The 2018-19 season was a record-setting year for the Chaminade University men's basketball team. Playing an all-Division II schedule for the first time ever, the Silverswords won 23 games which was their most since joining D-II in 1986. They also spent eight weeks in the NABC D-II Coaches Top 25 Poll including a record seven consecutive weeks in December and January. The success helped them reach the NCAA West Regional playoffs for the first time since 2014.
However all the good times from then are in the rearview mirror. In 2019-20 it's back to work for the 'Swords as they settle back into their regular routine of prior years. After a year away, the Silverswords are back on Maui, returning to the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, a spot they occupied for the tournament's first 34 years of existence.
"We're excited about the upcoming season," said ninth-year head coach
Eric Bovaird. "We plan to continue the momentum of the great season we had last year. Several guys gained valuable experience last season and should contribute in major ways this season."
After two years of boasting the tallest roster in nearly a decade, the 'Swords are returning to the small but quick lineup that made the program one of the highest-scoring squads in Division II.
The team does have work to do especially with 65 percent of their scoring having moved on including leading scorer
Grant Dressler (19.5 ppg),
Erik Scheive (16.4) and
Nicholas Anderson (7.5). However there are solid returnees led by swingman
Tyler Cartaino (Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury Park). The 6-foot-6 redshirt senior posted impressive numbers last year with a 17.7 scoring average and a team-high 6.6 rebounds per game. His 59 percent field goal percentage led the Pacific West Conference en-route to first team all-conference honors.
Cartaino certainly demonstrated that he is already in mid-season form when rained in 24 points in team's Oct. 30 exhibition against Division I Hawai'i.
Cartaino is joined by senior guard
Andre Arissol (Northampton, England/Otero JC/Charnwood HS), who found his scoring touch towards the ending of last season by averaging 12.1 points in his final seven games.
Chaminade is also bolstered by the return of guard
Telly Davenport (Idaho Falls, Idaho/College of Southern Idaho/Bonneville HS) who started the team's first two games last season before being sidelined by a foot injury which cost him the remainder of the season.
Among the other returnees for the Silverswords are forwards
Eliet Donley (Yokosuka, Japan/Hayfield) and
Morningstar Takapu (Goodyear, Ariz./Millenium). Forward
Kobe Young (Honolulu/Kamehameha-Kapalama) and guard Issac Amaral-Artharee (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) will likely see playing time after redshirting last year.
Chaminade is known as a destination for highly-regarded transfers and this year is no exception. The 'Swords welcome three Division I transfers to the squad in guards
Kendall Small (Lakewood, Calif./Pacific/Mayfair HS) and
Kevin Kremer (Chico, Calif./Utah/Pleasant Valley HS) along with forward
Bill Awet (Sydney, Australia/SIU Edwardsville/Victory Rock Prep).
Small spent three years at Pacific and one at Oregon during the Ducks' run to the 2016 Elite Eight and demonstrated a no-fear aggressiveness by driving in the lane against Hawai'i's massive post players.
Awet, a Sydney, Australia native, played at SIU Edwardsville for two years and has drawn comparisons to fellow Aussie and former Silversword Kuany Kuany, Chaminade's third-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder. Kremer redshirted last season at Utah before deciding to call himself a Silversword.
"We also added some dynamic pieces that will blend into the mission we have," Bovaird said. "This will be one of the smallest teams I've had but I'm excited about transforming this team to an even more up-tempo style of play. We will have an exciting, fan-friendly, winning style of basketball."
Following their jaunt in Alaska, the 'Swords are back on Maui where they'll tangle with one of the blue-bloods of college basketball in Kansas in the opening round of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational.
They open PacWest action at home on Dec. 4 with an immediate test against Azusa Pacific, picked to finish second in the conference standings by the coaches. Due to a front-loaded conference schedule that has them on the road during the Christmas holidays, the 'Swords don't play another home game at McCabe Gym until Jan. 4 against Biola.
This year's conference tournament is in Azusa, California during the first weekend of March with the NCAA West Regional to follow the following week.
