Many fans of Northeastern felt betrayed last year when coach Jim Calhoun left for the greener pastures of the Big East Conference.  Calhoun is taking over another Huskies team, this time the program based in Storrs Connecticut.  He is going to try to build a powerhouse there like the one he built here in Boston.  But before he left he gave these Huskies one final gift that Northeastern fans will never be able to thank him enough for.  Calhoun somehow convinced the incredible Lewis to head north after an incredible prep career at Dunbar High in Baltimore.  He was actually a part of a team that featured several D-1 level players including the likes of Reggie Williams and David Wingate (both are playing for Georgetown) and Mugsy Bogues (Wake Forest).  As you can see it was quite a coup to get Lewis to in the words of Dave Mason to come to Boston for the winter.  After all, those other three are playing at power conferences and the American East is not exactly an elite conference.  The small forward is already becoming a legend in the city of Boston and that is after only playing one year in Beantown.  He is the most gifted and complete player possibly on the entire Eastern Seaboard.  Lewis can fill it up from outside or take it to the hoop.  He is adept with his magical first step to get to the hoop and throw one down in your face.  He also has great imagination and invents new ways of scoring with a touch like a burglar and a desire to compete like a bulldog.  Lewis is not just a one-dimensional player.  He is a fine defender who led Northeastern in blocks and is without question the leader of Northeastern on and off the court.  Quite a handful for a kid who will only be a sophomore next season.  You know what that means?  The fans of the American East and especially Boston have three years to witness one of the most special players this East Coast has ever produced.  Get your tickets soon, this one-man show might not be around forever. After all they now have this thing called the transfer portal (he would not lose a year of eligibility anymore) and Storrs is not too far from Boston.  Good thing is that Calhoun has promised not to steal any of his former players and Lewis loves Beantown.  And the fans love him too.  

 AS great as Lewis is, Northeastern still needed a supporting cast to dominate the American East the way that they did.  Northeastern are lucky to have a trio of superior point guards in senior Leo Osgood, junior John Clark and sophomore André Lafluer.  Osgood began the year as the starter and this true student-athlete can play.  Osgood can score and pass but is best at being a terrific leader. This Charleston South Carolina kid was elected team captain after all but went down 8 games into the year which opened the door for the other two. It is also allowed him to really go full force into his studies where he got on the Dean’s list and will pursue a career in administration.  He will be back this year but he will have to win his job back as the duo that replaced him really stepped up to the plate.  Clark was terrific and can really score for a point guard.  He was second on the team in scoring (behind Lewis) and was a huge part of Northeastern late season run to the title.  Lafluer is the little engine that could making sure the ball got where it needed to go and driving opposing coaches crazy with his penetration.  He is also a leader and backs down from no one.  He truly may be the quickest player in the country.  He can create shots for himself or teammates and loves to get to the key. This super duo in the back court were as good as any team in the conference and complimented Lewis’s great inside-outside game well.  Coach Dukeshire had them playing together often as Northeastern went with some very small lineups.  Clark is an excellent perimeter shooter so it worked.  And because LaFluer is six foot three and tough as nails he could guard other team’s two guards.  It just worked. 

Sophomore Pete Harris was another vital piece of the Husky equation.  A solid scorer who can also handle the ball, Harris is a fine compliment to Lewis.  He was a scorer off the bench but with his strength was a tremendous defensive player as well.  He has really developed a place with the fans in Boston for his hard play and positive demeanor.  Junior Dave Caligaris is arguably the best shooter on the team and got some healthy minutes on the wing after losing his starting job to the kid from Baltimore. The Greek kid is a 6’5 gunner but is not going to beat out Lewis anytime in the near future.  Still, it does not hurt having as many good shooters as possible in the modern world of the three-point line. 

