In a brand new era, can BU Men’s Basketball get back to the top?

Photo courtesy of Helen Gui

By Sam Robb O’Hagan

Less than two weeks before Boston University men’s basketball opens the 2023-24 season, the noise inside Case Gymnasium stops.

The gym has been loud throughout this Tuesday’s practice. Staying quiet isn’t an option for these 15 student-athletes, who are all desperate to prove themselves before a brand-new season.

Eight of them are new this year. The other seven weren’t around when the Terriers last won the Patriot League Championship in 2020 and are about to lead the team themselves, without teammates from that title-winning group, for the very first time. 

All 15 of them are, one way or another, entering uncharted territory. It is not the time to sink under the radar. But at this moment, they all stand silent, because head coach Joe Jones has a lesson he needs to teach.

The team’s performance in a one-on-one drill was poor. But that isn’t the problem — after all, with so many new faces this year, everyone around here is expecting growing pains. What is a problem, though, is body language that was once so eager and optimistic that is now, evidently, disheartened and defeated. Jones’ message is clear.

“Stop worrying about the results.”

A new era at Case Gym

It would have been hard to catch Jones barking those words in the two seasons before this one. At times, it felt like the results were the only thing to worry about for a core returning from that title win. Last year, BU started three graduate students and two seniors; the year before that, future NBA guard Javonte McCoy and conference player of the year Sukhail Maton led the Terriers to the semifinal of the Patriot League tournament.

Now, none of those players remain. And the eight that arrived this year make up the largest roster turnover in Jones’ 13 seasons at BU.

“You have to handle yourself like a champion before you become a champion, and we’re learning how to do that,” Jones says, sitting in his office two days later. “We’re not there yet.”

It can be tough for Jones’ players to see that vision. Four of them are freshmen. Two of them are junior transfers from Division 2, and two more are former student managers who were added to the roster as walk-ons this offseason. When a shot clanks off the rim, a slump in the back can often follow. It is precisely the habit Jones wanted to work out of them when he stopped that one-on-one drill.

“If you’re caught up in the process, and not the results,” Jones says, “you’ve got a better chance of getting where you’re trying to go.”

If everything else has changed, the Terrier process hasn’t. The staff has instilled what they call BU’s “pillars,” things like playing “inside-out” on offense — which prioritizes working the ball inside the paint before settling for a three — and BU’s “core principles,” things like being tough, resilient, selfless, and vocal. During that practice, many of the players wore base layers that read “ATTITUDE.”

“That’s more important than the outcome,” Jones says. “Did you do what we’re asking you to do to the best of your ability? If you did that? We got nothing to worry about.”

But before BU opens the regular season at Northeastern on November 6, there are more questions than answers. With eight players new to Division 1 — more than half of the roster — who is ready to play significant minutes in a local rivalry game on the road? Of the seven returning players, four of them have played less than 300 minutes at BU — how have they improved before assuming a larger role this season?

And how do all of those parts, most of them still unknown individually, work together to form a group that can compete come conference play?

“It’s never been this,” Jones says. “It’s never been this many questions about who’s going to do what.”

The returning players

“Oh, the king,” assistant coach Curtis Wilson says, walking into his office across the street from Case Gym. He is, of course, referring to Miles Brewster.

If there is a sure thing on the roster, it’s Brewster, a senior guard whose 1,000 career minutes at BU are the most of any returning player this season. In many ways, he is the face of the team this year. Mostly because he’s almost the only familiar face.

“It might be the most turnover in college history,” Brewster jokes. “It’s been a wild ride.”

But, with Brewster, there are still questions. He’s never been an unquestioned leader in Case Gym, and in fact, he’s never even been an unquestioned starter.

“I’m excited, I’m really excited,” Brewster says. “But I’m definitely nervous.”

He’s notoriously self-critical. A proud defense-focused guard, he’s always been quick to point out his mistakes, saying he “can’t really be satisfied.” Many around the program agree it’s one of Brewster’s best qualities. But, it can be a slippery slope. Brewster vividly recalls a sophomore year bus ride back from Lehigh, when he was distraught after not playing in two consecutive games.

“It can definitely be defeating, or almost tiring, and non-productive,” Brewster concedes. “I wouldn’t say it’s always a good thing, and it’s definitely something that I’ve worked on trying to curb.”

Now, as a certain game-to-game starter for the first time, it will all be tested.

“The big thing with Miles,” Jones says, “is not to put it all on his own shoulders.”

Brewster is one of seven returning players. He’s alongside two more seniors, forward Andrew Patnode and guard/forward Anthony Morales, one junior, forward Malcolm Chimezie, and three sophomores, guard Ben Roy and forwards Nic Nobili and Otto Landrum.

Three of them haven’t even played 100 career minutes. The three that have — Morales, Chimezie, and Landrum —  have only reached the floor in relief of veterans from that title-winning team.

