The standings in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference preseason poll said it all. Forget what happened two years ago, the magical Elite Eight run that captivated Jersey City, a mesmerizing victory that even the most accurate predictions could not have foreseen.
Most of the wreckage is gone. That’s what happens. This Cinderella-like run is an unimaginable dream and almost impossible to recreate.
The Peacocks went 14-18 last season, lost in the MAAC semifinals, and plummeted to No. 10 in this year’s poll.
They made gradual progress toward exceeding those expectations by winning their first five conference games and earning the tournament’s fifth seed, then crushed them over the course of three days last week.
That’s why everyone crowded onto the sixth floor of the McMahon Student Center. No one there seemed to care about the No. 15 seed next to St. Peter’s or the No. 2 seed next to their opponent, Tennessee. Thursday during a selection show in Charlotte.
“It’s just a competition. It’s a fire,” assistant coach Umar Shannon, a member of the 2022 Shaheen Holloway staff, told the Post about the vote, adding it was “definitely a motivator” and coach He added that this is what he mentioned. “I thought it was a kind of lack of respect.”
So they found a way to beat Fairfield on Saturday and become MAAC champions again. After 21 hours there was a confetti cannon and a watch party.
And this time around, the Peacocks will face a mystique in which no one quite knows what this group of defensive-minded players will be able to accomplish when preseason predictions in October give way to the chaos of March. You will not enter the NCAA Tournament with such an element.
“That was my goal when I came here and took over as coach.” [Shaheen Holloway]: Keep this program at the NCAA Tournament level,” head coach Bashir Mason said. “So the fact that we were able to do it ahead of schedule is even better in my opinion.”
By all accounts, this group is different from Holloway’s teams that beat Kentucky, Murray State and Purdue, so they’ll always be tied together.
“It’s the magic of peacocks,” Mason said while wearing the net he cut on Saturday around his neck. Some of their characteristic features have also remained unchanged. St. Peter’s had a defense that ranked 21st in effective field goal percentage and 32nd in turnover rate, according to Bart Torbic.
The metrics are that nothing really changed when Holloway left for Seton Hall, Mason (who was once Wagner’s youngest Division I coach in 2012) arrived, and it took St. Peter’s almost 80 years It reflected that the program’s future was built on the fundamentals of NCAA Tournament operations. materialize.
“Having a functioning defense is what moves the program forward,” Shannon told the Post. “It’s just overall toughness. You have to be tough. We believe toughness wins. If you’re going to be tough, you’re going to give yourself a chance every step of the way.
There was a holdover. Two 2021-22 redshirts for Brent Brand and Mohamed Sou. Shannon’s assistant. And perhaps most importantly, guard Latrell Reed, who arrived from Coffeyville Community College in 2021 and has since developed into a cornerstone.
But with only four players in a Peacocks uniform last year — Brand, Sow, Reid and Corey Washington — Mason used the first MAAC slate to figure out what type of players he needed. I deciphered it.
They have traveled from a variety of destinations, from Richmond (starting guard Marcus Randolph) to the now-defunct St. Francis College in Brooklyn (Roy Clark), but St. , will inevitably face some growing pains with the new student body. and the incumbent.
However, while attending the MAAC preseason meeting in Atlantic City, Mason heard a speech honoring Rider head coach Kevin Baggett, the team’s No. 1 vote-getter, and said, “We have eight new additions to the team.” We have added players,” he added.
“Oh, we have eight new players on our team, too,” Mason recalled thinking. “So why can’t he win when he has eight new players on the No. 1 preseason team that is the No. 1 seed?”
The Post has you covered with a printable NCAA bracket featuring the entire 68-team field for March Madness 2024.
That’s what makes the NCAA Tournament, and a team like St. Peter’s, so special. They have “nothing to lose,” Mason said. The pressure will be on Tennessee, he added, while MAAC Tournament MVP Washington predicted the Peacocks will have “another pressure.”
All it takes is a chance for the impossible to become a fact, and for that fact to begin to shape the modern-day juncture of the program’s timeline. Two years ago, that happened to the Peacocks.
Then, four days later, another chance presents itself.
“I was sitting in the exact same environment as any college player, the cameras were rolling in front of me, but my name was never called,” Mason said. “So sitting here today and knowing that we have already won and that our name is going to be called is the best feeling ever.”
Tour inside St. Peter’s Basilica
position: Jersey City, New Jersey
Registration: Undergraduate students 2,101 (total 3,673)
coach: Bashir Mason (2nd season)
Last NCAA appearance: 2022
NCAA Tournament History: 4 appearances, 3-4
How they got here: In his 12th year as head coach, Bashir Mason led his team to the tournament for the first time. They finished a surprising third in the MAAC regular season (the Peacocks were picked 10th) and won three close games in the conference tournament by a total of nine points.
starter
G Latrell Reed (11.1 ppg, 4.6 apg, 4.5 rpg)
G Michael Fouge (8.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 0.6 bpg)
G Marcus Randolph (6.4 ppg, 1.3 RPG, 0.7 apg)
F Corey Washington (16.5 ppg, 6.6 RPG, 1.2 spg)
F Mohamed Sow (5.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1,1 bpg)
key reserve
G Brent Brand (5.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.3 spg)
G Armoni Zeigler (6.4 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.2 apg)
G Roy Clark (7.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.8 apg)
F Stephon Roberts (2.5 ppg, 2.9 RPG, 1.0 bpg)
Featured players: Corey Washington, a 6-foot-6 sophomore, has taken a big leap forward this year, more than doubling his scoring output and improving his jump shot. He exploded for 24 points, nine rebounds, and four blocks in the finals, leading St. Peter’s to the MAAC Tournament crown.
key number
63.4 – St. Peter’s allows the 12th-lowest points per game in the country.
1 – Players from the Elite Eight team from two years ago who are on the current roster. Starting guard Latrell Reed was the only player to play for both teams.
9 – Players who averaged double digits per minute.
