ture looks bright.
With a host of transfers and freshmen, this year’s squad look like they’re a year or two away from being a force in the Little East Conference.
In the meantime, though, there’s a season to be played and the Huskies’ success will rely on getting better every game.
“We’re going to grow as the year goes on,” head coach Karl Henrikson says. “But I want them to know the future is now, too.”
With no seniors and the enormous scoring vacancies left by Drew Coppenrath and Jamaal Caterina, this year’s squad will have to sort itself out as the season progresses.
Junior Greg Whitaker (Presque Isle) returns as the most likely candidate to lead the Huskies on the offensive end and should get help from the likes of sophomores Luke Pollack (Eliot), Troy Jellison (Bangor) and Kione Morgan (Garland, TX).
Caterina and Coppenrath, who collectively accounted for 33.4 points and 16 rebounds per game last season, also provided Henrikson’s squad with some formidable size and tough match-ups for opponents.
If the Huskies hope to reproduce last year’s mismatches, they’ll have to get production
from some new faces.
Look for freshman Sean Bergeron (Kennebunk) to make his presence known early. At 6’7″ and with the skill-set to face the basket, Bergeron will introduce mismatches for the Huskies, who will need to parlay mismatches into much needed offensive production.
Andy Tracy (Ellsworth), a junior transfer from Colby-Sawyer, will be a helpful addition to a young USM squad. The former MCI prep player and standout at Ellsworth High School is exceptionally athletic and has an uncanny ability to find the rim.
Fellow transfer Otis Smith (Altamonte Spring, FL) will also chip in on the offensive end. At 6’3″ 250, Smith is strong enough to bang down low, but skilled enough to face the basket and put the ball on the floor.
Another key variable for the Huskies will be point guard play and pace-of-game management. With two of their returning players, Jellison and Pollack, in position to share their ball-handling duties, USM will likely be strong in the backcourt.
Against the exceptionally quick backcourts of the LEC, the sophomore tandem will have to work hard to keep the Huskies’ under control and in games.
Because of their youth, the Huskies have been selected to finish last in the eight-team
Little East Conference. However, Henrikson sees their ranking more as a challenge than
any disrespect. Rhode Island College was the unanimous number-one selection with UMass-Dartmouth following in second place.
Michael Poulin (Readfield), who played on the 2008 State Championship team at Maranacook Regional High School, is a tremendous on-the ball defender. His defensive efforts could prove pivotal in shutting down the potent backcourts of teams like RIC and UMass-Dartmouth who pushed the pace against USM a season ago.
“There are no bad teams in Div. III anymore,” Henrikson said, adding that his team’s learning curve will have to be steep since the LEC is one of the top-5 conferences in the country.
The Huskies’ goal, regardless of what outside sources say, is still to host a first-round playoff game, something the team did for the first time in recent memory last season.
In the end, it will the success of the Huskies’ new faces that will dictate their future. If players like Tracy, Smith and Bergeron are able to utilize their skills, the Huskies should be poised to climb out of the LEC’s cellar.
USM will look to pick up conference wins against lower-echelon LEC teams like UMass-Boston, Plymouth State and Western Connecticut and hopes to play the part of the spoiler when they play nationally ranked Rhode Island College and UMass-Dartmouth.