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LOCATION: Buffalo, NY
CONFERENCE: Metro Atlantic Athletic (MAAC)
LAST SEASON: 15-12 (.556)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 11-7 (4th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 3/2
NICKNAME: Golden Griffins
COLORS: Blue & Gold
HOMECOURT: Marine Midland Arena (19,500)
COACH: Kossler Athletic Center (1,800)
record at school Mike MacDonald (St. Bonaventure '88)
career record 28-26 (2 years)
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ASSISTANTS: 28-26 (2 years)
ASSISTANTS Terry Zeh (St. Bonaventure '90)
Damone James (Canisius '95)
Adam Stockwell (LeMoyne '96)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 21-19-17-13-15
RPI (last 5 years) 82-73-124-135-155
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference first round.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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Canisius College's 33-year-old coach, Mike MacDonald, is a better-than-average bet to add some gray hairs this season. And he will certainly earn his paycheck as well not that he hasn't done so during his first two seasons with the Golden Griffins. This year MacDonald enters the season without sharpshooter Kevin Worley and forwards Jamie Cammaert and Kevin Lambkin, each of whom received all-conference recognition of some sort during their careers. In the place of these sure things, MacDonald will plug in a group of backups and freshman. "This will be an interesting preseason," MacDonald said. "Our lineup has been pretty set going into the past two seasons. Now, we will have some competition for the starting jobs." Well, not all the starting jobs. Two starters are back from last season's 15-12 club, including 6-10 junior center Darren Fenn and 6-foot junior point guard Clive Bentick. Fenn is a legitimate All-MAAC candidate after averaging 12.0 points and 6.6 rebounds last season. Those numbers figure to soar now that Fenn's old frontcourt mates Cammaert and Lambkin have taken their 1,989 total points and 981 combined rebounds home. With MacDonald breaking in a new set of starting forwards, Fenn figures to get tons more touches at the offensive end, particularly early in the season. Fenn, who won't turn 20 until late this season, is bigger and stronger than ever and looks more than ready to shoulder the added responsibility. He shot .511 from the field and .726 from the free-throw line last season. He scored in double figures in 20 of the Golden Griffins' 27 games including a career-high 25 in the MAAC Tournament loss to St. Peter's.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C BENCH/DEPTH C
FRONTCOURT C INTANGIBLES C
The Golden Griffins will take a step or three back in the MAAC standings this year. That's a given. You don't lose three all-league players like Kevin Worley, Jamie Cammaert and Kevin Lambkin and not experience some bumps in the road. Coach Mike MacDonald doesn't have a bare cupboard, though. Center Darren Fenn is a fast-developing pivot and junior point man Clive Bentick is solid if not spectacular. To finish in the MAAC's first division again, MacDonald needs freshmen small forwards Hodari Mallory and Toby Foster to be ready from the get-go and flashy senior forward Dale Sawyers to be more consistent. So, it figures to be a down year for the Golden Griffins in 1999-2000. Call it seventh place for MacDonald and Co., but watch out for this bunch in 2000-2001. That's because by then athletic Rhode Island transfer Tory Jefferson will join the mix, Mallory and Foster will be sophomores and Fenn and Bentick could be all-league candidates. |
"We all knew we were getting a special player in Darren when he signed," MacDonald said. "Because of his age, it has taken him a while to catch up, but I think Darren is ready physically and mentally to be a big part of our success this season." So who will replace Cammaert? Dale Sawyers, a gifted 6-7 senior, will be given the first opportunity. Sawyers (6.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 16 assists, 21 steals, 25 blocks) is the best all-around athlete on the team. He is the type of guy who can routinely make highlight-reel plays that change the complexion of the game. "He can have the same type of impact on our team that Marcus Camby had with the Knicks," MacDonald said. "He brings a lot of energy to the game and is a relentless defender and rebounder." There is no early-line favorite to win the vacant small-forward spot as 6-4, 220-pound sophomore Alex Barnhill left school just before Labor Day weekend. Barnhill (1.4 ppg, 1.0 rpg) was the only small forward with any real Division-I playing experience. Now the starter at the three-spot will come down to a battle between two freshmen 6-3 Hodari Mallory and 6-6 Toby Foster. Both players have difference playing styles. Foster, a 230-pounder, is a sweet-shooting frontcourt player with a more mature body than Mallory. The Canisius coaches love Foster's reliable long-distance stroke, which was on display in last summer's Empire Games. Playing in the open division (consisting of mostly established college players), Foster made 14 three-point shots in three games. That outburst was no fluke, as Foster averaged 29.4 points and 15.3 rebounds as a senior for Candor (N.Y.) High School. He will probably start. MacDonald didn't have to blow the whole recruiting budget to land Mallory, who played his high school ball just a short outlet pass down the road from Canisius at McKinley High School. Mallory arrives with impressive credentials. He was a first-team All-Western New York selection after averaging 27.3 points and 13.1 rebounds for McKinley (18-4) last season. "Hodari has only begun to scratch the surface as far as his basketball abilities are concerned," MacDonald said of Mallory, who led his McKinley team to a 51-16 record (.761 winning percentage) over the course of his three years there. Competing with Foster will no doubt help, as will trading elbows in practice with 6-6 Rhode Island transfer Tory Jefferson. Jefferson isn't eligible as he sits out his transfer season, but he will practice with the team. His experience, including that of being with an NCAA Tournament qualifier the last two seasons, should do wonders for the Golden Griffins' two young small forwards. Jefferson averaged 3.0 points last season with the Rams. He had his moments (13 points versus TCU and 11 against Cleveland State last year). Jefferson elected to transfer to get more playing time at a school much closer to his Rochester, N.Y. home. Rounding out the list of frontcourt options for MacDonald are two backup low-post types in 6-8 senior Matt Tribul and 6-7 sophomore Andrew Bush. Tribul (0.9 ppg, 1.2 rpg), a 238-pound senior, had several big games as a sophomore before suffering a stress fracture in his foot. That injury has slowed Tribul considerably, keeping him from cracking the regular rotation last season. Bush, who redshirted, appears ready to burst on to the scene after a nondescript redshirt freshman season (1.2 ppg, 0.8 rpg). Running the show will be Bentick (4.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 91 assists, 23 steals), who made unbelievable strides last season. Bentick, who played just 39 minutes as a freshman, averaged 25 minutes per night as a sophomore and had 91 assists in his first full season as a starter. Taking Worley's place as Bentick's running mate will be 6-2 senior Dorian McClure (6.5 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 28 assists, 16 steals). The junior-college import averaged nearly seven points last year not too shabby when one considers that it was McClure's first competition in two years. He had 19 points in a December loss at Montana State and 15 more in a late-season game at Rider. "Dorian gives us a dimension we haven't had in quite some time at the off-guard position," MacDonald said. "He loves the up-tempo game and we will give him the ball more in the open court to take advantage of his strengths." Other backcourt hopefuls include Damon Young, a 6-1 sophomore who missed all of last season with an ACL injury suffered in the summer of 1998. After more than a year of rehabilitation, Young should be ready to go. He is capable of playing both spots if his knee holds up. Young will battle the aforementioned Mallory and fellow freshman Brian Dux (pronounced Dooks) for backup time. Dux is a true point guard. Mallory will swing between the two-guard and small-forward slots. "Damon is very strong and athletic and I believe he would have had significant minutes last year if he hadn't been hurt," MacDonald said. "We are excited about the two freshmen. Brian just loves to play the game, while Hodari has a great upside since he has only been playing the game for three years. "It's going to be a year of transition. I think we have the ingredients to be very competitive, but it may take some time to get everyone working on the same page."
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