The University of Vermont men’s and women’s basketball teams are already gearing up for another season on the hardwood. Both Catamount teams have big expectations this season, with the America East Conference predicting that both squads will finish first in the conference standings in their preseason poll. The men and women both know that they will need to prove on the court why they belong as the conference’s best teams by the end of the season. “It’s nice to get the recognition, but it doesn’t mean anything. It’s preseason,” said Vermont men’s basketball player TJ Long. “We haven’t really done anything, so we got to go out there and earn it.” “It’s just a preseason ranking,” said Vermont women’s basketball player Catherine Gilwee. “We haven’t poven anything yet this year … we have so much work to be done and we haven’t really earned anything yet.” The women’s team is trying to instill the same principles they had from their latest campaign, after winning the America East Championship and reaching the NCAA tournament for the second time in the past three seasons. The Catamounts say defense has been the story to their success, and the stats show. Vermont finished as the best defense in the America East a season ago, holding its opponents to 52.9 points per game and shooting 39 percent from the field. “I believe that defense is a consistent, and you can keep it consistent,” said Vermont women’s basketball head coach Alisa Kresge. “You can’t have off days when it comes to defense, you can always give yourself a chance to win, even if you’re not scoring at a high clip …we always rely on our defense, so that’s ingrained in our program.” Vermont returns several key players from its America East title, including Nikola Priede and Gilwee, who were both tabbed as America East All-Conference preseason selections. Priede finished third on the team in scoring (9.1 points per game) and first in blocks per game (1.1) while Gilwee averaged 8.1 points per game and led the Catamount offense in assists with 3.8 per game. Kresge admires both players not only for their talents, but also their leadership on the hardwood. “They’re wonderful leaders,” Kresge said. “They lead in different ways, but they definitely lead by example. They’re working really hard, they know how to challenge teammates in a healthy way, but really support them as well.” The men’s team had a strong America East conference regular season record, finishing 13-3 with a 21-12 overall record. However, injuries to several key players such as TJ Hurley, Shamir Boguqes, Long and Nick Fiorillo, to name a few, throughout the season led the Catamounts to get bounced in the America East Semifinals by conference’s No. 3 seed Maine as the No. 2 seed in the tournament. University of Vermont men’s basketball coach John Becker says improved depth and balance across his roster will help the Catamounts down the stretch to play high level of basketball when it matters most around tournament time. “I learned that we needed more depth,” Becker said. “We were down to a six-man rotation and it’s really hard to win games like that … We went out and got more depth, more shooting … bigger guards … and some big guys that can play with their back to basket. We tried to have some more redundancy and some depth.” One of those key newcomers is Jackson Skipper. Skipper, who transferred to Oral Roberts University during his sophomore season, is coming back to Vermont after playing for the Catamounts his freshman year. Skipper, who averaged 4.9 points per game in 26 games played with the Golden Eagles, is excited to rejoin a program with winning pedigree led by experienced coaches. The Catamounts are trying to earn their 12th America East Championship this season. “A lot of credit to the coaches,” Skipper said. “They do a really good job in the offseason preparing us for what we go through on a daily basis … how grueling it is on our bodies .. but also just preparing us … and where we need to be and always making sure we’re doing the right thing.” Long and Hurley return as Becker’s two preseason America East All-Conference selections. Hurley was an America East All-First Team Selection who averaged 15.8 points per game, shooting 42 percent from field and 38 percent from deep, his junior season with the Catamounts. Long had a promising start to his senior season, averaging 11.1 points per game alongside 1.3 steals per game and 3.1 rebounds per game in eight games, before his season was cut short due to injury. “It’s an honor to be thought of that way,” said Hurley on the preseason accolades. “But it doesn’t really mean much until we go out and prove it. Same thing with being the number one team. It doesn’t mean anything until we go out and prove it.”Both Vermont teams will get their first taste of college basketball this season in a set of exhibition matches against Saint Michael’s College. The men’s team will play the Purple Knights first on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 7 pm. The women’ will play Saint Michael’s on Thursday, Oct. 30 at 6 pm. Both games will be in Burlington at Patrick Gymnasium.
