What is a seawolf, anyway?
Name: State University of New York at Stony Brook officially, but you can just say Stony Brook University and everyone knows what you mean.
Location: Stony Brook, New York
Okay, but where’s that? New York is big. On the north shore of Long Island.
Why is the city named Stony Brook? Probably because of the nature of the waterways along the coast of Long Island.
Is there a literal brook with stones in it named Stony Brook? Doesn’t seem like it from peering at maps, but I’d be happy to be told I’m wrong by someone from the area.
Founded: The State University College on Long Island opened its doors for the first time in 1957, following in the fine tradition of state departments of education establishing colleges to prepare teachers. That was in Oyster Bay, and the school moved to Stony Brook in 1962 and was renamed. They’ve been going by the more familiar and simpler Stony Brook University since 2005.
Enrollment: 25,865 students as of Fall 2023, with 17,549 undergraduates. Honestly, I’m slightly surprised that SBU is that big.
Going Nowhere Fast: Stony Brook used to have a bridge going from the second floor of their student union to….. nowhere in particular. It just stopped. Apparently the idea was to allow students to go back and forth between the union and the library without involving vehicle traffic in the 1960s….. and they just never finished it? It was eventually connected somewhere else because the library had undergone renovations….. and then ultimately just destroyed in the early 2000s.
Welcome To Stony Brook Park: There’s a replica of a dinosaur skeleton in the lobby of SBU’s admin building. Majungasaurus crenatissimus lived in Madagascar in the Cretaceous Period. SBU professor David W. Krause was part of an expedition to uncover fossils in the Mahajanga Basin in Madagascar, and so, a replica of the beast’s fossils are on campus.
Nickname: Seawolves
Why “Seawolves”? They’ve been a lot of things in a very short time: Soundmen, Baymen, Warriors, and Patriots. As they were in the process of moving up to Division 1 in 1994, they elected to change to Seawolves. As to why specifically that? Well, here’s SBU’s own explanation:
The Seawolf is a subspecies of grey wolf found in the Pacific Northwest, with a reputation for courage and intelligence.
On the field, Seawolves reflect the five pillars of the SBU Athletics program: commitment, passion, pride, respect and swagger. On campus, students know that being a Seawolf means supporting each other, making connections for life, being a part of an inclusive community, forming your own identity, and finding your true passion.
Why did a university on Long Island go with an animal from the other side of the country? No idea. Apparently the school president just made an announcement to make it happen.
Notable Alumni: Jef Raskin; creator of the Macintosh computer; Joy Behar, co-host of The View; Buck Dharma, lead guitarist and the only constant member of Blue Oyster Cult; Academy Award winning actor Adrien Brody; Jon Oringer, founder of Shutterstock; former MLB pitcher Joe Nathan; and finally, Dr. Laura Schlessinger.
Last Season: 20-15, 10-8 in the Coastal Athletic Association
Final 2023-24 KenPom.com Ranking: #168 out of 362 teams
Final 2023-24 BartTorvik.com Ranking: #158 out of 362 teams
Preseason 2024-25 KenPom.com Ranking: #270
Preseason 2024-25 BartTorvik.com Ranking: #285
Preseason Poll: The Seawolves were picked to finish ninth in the 14 team CAA this season. They fell seven points short of 8th place Monmouth but are 13 points ahead of North Carolina A&T.
Returning Stat Leaders
Points: Jared Frey, 5.8 ppg
Rebounds: Andre Snoddy, 7.2 rpg
Assists: Jared Frey, 1.8 apg
Bigs? Leon Nahar is the tallest chap on the roster at 6’10”, but he’s listed at just 218 pounds. He appeared in just seven games as a freshman last season and doesn’t make the Torvik list of top 10 projected contributors.
Jeremiah Nyarko and Ben Wight are listed at 6’9” each, but they’re 200 and 220 pounds respectively, so that’s very much more of a wing body type than a big that you’d be worried about on the inside. Both are projected by Torvik to be in the 10 man rotation with Nyarko chipping in 4.5 rebounds per game. Andre Snoddy might have led the team in rebounding a year ago at 7.2 caroms per contest, but he’s only listed at 6’6” and 223 pounds.
Shooters? Amongst the returning guys, Jared Frey is the only sniper to be worried about. He converted nearly 37% of his 3.6 attempts per game last season in what was mostly an off-the-bench role. Joe Octave is here after two years at Air Force and two more at Holy Cross. His middle two seasons of shooting were good at 36% and 35% respectively, but he connected on less than 29% of his long range attempts last season. Jeremiah Nyarko shot 37% on threes for Western Texas College in the junior college ranks a year ago.
CJ Luster’s going to have to be covered at all times. He hit nearly 48% of his threes for Salt Lake Community College last season.
Head Coach: Geno Ford, entering his sixth season as head coach at Stony Brook and 13th as a Division 1 head coach. He has an overall record of 240-232 as a head coach, counting his time in NAIA and Division 3. Ford is 78-78 at Stony Brook.
All Time Series: This is the first ever meeting between Marquette and Stony Brook.