Ten Things to Know About the Bryant Bulldogs
Syracuse opens their season against the Bryant Bulldogs on Friday. Here are 10 things to know about the Orange's opponent.
1. This is Jared Grasso's first full time head coaching gig
Grasso's coaching career began almost as soon as he was finished playing at Quinnipiac. He has been an assistant at Hofstra, Hartford, Quinnipiac, Fordham and Iona. He was also an interim head coach at Fordham. His record as a head coach is 25-37. He took over a Bryant program that had been struggling, and went just 10-20 in his first year. However, Bryant improved significantly in year two under Grasso, with a 15-17 record. Expectations are much higher entering year three.
2. Replacing the leading scorer
Gone is Adam Grant, Bryant's leading scorer from a year ago at over 16 points per game. He was the only double figure scorer for the Bulldogs during the 2019-20 campaign. He also averaged 3.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 36.7% from beyond the arc. One of Bryant's biggest challenges this season will be replacing his production.
3. Transfers
Bryant has hit the transfer market hard, landing five such players and a junior college prospect. Peter Kiss averaged 6.0 points and 2.2 rebounds at Rutgers in the 2018-19 season (he sat out last year due to NCAA transfer rules). Melo Eggleston came from Arkansas State (after transferring from Wake Forest), where he averaged 8.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Luis Hurtado Jr came in from UAB while Luke Sutherland was at Siena last season. Darius Gunn was a prolific scorer at Central Wyoming, where he averaged 17.0 points per game before transferring to Bryant. Chris Childs was a junior college All-American last season.
4. Super sophs
Michael Green and Charles Pride both had solid true freshman seasons last year. Green is a 5-11 guard who averaged 9.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists last season. He only shot 26.9% from three point range, however. Pride is a bigger guard at 6-4 and averaged 8.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. He shot 42.8% overall but just 27.6% from beyond the arc. Both Green and Pride will be counted on to take steps forward in their development this season.
5. The big man
One of Bryant's best players is 6-8 senior forward/center Hall Elisias. He is a physical player at 230 pounds and a skilled shot blocker. He averaged 7.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game last season. Elisias offers rim protection and a low post scoring threat.
6. Central New York ties
Bryant has two players from the Central New York area. The aforementioned Charles Pride attended Liverpool High School before transferring to Putnam Science Academy. Transfer Luke Sutherland graduated from West Genesee High School. Both will be making their Dome debut, though it will be without fans.
7. Preseason Poll
Bryant finished 8th in the Northeast Conference (NEC) last season. However, the coaches picked the Bulldogs to finish third during the 2020-21 campaign. Fairleigh Dickinson was picked to win the conference with Long Island picked to finish second.
8. New York state of mind
Bryant's roster has eight players from New York State. Compare that to Syracuse, which has just five. The Bryant coaching staff also has someone with Upstate New York ties. Assistant Eamonn Mahar graduated from SUNY Cortland in 2017, where he was a student manager of the basketball program.
9. Length
Just because Bryant is a mid-major at best does not mean they lack length. They have guards who are 6-1, 6-4, 6-6, 6-7, 6-8, 6-2 and 6-5. Their forwards are either 6-7 or 6-8. Besides Elisias, they have bigs that are 6-10 and 7-2. Despite having a couple of 5-11 guards, this is not a small team.
10. Competitive
Of Bryant's 17 losses last season, 11 of them were by 10 points or less. In fact, they were competitive in their only two games against power five teams. Bryant lost at Rutgers 73-71 last year. That same Rutgers team that spent much of the season in the top 25. In fact, the Bulldogs had a three pointer in the air that would have won the game at the buzzer, but it did not fall. Later in the season, Bryant played at Maryland, and lost 84-70. That matchup was a five point contest at halftime, and was close throughout the first 11 minutes of the second half. A 15-5 run for Maryland pushed their lead to 14 with 8:37 left. The point is, Bryant plays hard, they are not in awe of their opponent and will test Syracuse in a variety of ways.
