MEDFORD, MA (November 11, 2022) – The Tufts University men's basketball team comes into the 2022-23 season looking to make a splash in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), and based on the early returns from preseason, head coach
Brandon Linton is excited about where his team is right now.
"I've been pleased with how the preseason has been going," said Linton. "A big thing that we've been talking about coming into this year is accountability and competitiveness, and I feel like we've checked both of those boxes. There's a healthy level of competition, so it's been a fun preseason."
The Jumbos are coming off a season where they went 13-10 overall, but settled into NESCAC play nicely, earning an 8-2 record en route to the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. Unfortunately for Linton and his squad, Tufts was upset in the opening round of the NESCAC Tournament by Trinity and not selected to the NCAA Tournament. It was a tough finish to the season, but Linton thinks that the experience from last year will fuel his players this winter.
Tufts did graduate some key pieces from last year's squad, including All-NESCAC First Team honoree and Jostens Trophy finalist Luke Rogers. Rogers led the team with 16.3 points per game, also grabbing 11.2 rebounds per game and blocking 24 shots. Rogers, along with graduated seniors Brennan Morris and Will Brady, played a huge role in last year's squad, but already Linton has seen some returners step into larger roles.
Every team has an adjustment period from year to year, but the Jumbos are fortunate to have some very key parts from last season's team back. Senior guard
Dylan Thoerner was an All-NESCAC First Team honoree last year, also picking up D3hoops.com All-Region accolades. Thoerner, along with classmates
Theo Henry,
Carson Cohen and
Tyler Aronson, have already been steering this group in a great direction.
"I think that's been one of the neat things going into this team, that the leadership was a question mark but initially Aronson grabbed that role and got our guys going in a good way," Linton. "Our other two captains
Theo Henry and
Carson Cohen were elected captains because of everything they've done this summer and fall leading us to this point. It's not just them, Dylan and
Jay Dieterle are also part of our leadership structure and have helped us already this year."
Linton was able to talk about this year's team and the versatility through the lineup and the ability to create shots all the way through the lineup. He's hopeful that the Jumbos will be difficult to match up with this year due to the squad's depth, shooting from the perimeter and defensive length on the other end.
"We are a good shooting team collectively and we have great playmaking ability," said Linton. "Defensively, we have some good length, it's a big team, a long team positionally speaking. That's going to help us continue to be a tough defensive squad."
That defensive mindset will be crucial for the Jumbos as they head into one of the challenging conference season, but Tufts is coming off a season where it allowed less than 70 points per game. Though Rogers and his shot blocking is now gone, Linton is hopeful that a full team defensive gameplan from inside out will be key.
"That's our calling card, defensively, that's one thing people will see standout is how hard we compete," said Linton. "That's what this team has hung its hat on in the past and that's what we're going to do this year.
"We know what we have in our group, we have a little bit of everything that allows us to do different things," Linton continued. "We're confident in this group that the expectations as always are high. Our returning group has been bringing the younger players along well and we think our cohesiveness already will playout once we get going."
A positional breakdown is below:
GUARDS
The back court is a deep and talented group this year for the Jumbos, even to the point where Linton mentioned in preseason that it's been hard to keep people off the floor due to the competitiveness in practice. It's a good thing to have depth in the guard position, and Tufts has a bevy of talented options both returning and incoming this season.
Thoerner was second on the team in scoring in 2021-22, scoring 15.5 points per game on 51.6 percent shooting from the floor. Thoerner also led the team in three-point shooting at 44.2 percent from deep, while getting to the line 104 times in 2021-22. His offensive skill is among the best in Division III, so look for another big year out of him.
Aronson also had a strong season last year, as he led the team in minutes played while posting 10.1 points per game with a team-high 48 assists. Aronson also made 25 three-pointers, fourth-best on the squad. Senior
Carson Cohen started eight times last season and averaged 21 minutes while finishing second with 47 assists.
Fellow senior
Theo Henry played in 22 games as well last season, and his energy and defensive ability is massive for this squad. Henry also had 20 steals, which led the team. Junior
Casey McLaren was another name that Linton talked about moving into a bigger role, as McLaren is coming off a season where he played in all 23 games while starting once. McLaren is a very strong shooter, making nearly 38 percent from deep a season ago.
Jay Dieterle was fifth on the team in scoring a season ago, and another year in this offense will only help a player that can produce on both ends of the floor. Dieterle shot 47.3 percent from the floor a head ago, hitting 38.1 percent from downtown. His 33-point game versus Suffolk last year was an indication of his abilities.
Sophomore
Khai Champion played in 16 games a season ago and is solid defensively while bringing the ability to get the ball up the court in a hurry. He also can create and get into the paint with a quick first step. Classmates
Jackson Patton and
Quinn Cain played sparingly as first-year players, but have taken strides as well and will look to battle for minutes in a deep back court.
The first-year guard group has a chance to be a special one, as
James Morakis,
Sidney Wooten and
Theo Liu look to carve out a role in their opening seasons as Jumbos.
FORWARDS
The front court obviously will be a little different looking without Rogers roaming the paint, but this year's group still will be strong and motivated to contribute this year. The lone senior up front is
Kris Bortz, who played in six games a season ago.
Trumann Gettings had a solid first year and will look to take another step forward in 2022-23, as he started eight games and played in all 23 games. Gettings shot 48.8 percent from the floor, adding 18 blocks while pulling in 81 total rebounds. Fellow sophomore
Bobby Stewart is strong on the glass, as he pulled in 3.7 rebounds per game in only 12.2 minutes a contest in 2021-22. Stewart also is efficient offensively, shooting a team-high 67.7 percent from the floor last season.
First-years
Scott Gyimesi and
Joshua Bernstein have also shown flashes in the preseason and will look to earn playing time during their first year in Medford.
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Tufts gets its season underway on Saturday, November 12 at Emerson College, taking on the Lions at 1 p.m. in non-conference action.
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