With another season of Hofstra University men’s basketball upon us, the Pride once again enter the year with a retooled roster. It’s a mix of promising freshmen and key additions from the transfer portal. The foundation from last season remains, with returners like Cruz Davis and German Plotnikov expected to take on larger leadership roles. While there are new faces, fresh challenges and a long road ahead, the mission for Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton and company remains the same: bring another Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) title back to Hempstead.
The current landscape of college basketball revolves around the transfer portal. Since the introduction of Name, Image and Likeness and the launch of the portal in Oct. 2018, the sport has undergone major changes. Another significant shift came in 2021, when the NCAA removed the requirement for first-time transfer students to sit out a season, opening the floodgates for player movement like never before.
The Pride welcomed in seven new transfers, Biggie Patterson from Iona University, A.J. Wills from the University of Wyoming, Trey Boyd III from Pace University, Victory Onuetu from Spain, Joshua Aaron Reaves from the University of Illinois-Chicago, Alex Tsynkevich from Kentucky Wesleyan College and Brandon Morgan from Western Carolina University. With so many new faces transferring into Hofstra, one of the biggest concerns is building chemistry quickly and becoming acclimated to the coaching schemes. Hofstra associate head coach Mike DePaoli feels that the new players are coming around nicely, especially with the help of the veteran leadership in the locker room.
“I think the new guys have been great. I think they’ve immersed themselves and I’ll use the word culture lightly. I think you used to be able to have a lot more culture when you had guys like [Plotnikov] who have been here for a lot of years,” DePaoli said. “I think having [Plotnikov] and [Davis], and [Sunday], and DeCady, give us a chance to have culture, ’cause I do think culture is when you walk in the doors, and people show you the way to, you know, act, interact and respond to situations. It was taught and led to players, which we still have. It’s just not as strong as it used to be. But, yeah, the new guys are immersing themselves. They’re doing a good job. They’re coachable, they work hard.”
Along with the seven transfers, the Pride were able to recruit two new freshmen as well.
Freshman guard Preston Edmead has quickly made a name for himself, standing out not only among the first-year players but also the incoming transfers.
“[One of the] new guys that have stood out [has] been [Edmead]. He’s been – again, everyone’s gonna talk about – he had 16.6 assists [in] his two scrimmages. He was terrific in both, from a fill-up-the-stat-sheet standpoint, but what I like most about [Edmead] is [that] there’s not a box that he doesn’t check – other than being 5 ’11” – that we want here at Hofstra,” DePaoli said. “He’s a great kid. He comes from great stock. He’s a local kid. He works extremely, extremely hard. Basketball really matters to him, and those guys typically tend to do really, really well here, ’cause it really, really matters to us. And that’s a nice way of saying he’s just really committed to becoming a better player. He has great toughness; he has no back down in him. He loves to compete. So, he has stood out.”
One of the biggest gets in the transfer portal for Hofstra in the offseason was Onuetu, 6’10” junior from Spain. The Hofstra forward played at IES Fuente Lucena in Alhaurín el Grande, Málaga, Spain. He started playing basketball at 12 years old and climbed through Spain’s development ranks. A young star for the Spanish youth national teams, he captured titles at both the FIBA U19 World Cup and the FIBA U18 European Championship, representing Spain in the FIBA U20 European Championship as well.
“[Onuetu’s] upside is through the roof. Victory from a talent standpoint, it’s stupid how talented he is,” DePaoli said. “His game, his habits and all that stuff, he’s improved, so he didn’t get here till Aug. 25. So, it’s not like he was here with us all summer. [If] he was here with us all summer, it’d be scary, how could he be right now? But every single day, he’s getting better, and this is all brand new to him. His first time touching down in the [United States] was Aug. 25.”
Although this Hofstra team features nine new faces, the Pride managed to retain several key pieces from last season. One of the most important pieces of this era of Hofstra basketball is Plotnikov, who returns for his fourth year with the program. In today’s era of college hoops, where roster turnover is constant, a player sticking with one school this long makes Plotnikov something of a unicorn.
“We kind of found out later on that I will have another year and obviously I had my postseason meeting with [Claxton] and there was no hesitation in his voice,” Plotnikov said, “I feel like he wants me to come back and I had no hesitation as well coming back to Hofstra. Giving it another good year.”
With Plotnikov playing such an instrumental role in the program, he carries not only the responsibility to perform on the court but also to serve as a veteran leader for the many newcomers joining the team. This is something that was not lost on the senior guard.
“I think I kind of take pride in [being a locker room vet],” Plotnikov said. “One of the things I’ll always emphasize is not just giving it my all on the court, but it’s also giving it off the court as well. Whether it’s telling the guys what to do, basketball wise or in school, off campus, things like that. It’s kind of a good mix where you can be helpful, not only on the court, but off the court as well, being a leader. It’s nothing but a blessing and I appreciate doing it.”
Along with Plotnikov, star point guard Davis, forward DeCady, and 7 foot tall center, Sunday, will also be suiting up in the blue and yellow for another season.
Hofstra built its identity on its straitjacket defense last season, shutting down opponents while on their way to the top defensive ranking in the CAA. This year, the Pride are determined to bring that same lockdown mentality back.
“[There are] three cores to our defense and the three maximums. We say you have to play with maximum effort. That’s where it starts. That’s the standard. If you don’t play with absolute maximum effort, you’re not gonna be able to play here from a defensive standpoint,” DePaoli said. “Next one is maximum LEO, which’s our term for communicating loud, early, and often. That’s how we’re going to communicate to each other. And then the last one is maximum discipline.”
The Pride’s biggest issue last year was their struggle to close games. Hofstra lost seven games which they led at halftime, with an average lead of 7.4 points and a season-worst blown lead of 16 in an overtime loss to Campbell University. DePaoli reflected on those second-half collapses, calling them a mental battle and emphasizing how important it is for the team to clean that up heading into the new season.
“That was frustrating last year. I think it was more the mental side of it. ‘Are we really this good?’ The doubt crept in, and then we would kind of get in those situations again, and it would be what you’re talking about. Here we go again,” DePaoli said. “How do you fix that this year? You live in an attacking mindset. You’re always in an attack mode. One thing we’re trying to preach these guys in huddles, whether it was our scrimmages; you’re up 25 on people. It’s not about that. Like, be so process oriented that whether you’re up 25 or you’re down 25, you’re still just immersed in the process.”
With a new season of Hofstra hoops underway, both DePaoli and senior guard Plotnikov have their eyes set on something bigger. After last year’s ups and downs, the Pride look ahead to the ultimate goal.
“I know it just started, but one thing I definitely would like to add for this upcoming season is a trip to March Madness,” Plotnikov said.
“I think the nice thing when you’re at Hofstra is that you’re competing for a championship every single year,” DePaoli added. “So that’s always our goal, to win the championship.”
