Rokas Gustys helped Joe Mihalich turn around Hofstra program
Hofstra's Rokas Gustys moves up the court in game where Hofstra defeated James Madison 87 to 81 in OT at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York on Jan. 5, 2018. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — When Joe Mihalich took over as Hofstra’s coach five years ago, the goal was somewhat more modest than it is now. First things first: He had to scramble to find enough players to put a team on the court.
It was an unsettled time, after a couple of coaching changes and a rash of suspensions.
“Although I think we had a good first year,” Mihalich said, reflecting on that 10-23 season. “We didn’t win a lot of games but man, we changed the culture of the program. There were a lot of people who were responsible, the players who played that year but also the guys who were sitting out that year.”
What the coach did was plant the seeds of the stability that put the Pride in position to challenge for a place in the NCAA Tournament, which is where the team found itself as it opened the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament against North Carolina Wilmington on Sunday night.
The planting was begun by recruiting the steady likes of center Rokas Gustys, who spent four years of solid culture-changing.
Gustys, a native of Lithuania who played at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, entered the conference tournament hoping to extend a memorable career. He needed only 19 rebounds to tie the CAA career record of Navy’s David Robinson, a Hall of Famer. With 12 points and 10 rebounds in the Pride’s 93-88 loss to UNC Wilmington, Gustys moved within nine rebounds of Robinson, and the Pride could be invited to a postseason tournament and give Gustys at least one more game.
The imminent end of his seniors’ careers struck Mihalich during a ceremony at the team’s final home game on Feb. 24. “Senior Day is an emotional day,” he said. “You stand out there at halfcourt and this player, who, it seems like yesterday, you recruited out of high school is now walking toward you and it’s going to be his last game. It’s hard. A lot of emotions are going through your head.
“You’re kind of choking back tears but at the same time you’re so proud of what you see. It’s staggering what he’s done. Forget the individual records, he has rewritten the record book, but he has made us a winner. That’s the important thing. What he has done in four years is just amazing. I don’t think as many players win as many games as he did in the four years.”
Injuries kept Gustys from playing in all of the games, but he has been a big part of a team that went into Sunday with a 78-52 mark in his four seasons. He entered Sunday having averaged 10.5 points and 12.1 rebounds in 29.7 minutes per game. Plus, he set the standard for conference player of the year Justin Wright-Foreman, who is on track to finish his own four-year career next season, and Eli Pemberton, who has been outstanding in his sophomore year.
The difficulty for Hofstra is the challenge of making that last step. Winning the CAA Tournament is something the Pride never has done. The conference is extremely well balanced and the tournament always is held in an out-of-the-way spot. This year, with a nor’easter scuttling the team’s flight plans, the travel here involved a 14-hour train trek.
But the squad was on solid enough footing to aim high. That always has been Gustys’ rationale, too. When the Donald Trump-Hillary Clinton debate was held at the team’s arena in 2016, the center was the one standing outside, holding a placard that read “Joe Mihalich for President.”
