By: Aaron Robinson
The Towson University men’s basketball team will open up the season Thanksgiving week with a three game slate at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. Towson is one of 35 NCAA Division I teams set to compete at the Uncasville, Connecticut casino’s 10,000 seat arena.
A modified bubble environment will be in place to keep players safe, organizers of the Mohegan Sun bubble said in published reports.
The Tigers open Nov. 25 against St Bonaventure followed by a Thanksgiving day game against Rhode Island. They will conclude the three-day bubble experience against Stephen F Austin on Nov 27.
Towson is looking to improve upon a 19-13 campaign (12-6 in the Colonial Athletic Association) that landed them a three seed in the conference tournament. A season that looked promising ended with a first-round upset at the hands of Northeastern in the quarterfinals of the CAA tournament.
But this year brings new promise as well as new challenges to Tigertown.
Coach Pat Skerry enters his tenth season at the helm and is looking to take Towson to a place it has not been in 20 years.
That place would be the NCAA tournament.
Skerry is confident that March Madness is in reach even though the Tigers lost four starters from a year ago. Two of their top five scorers, including 6-1 guard Jason Gibson, return. Gibson, a Severna Park, Maryland native, made the CAA All-Rookie team and is expected to take a huge leap heading into his sophomore campaign.
“He’s the quarterback, he’s got the keys to the car,” Skerry said. “He’s got to be who he is personality wise, but he has got to get out of his comfort zone a bit to bring the team along.”
“I’m looking forward to growing more, learning more… [having a] bigger role this year, and being more of a leader,” Gibson said. “My second year being the point guard so I am excited to keep going with these guys, and I'm excited for the season.”
But Gibson will have some help in the backcourt.
Perhaps the biggest reason why this year’s Towson team has a chance to be special is the return of Zane Martin.
Martin, a 6-foot-4 inch guard from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, played two years at Towson, averaging 19.8 ppg 3.5 rpg and 2.7 apg as a sophomore. He then transferred to the University of New Mexico, where he averaged 10 points, three rebounds and three assists. Martin chose to grad transfer this spring, and after a few conversations, Martin is a Towson Tiger again.
“We had to mend some fences, like I had to talk to some people,” Skerry said. “But as I tell some people here, I was hurt more than anyone, we didn’t have a good year and we lost a good player.”
But how will Martin fit back into the fold two years removed from a season he poured in almost 20 points per game?
According to Skerry, that is still to be determined.
“He’s really gifted, he’s kind of like a James Harden, he is left handed, he can really pass it, and score it, and get his own shot but he’s got that clever, high IQ,” Skerry said.
“But we do have a really good supporting cast with us… Zane is a guy that if he has trust he will really playmake, and I think we’ve got better shooting than we’ve ever had so he should trust that.”
But Martin isn’t the only transfer Towson landed this offseason.
Curtis Holland, a 6-foot-2 guard from Churchton, Maryland, transferred from High Point University. He averaged 12.7 ppg in 15 contests for the Panthers before suffering a season-ending injury.
Holland said what he is looking to add goes beyond things that show up in the stat sheet.
“I think one thing that me and Zane can bring to this team is leadership,” Holland said. “We’re both older guys transferring in… i’m still learning the system and learning the plays, so on my end just doing everything I can to get up to speed so that when I can return from my injury it is a smooth transition and there are no hiccups.”
Towson also added 6 foot-1 inch graduate transfer Cam Allen from CSU Bakersfield. Allen, a native of Greenville, South Carolina, averaged just under 8 ppg in 20 mpg last season and should give the Tigers some more experience and depth in their backcourt.
Towson will have a healthy mixture of both incoming transfers, returning players as well as some sit out guys who will be eligible this season such as former Maryland state player of the year Demetrius Mims, as well as redshirt sophomore forward Solomon Uyaelunmo, who missed all but 2 games last year due to injury.
Old wins in college basketball. Towson is following the mid-major path to success with their combination of experience, skill, and also some youthful exuberance.
According to 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Charles Thompson, this year’s Tigers could be the team to finally get over the hump in the CAA.
“I think we have as good a chance as any team in the conference,” Thompson, the Fort Washington, Maryland native, said. “I think we’ll be as good as anybody and we can make a run at a conference championship.”
Thompson, Skerry, and the rest of the Tigers will begin their quest to bring a CAA championship to Tigertown when conference play begins on Jan. 2 2020 at Secu Arena against James Madison.