RICHMOND, Va. (Oct. 15, 2021) – The Hofstra men’s basketball team played the 2020-21 season as defending CAA champions. However, the reward of Madness that comes with that title was taken away by the CoVID-19 pandemic.
This winter, with a familiar face as the Pride’s new head coach, Hofstra is eyeing another opportunity to collect that reward.
Speedy Claxton moves over to the head coach’s seat at his alma mater after contributing to Hofstra’s recent success as an assistant. Claxton’s efforts in his first season will be strengthened by the return of first-team All-CAA guard
Jalen Ray, who averaged 19.3 ppg for the Pride a year ago.
Caleb Burgess returns as a junior for Hofstra, while
Kvonn Cramer enters his sophomore campaign coming of a CAA all-rookie season as a freshman.
Claxton has brought in a wealth of options via transfers, including
Zach Cooks, who averaged 17 points a night at NJIT while ranking in the top 20 nationally in steals per game. Former MAAC Rookie of the Year
Aaron Estrada arrives in Hempstead along with
Abayomi Iyiola, who was a double-figure scorer at Stetson, Iowa State guard
Darlinstone Dubar, and Penn grad transfer
Jarrod Simmons.
Hofstra’s non-conference schedule provides numerous opportunities for resume-building wins in November and December. The Pride opens at Final Four participant Houston and takes a weekend trip later in the month to Maryland and Richmond. Hofstra travels to Arkansas in December to face a Razorbacks team that made an Elite Eight appearance a year ago.
Hofstra Pride
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Head Coach: Speedy Claxton (1
st season)
2020-21 Record: 13-10 overall, 8-6 CAA (4
th)
Postseason: CAA Championship semifinals
Starters Returning (3):
Jalen Ray, R-Sr., G – 19.3 ppg, 1.7 spg, 37.0% 3FG, first-team All-CAA
Kvonn Cramer, So., F – 8.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, CAA all-rookie
Caleb Burgess, Jr., G – 8.3 ppg, 5.6 apg
Notable Newcomers:
Darlinstone Dubar, So., G – Transfer from Iowa State
Jarrod Simmons, R-Sr., F – Transfer from Penn
Zach Cooks, R-Sr., G – 17.1 ppg, 2.5 spg at NJIT
Aaron Estrada, Jr., G – Transfer from Oregon; MAAC Rookie of the Year at Saint Peter’s
Abayomi Iyiola, R-Sr., F – Transfer from Arkansas; 10.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg at Stetson in 2018-19
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