BURLINGTON, Vt. —
The University of Vermont men’s and women’s basketball teams are already gearing up for another season on the hardwood.
Both Catamount teams have big expectations this season, with the America East Conference predicting that both squads will finish first in the conference standings in their preseason poll. The men and women both know that they will need to prove on the court why they belong as the conference’s best teams by the end of the season.
“It’s nice to get the recognition, but it doesn’t mean anything. It’s preseason,” said Vermont men’s basketball player TJ Long. “We haven’t really done anything, so we got to go out there and earn it.”
“It’s just a preseason ranking,” said Vermont women’s basketball player Catherine Gilwee. “We haven’t poven anything yet this year … we have so much work to be done and we haven’t really earned anything yet.”
The women’s team is trying to instill the same principles they had from their latest campaign, after winning the America East Championship and reaching the NCAA tournament for the second time in the past three seasons. The Catamounts say defense has been the story to their success, and the stats show. Vermont finished as the best defense in the America East a season ago, holding its opponents to 52.9 points per game and shooting 39 percent from the field.
“I believe that defense is a consistent, and you can keep it consistent,” said Vermont women’s basketball head coach Alisa Kresge. “You can’t have off days when it comes to defense, you can always give yourself a chance to win, even if you’re not scoring at a high clip …we always rely on our defense, so that’s ingrained in our program.”
Vermont returns several key players from its America East title, including Nikola Priede and Gilwee, who were both tabbed as America East All-Conference preseason selections. Priede finished third on the team in scoring (9.1 points per game) and first in blocks per game (1.1) while Gilwee averaged 8.1 points per game and led the Catamount offense in assists with 3.8 per game.
Kresge admires both players not only for their talents, but also their leadership on the hardwood.
“They’re wonderful leaders,” Kresge said. “They lead in different ways, but they definitely lead by example. They’re working really hard, they know how to challenge teammates in a healthy way, but really support them as well.”
The men’s team had a strong America East conference regular season record, finishing 13-3 with a 21-12 overall record. However, injuries to several key players such as TJ Hurley, Shamir Boguqes, Long and Nick Fiorillo, to name a few, throughout the season led the Catamounts to get bounced in the America East Semifinals by conference’s No. 3 seed Maine as the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
University of Vermont men’s basketball coach John Becker says improved depth and balance across his roster will help the Catamounts down the stretch to play high level of basketball when it matters most around tournament time.
“I learned that we needed more depth,” Becker said. “We were down to a six-man rotation and it’s really hard to win games like that … We went out and got more depth, more shooting … bigger guards … and some big guys that can play with their back to basket. We tried to have some more redundancy and some depth.”
One of those key newcomers is Jackson Skipper. Skipper, who transferred to Oral Roberts University during his sophomore season, is coming back to Vermont after playing for the Catamounts his freshman year. Skipper, who averaged 4.9 points per game in 26 games played with the Golden Eagles, is excited to rejoin a program with winning pedigree led by experienced coaches. The Catamounts are trying to earn their 12th America East Championship this season.
“A lot of credit to the coaches,” Skipper said. “They do a really good job in the offseason preparing us for what we go through on a daily basis … how grueling it is on our bodies .. but also just preparing us … and where we need to be and always making sure we’re doing the right thing.”
Long and Hurley return as Becker’s two preseason America East All-Conference selections. Hurley was an America East All-First Team Selection who averaged 15.8 points per game, shooting 42 percent from field and 38 percent from deep, his junior season with the Catamounts. Long had a promising start to his senior season, averaging 11.1 points per game alongside 1.3 steals per game and 3.1 rebounds per game in eight games, before his season was cut short due to injury.
“It’s an honor to be thought of that way,” said Hurley on the preseason accolades. “But it doesn’t really mean much until we go out and prove it. Same thing with being the number one team. It doesn’t mean anything until we go out and prove it.”
Both Vermont teams will get their first taste of college basketball this season in a set of exhibition matches against Saint Michael’s College. The men’s team will play the Purple Knights first on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 7 pm. The women’ will play Saint Michael’s on Thursday, Oct. 30 at 6 pm. Both games will be in Burlington at Patrick Gymnasium.