Written by Andrew Capitelli (SJC-LI Sports Information)

Patchogue, NY| After falling just short of a Skyline Conference playoff berth last season, the St. Joseph's College (L.I.) men's basketball team enters the 2016-17 season after a summer of retooling. Third-year head coach Kevin Spann welcomes back four-fifths of his starting line-up from last season but saw six players depart in May. In their place the former LIU Post standout brought in a total of six freshmen and transfers.

Despite the culture change, the team will still lean heavily on senior returners Andy Laurent and Fernando Vazquez, who finished eighth and sixth in the nation, respectively, in minutes-per-game.

Laurent, an Amityville, NY native, led the Golden Eagles in points (17.4), rebounds (6.8), assists (4.5) and steals (1.3) per-game last season and was an All-Conference First-Team selection after finishing fifth in the Skyline in scoring. On January 7, 2016 he became the 12th player in program history to register 1,000 career points and enters the season fifth all-time with 1,190.

Vazquez, who hails from San Juan, Puerto Rico, led the conference in three-point field goals made (69) and three-point field goals made per-game (2.8) and was second in team scoring (15.9 pts/game).

"Laurent and Vazquez will be leading the team this season," said Spann. "Last year was a growth year in new roles for them, and now we'll look for them to use their leadership to cultivate a competitive identity for the program."

The frontcourt will be highlighted by junior returner Isaiah Moore who led SJC in field-goal percentage (46.1) and averaged 11.2 points-per-game a year ago. Fellow juniors Stephen Cohen and CJ Capilets will also provide valuable experience in the backcourt with the former providing strong defensive play and the latter being a threat form beyond the arc.

To complement the eight returners, who also include Dan Nappi (Sr., G), Max DeMartino (Sr., G) and Dan Brzozka (Jr., F), Spann looks primarily to freshmen Joe Santoro and Frank Basile. Santoro, a point guard who played at Island Trees High School last season, is a floor general with great quickness and the ability to distribute the ball efficiently. Basile, an Islip High School product, was one of Long Island's top scorers last year and averaged over 20 points-per-game as a senior.

Beefing up the frontcourt will be 6'6" Brad Weiss who joints the team as a sophomore after playing high school ball at Plainview High School two years ago.

Among the other newcomers are Darren Opoku (Jr., G), Matt Renahan (Jr., F) and Mike Harris (Jr., F).

On November 8 the Skyline Conference released its annual Preseason Coaches Poll in which the Golden Eagles were picked to finish fourth in the six-team South Division. Using the division format this season, the top three teams from each division qualify for the postseason.

Skyline Conference Preseason Coaches Poll

North Division (2015-16 record, Skyline record), Pts. (first-place votes)
1. Sage (16-10, 14-6), 58 (6)
2. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (11-14, 6-10 Landmark), 48 (3)
3. Purchase (13-13, 11-9), 42 (1)
4t. Maritime (8-17, 8-12), 39 (1)
4t. Mount Saint Mary (8-17, 6-14), 39 (1)
6. Sarah Lawrence (5-20, 2-18), 20

South Division (2015-16 record, Skyline record), Pts. (first-place votes)
1. Farmingdale State (14-13, 14-6), 60 (6)
2. Old Westbury (19-9, 16-4), 59 (6)
3. Mount Saint Vincent (9-16, 8-12), 40
4. Yeshiva (15-11, 12-8), 37
5. St. Joseph's-L.I. (10-15, 9-11), 29
6. St. Joseph's-Brooklyn (15-13, 10-10), 21

Despite SJC's position in the poll Coach Spann still believes the team will still be in the playoff mix.

"We believe we're a team that could finish in the top-four in the South Division this season," Spann remarked. "Teams are very competitive and every game will be a battle, but with our veteran leadership we should be able to compete for a top four spot and challenge for a postseason berth."

The Golden Eagles will open the 2016-17 season on Tuesday, November 15 when they welcome Medgar Evers to the Danzi Center for a non-conference tilt at 6:00 PM. Skyline Conference play will commence for SJC on Thursday, December 1 with a home contest vs. defending conference champion SUNY Old Westbury at 6:00 PM.

The final home game of the regular season will be played on Tuesday, February 14 vs. St. Joseph's (Brkln), and the final regular season game of the year will be played on the road at Farmingdale St. on Saturday, February 18 at 12:00 PM.