will look somewhere for guidance. Sullivan knows the team looks different, but he is fully prepared to take on a leadership role and help guide the team toward success. 

“We’ve got a new team, new pieces of the puzzle to put together and we have to figure it out,” Sullivan said. “We have Leone to lead the way and we have three other leaders [himself, Sanborn and Gartland] to lead the way for us and with Tim [Marshall] back mid-way through the year, we will have a fourth leader. Me and Liam are our emotional leaders, we hold that down and that’s what we got to do.” 

Repeating the success of last year’s season will not come easy for the Lakers, but Leone spoke highly of his players from last year. He explained in great detail how they were successful and how they can use that same blueprint for the upcoming season. 

“The first part is, which the players kind of have to take ownership of, is just realizing that the results part of what happened last year was a byproduct of a lot of different things going well. First of all, our preparation. Second thing is we had a very close-knit group of guys last year, so developing chemistry both on and off the court is critical. The last part is making sure we don’t take anything for granted,” Leone said. “Winning does not come easy. There are no shortcuts, so making sure we are very detail-oriented in our approach [is important].” 

Looking ahead to the Lakers first matchup this Friday vs. Ithaca College at the Elmira Tip Off Tournament, the Lakers want to get off to a good start and get that first taste of winning, but it will certainly be a tough first matchup for them. 

“It’s going to be a very challenging game because it is a little bit of contrasting styles,” Leone said. “They are an exceptional offensive team, and they are playing their main rotation which will include just about everybody that is a returning player … I think our team right now is looking forward to playing against somebody else for real.”

Photo by Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian