HARTFORD -- Taking over a 7-23 Stony Brook women's basketball program and putting it on a par with SBU's other high-profile sports is a daunting challenge, but if new coach Beth O'Boyle needs a blueprint, she knows she has a handy one available.
"I look at our job right now as rebuilding the program," O'Boyle said Thursday at America East media day. "It's probably very similar to what Steve did. I talk to him all the time, and their coaching staff has been a great resource for us."
O'Boyle was hired in April and hit the ground running. She made visits to freshman recruits Miranda Jenkins, Kellie Krueger and Natalie Myers to reassure them they still were wanted and then recruited two transfers, Brooklyn junior forward Jessica Previlon, who is eligible now, and sophomore forward Sabre Proctor, who must sit out a year after transferring from North Carolina A&T.
"Jess is going to be a really strong, athletic player that, hopefully, will help us on the boards and help us defensively," O'Boyle said. "Even though I took the job late, we wanted to see if we could at least get one post player."
The Seawolves lost leading scorer Kirsten Jeter to graduation, but four players with starting experience return, including second-leading scorer Sam Landers (9.2 points per game) at guard, center Destiny Jacobs (8.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg), guard Tamiel Murray and guard Misha Horsey, who missed last season with an injury.
The Seawolves were voted eighth in the nine-team America East preseason coaches' poll. O'Boyle's goal is to see how quickly she can turn them into a top-four program in the conference, and she believes she can do it, in part, by recruiting well on Long Island and in the New York metro area.
"There's quite a few Division I players that will come out of Long Island," O'Boyle said. "I think these next two recruiting classes will be very important for us."
