Marshall’s CCSU rebuild will take time

NEW BRITAIN — Donyell Marshall and his painfully young Central Connecticut basketball team had an “almost” moment Saturday afternoon against Maine.

Five first-year players shook up what had looked like a lost cause, erasing the bulk of a 16-point deficit, and the Blue Devils found themselves in position to win or tie on the final possession of regulation.

Freshman Myles Baker’s 3pointer at the buzzer was blocked, though, and Central was again left to gather itself, disheartened after a 66-64 loss at Detrick Gymnasium.

The Blue Devils are still winless. They are 0-9 for the first time in their 34-year history as a Division I program.

Some of these kids are fun to watch. Some of them will develop into really good players. If this project comes together in ways that the project Marshall worked on over his first three seasons ultimately did not, the program can work its way back into midmajor relevance.

It’s going to be a long road, though. The first steps in basketball rebuilds are incredibly trying, and Central right now is just looking to survive that initial period where it feels impossible to come up for air.

“This year might not be the year,” Marshall said in his office after the game. “But you put this same team out there next year, or two years from now, and it’s a team built to win because it’s a team with so many games under its belt. Very rarely are you going to get the Fab Five from Michigan or the Anthony Davis-type freshmen. Usually when you have freshmen, you’re going to struggle.”

Right. Because these players — 10 in their first season at Central, seven true freshmen — have little idea what they’re doing yet. Central is one of just 14 teams in Division I with seven-plus freshmen, and most of them are in the rota