By Anders Jorstad – STAFF WRITER

College basketball season has returned to Hofstra once again, and with it comes some new faces to the Pride roster. A pair of New York City freshmen guards joins the fray for Hofstra in point guard Desure Buie and shooting guard Justin Wright-Foreman.

While the names might be new to some Pride fans, these two have been waiting a long time for this moment. Both guards signed their national letters of intent in the fall period last year, binding them to play for the Pride in October of 2014.

Justin Wright-Foreman is a graduate of the High School for Construction and grew up in Laurelton, New York. Wright-Foreman is known as being a big-time scorer, averaging 21.6 points per game as a junior in high school and 23.8 points per contest as a senior.

“Justin is just a prolific scorer,” commented Hofstra Pride head coach Joe Mihalich. “He just has an uncanny way of scoring points. It’s nothing for him to score points. [He makes] easy shots, he hits hard shots, he makes shots you don’t think he’s going to make. He’s just a really good offensive player.”

The Midnight Madness slam dunk contest champion is known for his high-flying action as well. Even Wright-Foreman will agree that offense is where his forte lies.

“I shoot the ball, baby,” joked the freshman shooting guard. “I bring a lot of energy [as well].” He’s already brought some excitement in just two games with the Pride.

.@JayWright_13 in the game doing what Justin does! #ThrowsItDown in @HofstraMBB's 96-64 victory over Molloy College pic.twitter.com/rvwnrYYTwB

— iLuvBBall.com (@RealiLuvBBall) November 17, 2015

The Pride developed an early relationship with Wright-Foreman, offering him a scholarship during his junior year of high school. “I thought they fit my style of play and they recruited me well,” said Wright-Foreman on why he ultimately decided to come to Hempstead. “That was a major part, coach communicating every day. That was one of the major points.”

Buie is a point guard from the Bronx and a graduate of Wings Academy, where he and current Georgetown freshman Jessie Govan led the Wings to a State Federation championship his senior year. In his senior season Buie averaged 17.1 points and eight assists per contest, leading all of New York City in assists per game.

Buie brings a tremendous playmaking ability to the game, as evidenced by his high assist totals in high school. “He can make plays for himself but he can also make plays for other people,” comments Coach Mihalich. “He’s your lead guard, he’s your point guard, he’s your quarterback, he’s your coach on the floor guy. Desure has an exceptional basketball IQ, he’s beyond his years as far as basketball IQ goes.”

In addition, Coach Mihalich points out that Buie is a terrific character on and off the court. “Desure’s going to end up being one of the funniest guys on campus,” Coach Mihalich predicts.

Hofstra had to fend off multiple schools in the area to recruit Buie to come to the Pride, including Manhattan, Iona, Seton Hall, Old Dominion, and Fordham according to Verbal Commits. “They recruited me really well,” said Buie on what convinced him Hofstra was the right place for him. “All of the coaches got in contact with me, they came to games and practices. I went to their practices a couple of times and I went to a game. I liked the way they played.”

While both players come to Hofstra with terrific high school resumes – further bolstered by both guards making First Team All-New York City their senior years – there were still some major adjustments that the two had to make coming into the college game.

“High school is different from [college],” recalls Wright-Foreman. “You’re really being taught like how to rotate to different spots and I kind of struggled at first but I really started to get it. I started getting better and I started being a better defensive player. I’m looking forward to becoming one of the defensive players.”

Defense seems to be a common thread between the two when it comes to what the coaches have been stressing to them during practices. When asked what the two could improve on going forward, Coach Mihalich mentioned “For both of them, their defense.”

The college game is a lot more defense-oriented than the high school game and many freshmen struggle to make the transition at first. “They stress defense way more in college,” said Wright-Foreman. “In high school it was pretty much just get the ball to the best player and have them get a bucket every time. But here it’s, you can score, but if you can’t defend you’re not gonna play.”

Buie agreed, saying “in college, everybody can score. It’s not just one player that can score. It’s different from high school because the length, the speed, everything about it. It’s more intense, especially defending in college compared to high school.”

While the two players have had to adjust to the game since arriving on campus, they have some great mentors to lean on. “They’re lucky,” Coach Mihalich says. “They get to play against great players every day [in practice]. When they’re guarding Juan’ya Green, they’re probably not going to play a player when they play 30 games, [those teams are] probably not going to have a player that’s as good as Juan’ya. So they’re playing against a great player every day.”

Even beyond Green – the CAA Preseason Player of the Year – the two have plenty of leadership around them to help guide them through their first year. Both players conceded that everyone on the team helps them out a lot, but gave details on how a select few assist them in particular.

“Ameen Tanksley and Speedy [Claxton have taught me a lot]. Because Speedy recruited me, just having that NBA mind and him playing here as well. He knows the game more than anybody. He’ll help me get over the growing pains. [With] Ameen, when I get mad he just keeps my head on my shoulders. He gives me the little advice on what angles to take on defense and what angles to take on offense.”

It stands to reason that the players would be aided by playing against great players at their position, as Tanksley and Wright-Foreman play a similar position on the court. Buie mentions starting point guard Green as a major mentor for him. “I learn a lot from Juan’ya. I play against him every day. It’s the little things he tells me like what I should do, and what I should not do. Like if I’m trying to get open, [he’ll tell me] the little tricks to getting open. Playing ball screens and stuff like that.”

Both players come to Hofstra with big dreams and high hopes, but Coach Mihalich thinks they’re lucky to be able to come off the bench in their first season.

“If as a freshman you have to be the leading scorer, be the leading rebounder, and be the star of the game, do everything and never get tired and never get hurt [that can be bad for them]. Now they can just be normal freshmen. They can learn from the seniors and play with the seniors and develop in a much less pressurized way.”

While Wright-Foreman and Buie expect to be coming off the bench to start the season, Coach Mihalich says fans should expect to see them out on the court fairly often this year.

“I think all of the fans can expect contributions from both of them,” Coach Mihalich projects. “How much, time will tell. It might be dictated by the opponent. It might be dictated by foul trouble. I think you can expect to see these guys on the floor and doing their things.”

If you want to see more from the two talented guards, head on down to the Mack during the season to see them and the Pride battle for a CAA title. It’s likely these two will make a big impact on the program for this year and the near future as well.