HAMDEN - Arguably, no program in Connecticut has been more affected by college basketball's ever-changing NIL, revenue sharing, transfer portal, and eligibility rules than Quinnipiac men's basketball.
With the season approaching, the Bobcats have lost all five starters from last season either to transfers or to the ambiguity of the new fifth-year eligibility rule.
The five starters lost accounted for the majority of Quinnipiac's scoring and rebounding last year.
"I am not fond of the changes that have been made in the college game," coach Tom Pecora said. "I started coaching in the early 80s and you were thrilled to get a scholarship, meal money and a chance to travel somewhere outside of your region or your state. I think it would be great if you paid kids after they graduated. Motivate them to graduate even if they go to several schools."
Two-time first-team All-Metro forward Amarri Monroe transferred to Syracuse while Jaden Zimmerman left for Grand Canyon, Grant Randall moved on to Dayton and Spence Wewe is now at Hofstra.
The other starter from last season, guard Asim Jones, is still at Quinnipiac practicing with the team and enrolled in classes to complete his degree. For now, however, he is not officially a member of the team. He is hoping that as the overarching legislation governing the game plays out by early November that he will be granted a fifth year of eligibility.
For now, however, Pecora is left playing by the new set of rules as they stand, scrambling to rebuild his roster with transfers, freshmen and a core of returners led by 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Keith McKnight and 6-foot sophomore guard Tai Turnage.
It is so difficult to assess the talent throughout the entire 13-team Metro Conference that the league's coaches voted Quinnipiac sixth while the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook ranked the Bobcats first.
In his three seasons as the Quinnipiac head coach, Pecora has a 63-36 record. He led the Bobcats to the 2024 and 2025 regular season MAAC championship and his team was 19-13 last.
"Everything is so muddled up now, but I still love coaching," Pecora said. "I have had hard jobs. As a young man I moved furniture and I roofed houses. I did real man's work, so I am never going to complain about being a basketball coach."
Pecora loves having a player like McKnight to build around. As the team's top reserve last year, he averaged 11.0 points and 5.9 rebounds. He was also second on the team in steals with 42, and he led all players in the regular rotation in field goal percentage at 54.6.
"He is an incredible athlete and a wonderful young man from a great family," Pecora said. "He had an opportunity to leave for real big money and chose to stay one more year to hone his game. He will be a $1 million-plus player next year somewhere after another year of development with us.
"He is as good an athlete as I have been around, a gazelle or a thoroughbred who gets up and down the floor incredibly quick and finishes at a very high level. He continues to grow as a player. I think he has made a really smart move for himself down the road. That is not always the case for some of these young players, because so many chase the money."
Jones could make a huge difference in Quinnipiac's success, too, because last season he was the Bobcats' third leading scorer at 12.5 points per game and their top playmaker with 126 assists. He also made the second-most 3-pointers on the team with 45 and shot 46.4% from beyond the arc.
Pecora said that although the Bobcats lost a lot of talent from last season, he's excited about their eight new players.
He brought in two Division II players, New London's Tayeshawn Cunningham-Pemberton, who averaged 14 points and 4.4 rebounds with 52 steals at Assumption, and Michael Parrotta from St. Thomas Aquinas.
Parrotta's dad, Tom, re-united with Pecora on the coaching staff. He was an assistant under Pecora for eight seasons in the past at Fordham and Hofstra.
Overall, Pecora is very pleased with his team.
"I have a great staff that is doing a great job every day in practice," Pecora said. "I think the pieces are there, but I think with eight new bodies it is going to take some time for it to come together. So, we may not be as successful in our nonconference that we have been in the past, but I think once we get into conference play, we are going to be in pretty good shape."
"I think we have great depth, and I think there is a grit and toughness to them that I insist upon. We had one guy out with a hip and two guys out with broken noses, so we have been practicing hard, and I am OK with that."
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This article originally published at Quinnipiac men's basketball coach Tom Pecora faces a major roster reset. Here's why.