During the 2021-22 CUNYAC season, the first season back since the Covid pandemic, the Baruch College bearcats men’s basketball team defeated the Lehman College Lightning in overtime of the CUNYAC Championship. This year, the CUNYAC men’s basketball preseason poll has selected Baruch as the projected favorite to repeat as the 2023 CUNYAC Champions. With 9 returning players and an additional 9 new players to their roster this season, the Bearcats are looking to repeat as champions and hopefully make it back to the NCAA Tournament.
I plan to speak with one of the returning players, Mohamed Gueye, a junior on the men’s team, about his experiences on the team and his expectations for this year. Gueye received the honor of player of the week on December 6, 2021, during his last season after scoring a career-high 20 points in the CUNYAC opener against Hunter College. This year, in only the second game of the season, he led the team in scoring with 18 points in their win against Chatham University. For this project, I hope to speak with Gueye about his goals for this year and how he’s grown as a player these past few seasons. I also expect to hear more about how the team is accommodating the changes they’ve experienced since last season and how they plan to repeat as the CUNYAC Champions this year. For b-roll, I hope to capture video of Gueye at basketball practices, any type of preparations/routines before game days, and hopefully record some action at a game.