LEWISTON, Maine -- The pandemic wiped out the 2020-21 season for the Bates men's basketball team, but some familiar names return this year for the Bobcats, joined by a group of sophomores and first-years who are making their collegiate debuts. Bates opens its season this Saturday at Clark University. Tip is set for 2pm.
Junior captain and guard Stephon Baxter (Worcester, Mass.) is the leading returning scorer for Bates, having averaged 10.4 points as a first-year in 2019-20. Baxter received All-Rookie Team honors from the Maine Men's Basketball Coaches and Writers Association that year, seeing action in 25 games while starting seven. The speedy guard was one of the team's best three-point shooters, shooting 40.6 percent from long range.
Junior center Omar Sarr (Dakar, Senegal) joined Baxter two years ago on the Maine All-Rookie Team as a force in the post for the Bobcats. Sarr ranked fourth in the NESCAC at 2.2 blocked shots per game. He was also fourth in rebounding with 8.9 boards per contest. Sarr also showed a lot of potential on offense, shooting 55.6% from the field, good for seventh in the conference.
"I'm very giddy about the season because we are finally playing basketball again," head coach Jon Furbush '05 said on this week's
Bates Bobcast. "Steph and Omar have been our everything this preseason."
Furbush is excited to get a full season from junior Jacob Iwowo (London, England), who plays on the men's soccer team in the fall. Iwowo emerged as a force near the end of his rookie campaign, earning his first career start against a nationally ranked Colby team in February and tallying 19 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, one steal and two blocked shots.
"Now that we have a built-in trust and relationship and I know him more, his transition into basketball will be a lot quicker than it was two years ago," Furbush said of Iwowo. "He never stops talking, which is good. He's not just talking for the sake of it, but he's actually talking with a purpose. He's brought an element of communication to our defense that we haven't really had."
Joining Baxter as team captains this year are seniors Andrew Snoddy (Stow, Mass.) and
Kenny Aruwajoye (Owo, Nigeria), both of whom should provide frontcourt depth along with junior center
Cam Riley (Sparta, N.J.), the tallest player on the team at 6-foot-9. Snoddy has been slowed by injuries during his career, but he was a Maine All-Rookie team selection in 2018-19.
"We were offensively oriented the last couple years, and we're getting back to what I designed Bobcat basketball to be," Furbush said. "We're envisioning holding teams in the 50's and 60's at most, so that's something we can control. But it's hard. Our team embraces that challenge."
The Bobcats are excited for the return of fifth-year senior Raheem Spence (Nantucket, Mass.) after the fall semester ends. Senior
Joe Collins (Cutchogue, N.Y.) is another returnee and a fearless shooter, having shot 40.9 percent from three-point range two years ago.
But of the 19 players on the Bates roster, 11 have never played a minute of college basketball. Furbush finds the "unknowns" exciting.
"Depth is a great motivator," Furbush said. "I've had individual meetings with the guys and just said, 'You've got to be prepared to play 20 minutes on Friday and maybe two minutes on Saturday based on matchups or how you played the night before.' That's college athletics though, right? At this point in their lives, you've got to produce."
