Bates seniors, from left, Tom Coyne, Jeff Spellman and Nick Gilpin, along with fellow senior Kody Greenhalgh, worked to change the team’s culture during the offseason. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal
LEWISTON — The Bates College men’s basketball team wanted a culture change.
So during the summer, the Bobcats’ four seniors, Kody Greenhalgh, Tom Coyne, Nick Gilpin and Jeff Spellman held their teammates accountable.
From arriving at weight-lifting sessions on time to going all-out in practices, the senior leaders made sure each of their teammates knew what was expected of them this year.
Bates head coach Jon Furbush said the seniors’ efforts have made a noticeable difference.
“The culture of accountability when the coaches aren’t there is typically lacking, and so what these guys have done until now is just hold everybody to a standard,” Furbush said. “I think the fact that they’ve held these guys to a higher standard, and there have been consequences to that, whether they were a minute late or weren’t going 100 percent in a workout, has really shook the culture up in a positive way. Now our freshmen, that’s all they know.”
Due to NCAA rules, Furbush and his assistants can’t always be around the team. So the four seniors, all guards, were entrusted with keeping everyone in line. The attention to detail has paid off, according to the players.
“We recognized that we had a bit of an issue last year, and since the season ended we’ve really worked,” Spellman said. “Not to say that our culture was not in the spot it was supposed to be, we just think we have a better culture now and I think we’ve worked really hard to establish that.
“That’s not just me saying that, that’s literally what we have done, so that’s what gives me the most confidence moving forward.”
The players expect the on-court performance to be better than last winter, when Bates finished 7-17. Of the 17 losses, eight were by 10 points or less, so the Bobcats have been focused on learning how to finish.
“We had a lot of close games and we were pretty much in every game we played,” Coyne said. “I think, naturally, it’s about finishing games, maybe the last five minutes, having that experience and having that ability to close out games.”
The seniors were four of Bates top-five scorers last year, along with Nick Lynch, who graduated.
Greenhalgh elected to not play football his senior season (he had played both sports in previous years). Furbush said that Greenhalgh has benefited from a zeroed-in focus on only basketball.
“It has made a major difference. His preseason has been phenomenal,” Furbush said. “He plays at a different pace and gets up and down the court well. When he’s on the court, we play with a lot of energy; he’s a football player so he brings toughness and he can really shoot the 3.”
Bates has tweaked its offense in an effort to amplify the seniors’ strengths.
“We are a little more motion-oriented this year, and a lot of that is because we have a lot of guards that can create shots for their teammates,” Furbush said. “I want to allow them to have the freedom to create shots for their teammates.”
The guards are happy about the changes.
“I am excited about our offense,” Spellman said. “We have so much potential to score 100 points a game, and that can win you a lot of games.”
Spellman, Coyne and Gilpin have all played together since their freshman year. Greenhalgh didn’t join them until their sophomore season because a concussion from playing football kept him off the basketball court his freshman season.
The four have developed a close friendship during their years together, and that has become an advantage for the Bobcats.
“We spend pretty much every day together so our relationship off the court definitely shows on the court with how comfortable we are with each other, and we have have a natural chemistry that is definitely beneficial,” Gilpin said.
Spellman led the team in scoring last season with 16.5 points a game while shooting 48.8 percent from the field. Coyne averaged 11.6 points in 2018-19, Greenhalgh 10.9 and Gilpin 5.5. Each is capable of scoring but is also unselfish.
“Being that close off the court I think helps us,” Coyne said. “Being that straight-up with each other and I think that gives us an advantage over some people that might not be as close. … We know what we are good at and what our weaknesses are.”
“There’s no set role in our head, it’s just take the game how it comes,” Spellman added. “Whether I am the leading scorer or leading assist guy, I just want to win. This being our last year, it couldn’t be more true.”
The group hopes to go out with a bang this year, but Furbush is taking the season one day at a time.
“They’re very important pieces to our puzzle,” Furbush said. “I’m trying to not look too far ahead because I really like them and I want to live in the moment and enjoy every practice we have with them because they’re going to be missed. They can all shoot, they can all create and they’re really hungry.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
