LEWISTON — With the graduation of Tyrone Lewis, Bilal Benn, Rob Garrison and Demetrius Williamson, the Niagara men’s basketball team loses four of its top five contributors in minutes, points, rebounds, assists, steals and 3-pointers, not to mention its leadership core.

“We lose so much,” coach Joe Mihalich said. “I don’t know where it ends.”

Despite the departures, Lewis, one of the program’s most productive players ever, doesn’t think Niagara fans will have to endure a long rebuilding period after winning 86 games the past four years.

“Next year’s team, I think, can be really good,” Lewis said. “They might be more talented than this year’s team.”

Lewis’ optimism centers around the presence of Anthony Nelson, who will enter his fourth year as the starting point guard with Alvin Cruz’s all-time assists record well within reach.

Always a gifted passer, Nelson has improved his all-around game since his freshman year, and although he wasn’t one of the five point guards on the 15-member all-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s team last year, Lewis predicted he’ll be recognized as one of the league’s best players next year.

“I do feel like I have something to prove,” Nelson said. “But that’s not the most important thing. Winning is.”

As the primary ballhandler, Nelson has always been a de facto leader, but he’s had the benefit of veteran assistance, going back to his first year when Charron Fisher and Stanley Hodge were seniors.

“I haven’t really taken a back seat before, but next year, leadership will be the biggest part of my role,” Nelson said. “I think it’s really exciting.”

Nelson expects to shoulder a greater scoring load, as this year’s four seniors were all wing players who averaged at least nine shots per game.

There are two Purple Eagles waiting in the wings to fill the scoring void — Austin Cooley and Kevon Moore.

Cooley, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, has shown flashes of brilliance (mostly in practice) over the past two seasons, but has yet to become a consistent game performer.

“Since he’s been here, I’ve admired his game,” Nelson said. “His athleticism is incredible, he can shoot the ball. He has God-given talent that most people don’t have.”

“You watch Austin in practice, and he’s the best player on the floor a lot of times,” Lewis said. “The only thing he needs is confidence. The coaches love him and they have a high expectation for him, and he needs to realize that’s why they are always on him. Sometimes you get the wrong vibe and you think they’re always on me because they don’t like me. But you have to realize they are challenging you to be the best player on the floor every night.”

“As he continues to mature, get stronger and tougher, he’ll get better and better,” Mihalich said.

Moore, a 6-foot-3 left-handed transfer from UNC-Wilmington, where he averaged 9.1 points as a freshman. He spent the last year establishing his residency at Niagara and working on his jump shot with assistant coach Luke Dobrich.

“Kevon could come in and make a big impact,” Nelson said. “He’s real athletic, he gets out on the break, he plays defense, he plays hard. He’ll fit right in.”

“If he keeps working with Coach Dob, he could be as good as me,” Lewis said with a laugh.

In the frontcourt, Mihalich said he liked the progress made this season by 6-foot-8 freshmen Scooter Gillette and Eric Williams and 6-foot-6 sophomore Kashief Edwards. Nelson and Lewis expect the big men to play a more prominent role next year.

“I’m a little jealous of next year’s team,” Lewis said. “They’re going to be bigger.”

Nelson said he’s looking forward to having a more traditional lineup, with Edwards playing alongside Gillette or Williams.

Mihalich, however, said Edwards, who is a dynamic inside presence, will need to improve his perimeter skills in order to see regular minutes at the forward spot.

The hardest thing for the Purple Eagles to replace will be the versatility of Benn, a 6-foot-4 guard who managed to average 10 rebounds per game in his two years at Niagara.

“Every team we played had to adjust to Bilal Benn because he was a four-man who was really a guard,” Mihalich said.

Mihalich and his staff have four scholarships available to try and find the next Bilal Benn. Niagara already signed two prospects in November, 6-foot-4 wing player Skylar Jones and 6-foot-7 forward Shaquille Duncan.

“Skylar is athletic, a scorer, he defends pretty well,” Mihalich said. “Shaquille is probably not ready to go yet, he still needs some seasoning. But he will be good.”

While Jones helped to lead his team to the Virginia regional semifinals, Duncan was dismissed from his high school squad in late February for conduct detrimental to the team.

“We’re still in the process of getting the whole story,” Mihalich said. “It doesn’t seem serious.”

Niagara has regularly re-stocked talent in the dozen years since Mihalich came to Monteagle Ridge. Often, that’s led speculation that Mihalich could be lured away by a more lucrative opportunity to coach in the Atlantic 10 or Big East.

Asked about a recent rumor that he was being pursued by Fordham, Mihalich would only say, “I haven’t been officially contacted by anybody.”

Contact reporter Jonah Bronstein at 282-2311, ext. 2258.



IN REVIEW

• WHO: Niagara’s men’s basketball team

• RECORD: 18-15 overall (9-9 MAAC)

• STARTERS GRADUATING: Tyrone Lewis (17.1 ppg), Bilal Benn (13.5 ppg, 9.9 rpg), Rob Garrison (10.9 ppg), Demetrius Williamson (9.4 ppg).

• KEY PLAYERS FOR 2010-11: Anthony Nelson (9.9 ppg, 5 apg), Kashief Edwards (7.8 ppg), Austin Cooley (4.5 ppg), Kevon Moore (UNC-Wilmington transfer).