Stony Brook a winner regardless of NCAA Tournament outcome

DES MOINES, Iowa — The scoreboard notwithstanding, the real result of Stony Brook’s NCAA Tournament debut Thursday night will show up five or 10 years from now. Chances are the Seawolves’ week in the sun will cast a glow on the next generation of recruits.

Getting national publicity for finally reaching The Big Dance after four close calls in the previous five years and being matched up against Kentucky created a whole new — and much higher — profile for Stony Brook. It was everything that the current players had wanted when they enrolled, and it probably will not hurt in getting high school kids to follow them.

“I think it’s going to be great for the future of the program, I think it will help us with recruiting. We’ve wanted to get to this point and this is the first time we were able to do it,” junior guard Ahmad Walker said. “So I think we’ll be able to bring in some other talented players, such as the Jameel Warneys and Carson Puriefoys of the world.”

Maybe Warney, the star power forward who has drawn interest from NBA scouts, and fellow senior Puriefoy, the standout guard, were once-ever comets that landed in Stony Brook’s orbit. Also, who knows if coach Steve Pikiell still will be around or if he will have left for a bigger offer?

What is certain is that they all are leaving a legacy like no one before them did.

“Players do have respect for Stony Brook. We’ve been close a couple of times. We win every year. But being able to do this finally is a big deal,” Walker said.

The prospect of “this,” a headfirst dive into March Madness, helped persuade Walker to return. He left after having been a member of the America East all-freshman team two years ago to spend a year at Barton Community College in Kansas. “There was no bad blood when I left,” he said. “I stayed in touch with my teammates, talked to them regularly. After talking to them, talking to my parents, talking to the coaches, I felt this was the place I wanted to be, the place I wanted to come back to. That’s what I did.”

Lucas Woodhouse, a two-time All-Long Island player at Harborfields, transferred from Longwood University in Virginia because of the blended motivation to come home and get to somewhere he never had been before. “I felt like this was my best opportunity to make the NCAA Tournament. That was my goal when I left my old school,” the junior guard said. “I think everything happens for a reason. The timing was just right.”

Puriefoy had considered Princeton and Vermont, but neither was a match like Stony Brook. “I just fell in love right away with the diversity of the place, and the coaching staff really made me feel at home when I went to my first official visit with my family. As soon as I sat down at my first practice, I knew this was the place for me,” he said.

“I definitely wanted to make it to the tournament. That was really my first and only goal. I didn’t know what to expect, coming into college as a freshman. I wanted to be successful individually, but ultimately I wanted to make it to the tournament. The first three years I wasn’t able to do it, but finally . . . ”

Finally, he got to see Warney score 43 points against Vermont last Saturday in the biggest game of their lives — something that would not have happened had Warney followed his first instinct and signed with Rider when he was a junior in high school in New Jersey. He decided to wait until the following year to see what turned up. It took one look.

“I loved Stony Brook,” Warney said. “I loved the coaching staff. I loved the players here. When I first came here, Tommy Brenton was just coming off being player of the year. I just tried to keep the program moving. I believed in the coaching staff and they believed in me from Day One. I started my freshman year and was able to get better day by day.”

For all of them, Thursday was their best day, regardless of the score. They experienced something they believe they will be able to hand on. “There is just something about the place,” Walker said of his school. “You can’t really explain it.”