Now, they all step into the spotlight.

Jones says there’s reason to believe in each one of them. Chimezie and Morales both have experience that only Brewster can match. Patnode is a senior who’s played 19 career minutes, but Jones says he’s “going to be a guy that I think we will go to.” Jones raves about Roy’s improvement. 

But Nobili and Landrum, the two sophomore forwards, are names that keep coming up.

It’s pretty hard not to talk about Landrum. The 6-foot-9 forward played 254 freshman-year minutes with his head on fire (literally, he rocks an iconic ginger mullet). He’s a lot. There’s never a dull moment — either an almost overly enthusiastic smile on the bench or a pulsating scream on the court. He’s a lot for opposing bigs, too, desperately pursuing rebounds and imposing his will whenever he can. A young spark-plug for a veteran team last year, Landrum faces a far larger role this year. 

“He’s just an incredible kid,” Jones says. “Everybody loves Otto. But I’ll say this, he’s very, very much improved.”

Jones says Landrum can score inside and stretch the floor with perimeter shooting, making him a perfect fit within BU’s “inside-out” offensive pillar.

The 6-foot-10 Nobili, Landrum’s fellow sophomore forward, figures to play a similar role. Jones makes sure to mention him, saying he can shoot, pass, and play off the dribble, even if he doesn’t do as much work inside as Landrum. Jones says Nobili was BU’s leading scorer in their first pre-season scrimmage.

“Him and Otto together right now, presents some issues, because they both can step away from the basket,” Jones says. “That really helps you.”

But, of course, there are questions there, too. In 254 minutes last season, Landrum attempted one three-point shot and missed it. Nobili took nine and made one, but in only 71 total minutes on the floor.

Even the returning players face a potentially steep learning curve. And Brewster knows it.

“The biggest thing I’ve learned is probably just to stay with it, to stay the course,” Brewster says. “If I could talk to my 19-year-old self, I would just tell myself, don’t worry so much about the small hiccups or the small setbacks.”

The largest roster turnover in 13 seasons

Perhaps no Terrier can vouch for the process before the results quite like junior guard Ethan Okwuosa.

A transfer from DII Southern New Hampshire, Owkuosa was a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on recruiting in College Basketball. D1 offers came, but then existing players at those schools were granted an extra year of eligibility, and the need for fresh recruits like Okwuosa dwindled. The offers, including from the Patriot League’s Lafayette, were rescinded, and Okwuosa settled for DII. After moving to a private high school his sophomore year to focus on basketball, it was not the immediate result he wanted.

“It was kind of hard to swallow,” Okwuosa says.

But, knowing he had to make it to the NCAA’s top division, Okwuosa worked through a broken hand his freshman year to win all-conference honors his sophomore year, averaging 12.4 points per game and 5.9 rebounds a game, despite being a 6-foot-2 guard. 

“The more I accepted it, the more I knew it was temporary, and worked towards it being temporary, rather than slacking and then ending up there for four years, it was really a blessing in disguise,” Okwuosa says.

In early April, Okwuosa entered the transfer portal, and by the middle of the month, Jones and BU came calling (“screaming in my ear,” Okwuosa says). They offered him a scholarship before he even took an official visit, and two years after his D1 dream was derailed, Okwuosa is finally here.

It’s a funny position for Okwuosa to be in. His journey to BU is direct evidence of the “process over results” mentality that Jones is trying to instill, but it is precisely that journey that makes ignoring the results harder.

“To be honest, I need to learn that,” Okwuosa says. As the primary ball-handler in many of BU’s five-on-five drills during that practice, he says he wants to stay aggressive and confident, but in a new offense, there have been bumps. He starts to say it’s been a smooth transition but stops himself. “I wouldn’t say smooth, It’s been a learning curve, right?”

“I’m overthinking it too much to where it’s kind of affecting my decision-making,” Okwuosa says. His head coach agrees. “I want him thinking less and playing more,” Jones says. During that Tuesday practice, Jones pulled Okwuosa aside multiple times for a private reminder.

Okwuosa is working through many of the same problems that his seven fellow newcomers are. Jones and Brewster are quick to point to the flip side of that coin — the talent there is to build on, the potential there is to build towards. 

“There’s such a huge upside with this team,” Jones says. “It might not look great early, but certainly, this is a group that could come on as we get some experience and gain some confidence.”

Okwuosa is strong and quick, according to Jones, and despite being a new player, he gathered 1,018 minutes of playing time just last season at SNHU, more than Brewster has played in his entire career.

Junior guard Ben Palacios, a fellow DII transfer and Okwuosa’s roommate, “can really shoot it,” according to Brewster. Both Jones and Brewster affirm that freshman guard Michael McNair “can really score,” while Jones says that freshman guard Spencer Joyner is “probably the best athlete on the team.”

