The NJIT Highlanders have gone 6-26 in America East play over the past two seasons and were the only team left out of the conference tournament in each year.
But entering Week 4 of league play, these Highlanders are 4-1 and in sole possession of first place in the America East standings.
“I’m obviously ecstatic about the success we’ve had,” head coach Grant Billmeier told Mid-Major Madness in an interview. “But there’s a lot of season left. It’s never about where you start, but it’s about where you finish.”
The Highlanders haven’t quite reached the mountaintop yet. But it’s worth taking a step back to appreciate the strides made this season — this team is different.
There are several reasons for the NJIT’s rather large jump from the league basement, but the one I keep re-visiting in my mind is the year-over-year leap made by Sebastian Robinson — or SebRob, as I like to call him.
Over the past few seasons, NJIT’s offense has been a little too one-dimensional, predicated almost entirely on the dribble-drive, mid-range pull-up shot-making prowess of its backcourt. SebRob has been one of the leaders of that backcourt, trailing only now-Rutgers guard Tariq Francis in team usage rate over the past two seasons.
SebRob was part of the problem. The team was overly reliant on him and the guards to create. But the spacing was brutal, so Robinson couldn’t find enough lanes to get downhill, and he struggled to finish while turning the ball over nearly three times per game.
This year, the script has flipped. There are several exploitable dribble defenses in the America East, and Robinson has ripped them all to shreds. He’s getting to the bucket off the bounce more than ever and finishing at a higher rate than ever, all while halving his turnovers and improving significantly as a ball-screen orchestrator (.99 PPP, 80th percentile). It all helps explain why he’s running a whopping 120 offensive rating in conference play despite his usage rate jumping nearly five points.
SebRob has scored a combined 66 points (22 PPG) while shooting 14-for-21 at the rim (67%) over the past three games.
“He’s a big-time point guard, and he’s really let the game come to him,” Billmeier says of his third-year guard. “He’s been really good about picking his spots, and he’s been taking good shots. He’s doing a great job of driving to the rim, being physical, and getting to the free-throw line.”
Robinson deserves credit for his development, but the rest of the team deserves credit for opening up the driving lanes. NJIT has real shooting, spacing and balance across the roster, with the Highlanders sporting key shot-creators at the other guard spot, on the wings and in the frontcourt.
I want to discuss the wing corps first because alongside SebRob, there are four returning players on the wing having breakout seasons.
“Those guys have really good relationships with the staff, and that shows up when you go through a tough year,” Billmeier said regarding his returning playmakers. “If you don’t have those relationships, guys will jump ship. But there is a relationship and trust there, and it’s easy for these guys to see the vision — they saw themselves taking a major leap in the program this year.”
That wing group includes Ari Fulton, Jordan Rogers, Malachi Arrington and John Kelly.
Fulton has really stepped up as an off-ball spot-up creator, especially off the left wing. He recently dropped 24 against Lowell and 18 against New Hampshire. He’s a big dude who can muscle his way into the paint and can finish with a pretty crafty bag — he seems to like the left wing or to get to his left on line drives.
Rogers is, in my opinion, the second-best defender on the team. Arrington made some monster defensive plays against Bryant, while Kelly had this electric slam:
The team has some real pop off the wing.
“I don’t think any of our sophomores have played their best basketball yet,” Billmeier said. “I’m really excited to see where those four go.”
The biggest offseason addition Billmeier and Co. made was David Bolden, the team’s leading scorer and AmEast ROY candidate. Bolden is an unbelievable shot-maker who acts as the yin to SebRob’s yang, with Robinson attacking defenders downhill while Bolden pulls up over the top, splitting defensive backcourts in half, in-between high and low.
“They play so well off of each other, and they complement each other so well,” Billmeier said. “They give each other extreme confidence.”
