Southern Vermont athletics photo

The Southern Vermont Mountaineers have been ascending all season without so much as slipping or losing their footing.

At 16-3 overall and 10-0 in the New England Collegiate Conference, Southern Vermont is running away with a league in which they haven’t had much historical success. That history might only be 7 years old, but the Mountaineers had their first 10-game winning season last year and have only had one other over-.500 conference mark during that seven-year stretch.

Not only are the Mountaineers undefeated in the NECC this season, but they are winning their conference games by an average margin of nearly 17 points. They are also beating NECC opponents on the boards at an 8.2 clip. They are averaging 6.3 steals and 4.1 blocks in conference play while holding their league foes to 34 percent shooting from the field. 

To put the larger accomplishment of the program turnaround in perspective, the highest win total SVC has amassed in the past 10 seasons (including this one) is 16 — in 2010-11 under former coach Michael McDonough and last season under current coach Dan Engelstad, who led them to a record of 16-10, 10-6 NECC in his first year at the helm. In addition, the Mountaineers have had only one 20-game winning season since 1989, the inaugural year of the program, and only seven winning records (excluding this year’s) in those 25-plus years.

Engelstad’s balanced, selfless and defensive approach to college basketball along with his Division-I coaching experience — as an assistant at Holy Cross and Mount St. Mary’s — have infused his team with a high level of confidence and an understanding of how a winning program operates.

He also has had the benefit of coaching two steady and talented players in junior forward DeShawn Hamlet and senior forward Dolapo Olugbile. The 6-foot-3 Hamlet is the team’s leading scorer at 18.7 points per game and leading rebounder at 7.3, while Olugbile (6-7), a 2013 transfer from Howard Community College in Maryland, is the anchor of the Mountaineers’ defense and its ever-responsible leader by example.

I spoke to Engelstad, Hamlet and Olugbile by phone last Sunday afternoon.

D3hoops: How do you think your Division I coaching experience has helped you shape the Southern Vermont College men’s basketball program and connect with its players?

Dan Engelstad: Getting that 6 years of Division-I assistant experience [helped me] being comfortable in becoming a head coach and seeing how the everyday operations work. It kind of allowed me … to shape how I wanted to run this program. Getting that opportunity to work with … Jim Phelan [former Mount St. Mary’s head coach], who is one of the all-time winningest coaches … it shaped me tremendously in coaching. You know, being an assistant coach is different from being a head coach, but I was able to gain some really great relationships over the years.

D3: What one thing do you think this team does really well that is helping it to be so successful this year?

DE: We said it from the beginning [of Engelstad’s tenure], we wanted to be one of the best defensive teams in the country. My philosophy is that there’s going to be days where the shots ain’t fallin’, we’re not playing our best on that side of the ball, but the defense can keep us in it. And I think that shows with being in the top 15 … in field goal percentage defense. Our guys have done a great job of [committing] to that because we play an up-tempo style press, but we’re also really solid in the half court. To do that and play the way we do, the depth is the key. So we talk about defense and we talk about depth. Those two things are what has allowed us to be this successful at this point.

D3: What has coach Engelstad instituted that, in your mind, has turned the program around? 

DeShawn Hamlet: The best thing he gave us was just his experience with the other colleges and how they ran their program, and he wanted to do the same but in his own way. So I think that was the best thing.

D3: You’ve been a talented scorer ever since you arrived at Southern Vermont. In which ways has Coach pushed you to succeed even more?

DH: Individual films helped me a lot this season because I thought that I was doing some good things, but just looking at myself and seeing what I could do better really helped me just see [how I could work] on my defense and playing within the team concept.

D3: What was it about SVC that made you want to transfer to the school?

Dolapo Olugbile: Just off the first conversation I had with Coach. He’s such an enthusiastic, young coach and I saw in his eyes how bad he wanted to succeed, and he promised me that this team could go as far as I can lead them. I was pretty much told from the get-go that I could come here and he’d also have other guys come up with him, and we could start something new here.

D3: As one of two seniors and one of the captains on the team, you have to assume a leadership role at times. What is your style of leadership?

DO: Just lead by example because anybody can just speak and open their mouth and say words, but if you’re not backing it up — I may not be doing the best offensively on the court, but I know how we live as a team defensively. There’s not one game where I won’t bring my defensive effort, my A-game. … I see that the younger guys, they look up to me and I have to make sure that every single time [that] I step up to the plate.

D3: I know you guys don’t like to look ahead, but if you had to choose a team to play in the NCAA Tournament, which team would it be and why?

DO: Wisconsin-Whitewater? Whatever team won the championship last year. … Actually, I don’t care what team it is, but whoever is No. 1. I just feel like we can match up with anyone in the country, so if you can set that up, go ahead.

D3: From now until the end of the season, what would you like to see this team improve on most?

DE: We’ve put together really good stretches of games. For instance, [Jan. 31 at Lesley] we came out in the second half — we didn’t play a great first half — and spurted them 6-0 within 30 seconds of the half. So we can put those runs together. We still haven’t put it together for a full 40 minutes, and so it’s just us, even when we get teams down, it’s just us finishing the job. I just want to see our killer instinct continue to improve as well as just sharpen up the little details.

D3: How do you think your time as SVC will help you later in life?

DO: From Day 1, I’ve always had Coach as a mentor and somebody like a big brother that I could even lean on and go to for anything. I feel I’m fortunate enough that I was able to grow up in his system and learn from him all of the little things. … Just the way that these last two years have gone — the ups and downs of last year and our success this year, so far, and just seeing the whole growing process stemming from that playoff loss last year. … They [the coaching staff] definitely showed me how to work hard and everything’s just not about yourself, it’s about the team and putting others before yourself, and just a sense of humility.

Dragon of a turnaround

The SUNY Cortland Red Dragons have had a turnaround season. At 13-4 overall and 7-3 in the SUNYAC this year, Cortland has reached its best record after 17 games since the 2010-11 season when the Red Dragons went 19-7, 13-5 SUNYAC.

Over the last two season they have won 11 games (2012-13) and 16 (last season). Brittany Dumas is a significant part of the reason for the winning ways this season. The 6-foot junior forward is averaging 18.4 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, helping the Red Dragons to a 5-2 home record at Whitney T. Corey Gymnasium and a 6-2 away record. 

Propelling the team to a nice head start early on was a five-game winning streak that stretched over a month (from Dec. 5 to Jan.6). But Cortland has gone 2-2 in its last four games, losing a close one in overtime to Geneseo on Jan. 20 and then to New Paltz last Saturday.

As it stands, the Red Dragons are tied for second in the SUNYAC (with New Paltz) and are just behind Geneseo, which currently occupies the first slot at 9-1 in the league.

The issue for the Red Dragons, conference-wise, is that they have already played both Geneseo and New Paltz twice, going 0-2 against the Blue Knights and splitting the two games with the Hawks.

The consolation is that with eight conference games left the Dragonettes will have plenty of opportunities to up their win totals and pad their résumé, and will have a nice shot in the SUNYAC tournament to possibly snatch a bid for the NCAA Tournament.