Both speak glowingly of freshman guard Kyrone Alexander, who Jones says “is a fast learner who picks up on things really quickly.” He recalls a drill where the staff instructed their players to run to the weak side of the court, and Alexander was the only one that did.

Jones tries to be tempered about 6-foot-7 freshman forward Matai Baptiste, but he alludes to a big name around here when discussing his potential. “He can be a Walter Whyte-type player for us,” Jones says. Whyte, who graduated from BU last season, played almost 4,000 minutes under Jones and averaged 12.7 points per game over a five-season playing career.

But on November 6, with 0 minutes to their names, they’ll all be thrown into the deep end. Jones says he is counting on his most experienced player to point them in the right direction in the face of early struggles. He compares Brewster to leaders from the 2019-20 title-winning team, who always kept the team focused on the process.

“We need Miles to be that guy where if we lose a game, we don’t have a hangover because we lost,” Jones says. 

It feels like that responsibility is in pretty good hands. Brewster sports an afro, usually accompanied by a thoughtful yet confident grin, and he’s as expressive as anyone around these parts. And, critically, he’s been through all of this before.

He talks at length about nerves. The eight new players around him will undoubtedly be nervous. But Brewster is, too, and he isn’t ashamed of it. He wants his teammates to know that.

“I don’t care if you’re nervous, you should be nervous, you’re weird if you aren’t nervous,” Brewster says. “But go out and play your game, don’t let that let you play timid.”

Playing their individual games and playing BU’s game doesn’t feel mutually exclusive. And regardless, to do both, the eight new faces will need to remain confident. “Inside-out,” the Terriers’ main offensive pillar, is predicated on the guards aggressively attacking the paint. Jones wants to take threes, but not when they’re settled for. Assistant coach Mike Quinn spent most of the 12-minute film session before that Tuesday’s practice showing the players examples of timid threes from an earlier scrimmage.

But attacking the rim takes guts, and Brewster needs to keep the train on the tracks. It’s a role he’s proudly assumed. He says he’s consulted with Deyja Enriquez, a sports psychologist at BU, on being a true leader. He’s inspired by leaders he learned under during his first three seasons, but with his trademark attitude that makes him so beloved.

“I want to be a better leader than them,” he says with a laugh. “A big thing was really being vocal, I don’t think they were as vocal as they could have been, and that’s something that I can step forward and be.”

He is, of course, referring to members of the only title-winning team in his head coach’s 13 seasons at BU. But he says it with his chest, the kind of confidence that is needed before a season with so many unanswered questions.

“Miles has been as good of a leader as we’ve had here,” Jones says. “He’s been outstanding.”

The thrill of the unknown

“So I’ll say this,” Jones says, pondering the first inquiry into the experience of preparing a group with so many new faces. For four seconds he pauses, searching for a word.

“This has been delightful,” Jones says.

There are 11 days left before he leads his team into Matthews Arena to face Northeastern. He’s quick to emphasize that the goal is still to win the Patriot League, saying “every time we lace them up at BU, we’re trying to win a championship.” Brewster smiles about it, but he’s blunt. “It’s the only thing I’m ever thinking about. Never thinking about anything else,” he says.

Neither of them knows who the starting five will be on November 6. That’s fine by them.

“There’s just so much unknown,” Jones says. “That makes it so much fun.”

It feels like Jones is the perfect coach to steer this brand-new ship. He’s never eager to praise himself, but he does say that one of the things he does especially well is going from one game to another, not worrying about the results of the past and the implications they have for the future. There’s a method behind the one-game-at-a-time mindset.

“So then when it’s over, that’s when I look back and say, ‘man, how good did that guy get?’ But in the moment, I’m not thinking that, I’m thinking ‘Right, what do we got to do to help this guy get better?’” Jones says.

So, no matter what happens on November 6, Jones won’t overreact. November 6 will become November 10, when BU travels to Piscataway, New Jersey to take on Rutgers. And back to the Terrier process, they will go.

“If you don’t put limits on them,” Jones says, “they’ll surprise the hell out of you.”

He opens the laptop next to him and quickly navigates to BU’s 2019-20 schedule, the last and only time Jones won a Patriot League title with the Terriers. He goes straight to the losses.

“How about this,” Jones says. “At one time that year we lost one, two, three, four, five games in a row. And we won the championship.”

BU started that season 3-7. They did lose five straight games — two of them by more than 20 points. It’s all the evidence that Jones needs.

“What we’re trying to do is really hard, it’s really demanding,” Jones says. “We have got to just keep going, no matter what.”

And so, the deep end awaits. Jones and the Terriers cannot wait for it. He consistently marvels at his team’s energy and their willingness to be coached. Besides, he isn’t worried about the results anyway.

“I’m telling you,” BU head coach Joe Jones says, “we’ve got the right guys.”