GETTING INSIDE

Binghamton, coming off its first trip to the NCAA Tournament, saw the roof cave in during the offseason.

Starting guard Emanuel “Tiki” Mayben, who averaged 11.5 points and 4.7 assists last season, was arrested for allegedly selling cocaine. Then, coach Kevin Broadus kicked D.J. Rivera (who tied for the league scoring title at 20.0 points per game), Malik Alvin and others from the team for disciplinary reasons in a campus mess that brought down the athletic director.

So, a program poised to be the elite in the conference was down to having no one who averaged more than 4.4 points per game last year.

There is a long list of newcomers filling out the roster, but Binghamton will need a while to dig out of this disaster.

Then, to make things even worse, Broadus was guilty of an NCAA recruiting violation in October and he and his coaches were banned from off-campus recruiting until November.

Could it get any worse?

Yes.

New York State was also conducting an audit of the athletic department and there were, among other things, sexual harassment charges to deal with. Then, Broadus was placed on paid leave and replaced on an interim basis by Mark Macon.

Is this a basketball program or a reality show?

Regardless, it led to the Bearcats being a one-hit wonder in the conference and made it seem like 10 years ago that Binghamton lost to Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

NOTES, QUOTES

• Coach Kevin Broadus, rewarded with a new contract after a 23-win season, was found guilty of a recruiting violation in the offseason. He and his coaches were banned from off-campus recruiting until November and needed permission slips just to leave campus. Broadus was then placed on a paid leave of absence; assistant Mark Macon took over. Macon is the career scoring leader at Temple and in the Atlantic 10.

• Binghamton lost 53.3 points and 20.6 rebounds per game with the loss of Reggie Fuller (graduation), Tiki Mayben (arrest), and D.J. Rivera and Malik Alvin (kicked off the team for rules violation). There were also other manpower losses, leaving the team with no player who averaged more than 4.4 points per game last season.

• Tiki Mayben pleaded innocent to cocaine-selling charges and was still in school this semester.

• D.J. Rivera, a second-team all-conference selection last season, shared the league scoring title and won the Reggie Lewis Most Outstanding Player award while leading his team to the championship of the America East Tournament.

Last Year:   23-9 overall, 13-3 in America East, conference champs; lost in the first round in the NCAA Tournament.

Head Coach:   Kevin Broadus (career 37-25); third year at Binghamton (37-25). Interim coach: Mark Macon.

Quote To Note:   “He is an excellent coach and I have every confidence in his ability to provide strong leadership to the team. Our players have worked very hard in preparing for the upcoming season and I am looking forward to working with Mark in guiding the basketball program in a positive and successful direction.”—Binghamton interim athletic director James Norris on Mark Macon, named interim coach after Kevin Broadus was place on a paid leave of absence.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

Scouting The Newcomers:   The Bearcats signed nine players—six of them 6-foot-7 or taller—and the added height was supposed to build up a small team. Now, with only four players still around from last year, the newcomers fill out a decimated roster at every spot. Kraidon Woods, a 6-8 transfer from Arizona State, will sit out the season.

Key Early-season Games:   After what happened last year, the Bearcats had to be looking forward to opening the season at national power Pittsburgh, but they now just become fodder for the Big East Panthers. Binghamton then moves on to St. Bonaventure, is at Rider Nov. 28 (in what would have been a good America East-MAAC matchup) and plays Drake and South Dakota at the Dec. 12-13 Drake Challenge in Des Moines.

Program Direction:   What had been great is now a disaster, and it will be interesting to see how Kevin Broadus, armed with a contract extension, digs out of this mess. If he truly weeded out the bad apples to start from scratch, good for him. But this will be ugly for a while.

Probable Starting Lineup:   PG Christian Lukusa, SG Moussa Camara, SF Greer Wright, PF Pina Guillaume, C Kyrie Sutton.

Roster Report:  

• G Christian Lukusa is the leading returning scorer from last season, and he averaged just 4.4 points per game. The team was 9-2 in his 11 starts last year.

• C Kyrie Sutton started 15 games last season and was fifth in the conference in blocked shots.

• F Dwayne Jackson was kicked off the team during the season last year, averaging 11.7 points and 3.8 rebounds in 17 games.