Bolden’s shooting 41% from deep in conference play. He willed the team to wins over New Hampshire (21 points on five 3s) and Bryant (17 points on five 3s) with unreal second-half, unlimited-range shot making, mostly off the dribble (1.09 PPP on those shots).
“Recruiting him was funny,” Billmeier said. “We went to see this kid, and he happened to be playing against a small guard. That guard ended up being the best player in the game. We asked his coach if anyone was recruiting him, and he said no one was. We couldn’t find any offers for him, but we knew that was the kid we wanted… It’s a funny world where you go to see one kid, and you leave the gym recruiting another.”
Between the Bolden-Robinson backcourt, the wing production, and Melvyn Ebonkoli as a bruising second-chance point big man (more on him later), NJIT has more options than ever. There are still some flaws, but the Highlanders get downhill, draw free throws, share the sugar, avoid turnovers, and have good shot-creation and shot-making at most spots — there’s a reason they rank second among AmEast teams in offensive efficiency (trailing only UMBC).
NJIT has options now. And with options comes opportunity.
“We go into every game with a different offensive package,” Billmeier said. “We have a lot of sets, and we go into each game picking 20 or 25 sets to run for that game. We might run one play seven times in one game, once in the next, and not at all in a third. We do it all based on the other team’s personnel and how they defend, so we can identify the ways we can attack them and be effective.”
Their defense isn’t quite as complex, but it’s arguably more effective.
While Billmeier said there is no connection, NJIT’s half-court set defense reminds me a lot of Nebraska’s. It’s a dribble-denial interior-shell scheme, where the Highlanders bring early, extra help on the dribble and in the paint, forcing opponents to beat them over the top.
While the Highlanders allow a high 3-point rate (41%, second-highest in the conference), they also allow the second-fewest paint points per game (24, trailing only Vermont). There aren’t many elite shooting teams in our conference, so most offenses have tried to bash their way into crowded lanes, and they ultimately cough the ball up under the interior pressure. All five conference opponents have turned it over at least 12 times against the Highlanders. They lead the AmEast in turnover rate on both offense and defense, creating a valuable shot-volume advantage.
Of course, the X’s and O’s don’t work without the Jimmy’s and Joe’s.
“Our defense wasn’t very good early on,” Billmeier says. “But our defense has been really good over the past few games because Ebonkoli anchors our defense.”
Since returning from injury, Ebonkoli has been as impactful and valuable as any America East player. He’s quickly becoming my frontrunner for AmEast DPOY. He’s a 24-year-old brick wall who commands the interior, but he also moves his feet so well on the perimeter, making him elite in ball-screen coverage — I love how he works as a hedge-and-recover defender in ball-screen coverage.
“He’s as good an interior defender as any front-court player I’ve been around,” Billmeier said of the UMKC transfer. “He’s an elite ball-screen defender. He’s an elite help-side defender rotating early. He’s a physical post presence. He protects everyone, knowing when to show and when not to show.”
NJIT’s best win this season is probably its 73-64 road victory over the red-hot UMass-Lowell River Hawks. But the Hawks’ flex-motion, cut-heavy, rim-reliant offense imploded against NJIT’s shell, resulting in a conference season-low 28 paint points to go along with 12 turnovers. Ebonkoli rocked Austin Green in that game, ultimately finishing with nine boards, two blocks and a steal.
It’s far too early to crown NJIT as the champion of anything. I still only have the Highlanders power rated sixth in the conference. Their defense is good, but its aggressive nature leads to far too many fouls (last in the league in free-throw rate allowed). They also struggle to create easy interior buckets (second-to-last in 2-point shooting and last in average 2-point distance).
“We have to keep working on post offense and working on the different ways teams play Ebonkoli,” Billmeier said. “We want to do different things when the ball gets in the post.”
Regardless, it’s been a pleasure watching the Highlanders this season. I don’t know where the ceiling is, but I know the floor is higher than it has ever been. For that, Billmeier, SebRob, Bolden, Ebonkoli and everyone involved deserve their flowers.
