Copyright The Boston Globe
The spotlight will be shining on Archie Miller and his URI hoops team for many reasons this winter. Most importantly, the coach is beginning the fourth year of a five-year contract he signed back in March 2022. While the Rhody program has taken steps forward over three seasons, there has been no meaningful push toward the elusive NCAA Tournament appearance all fans crave. What would Rhody leaders do if this Ram team doesn’t make a rise up the sport’s ladder? It’s a question to be asked for sure. Miller’s team jumped from 12 to 18 wins last season but the promise of an 11-1 start was wiped away by a 7-11 Atlantic 10 record. Like so many other programs around the country, URI will rely on the transfer portal this season with eight newcomers awaiting their first Ryan Center game tonight vs. Stetson. “We have a lot of transfers, experienced guys who will lead us for sure, plus four traditional freshmen who are all good players,” Miller said. Leading the group are four graduate seniors with one season of eligibility remaining. Guards Myles Corey (from South Alabama) and RJ Johnson (Holy Cross/Charleston Southern) will help replace Providence native Sebastian Thomas, who is now playing professionally in Spain. Tyler Cochran, a transfer from Minnesota, is the type of strong wing player Miller won with at Dayton. Size issues appear real but Keeyan Itejere (Northern Kentucky), Jahmere Tripp (Fordham) and Alex Crawford (Fresno State) are all intriguing options. Alum Mike Martin is beginning his 13th season on the East Side and, yet again, appears dogged by injury issues. This time the Bears’ two senior leaders enter the season with health issues. Landon Lewis, a strong 6-7 forward from Los Angeles, is close to overcoming an ankle sprain and could be ready for the season opener against Siena on Friday. New Hampshire native A.J. Lesburt should be cleared of his broken foot in the next six weeks, so his status remains cloudy. Returning starters Jeremiah Jenkins (New Britain, Conn.) and Malcolm Wrisby-Jefferson are vital scoring options and Martin feels the combination of Lewis, N’famara Dabo, David Rochester and Wyatt DeGraaf can form one of the better frontcourts in the Ivy League. There’s a new coach at Bryant who’ll be tasked with following Phil Martelli’s brief two-year tenure that ended with a stirring run to the NCAA Tournament. Martelli jumped to Virginia Commonwealth and Bryant hired experienced Eastern veteran Jamion Christian. He led Mount St. Mary’s to two NCAA tourney trips (2014, 2017) and then had brief stops at Siena and George Washington before jumping to coach professional ball in Trieste, Italy, for the last two seasons. Christian has compiled an unusually tall roster, claiming his first Bulldog team “will be one of the tallest in the country.” That group is led by wing 6-foot-7 Quincy Allen, a transfer from Colorado and Chicago State now expected to be one of the top players in the America East. Returnee Jakai Robinson, freshman Ty Tabales (Worcester) and big men Daniel Akoue, Lennart Weber, Keegan Harvey and Timofei Rudovskii are among a deep group of options. After three straight 20-win seasons, the URI women’s team fought the injury bug and slid back to a 17-16 finish a year ago. Entering her sixth season in Kingston, coach Tammi Reiss looked to aggressively reload in the offseason by adding three Atlantic 10 transfers in guards Brooklyn Gray (Saint Louis), Ta’Viyanna Habib (George Mason) and Valentina Ojeda (VCU). Gray is an potential All-Conference player. “I call them my ‘Big Three’,” Reiss said this summer. “I’ve seen all three of them up close for years and have been thoroughly impressed by their skill sets, their experience in our league and how they’ve performed against our team.” PC enjoyed its highest Big East finish in five years in coach Erin Batth’s second season in town. This time around the Friars are mixing transfers with some promising newcomers. Watch for Teneisia Brown (FDU), Sabou Gueye (Florida A&M) and Payton Dunbar (Virginia) to add instant scoring. Batth is excited about local freshmen Ashley Dinges (Haverhill, Mass.) and Olivia Rodrigues (New Bedford, Mass.). The Brown Bears have been knocking on the door of Ivy Madness for coach Monique LeBlanc and hope to break through in the coach’s fifth season. Grace Arnolie, the team’s top returning scorer at 14.8 points per game, is one of the better players in the Ivy League. Gia Powell (8.7 ppg), Olivia Young (6.1) and Beth Nelson (3.9) all started a big chunk of games last season. Two transfers, including Monét Witherspoon (Tufts), could help with depth, as injuries caught up with the Bears down the stretch, leading to losses in six of the final eight games. The Bulldogs were selected third in the preseason America East poll and may be the best bet to make the NCAAs among Rhode Island’s women’s programs. Mia Mancini (Mansfield, Mass.), the former Wheeler School All-Stater, led the Bulldogs in scoring, assists and 3-pointers last year and is a first team All-America East pick. Other returning starters include Maranda Nyborg, Martina Boba and Nia Scott. Coach Lynne-Ann Kokoski also welcomes back vets Mimi Rubino and Olivia Fernandez.