Sophomores Perry Moss also provided solid backcourt play for Northeastern.  Moss stepped up with a sweet jump shot at opportune times.  The High Jumping kid won two games for Northeastern with last second heroics.  The first was a half court prayer that tied the game in the conference championship game against Hofstra.  Northeastern eventually won that one and Moss was carried off the court next to Lewis who scored 31 in the game. Moss is also a tremendous athlete (a very healthy 41 inch vertical jump) who can throw it down with the best of them.  He can light up the crowd with one of this amazing dunks.  Seniors Rick Weitzman (26), Paul Solberg and Harry Barnes also provided key minutes and solid leadership in the backcourt especially early on when Northeastern were finding their path through the Massachusetts snow.  They knew coming in to the year that Dukeshire would be going with the freshmen studs Calhoun had recruited. And oh what a class it is with Moss, Harris, post stud Mark Halsel, LaFluer and Lewis.  These team first players willingly took their spot on the pine as so many do in this strange hierarchy where seniority means nothing but talent means everything. (wow)

If there were a weakness for Northeastern it would have to be the inside game.  The aforementioned Halsel is the only consistent inside option Northeastern had especially after veteran Ward Sears went down 3 games in.  The veteran board man is trying to get a redshirt for last year and come back to repeat his senior year and they could really use his presence and experience and size down low.  As for the guys for sure coming back, Halsel is undersized but became as important as any Husky with his ability to score inside the paint and take some pressure off from their perimeter players.  Halsel only goes 6’6 210 but is a terrific athlete and has a nice repertoire of inside moves that he can deliver upon for Northeastern.  This kid is from the Steel City so you know he is tough and is a terrific board man. He is developing a nice touch from mid-range but his bread and butter is down low.   

Seniors ‘Inga’ Walsh (don’t know why he goes by Inga but it sure fits) and Fran Ryan came into the year as returning starters up front.  Walsh is a gifted low post scorer who was counted on to be the offensive force he had been for three years in Boston.  Undersized but crafty down low Walsh has been one of the best kept secrets in New England for the last three years and this year started out much the same as the big Swede was the main man in the paint for Northeastern.  It was a sad day in Beantown when injury cut his season down in mid stride.  He played 12 games so the chances of the swede getting a medical redshirt ala Sears are much longer.  Ryan is a board man and gladly accepted a big role as a primary option off the bench as Halsel surpassed him on the depth chart.  Ryan soon was joining Walsh on the sidelines as Durskshire went with some more size up front to compliment the undersized Halsel.  Junior Jimmy Connors  came on when Walsh went down and gave Northeastern great rebounding off the bench.  Connors worked his tail end off in the weight room during the season and this skinny kid is developing into a muscular presence under the boards.  He does not score (Durkeshire has many of these type of blue collar players on the roster-Wes Fuller and Chip Rucker are an example as this duo tore it up on the JV squad-who made their living banging in the paint) much but he does bang underneath and Northeastern needed that more than anything.  Connors also is adept at returning the serve and has a heck of a forehand but we digress, fellow junior really stepped up this year when he got his chance.  The undersized forward (6’4) has a terrific mid-range game who can take it out to the three-point line. He barely played early on but came on strong down the stretch with some huge games off the bench just when this team needed it.  He will compete for a starting role this year. 

Sophomore Kevin McDuffie was another post option for Northeastern who gave the team a big body who could pound and board inside.  He started the season coming off the bench but soon was in the starting lineup to get his size and shot blocking into the lineup.  McDuffie had some injury issues (his back) but Northeastern were at their best when McDuffie was in the lineup.  He was the only true rim protector that got any minutes and made the Husky defense legitimate.  Northeastern did lack depth up front and had Mr. Lewis playing the four spot and even the five in certain situations.  This smaller lineup worked well at times (especially on the offensive end) but Durkshire knew he needed to have some size and defensive presence in the paint and McDuffie was the best (and biggest) of the bunch of players that got their shot down low. 

Coach Dick Durkshire has inherited a great program from the legendary Jim Calhoun.  Calhoun had put together a gifted program in Boston and had recruited an great group of wing players (they do love their wings in Boston) and it was now up to Durkshire to take the next step.  He did just that filling in the holes with a big man who can board and defend, another developing board guy who has transformed himself into a true force underneath and a cat quick point guard who loves to run and gun and has the energy of energizer Bunny.  These additions Northeastern from Northeastern represent Beantown well and won the American East Conference.  Behind the stellar play of one of the best players in the country and a supporting cast of very good players Northeastern earned a trip to the biggest party of them all.  They did not do very well as a 14 seed but almost everyone is coming back and the American East better beware.  After all this program came from nowhere to upset the apple cart and with almost everybody coming back including the incredible Mr. Lewis this time they want to win the championship all by themselves.  And maybe win a game or two in the Big Dance as well.