City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)

Dan Burke’s tenure at Wilmington did not get off on the right foot.

In his first season as the Wildcats’ head coach, Burke’s team started 0-7. Wilmington eventually won some games, but still was stumbling by the middle of the conference season and was 4-15 with a week left in January.

To Burke, that was the low point of the year.

“I didn’t think that at that point in the season we were being unselfish, I didn’t think we were playing hard, I didn’t think we had great attitudes, which are things I demand of the guys in our program,” he said. “In practice we really talked things out, we had a conversation about roles on the team and expectations and from that point on, I think the guys came together themselves and said ‘We need to turn this around.’ ”

Wilmington won its next four games, went 7-4 the rest of the year and came within one step of improbably reaching the NCAA Tournament -- falling to Philly U in the CACC Tournament final.

Now in Year 2 with the Wildcats, Burke is hoping the lessons learned from the 2014-15 campaign carry over to a smoother season.

“It’s changed a lot,” Burke said of the expectations entering this season. “The school, the program before last year had never won a playoff game, last year we won two, almost three. I think now people know it’s possible, it can be done here in men’s basketball.

“...The expectations are definitely a lot higher, but I think that’s a good thing and it has been good so far because the guys on the team, they believe it can happen now and I’m not sure if that was the case at the beginning of the year last year.”

The Wildcats return their top scorer in fourth-year junior guard Tyaire Ponzo-Meek, who averaged 15.1 points per game last season. Senior Sam Sanders should see a solid amount of minutes alongside Ponzo-Meek in the backcourt, and Sanders had 7.5 points in 18.3 minutes per game last year.

Their frontcourt will be anchored by seniors Shai Henry and Ta’Vaune Griffin -- the team’s top two rebounders last season. Henry had 7.2 points to go with his 5.9 rpg average; Griffin averaged 4.4 points and 5.4 boards per game.

Griffin is one of a few players who is stepping into a new role this season. He said not knowing roles last year was one reason to the sluggish start, and that has been a focal point so far at practice.

“Coach, he wants us to be comfortable in everything that we do,” Griffin said. “He’s stressed that fact. He has pretty much told people what their roles are, what they can and can’t do on the court. For me personally, the other day, I tried to do something as far as dribbling that I shouldn’t do, and he got on me for it. So it’s about staying in your lane and doing what you’re good at.”

Wilmington is without two of its three top scores from last year in Valentino Thompson and Kevin Ohen. Burke did add some transfers in former UDC guard Masner Beauplan, who will be Ponzo-Meek’s backup and JUCO transfer Brian Adkins, who Ponzo-Meek called “a big, physical, defensive guard.”

So with a familiarity and revamped roster, Burke is thinking the same problems the Wildcats ran into last year won’t be much of an issue this time around. If that's the case, his team should be competitive in the CACC South.

"I think it took us a while for us to get used to each other, for the guys to get used to me, for me to get used to them," Burke said. "But I was really pleased with the seniors from last year’s team and then the guys we have back this year buying into what I wanted to do. So far it’s carried over to this year pretty well.”