Stonehill Season Preview 22-23

This is my first scouting report for a team making its D1 debut, so thanks so much to Rob Dauster and The Almanac for sourcing a vast majority of the info on the report.

Like Bryant University in 2008, UMass-Lowell in 2013, Merrimack and LIU in 2018, Stonehill becomes the fifth school in the last fifteen years from the Northeast-10 Conference to join the Division 1 ranks, joining Merrimack and LIU in the Northeast Conference.

Entering his tenth season as head coach, Chris Kraus led the Skyhawks to a 15-12 overall record and 10-9 in conference play, making it unlikely that Stonehill will make the same immediate impact as Merrimack did winning the NEC regular season title in 2020. 

Nonetheless, Stonehill is a unique matchup due to their positionless motion offense that is predicated on high skill and IQ that forces defenses to stretch their defenders to the perimeter, providing their shooters space. 

A Look at the Roster

The best returning player is stat-stuffing fifth year forward Andrew Sims. Playing most of last season at the 4, Kraus expects the 6’6 200 Sims to play more on the perimeter this season, which allows more time sharing the floor with incoming D2 grad transfers Max Zegarowski (Franklin Pierce) and Cole Bergan (Northern State).

Like his older brother and former Crieighton great Marcus Zegarowski, Max is a lights out shooter, making 2.4 threes per game last season at an incredible 43.0%. While Cole Bergan isn’t as talented of a shooter, he brings a more versatile offensive game, dishing out 3.7 assists per game last season.

The Skyhawks best returning guard is Isaiah Burnett. Starting his basketball career at Navy, Burnett is a three-level, two-way combo guard who can do a little bit of everything on the court. Josh Mack is the team’s most aggressive defender who limits mistakes on the offensive end. 

At the backup guard spots, Nathan McGill and Emmanuel Bonsu are two guards more known for their defense. Bonsu, in particular, guarded four positions last season and will look to do the same in the guard-heavy NEC.

At the wing spots, Christopher Melis played close to starter minutes as a freshman thanks to his physicality and willingness to play bigger than his size while William & Mary transfer Thatcher Stone has yet to showcase the shooting potential he showed in high school, earning him offers from BU, Bucknell and Brown.