In a conference full of mysterious teams, Northeastern may be the most. But any Bill Coen team is a threat to win the Colonial, and this one is no exception.
2019-20 Record: 17-16, 9-9 CAA (6th place)
2019-20 KenPom Ranking: 142nd (2nd in CAA)
If you were to just look at the CAA standings last season, you might have thought that Northeastern had a bit of a letdown. Just one year removed from a conference championship and NCAA Tournament birth, the Huskies suffered through a bit of a tough regular season, finishing in the bottom half of the CAA for the first time since 2016-17. Maybe Northeastern was not as tough as we were accustomed to seeing.
Those thoughts were quickly smashed once you saw the Huskies play. Jordan Roland was as dangerous an offensive player as there was in the conference. On extremely high usage, Roland still posted a 61.6 True Shooting %, good for 72nd in the country. He was named to the All-CAA First Team for his trouble.
Role players like Bolden Brace and Maxime Boursiquot also stepped up as upperclassmen — Brace, who felt like he was in Boston for a decade, provided versatility and timely shooting. Boursiquot was the defensive backbone of the Huskies, and was also very efficient around the basket; he shot 60.1% from inside the arc.
Add Tyson Walker, an all-rookie-team guard to that mix, and Northeastern was much better than their record allowed. The computers agreed — KenPom ranked them as the second-best team in the CAA to end their season, as did Bart Torvik. But here’s the number that really defined the Huskies’ regular season: -.113. That was Northeastern’s “luck rating” according to KenPom, which came in 345th in D-I. In other words, Northeastern was the 9th-most unlucky team in all of Division I NCAA basketball.
However, they were not nearly as unlucky in the CAA Tournament — coming in as the #6 seed, the Huskies soundly beat #3 seed Towson in the quarterfinal before holding off the upstart #7 seed, Elon. They would fall in the title game to Hofstra, the regular season conference champion and, probably, best team in the CAA.
The core of that solid Huskies team is gone now. Roland and Brace graduated, and Boursiquot left the team to transfer (although he hasn’t turned up anywhere yet). This is now Tyson Walker’s team.
Walker is a traditional point guard — he can certainly score it (and perhaps will more now that such a high volume of the Huskies’ shots are gone in Roland) but he’s a great passer and fits perfectly in Coen’s Princeton-inspired 4-around-1 offense. Walker’s also a very good defender, ranking 47th in the country with a 3.6% steal rate. If Northeastern is going to be good this year, he has to perform at an all-CAA level.
But the Huskies also have to get performances from more than just him. Shaq Walters, the other starter back in Boston, will have to contribute more offensively. Walters is more of a slasher than a shooter, but has not had the ball in his hands much in his career. He’ll certainly keep producing defensively — if nothing else, the Northeastern guards are going to lock down this year.
The question marks only amplify after Walters. Redshirt junior big Greg Eboigbodin will likely start, an enhanced role from his time as a reserve forward last year. Junior forward Jason Strong will also get some run. And a couple freshmen, like wing Coleman Stucke, will definitely crack the rotation.
The wild card is Notre Dame transfer Chris Doherty. The 6-foot-7 junior forward will get a chance right off the bat. Doherty barely played at Notre Dame, but was a high-level recruit coming out of prep and may perform better in a league more suited to his abilities.
Northeastern was picked 7th in the preseason poll, owing to the unknowns surrounding this team. I don’t have as much faith in this team as some might. But I do know this — never doubt a Bill Coen basketball team.
Thanks to KenPom.com for the advanced stats utilized in this article.