America East Basketball: A Look at the Albany Great Danes

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The 2022-23 season was one to forget if you are a fan or member of the Albany Great Danes men’s basketball program. Their overall record of 8-23 to go along with a conference record of 3-13 would be enough by itself. Finishing in last place in the league does not help. Head coach Dwayne Killings has done the right thing in wiping the slate clean. He can do that based on the program getting the chance to play their home games this season in the newly renovated Broadway Center, which will host its first game on November 29 vs Boston University. As the coach says, it is a transformational season for the program and one they are looking to get started.

Coach Killings has also been improving the roster for this season. Four players have been added since the end of May. The first of those players is Muneer Newton, a 6-5 forward from Philadelphia, PA/ For the last two seasons, has been playing at William Penn University. Last season, Newton averaged 10.9 points and 6.2 rebounds in 34 games. From the field, he was a 61.6% shooter and was a big reason why the Statesmen finished their year with a 30-4 record. They would win the America Athletic Conference Championship for the second straight year. Newton will come to Albany with two years of eligibility left.

Sebastian Thomas comes to Albany after spending two years in Rhode Island. The 6-1 guard from Providence, R.I. played in 31 games for the Rams a year ago. He averaged 5.9 points, 2.3 boards, and 2.8 assists in 22.9 minutes on the court. He made 13 starts for Rhode Island. He would end the year carrying a top-150-assist rate in the country while finishing seventh in the A-10 in assist percentage. Coach Killings is looking to add a playing-making guard to his backcourt. The hope is Thomas can fill that role.

Marcus Filien is a 6-7 forward from Rensselaer, NY who will be playing a graduate year with the Great Danes after spending four years with the Cornell Big Red in the Ivy League. He played in all 28 games for the Big Red a year ago making one start which was on senior day. He averaged 2.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, 0.6 assists, and 0.6 steals while playing 13.6 minutes a game. His dad Pat was an assistant coach at Albany from 2005-11 helping the Great Danes to two straight NCAA Tournament appearances in 2006 and 2007.

Gianmarco Arletti is a 6-7 guard from Bologna, Italy who was with the University of Delaware for the past two seasons. Last year he made 15 starts for the Blue Hens averaging 5.2 points, and three boards. He had 27 blocks, 22 steals, and 55 assists on the year. The team finished sixth in the Colonial Athletic Association after winning the league title in 2021-22. That season, Arletti appeared in 27 games with six of them being starts. He averaged 2.8 points and 1.8 rebounds. He was named to the conference Academic Honor Roll.

Albany will get the chance to be a part of the 2023 NABC Brooklyn Showcase that will be on December 10 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Four games will take place on that day, with the Great Danes playing the final game on the schedule vs Temple.