Saints men’s basketball coach Jamion Christian to treat Senior Day as show of appreciation.
Christian plans to give all five seniors chance to play he didn’t get
Siena men’s basketball coach Jamion Christian said Senior Day holds a special significance for him, not because of what he did as a college player, but rather what didn’t happen.
Christian never got to play in his final home game at Mount St. Mary’s, sitting for the entire 68-62 victory over Monmouth on March 1, 2004.
He said it’s a memory that stays with him as Siena gets ready to honor Evan Fisher, Kevin Degnan, Kadeem Smithen, Braedon Bayer and Paulo Morastoni before Sunday afternoon’s game against Marist at Times Union Center.
“I remember that moment of sitting there with my fellow seniors, who felt like we’d earned the right to participate in the game,’’ Christian said before Thursday’s practice. “It’s kind of one of those days where you spend all four years, you put in all the work you can to have the opportunity to be there.”
Christian said he will play the four seniors and Bayer, a graduate student, though he’s not sure how many will start. Fisher and Degnan have started all season with Smithen a key cog off the bench. Bayer, a transfer from Syracuse, and walk-on Morastoni have seen little action.
Christian doesn’t want his players to have the experience he had under then-mount St. Mary’s coach Milan Brown.
“Senior Day has always been particularly important to me to make sure that I didn’t do that to others,’’ Christian said. “Just understand the importance of the day for them and having great respect for them and their journey as a way to really say thank you.”
In their final season, the quintet has helped Christian, in his first year, lead the Saints from a predicted last-place finish in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference to a tie for second place with three regular-season games left.
Siena (14-14 overall, 9-6 MAAC) has already seen a six-win improvement from a year ago.
Leading the way is Fisher, who nearly doubled his scoring average to 15.7 points per game to become a candidate for first-team ALL-MAAC.
“Kind of surreal,’’ Fisher said of Senior Day. “I’m really thankful for the time I’ve had here at Siena.”
Degnan has averaged 32.9 minutes per game this season after playing 89 minutes total as a junior under Jimmy Patsos. He said he appreciated Christian giving him and the other seniors a chance rather than ignoring them for a youth movement.
“He really didn’t have to, seeing I didn’t have a lot of minutes in my career,’’ said Degnan, who spent his first two seasons at Fairfield.
Smithen, a fifth-year senior, is
in the unusual position of being honored on Senior Day for the second straight year. He went through it last year as well when it seemed unlikely he would return to the program. That changed when Christian replaced Patsos.
Bayer is also experiencing his second Senior Day. He was honored as a Syracuse senior before getting his bachelor’s degree last year. He hasn’t played as much as he’d hoped this season.
“It definitely is tough,” Bayer said. “It’s definitely been a growing year, especially mentally and all those other things, just trying to stay ready and staying positive. I know it’s bigger than myself and I just want to be part of a good team.”
Morastoni, a Brazilian, was a practice player with the Siena women before joining the men’s team as a manager and then walking on as a player.
“If I do get in (Sunday), I’ll try my hardest,” Morastoni said. “I don’t really care about playing. I just want to have fun like I always do.”