HARTFORD, Conn. - When Stony Brook men's basketball coach Steve Pikiell tore his right Achilles tendon about a month ago in a pickup basketball game that included school president Samuel Stanley, he thought, "Better me than one of the players.''
Then, a few days later, power forward Tommy Brenton, the Seawolves player every opponent loves to hate, suffered a dislocated right kneecap that threatens to make this a redshirt season for him.
Pikiell was getting around fine in a walking cast Thursday at the America East Conference preseason luncheon in the State Capitol building, where Stony Brook was picked to finish second in the coaches' poll. But it will be a much longer recovery period for Brenton, who led the conference in rebounding (9.7), led SBU in assists and aggravated everyone with his in-your-face defense.
"It only takes a second to change your season,'' said Pikiell, who said Brenton hasn't begun rehab yet and suggested no decision on his playing status is likely before conference play begins in January.
Add Brenton's loss to that of America East player of the year and leading scorer Muhammad El-Amin, and it might be easy to assume the Seawolves (22-10, 13-3), who won their first America East regular-season title and earned a bid to the NIT, will have a tough time duplicating that success.
But Pikiell built on that success with what he describes as his "most talented'' recruiting class ever to go with returning starters Bryan Dougher, Chris Martin and Dallis Joyner. "We've got some holes to fill,'' Pikiell said, "but I think some of the guys have really started to smell the chance to play, and that's exciting for them.''
The newcomers include 6-7 junior college transfer forward Al Rapier, 6-9 freshman center/forward Anthony Mayo and 6-8 redshirt freshman forward Eric McAlister up front and highly touted freshman guard Dave Coley, who is from Brooklyn. Pikiell's biggest challenge is going to be finding playing time for a rotation that could go 11 or 12 deep.
Pikiell hasn't settled on a starting lineup, but he can go big or small with the three new big men, Joyner and 6-9 junior Danny Carter up front along with Martin (the team's only senior), Dougher and Coley rotating at the guard spots and some small forward. Guard Marcus Rouse and forward Preye Preboye also will see time.
"We've got a lot of different answers,'' Pikiell said.
Joyner (8.1 points, 6.5 rebounds), at 6-7, 285, figures to be a tremendous force in the middle if he avoids foul trouble. Dougher (13.8 points) and Martin (10.8) are reliable scorers.
Mayo lacks strength but is the shot-blocker the Seawolves have not had, and McAlister grew to 215 and knows the system. But Coley and Rapier might make the biggest early impact.
"I love Rapier's versatility," Pikiell said. "He can really handle the ball, and he's big. I need him to be a real good rebounder with Tommy on the mend, and more importantly, I think we have a lockdown defender, which we haven't had.
"Coley played in the Jordan Brand Classic and had 25 points. He can shoot the ball, he likes defense and he'll attack the rim and rebound. I'm real excited about him. He's going to play right away and have immediate impact.''
Overcoming Brenton's loss will be the acid test of how Pikiell's program has developed
