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Turnover in sports is a harsh reality.
As the America East conference kicks off its 13th season of NCAA Division I basketball, the make-up and climate of the conference has changed dramatically. Gone are perennial contenders Delaware, Hofstra, Drexel and Towson, who left to join the Colonial Athletic Association.
Enter in three unknown state universities from New York and this season has the makings of one to remember.
No one can predict exactly how this will affect the mid-major conference this season, but nearly everyone involved believes the changes will be positive for the long-term health of the league.
“I think anything can happen in the future, and I think that’s exciting,” said America East Commissioner Chris Monasch, who begins his fifth season.
Numerous changes have taken place during Monasch’s tenure. The conference expanded and restructured its staff and moved the conference headquarters to Boston.
Tom Brennan has seen many changes during his 15 seasons as head coach at the University of Vermont. Brennan began coaching the Catamounts when they were members of the now defunct ECAC North conference. With two America East Coach of the Year awards to his credit, coach Brennan is confident the changes will be positive for the remaining schools.
“I think for a school like us…who have never won [a conference title], there’s that sense that ‘Hey if things go right, we can be a championship team,’” said Brennan, who was the featured speaker at America East Basketball Media Day held at Matthews Arena in Boston.
Brennan said he looks at the new make-up of the conference optimistically.
“Obviously we’re not as pretty as we were with those people going,” he said. “But, I think there is a solidarity with this group. I don’t think anybody’s leaving or looking to leave. And we always had that hanging over our heads the last couple years.”
Drexel, Delaware and Hofstra represented the conference in the NCAA tournament eight of the last nine years. Drexel garnered the lone tournament win during that stretch in 1996, upsetting fifth-ranked Memphis. Even with that success, the southern schools were looking elsewhere.
The new dynamics in the conference have also brought the men’s tournament back to the northeast. Boston University and Northeastern will serve as host schools for the tournament in 2002 and 2003. The format of the tournament remains unchanged, with all the opening round games at the host site. The championship game will be at the home court of the highest remaining team.
“Traveling [to Boston] for the tournament is just another bright spot,” Brennan noted.
This change may help level the playing field.
Since 1996, the men’s tournament has been held at the Bob Carpenter Center in Delaware. The southern schools filled the Carpenter Center and created a home-court atmosphere that the schools in the north could not match. With the site moved to Boston, it will be much easier for fans from Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont to attend the tournament.
“I think it’s very wide open,” Brennan said. “I was like 2-22 at Drexel. We just couldn’t win there. But now, there isn’t anywhere else we’re going where I say to myself, ‘We can’t win there.’”
The departure of Delaware, Drexel, Hofstra and Towson left America East with only six member schools. Monasch and his staff began searching for replacements long before the four schools made their announcement official. The tedious process took Monasch on the road to visit the universities and colleges with the potential to join America East. The search narrowed to three and the University of Albany, Binghamton University and Stony Brook University were added.
But, Monasch is quick to add, not until they met all the criteria.
“It’s not guesswork. You want schools that philosophically are comparable. That deals with the size of the school and what they’re about athletically, academically.
“Do they have the appropriate budget? Do they have the right facilities? What’s their leadership about?
“These three schools all rank very high in these areas.”
Brennan and University of Maine head coach John Giannini are not very familiar with the new schools, but said they feel the new teams will be great additions.
“Our players and our fans will soon see that those SUNY schools have big campuses, with great arenas,” Giannini said. “They have as good a situation as anyone in the America East or better.”
America East conference play begins in exactly one month, and after all the changes, the new faces and the new schools, conference leaders say they feel the future is bright
“Long term,” Giannini concluded, “I really think those New York schools are going to be very good and we’re going to get back to being one of the better mid-major conferences in the country.”
Bangor Daily News