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WAGNER
LOCATION Staten Island, NY
CONFERENCE Northeast
LAST SEASON 10-20 (.333)
CONFERENCE RECORD 8-10 (t-7th)
STARTERS RETURNING/LOST 3/2
NICKNAME Seahawks
COLORS Green & White
HOMECOURT Spiro Sports Center (2,100)
COACH Bashir Mason (Drexel ’07)
RECORD AT SCHOOL 48-44 (3 years)
CAREER RECORD 48-44 (3 years)
ASSISTANTS
Mike Babul (Massachusetts ’00)
Marquis Webb (Rutgers ’07)
Scott Smith (Seton Hall ’96)
WINS (LAST 5 YRS.) 13-25-19-19-10
RPI (LAST 5 YRS.) 174-93-129-215-295
2014-15 FINISH Lost in NEC quarterfinals.
NORTHEAST 288
Rebuilding a program is an arduous process, especially in the absence of experience. Wagner coach Bashir Mason learned that lesson the hard way in his third season.
“I felt like we had good enough talent, good enough toughness, everything that it takes to be a winning program in the NEC, but the lack of experience and just having seven new faces in one year was a huge task and huge hurdle that we couldn’t overcome,” Mason said of the program’s first losing record since 2010-11.
Wagner’s defense, or lack thereof, was the main culprit for the down year. The Seahawks allowed 73.5 points per game, 321st in Division I. Once touted as a menacing and suffocating half-court defense, Wagner opponents shot.517 inside the arc and .373 from 3-point range.
While immaturity is partly to blame for the Seahawks’ worst defensive efficiency numbers in five years, the broken foot that 6-4 junior guard Dwaun Anderson sustained last November was devastating for a team desperate for a veteran presence.
After taking a medical redshirt for 2014-15, a healthy Anderson is poised to live up to the hype that made him one of Rivals’ top 100 recruits coming out of high school in 2011. The former Michigan Mr. Basketball originally signed with Michigan State.
“Dwaun has been great,” Mason said. “Dwaun is going to be our best defender, one of those guys that’s going to play with a tremendous amount of energy. We can really use his athleticism around the basket.”
On offense, making up the production left behind by the graduation of Marcus Burton (17.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg) will be another challenge. The shooting guard accounted for nearly 25 percent of the Seahawks’ points and ranked second in the NEC in scoring and field-goal attempts (434).
Balance, Mason thinks, is the best antidote to losing a good scorer.
“For us to have a guy like Marcus who was scoring close to 20 points a night, to me that says we’re struggling at who we are and what Wagner basketball is,” Mason said. “But I think where we are today is a better place than we were a year ago. Just strength in the numbers, and we have numbers this year versus just having ‘a guy.’ ”
As one of the few incumbent upperclassmen, 6-8 center Mike Aaman (10.4 ppg, 9.4 rpg) will be leaned upon to score. Dogged by concussions early in his collegiate career, Aaman was healthy the second half of last season and flashed his upside. In his final 11 games, the bruising big man was a double-double machine, averaging 12.4 points, 10.5 rebounds and a block.
Mason certainly isn’t shy about Aaman’s prospects in the near future.
“I’m anticipating Mike Aaman being an all-league first-team player,” he said.
http://www.blueribbonyearbookonline.com/
WAGNER
LOCATION Staten Island, NY
CONFERENCE Northeast
LAST SEASON 10-20 (.333)
CONFERENCE RECORD 8-10 (t-7th)
STARTERS RETURNING/LOST 3/2
NICKNAME Seahawks
COLORS Green & White
HOMECOURT Spiro Sports Center (2,100)
COACH Bashir Mason (Drexel ’07)
RECORD AT SCHOOL 48-44 (3 years)
CAREER RECORD 48-44 (3 years)
ASSISTANTS
Mike Babul (Massachusetts ’00)
Marquis Webb (Rutgers ’07)
Scott Smith (Seton Hall ’96)
WINS (LAST 5 YRS.) 13-25-19-19-10
RPI (LAST 5 YRS.) 174-93-129-215-295
2014-15 FINISH Lost in NEC quarterfinals.
NORTHEAST 288
Rebuilding a program is an arduous process, especially in the absence of experience. Wagner coach Bashir Mason learned that lesson the hard way in his third season.
“I felt like we had good enough talent, good enough toughness, everything that it takes to be a winning program in the NEC, but the lack of experience and just having seven new faces in one year was a huge task and huge hurdle that we couldn’t overcome,” Mason said of the program’s first losing record since 2010-11.
Wagner’s defense, or lack thereof, was the main culprit for the down year. The Seahawks allowed 73.5 points per game, 321st in Division I. Once touted as a menacing and suffocating half-court defense, Wagner opponents shot.517 inside the arc and .373 from 3-point range.
While immaturity is partly to blame for the Seahawks’ worst defensive efficiency numbers in five years, the broken foot that 6-4 junior guard Dwaun Anderson sustained last November was devastating for a team desperate for a veteran presence.
After taking a medical redshirt for 2014-15, a healthy Anderson is poised to live up to the hype that made him one of Rivals’ top 100 recruits coming out of high school in 2011. The former Michigan Mr. Basketball originally signed with Michigan State.
“Dwaun has been great,” Mason said. “Dwaun is going to be our best defender, one of those guys that’s going to play with a tremendous amount of energy. We can really use his athleticism around the basket.”
On offense, making up the production left behind by the graduation of Marcus Burton (17.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg) will be another challenge. The shooting guard accounted for nearly 25 percent of the Seahawks’ points and ranked second in the NEC in scoring and field-goal attempts (434).
Balance, Mason thinks, is the best antidote to losing a good scorer.
“For us to have a guy like Marcus who was scoring close to 20 points a night, to me that says we’re struggling at who we are and what Wagner basketball is,” Mason said. “But I think where we are today is a better place than we were a year ago. Just strength in the numbers, and we have numbers this year versus just having ‘a guy.’ ”
As one of the few incumbent upperclassmen, 6-8 center Mike Aaman (10.4 ppg, 9.4 rpg) will be leaned upon to score. Dogged by concussions early in his collegiate career, Aaman was healthy the second half of last season and flashed his upside. In his final 11 games, the bruising big man was a double-double machine, averaging 12.4 points, 10.5 rebounds and a block.
Mason certainly isn’t shy about Aaman’s prospects in the near future.
“I’m anticipating Mike Aaman being an all-league first-team player,” he said.
