UAlbany Athletics

Head Coach Dwayne Killings and the Great Danes men's basketball team are still getting to know one another. The media guide clearly states that 16 of the 22 players, coaches and staff are new to the program. More often than not, the cohesion that enables them to win college basketball games takes time for the players and the coaches to develop. Monday night in Chestnut Hill in Boston, the UAlbany Great Danes took a huge step in that process.

Tuesday night, a new era of UAlbany men's basketball began. Dwayne Killings was named the Great Danes head coach in March. He was replacing 20 year head coach in Will Brown, who posted a 315-295 career record for the Danes with 5 trips to the NCAA tournament. When the university decided they wanted a fresh face at the helm of their men's basketball program, Athletic Director selected Killings, who was the associate head coach at Marquette University. The 40 year old from Amherst, Massachusetts packed up his family and headed to Western Ave. and the SEFCU Arena.

Ok, maybe I don't like polls very much, especially when they are mid-major Division I polls. There are always so many variables. First, they are done by coaches, who are not always the most objective folks when it comes to other programs or coaches. Now throw in the new "Pandemic" rosters, featuring 6th year grad students and the "wild west" in recruiting created by the NCAA transfer portal, well, fans could be in for some of the best basketball we have seen in these conferences, maybe ever.

Monday was Media Day at UAlbany Football and I was lucky enough to be invited to broadcast The Drive with Charlie & Dan from 3p to 7p from Tom & Mary Casey Stadium, so I did. It was fun to catch up and spend some face time with old friends, even though it seems like our society is going backwards in seeing faces. Athletic Director Mark Benson and Deputy Athletic Director Vic Cegles came on and talked about the upcoming season and the excitement of having fans back in the stands. Then Head Coach Greg Gattuso hung out on the The Drive for almost an hour and reflected on the challenges the Great Danes faced last year and how they are preparing for a very tough schedule this season.

Bennett Drake and Adam Osika are both headed to the NLL.

(Credit: UAlbany Athletics) The UAlbany Great Danes lacrosse team will host the defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels this Saturday night at Casey Stadium at 730pm. The Great Danes secured the overall number eight seed in the overall tournament, thus rewarding them a first round home game...

The University at Albany football team lost their first game of the year this past Saturday in triple overtime to #6 Richmond in one of the most entertaining games in school history. The head football coach, Greg Gattuso, stopped by Big Board Sports in his weekly segment to react to the loss, answer what he may have done differently vs Richmond, and what to expect this weekend as the Danes travel

Coach Abe of the UAlbany Women's Basketball program joined Armen and Levack on Wednesday to talk about her 200th win. But perhaps she needs to visit the studio in the near future?