By: Liam Cooney | Public Relations Coordinator
As we reach the back half of fall and inch closer to the dead of winter, Salve Regina Men’s Basketball makes their return for a season that holds significant excitement and buzz.
After two seasons of reaching below .500 marks in the overall record (9-17 in ‘22-’23, and 11-14 in ‘23-’24), the Seahawks have a squad of returners and newcomers that is sure to make the goal of competing for a conference championship year in and year out a reachable reality.
The last time that goal was within reach, the Seahawks, still in the formerly known Commonwealth Coast Conference and now the New England Conference, took their playoff run to the conference championship. It was during that 2021-2022 campaign, the last year of the big three core of three 1,000-point scorers in Mikey Spencer, Cam Collin and Kevin Kelly, that the team fell just short of a berth in the NCAA tournament, losing to Nichols College in the conference championship game (Spencer reached 2,000 points).
“I think that in order to get back to that level of dominance, the players need to trust each other, they need to come together as a family,” said senior super fan Justin Haverly. “That’s how they will win the big games this year. [They] really emphasized recruiting for this year and hit the portal hard. There will be a lot of new faces lacing up for the Seahawks and I think they are going to be a dominate group this year.”
The program is bringing in a total of five freshman, a class that head coach Sean Foster told me will be “excellent” in the coming years. On top of those freshman newcomers, the team added three transfers to the team. Brendan McCroy (Fall River, MA) joins the team as junior from Saint John Fisher, Brady Fowler (Colden, NY) joins as a graduate senior, also from Saint John Fisher. And lastly, Patrick Spenard (Rochester, MA) joins as a sophomore from Franklin Pierce. These three key additions, coupled with the return of key producers in the likes of seniors JoJo Powers (pictured) and captains James Jolly and Declan Walsmley, give the Seahawks the depth and expected production to make a serious run in the NEWMAC.
Foster told me the additions to his roster have been “tremendous” in pre-season practice, and that he feels his team is the deepest it has been in a number of years. “There is very little separation throughout our roster and any given day different players shine.”
Last year, the team was disappointed to not have the chance to enter the NEWMAC playoffs. Foster told me he fully believes that this year’s team will make this program a serious contender this year.
I got the chance to speak with senior captain Declan Walsmley, who shared the same excitement and energy that his coach did for this upcoming season. Perhaps with a bit of his chip on his shoulder, as the Seahawks were picked to finish 8th (of 9) in the recent NEWMAC coaches pre-season poll.
“Our team goal this year is to win the NEWMAC championship. We have a great team with a bunch of high energy guys ready to compete,” he said. “Last year we just missed the NEWMAC tournament, so we are motivated to improve and earn our spot in the playoffs. We are confident we can make a run with the personnel we have.”
Walsmsley, who lead the team last year with 13.8 points per game, further alluded to his team’s reasons for likely success, in the fact that they possess senior leadership, size and depth and team qualities that have been lacking or entirely missing in recent years, as well as some break-out contributors on the returning roster. “We have a lot of depth this year and a few guys that are ready for a breakout year are Sean Seymour, Brady Spencer and Jesse Doherty. Sean and Brady provide experience and are ready to take a step as they enter their second year in the program. Jesse redshirted last year while recovering from a knee injury but will provide us scoring and energy right away,” Declan told me.
The Seahawks kick off regular season play this Saturday, November 9th, with an away matchup vs. Johnson and Wales University. Their first home game of the year will be Tuesday, November 12th. Into December, their first NEWMAC matchup is scheduled for December 3rd at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
This season should be an exciting one for Salve Men’s Basketball. The team has something to prove, yet possesses the combination of veteran leadership and production, depth, and size that they haven’t had in some time. Furthermore, the ability for incoming transfer and freshman pieces to mesh with returners will be an exciting storyline to keep an eye out for.
Don’t be surprised when Salve Basketball makes some early noise this year.
GO SEAHAWKS!
Photo provided by George Corrigan.
