March is a month of hope. Early spring greenery begins to break through frozen ground, as the sun rises and sets later and later. For the basketball players hoping for an invitation to the big dance, March is the month of hope as well. Even a team under .500, like Stony Brook, can hope to catch lightning in a bottle, win a few games, and forestall the sun setting on their season.

The Stony Brook Seawolves have struggled this season, ending regular season play at 12-17. Ten of those losses came in the midst of two five-game losing streaks. Despite getting good wins against Campbell and College of Charleston, the Seawolves could not be consistent enough to climb above the 12th seed in the Coastal Athletic Conference (CAA).

First-time head coach Joy McCorvey has been tasked with taking over an ascending program that had two recent NCAA tournament berths in 2020 and 2021. Nestled in eastern Long Island, over an hour outside New York City, Stony Brook is home to 26,000 students, though just over 10,000 of those live on campus.

McCorvey shares a laugh with Former Tennessee Coach Kellie Harper, during her time as an assistant with the Volunteers.

“I think obviously Stony Brook is a phenomenal institution where you can recruit not only great basketball players, but great students with the high academics and just the academic success that this university has had,” McCorvey said. “I loved New York when I lived here as a college athlete.”

The Seawolves roster is the epitome of modern team construction. Upperclassmen transfers Zaida Gonzalez and Shamarla King lead the group. Sophomore Guard Breauna Ware was brought in from St. Bonaventure after one year. Junior Lauren Filien and Sophomore Janay Brantley round out the core rotation, both committed Seawolves since high school.

McCorvey has also recruited a diverse group of freshmen, from 5’2” Ioanna Giannopoulou, to 6' 6” Faith Wylder. The Seawolves over the years will be constructed in Coach’s ideal image.

“If you wanna be good, that means you probably want to be good at everything. You want to be good in the classroom. You want to be good at UNO. You want to be good at watching film. You want to be good at your nutrition, at lifting weights, at being a great teammate, being a great friend, being a great daughter. I just think that they all go hand in hand,” McCorvey said. “Those are the people that I want in our program. I want respectful young ladies who want to grow and have a growth mindset, not only on the court but off the court.”

With a new coach comes a new style of play, and players have to understand their new roles and subsequently grow into them. Senior Guard Zaida Gonzalez is getting to be a first option for the first time in a long time, and having star level impact. The growth in responsibilities and volume of shots has had a corresponding knock on her efficiency, shooting 2% worse from the field and 15% worse from 3.

Zaida Gonzalez lines up at the free throw line in a victory against James Madison University

“I'm not the number five option anymore essentially. There's a lot of plays for me. My coach wants the ball in my hands. She allows me to shoot a lot of shots,” said Gonzalez. “So once I get to my spots, she kind of just lets me be me. I just go out there and get to my spots, play my game, attack defenders. So she just has the instills that confidence in me”

Stonybrook on their whole doesn’t move the ball a ton, averaging less than 10 assists per game, with no player averaging more than three. Coach McCorvey’s system is not about movement for movement’s sake, but about playing in a confident flow, where players feel empowered to make decisions.

“That's just allowing us to play basketball without any specific rules or any plays. It's just play basketball, space the floor out. It's like a four out one in. it allows the guards to get downhill to just make reads, attack and kick.”

McCorvey comes in with significant player development experience at Tennessee, Florida State, Michigan, and her alma mater St. Johns. Some coaches might come in with big demands and expectations, while McCorvey assigned her team Chop Wood, Carry Water, centering on the process of being elite.

“Nowadays it's really difficult for student athletes to trust that process because they want the instant gratification and they want it to come instantly based on whatever success they've had at previous institutions or in high school,” McCorvey said. “But there is still a process and I want players who believe in what we do, believe in our university, believe in our program and know that they will get better when they leave here.”

Coach Joy McCorvey gives direct feedback during her time as an associate HC with Florida State.

So now, hope springs again, and in spite of the unfortunate skids, Stony Brook will have their chance to compete for the CAA title and an NCAA Berth. If they manage to vanquish 13th seeded Hampton University in the opening round, they would still need to run the gauntlet all the way with fifth seed Monmouth and fourth seed Drexel waiting in the subsequent rounds.

Unfortunately, they’re also on the same side of the bracket as top-seeded NC A&T.

In the face of this bleak picture, there are two numbers worth holding on to. The Seawolves on average win the rebounding battle, and make more free throws at a higher percentage than their opponents. For a team mired in inconsistency, winning rebounds and free throws provides a road map for reliable tournament success.

Opponents scooping up less misses protects the defense, rebounding offensive misses helps mitigate the lack of assists and inconsistent shooting.

“I'm more concerned with how we grow,” Said McCorvey, “How are we going to respond and bounce back? And if we can respond and bounce back, then we've taken one more step in our growth. And then when we go on the road again, can we overcome the hump?”

That final hump is the biggest of all. Ten of Stonybrook’s twelve wins have come at home, with their season-capping win coming on Senior Night in Stony Brook. When the CAA Tournament starts, every game is a road game.

The Seawolves start their hopeful journey on March 12th, where they’ll win or they’ll learn.

“[March is] when you want to peak and that's when you wanna play your best basketball.” McCorvey said “And I do think that our best basketball is ahead of us.”