SUNY Ulster poised for tourney
In returning to nationals for first time in 45 years, Senators face top-seed Triton in opening round
SUNY Ulster returns to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II men’s basketball championship tournament for the first time in 45 years on Tuesday when the Senators face Triton at Danville Community College in Illinois.
The (18-9) Senators, seeded 16th in the 16-team tournament, punched their ticket to the tournament by knocking off County College of Morris (Randolph, New Jersey) with a come-from-behind 7674 victory in the District 12 title game on March 10.
Triton (29-4), located about 15 miles outside Chicago, is seeded No. 1 in the tournament. Tip-off for Tuesday’s game is 2 p.m. The Senators leave Sunday for the long 12.5hour bus ride to Danville.
“We didn’t get respect with the 16 seed, but respect is earned,” Ulster coach Justin Maxwell said.
Win or lose, Ulster will con-
tinue play on Wednesday. With a victory, the Senators will face the winner of Tuesday’s contest between host Danville and Grand Rapids at 7 p.m. The losers of the two contests will square off in the consolation bracket at 4 p.m.
Ulster has not competed in nationals in men’s basketball since qualifying in back-to-back seasons. The Senators are 3-3 overall, going 0-2 in 1972 and 3-1 in 1973 when they finished fourth in the country.
Maxwell, in his third year as head coach, has overseen the remarkable turnaround for the Senators. He took over a team that went 0-26 in the 201415 season. In his first season, Ulster improved to 8-18 and went 11-13 last year. He said the college was mulling shuttering the program before he took over.
Maxwell, who grew up in the Capital Region, was a walk-on at Division 1 Siena College and later finished his collegiate career at Division III Utica.
He said this year’s squad has been buoyed by returning local talent — including Kingston graduates Alex Karamanos, who is averaging 17.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, and Tyreik Johnson, who is averaging 13.3 points, 4.1 assists and 3.9 rebounds.
Saugerties product Shawn Jansen, meanwhile, is averaging 14.3 points and
7.6 rebounds.
“They have really put us in a positive light,” Maxwell said. “You can’t have success without getting a player or two from your backyard.”
Maxwell noted the team’s success has attracted the attention of a lot of Division II and III programs that have expressed interest in his players seeking to transfer to a four-year college after graduation.
The Senators have also attracted the attention of fans, who packed Senate Gymnasium in the team’s last home victory, a 98-62 drubbing of Orange on Feb. 27. Maxwell noted the Senators started to get some extra attention locally with the staff of a local pizzeria asking him about their trip to Illinois when he stopped in on a recent evening.
Maxwell credited his team’s success to finding the right chemistry despite battling a few injuries earlier in the season. When asked about a turning point this season, Maxwell said victories started “snowballing” after a 91-77 win over Northampton College of Pennsylvania on Feb. 3.
With each win their confidence has grown.
“They’re not nervous, they’re confident,” Maxwell said.
Maxwell said the Senators carried that momentum to Scranton when they beat top-seed Lackawanna 92-86 in the District 12 semifinals. Ulster was seeded fifth in the tournament.
Karamanos, a 2016 Kingston grad and Freeman AllStar who played his freshman year at Herkimer, said he felt like the turning point of the season was defeating Lackawanna.
He said while’s he’s not looking forward to the bus ride, he doesn’t think it will put them at a disadvantage over Triton, which has just a three-hour commute.
Karamanos said they will look at some tape of Triton so there will be no surprises.
“No. 1 seed. It’s just like Lackawanna, we’ll have the same mindset. We’re prepared for it,” said Johnson, a 2014 Kingston grad who went to Herkimer for a season before returning to the area to be closer to family.
Maxwell added his team is not concerned about facing Triton.
Triton’s top scorer Deonta Terrell averages 16.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, while Alondes Wiliams is averaging 13.7 points and 6.4 rebounds. Najee Brown Henderson averages 10.7 points a game.
Jansen, meanwhile, said he’s confident Ulster can take down a top seed, and he believes this game couldn’t come at a better time for the team.
“We’re rolling right now,” he said.
Jansen, a 2016 Saugerties grad, came to Ulster knowing its struggles in the past.
“I wanted to stay close to my dog and my family,” Jansen said. “I was 100 percent committed here.”
He said during his time at the college the team has grown closer.
“We’ve been talking a lot,” Jansen said. “The guys on the bench talk a lot. We started hanging out off the court.”
Johnson chalked up the team’s success to chemistry that has only grown stronger during the season and the Senators tacked on victories over higher-ranked teams like Lackawanna.
He couldn’t recall a favorite moment on the Senators, run to nationals.
“The whole season was my favorite,” Johnson said.
Right now, Johnson said the team is preparing mentally so they can come out strong on Tuesday.
Looking ahead, Maxwell said he hopes to continue the team’s success despite losing all three of his top starters.
“We have to sustain,” he said.
Maxwell pointed to Sullivan as a consistent winner he’d like his teams to emulate and noted with his players being around only two years, things have to come together fast.
“They struggle the first semester, do better the second, then you have to restart,” Maxwell said.
He noted he’s spent a lot of time going to high school games to scout possible recruits for the future, but his thoughts soon returned to preparing for Tuesday.
Everyone is focusing on that game and nothing after that, he added.
Jansen said he is confident the Senators can sustain their success after he graduates.
He pointed to Elijah Barnett, who averages 6.8 points per game, and Naje Green, who averaged 8.6 points per game, as key pieces of the puzzle for Ulster next season. He said right now he’s working on making them mentally strong so they can face whatever comes their way.
Jansen, a business and entrepreneurship major, said he’s not sure if he’ll go right onto a four-year college or take a year off.
Johnson, who is studying computer science, said he’s had a couple of other college’s recruiting him.
Karamanos said he wants to study sports management and he’s been recruited by several four-year programs, but hasn’t made any decisions.
“I’ll make my decision by the end of spring,” he said.
With his time at Ulster drawing to a close, Karamanos said he’ll be sad to part ways with Johnson and Jansen, who have become like brothers to him.
“I don’t want it to end,” Karamanos said.