Northeastern basketball let a conference championship slip away last season. Coach Bill Coen and company want to finish things this season.
The Northeastern Huskies have been to eight NCAA Tournaments, but seven of them took place in the 1980’s and early 90’s. In the 27 years since the end of that dominance in 1991, the program has reached the NCAA Tournament just once (2014-15). Their best chance to go back to the tournament may be this upcoming season, though.
The Huskies finished last season with 23 wins and in a tie with the College of Charleston atop the CAA at 14-4. Due to being swept by the regular-season co-champ, the Huskies earned the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. They once again met the Cougars in the final, this time with the CAA auto-bid on the line. The Huskies led by 13 at halftime and as much as 17 points, but it wasn’t enough, as CofC rallied to force overtime and took down Northeastern for the third time, ending head coach Bill Coen’s season.
Yet, Coen and the Huskies will return this season for another shot at the CAA auto-bid. The Huskies return all but two players who saw action in 2017-18 as Devon Begley graduated and Derrick Cook decided to transfer. Of the 10 returning Huskies, seven averaged 16+ minutes per game and only three of the 10 will be seniors.
The team only had two players who averaged in double digits as scoring. Shawn Occeus, a 6-foot-4 guard scored nearly 11 points and registered 1.9 steals per game during his sophomore season, but his backcourt mate Vasa Pusica was the team’s leading scorer and assist man. A 6-foot-5 native of Belgrade, Serbia poured in 17.9 points while dishing out over five assists and grabbing 3.6 rebounds per game a year ago.
Then, the returning junior trio of Donnell Gresham Jr., Bolden Brace, and Maxime Boursiquot are the perfect compliments to Pusica and Occeus, bringing 23 total points and 13 total rebounds per game to the table. If big man Thomas Murphy can show more progression in his development after averaging six points and two rebounds per game in limited minutes during his freshman year and 6-10 Anthony Green can be more of a force on the glass, the Huskies will be even more well-rounded.
With the entire roster returning for Coach Coen, there isn’t much room for additions but, they do add 6-foot-1 guard Jordan Roland, who sat out last season after transferring from George Washington. Roland averaged 6.7 points in 2016-17.
With just two trips to the Tournament since 1987, Northeastern is not only looking to get back in 2018 but with only seniors likely to be in the team’s rotation, they are positioning themselves to make the NCAA Tournament more of a regular occurrence.
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