Siena Saints
2020-2021 Overall Rank: #125
Conference Rank: #1 MAAC
Siena technically earned the MAAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament last season. The Saints were the top seed in the conference tournament and reached the semifinals before the conference tournament was scratched and Siena was awarded the soon to be cancelled tournament bid. That would have been the Saints first appearance since their three year run from 2008 to 2010. It is a bit disappointing for the program to miss out on the opportunity, but this year’s group, with potentially four starters returning, could be even better.
2019-20 Record: 20-10, 15-5
Coach: Carmen Maciariello
Coach Record: 20-10 at Siena, 20-10 overall
Key Departed Players:
Elijah Burns, Forward, 14.4 ppg
Sammy Friday IV, Forward, 4.1 ppg
Matt Hein, Guard, 2.7 ppg
Key Returning Players:
Jalen Pickett, Junior, Guard, 15.1 ppg
Manny Camper, Senior, Guard/Forward, 13.7 ppg
Donald Carey, Junior, Guard, 11.3 ppg
Gary Harris Jr, Sophomore, Guard, 5.3 ppg
Jordan King, Sophomore, Guard, 4.7 ppg
Kyle Young, Sophomore, Forward, 2.9 ppg
Key New Players:
Aidan Carpenter, Freshman, Guard
Harrison Curry, Senior, Forward, Grad Transfer from Detroit Mercy
Colin Golson, Freshman, Forward
Bennett Kwiecinski, Freshman, Forward
Steven Lazar, Freshman, Forward
Dana Tate Jr, Junior, Forward, Transfer from Rhode Island
Kyle Arrington, Senior, Forward, Transfer from Western Illinois, not eligible
Jackson Stormo, Junior, Forward, Transfer from Pepperdine, not eligible
Projection:
Coach Carmen Maciariello potentially returns four starters since senior wing Many Camper is currently flirting with the 2020 NBA Draft. Last season he averaged 13.7 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists and the Saints would certainly miss Camper on both ends of the floor, but he is expected to return to Albany for one more season. The rest of the backcourt returns too, led by Jalen Pickett and his team high 15.1 points and 6.0 assists per game. Pickett also does a surprising amount of work on the glass and hit a team-high 58 three-pointers. Fellow junior Donald Carey is a prolific outside shooter as well and averaged 11.3 points in 2019-2020. Add in promising sophomores Gary Harris Jr. and Jordan King and Siena has an absolutely loaded backcourt. In an effort to replace Elijah Burns, Siena picked up a couple transfers that will likely be eligible to play this season. Harris Curry comes from Detroit Mercy where he averaged 7.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in 19 games in 2018-2019. Dana Tate will be eligible after the first semester after transferring in from Rhode Island. Tate did not see much playing time with the Rams, but he has size and experience and that is exactly what this team needs. Siena also brings in four freshmen and three of them are forwards. The frontcourt really does not have to do much. The backcourt can pick up the scoring slack and Camper will do plenty of rebounding again and even Pickett and Harris block a surprising amount of shots. However, one of the big bodies will need to eat up some space in the paint and it would be very helpful if they could be a threat to score so the backcourt can get more room to operate. If that happens, Siena should cruise to another MAAC title.
Projected Postseason Tournament: NCAA
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 72.2 (134th in nation, 1st in conference)
Scoring Defense: 67.7 (129, 5)
Field-Goal Percentage: 45.9 (63, 1)
Field-Goal Defense: 42.8 (173, 9)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.6 (238, 7)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 35.5 (67, 3)
Free-Throw Percentage: 70.4 (189, 6)
Rebound Margin: 4.6 (46, 3)
Assists Per Game: 13.4 (153, 3)
Turnovers Per Game: 13.1 (176, 3)
