As conference play heats up and teams start looking ahead to the NCAA Tournament, teams have their rotations set. The Marist men swept Western New York this week with two wins over Canisius and Niagara. The Niagara win featured a game-winning shot from redshirt senior center Patrick Gardner. The women went 1-1 this week with a win over Saint Peter’s and a nine-point loss to Fairfield.
For Marist’s transfers, some players (Jao Ituka and Braden Bell) have no statistics to cover, and others have earned spots in the conference play rotation with some playing key minutes. Let’s a look at how last year’s Marist transfers performed over the break.
First, on the women’s side, senior guard Trey Kennedy saw a minutes increase for George Mason University as they played 18 minutes and had four rebounds and two steals in a loss to La Salle University. In the same amount of time, they also had an impressive nine points, four rebounds, and one assist in a loss to VCU. Kennedy has come a long way since the beginning of the season, and she has earned a spot in the conference play rotation. It’s good to see the hard work pay off for Kennedy.
At Stetson University, Anabel Ellison started both games this week and had six points, six rebounds, and two assists in a ten-point win over Central Arkansas. She also had one point, three rebounds, and three assists in a loss to North Alabama. Ellison has started the last three games for Stetson, and she will try to solidify her place in the rotation with more solid play.
Graduate student guard Sarah Barcello continues to be a role player at San Diego State University. Barcello had one assist in 14 minutes in a win over Fresno State. She followed it up with two points, three rebounds, and two assists in a win over Boise State. Barcello has earned a spot in the rotation for an Aztecs team that is 14-4 and 4-1 in the Mountain West conference.
How are the transfers performing?
| Points per game | Field goal percentage | Minutes per game | |
| Trey Kennedy (George Mason) | 1.3 | 27.3% | 6.6 |
| Anabel Ellison (Stetson) | 5.0 | 28.7% | 24.4* |
| Sarah Barcello (San Diego St.) | 3.0 | 33.3% | 14.9 |
| Ricardo Wright (SMU) | 2.4 | 33.3% | 9.0 |
| Matt Herasme (New Hampshire) | 9.2* | 40.7%* | 31.3* |
| Victor Enoh (UNC Wilmington) | 1.2 | 54.5%* | 8.7 |
| Raheim Sullivan (NJIT) | 5.9 | 29.7% | 27.6 |
| Jao Ituka (Wake Forest) | 3.0 | 33.3% | 8.5 |
| Braden Bell (Prarie View) | 3.8 | 40.5%* | 9.6 |
On the men’s side, junior guard Ricardo Wright has had a surprising emergence for SMU. On New Year’s Day, he broke into the rotation against Tulsa and scored 11 points in 17 minutes in a blowout win. A couple of games later, he scored 13 in a loss to UCF. Wright played in both games this week, and he had three points and four rebounds in 16 minutes in a loss to Tulane but got just two minutes in the team’s next game against Cincinnati. Wright receiving minutes in conference play is a positive, considering the lack of time he was getting earlier this year. We’ll see if he can keep contributing off the Mustangs’ bench.
Graduate transfer guard Matt Herasme continues to be a key player for the University of New Hampshire. Herasme has firmly placed his stamp in the starting lineup, and he is playing well. He had seven points and two assists in a win over Maine. Herasme also had five points, four rebounds, and four assists in a loss to Bryant. On Jan. 8, he had one of his better games of the season, going for 16 points and playing all 40 minutes in a win over Vermont.
Graduate student center Victor Enoh returned after a couple of weeks out of the lineup but is seeing limited action for UNC Wilmington. Enoh had four rebounds in four minutes in a loss to the College of Charleston. He also had two points and two rebounds in 10 minutes in a loss to William & Mary. Enoh is playing on a team that is currently 14-5 and 4-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association Conference.
Graduate student guard Raheim Sullivan had a decent week for the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Sullivan has earned his spot in the starting lineup, and he is playing well. He had eight points, five rebounds, and four assists in a loss to Binghamton. Sullivan then had four points, four rebounds, and six assists in a win over UAlbany.
Center Field will provide another update on the Marist transfers as conference tournament season grows closer.
Edited by Jonathan Kinane
Photo from Jonathan Kinane