Odarius Cade can get high in the air for the Raiders. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Talk about a timely turnaround.

If you want to know what a difference a year can make, just look at the Rivier University men’s basketball team.

A year ago this time, the Raiders, who haven’t had a winning season since 2008-09, were near rock bottom. They were just a couple of weeks away from their head coach, alum Lance Bisson, resigning while the season was still ongoing. They finished with 17 straight losses. The Great Northeast Athletic Conference title of 2007 seemed like 50 years ago, not 16. The program, which showed some promise the previous season with a GNAC tourney berth, had gone backwards in a big way.

But by late February, the Rivier administration had their man to turn things around. Enter former Rhode Island College and Nichols coach Tom Glynn, a host of new faces to go with four holdovers and the Raiders are now 9-2 after beginning their second semester schedule with a solid win at New England College on Saturday.

“The kids have been fantastic,” Glynn said. “The returning players, starting with them, when I first got the job, and then all the newcomers, the level of buy-in was off the charts.

“They just bought in from everything I wanted to do, from style of play, emphasis on defense, high energy, and all that. A team approach and sharing the basketball on offense. It’s really translated to a lot of early success. And since we picked up some wins, the level of buy-in has increased from week to week.”

But how does a coach put that all together in less than a year, with a group that really hadn’t been together? How does a program improve that much in such a short amount of time?

“You know what I would say? I probably got the job at the right time, when the four returning players were hungry for something new,” Glynn said. “What really helped me was they had a lot of experience. Rob Baguidy (of Goffstown) started just about every game as a freshman. Nik Pignone had four years of college basketball, he’s a fifth year senior. Adam Razzaboni (of Hollis) who’s a junior … I did inherit a few kids who did play college basketball.

“And with the way college basketball is now, I brought in some transfers who could play and some freshmen who could play. We identified some right guys, and it’s really worked out.”

Glynn said a lot of the groundwork was taken care of by athletic director Jonathan Harper.

“He had things set up for so that all I had to do was focus on recruiting, get the team ready to go,” he said. “We’re playing on a brand new floor (at the Muldoon), upgrades in the athletic department. Ton of upgrades on campus. It’s a little easier to recruit when I’m pointing out new buildings on campus, upgrades in the athletic department.”

But the key is talent. When the Raiders went into the break having won six out of seven, there was a different leading scorer every game.

This isn’t unprecedented; Rivier women’s soccer went from a winless season in 2022 to double digit success in the fall of 2023. It’s the world of the transfer portal, extra years of eligibility due to cancelled COVID seasons, etc.

“There’s definitely some factors,” Glynn said. “The age of the transfer portal, you get (better) access to players. Going back to the Nichols days when I first started, we got that program turned around the exact same way.”

With a twist.

“Now you log into the portal,” he said. “Back then you emailed coaches and asked ‘Hey, is anybody leaving your program?’ or you reach out to club coaches. But (the portal) does eliminate the middle person. I wouldn’t say it’s easier; you just have to identify the right kid, the right athlete. I would say we’ve gotten pretty lucky here.”

Glynn began the season with a mandate: Win the season opener at home.

“I put pressure on everybody, we had to win that game (74-68 over Roger Williams) in the last two minutes,” Glynn said. “That kind of set the tone for Week 2. Then Week 3, we had Brandeis, they’re one of the top programs in the whole region. Big home game. I messaged to my staff, ‘If we can win this game, we’ve got everybody’s attention.’ We played our best game of the season at the right time. Guys were already bought in, but then they were really bought in after that one.”

And that was a convincing 73-56 win. Their only losses were to Mass. Liberal Arts and Salem State, and they went into the break on a three-game win streak, including a conference win over longtime nemesis Emmanuel. Before you think they’ve played a soft schedule, the two teams they lost to are leading their respective conferences.

“It’s been a tough schedule,” he said. “We’ll play a probably even a tougher one next year. But I couldn’t be happier where we are. We should be prepared for January-February basketball now.”

Five of their eight wins have been by less than 10 points.

“We’re finding ways to win in the final two minutes,” Glynn said. “And right now, quite honestly, we’re winning games with our defensive effort.”

And now the goal is to work on offense. Glynn bade his players farewell with a workout regimen, and welcomed them back to campus this past week, and they’ve had a week of double sessions.

“We need to score some points, score some points not necessarily generated by the defense and score in the half court,” Glynn said. “We’re eventually going to play some close games that’s going to come down to the half court game. So we do have to learn here in January how to score in the half court in the conference games. We’re doing a lot off the defense.”

The Raiders have been led in scoring by 6-5 senior from the Bronx Alhamadou Sillah’s 16. ppg and 15.0 by Odarius Cade. Baguidy, the former Gofftown High standout who was the Division I player of the year two years ago is averaging 4.3 assists per game.

Is Glynn at least surprised by all this? If you had told him last March he’d have an 8-2 team, yes; a couple of months later, maybe not.

“As recruits started to come in in April and May, and then September. ….we had a lot of factors,” he said.

Another thing that helped was a new NCAA rule that gave the team eight preseason practices in September.

“The message to the team was we’re going to use every minute of the extra practices, and we did,” Glynn said. “We did some drills, some team building. The kids like each other, that ‘s the big thing. They really like each other, they pull for each other.”

Rivier men’s hoop fans are having a good time watching the Raiders these days at the Muldoon Center. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Rivier men’s hoop fans are having a good time watching the Raiders these days at the Muldoon Center. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

The next upgrade for Glynn? Talent. The Raiders had that a couple of years ago with top GNAC player Miles Gillette, a transfer from the Washington, D.C. Area who helped them to a 10-15 record and a GNAC tourney berth. But he was one and done, and left a void. This group is a start, and one Glynn had to piece together to upgrade the talent.

Baguidy, in Glynn’s mind, is having a breakout season. Also, Cade, a 5-7 junior from South Carolina who can soar, had a great November while teams now are keying on him. Devin Owens, 6-3 senior from Irvine, Calif., in Glynn’s mind, has really come through to what Glynn says is “a whole new level”, leading the Raiders in scoring in two of the last three.

Also, Ra’Quan Groves, a 6-2 senior from Anderson, S.C.who played last year at an NAIA school, Columbia International, has been a big rebounder off the bench.

“It seems like every game someone steps up, which is nice,” Glynn said.

How difficult was it to mesh the team that hadn’t played together?

“It was tough at first, which is why I think it’s taken the offense some time,” he said. “You can see how the defense is way ahead of the offense, but some nights really clicks. That’s why we used all the preseason practices.”

Glynn feels the Raiders best days are ahead, as good as they’ve already looked.

“I do think we’re going to keep getting better,” he said. “In February we should be playing our best basketball. That’s been the goal from the start.”

And that’s been a Glynn staple, and as he said, “I hope that’s the case with this team. But of all the teams I’ve coached, this team has started the best. I’ve had teams that have won 24, 25 teams, but they’ve started 2-3, 2-2. This team has just kind of come out defending right away.

“But we’ll see. We’ll see how it plays out. But I can’t be any more excited for the second half of the season.”

And that second half includes mainly a slew of GNAC games. Saint Joe’s of Connecticut – the program formerly coached by Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun which is always nationally ranked – plus Albertus and Emmanuel are the key contenders. In the win over Emmanuel, “that was one of the days we played really well on offense. Shots fell that day.

“Hopefully we can keep this up in January and February.”

Because now is the time.