When Chris Markwood was named the new head coach of the University of Maine’s men’s basketball team in March, he gave the players a choice: stay on the team or enter the transfer portal.
The team went through two coaches last season, Richard Barron followed by interim head coach Jai Steadman, before Markwood was hired in March. There were decisions to be made, and Markwood helped the players through them.
“It’s a really hard transition when you’re dealing with a coach moving on or getting let go,” Markwood said. “I wanted to get in front of [the players] and tell them my vision for the program. Let them know that I am here for them, regardless. Whether they were going to stay or go. I wanted to just wrap my arms around them and help them out and stabilize the situation as much as I could.”
Ultimately, six players left the team and entered the transfer portal.
One player that stayed, Ja’Shonte Wright-McLeish of Montreal, said he reached his decision after a sit-down meeting with Markwood.
“I had a talk with him and I wasn’t sure if I was going to come back but he always gave me that option of leaving if I wanted to leave,” Wright-Mcliesh said. “After talking to him, I had coaches back home that knew him too, and I felt that he was a great coach that could help me develop and be a better player. I decided to stay and it’s going very well.”
Transfer portal rules dictate that players can leave and play the following season without having to sit out a year, so transferring out of UMaine was an easy path to take — especially considering the program averaged just under six wins a season over the last nine seasons and had a brand new coach. Returning players and roommates Lechaun DuHart, Ata Turgut and Wright-McLeish weathered the changes and are glad they stayed.
“They’ve done a really good job of inviting guys over to their apartment and helping them learn about the area and the university,” Markwood said. “Those guys have done an excellent job.”
Wright-McLiesh leads all returning players in starts last year with 18, followed by Adefolarin Adetogun (16), DuHart (12) and Turgut (seven). The four roommates off campus are the leaders of this new team that has six incoming freshmen.
Last year, the team wasn’t playing well as a group under Barron, going 5-20 before he left the team.
“At first we weren’t gelling as a team so some of the coaches were not connected with the team and we weren’t focused as a team and that made us lose games,” Turgut said.
When Steadman arrived, the team became more relaxed and focused. At the time of Steadman’s appointment, then-UMaine Athletic Director Ken Ralph said he wanted the team to have fun.
“The coaches switched and we had coach Jai and that helped us have fun and that’s how we got wins at the end of the season,” Turgut added.
Markwood joined the team and implemented his style of play and it’s been taken well by the players.
Turgut, who is from Turkey, said Markwood’s style is similar to how he plays as a European big and that it’s been easier for him.
Wright-McLeish said changing systems can be tough but that it’s been smooth so far this fall.
“Him and the coaching staff did a very good job of knowing we came from a different style and with new players coming in he’s teaching it step by step,” Wright-McLeish said. “It’s helping us come together as a team.”
DuHart said he feels new and returning players alike are adapting to this new system,
“I feel like Markwood did a really good job picking out the guys that wanted to come here and there isn’t any fighting between players and coach Markwood on the plays he wants to run or what we believe we’re doing as a team,” DuHart said.
DuHart is finishing his master’s degree this year and decided to come back after injuring his left meniscus last season.
“I am here, trying to come back and with a new coach trying to turn this around will be a fun challenge,” DuHart said.
He added that this coaching staff has separated itself from others he’s played under because they’re always around to help.
“The biggest part for us, last year we’d have coaches that would come in and help us but this coaching staff kind of lives here,” DuHart said. “They’re here to help us with film, get shots up, off days, whenever you need them, they’re there. This year it’s also more fast-paced, up and down. It’s nice to have a change of pace.”
As for their roles on the team, DuHart, Turgut and Wright-McLeish see themselves as leaders, or a “bridge” for the new players, as Turgut put it.
Their off-the-court chemistry is certainly a bonus.
“On the floor we push each other and get after it,” Wright-McLeish added. “Off the floor we are brothers and we have great chemistry. We’re just going with the flow right now.”
