McMaster men’s hoops keeping busy

Congratulations to all the McMaster University students who wrapped-up their exams today! They’ve been monopolizing all of the gymnasiums over the past two weeks, but that hasn’t stopped many of the school’s elite athletes from working-out. We caught-up with the men’s basketball team, who are still very hard at work, trying to maintain their spot as the eighth-ranked team in the country.

Finding refuge away from the thousands of exam-writing Marauders hasn’t been easy. But the McMaster men’s basketball team found space in the sport hall to keep their momentum going.

Head Coach Amos Connoly: “They’re so much better than they’ve ever been and the leadership is better than it’s ever been, we’re closer than we’ve ever been, so this timeline is probably appropriate given what this team has gone through and the successes and failures we’ve had a long the way.”

With an 8 and 4 record, the Mac men are now sitting pretty, on top of the OUA West, ranked number eight in the country. The last time they ranked among the top ten in Canada was almost two years ago.

Joe Rocca: “I’ve seen it all since I’ve been here, a lot of ups and downs. Right now, we cannot be content with where we’re at, but it’s a good feeling right now.”

Connolly attributes much of last season’s struggles to the departure of some key veteran players, which left the team searching for new leaders: “And that’s where it started, I think, was last year, through the summer, into now, guys like Redpath, Presutti, Joe, McCarthy, Black. Those guys have stepped into those leadership roles because there’s no one else to turn to.”

Taylor Black leads the men in maroon with an average of 16.2 points per game. But with great depth at literally every position, there’s a constant battle for playing time. And players like second-year guard Rohan Boney welcome the healthy competition: “I think it’s just the intensity in our mentality. We go into every game like we’re the underdog and play our hardest to get the ‘W’.”