Alex Abrami

Free Press Staff Writer

Wrapped around a flower vase on the kitchen table rested the net from the America East championship victory.

A hunt for milk or half-and-half found two expired containers in the fridge.

After a week in Milwaukee for the NCAA tournament, it was back to reality for University of Vermont men’s basketball coach John Becker.

Yet not before one final reflection on the Catamounts’ historic 2016-17 season.

“Our expectations were so high, and then to exceed those expectations, it’s nearly impossible,” Becker said. “Since the day we lost to Stony Brook, it was just this incredible focus and determination and work ethic. These guys just bought in. The coaching staff was tremendous.

“Everything fit. It all came together.”

UVM captured the conference tournament championship and advanced to March Madness for the first time since 2012, Becker’s first year in charge, while rewriting enough program records to draw comparisons to the golden season of 2004-05.

At his Burlington home Monday morning, Becker sat down with the Burlington Free Press to review the accomplishments, answer questions about potential outside suitors, and look ahead to the team’s promising future.

Cats climb to new heights

Tabbed as the preseason No. 1 by America East coaches in the fall, UVM entered as the heavy favorite to snatch the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Heap on more pressure from last year’s title-game meltdown and loss to Stony Brook, the burden for UVM players and coaches to see through a title-or-bust season could have proved overwhelming.

But it had the opposite effect. It was the No. 1 motivator.

“I don’t think I realized the pressure until after we were done,” Becker said. “I just wanted it so bad for the guys, and it had to be this year for these guys. I mean, it didn’t have to be, but, for our seniors, I just wanted it to be.

“They just prepared so hard, from game preparation to being physically and mentally ready. They were really impressive.”

A 10-5 record in the nonconference slate included wins over three Ivy League schools — Yale, Harvard and Dartmouth — along with triumphs over Eastern Michigan and Siena. The losses were nearly as noteworthy: At nationally ranked South Carolina and Butler — the latter a 12-point margin that was closer than the final score indicated — and a buzzer-beater defeat to Houston in the Gulf Coast Showcase final.

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The Dec. 21 setback to No. 13-ranked Butler was significant for another reason: It was the Catamounts’ last loss until the 80-70 defeat to No. 4 Purdue in the first round of the NCAA tournament last week.

That winning streak, covering 21 games and later earning top billing as the nation’s longest active streak until it was broken, didn’t define UVM’s season. The streak served to enhance it.

“The remarkable consistency that they displayed — that’s the hardest thing to do, be as consistent as we were,” Becker said. “Every game, every practice our guys were there.”

And by season’s end, after finally vanquishing Albany for the conference title and giving Purdue everything the team had, UVM’s accolades and school marks added up.

The program’s Twitter account posted a rundown of the accomplishments:

•Most wins (29) in program and America East history.

•Longest winning streak in program history.

•First school to go 16-0 in 38 America East seasons.

•Reached its sixth NCAA tournament, all since 2003.

•First team to sweep all five of the year-end league awards (coach, player, defensive, rookie of the years, sixth man).

•Becker leapfrogged mentor Mike Lonergan to reach third in all-time wins (139) in UVM coaching history.

“How often does that happen? Or does it even happen in your career?” Becker asked rhetorically of the team’s success this season. “It’s like our guys said, ‘Yeah, we are going to be better than that.’”

Another level to reach?

Although the Boilermakers, in the end, were too tough a matchup, pulling away in the closing minutes of a game UVM would love to replay with a fully healthy Kurt Steidl, the Catamounts gave the country a glimpse of a mid-major program on the rise.

At least, Becker thinks so. Half of UVM’s six losses were to teams set to play in the Sweet 16 later this week.

“I look at the way we competed against Purdue on the national stage. The way we played against Butler,” Becker said. “We played those teams toe-to-toe. It wasn’t gimmicks. It wasn’t trying to slow the game down. We played those teams, and we held up for the most part.

“Coach (Tom) Brennan called and said, ‘We are not going to the NCAA tournament anymore and just happy to be there. We are playing with these teams.'"

And it has Becker excited for what the future potentially holds.

“Are we getting closer and closer to some of the unthinkable things that could be done at a Vermont or a mid-major that we have seen other schools around the country achieve?” Becker said. “It’s a long, slow process, but we took a step this year. I’m not sure what that step was, but we took a step this year.

“For what we have and what we are producing, it’s really remarkable. It’s a credit to our players, to our coaches.”

Continuing that upward trajectory won’t just happen, Becker said. The focus from the program and the school must remain aligned.

The buzz around the program returned in full force this winter — five straight sellouts to close out the home slate at Patrick Gym — and plans for a new, $80 million multi-purpose arena were unveiled by the university in February.

“There has to be a continued investment. Resources have to continue to improve. Facilities, which we are all optimistic are going to be realized, have to happen as soon as possible, because there is an incredible amount of momentum and energy around our program,” Becker said. “People have reached out, people who this team touched, and we have to make sure we capitalize on this momentum.”

Will Becker stay put?

A coach with sustained success with one team eventually will draw interest from other schools. And after a season like the Catamounts just compiled, Becker’s name has been tossed in the rumor mill for potential job openings.

Before the NCAA tournament started, Sports Illustrated’s Pete Thamel named Becker on his list of lower-profile coaches who could find a new home. While Becker’s been tied only loosely to a couple suitors — the Hartford Courant said he was believed to be among the candidates for the Quinnipiac position — the sixth-year UVM coach appears happy in Burlington.

“I love my job here, and I love the team we have coming back and where our culture is,” Becker said. “As long as we are all moving forward here … and we continue to capitalize on where we are and push this thing forward, it would take a lot for me to consider leaving here.”

Becker’s current contract, signed as an addendum last spring, runs through April 30, 2022. His annual base salary for the 2016-17 school year is $275,000, according to UVM records obtained Tuesday by the Free Press through a records request.

The buyout details state that Becker would have to pay $300,000 if he were to leave for a position at a "power five conference" school, and $250,000 in all other cases, the records show.

Becker's predecessor at UVM, Lonergan, spent six seasons on the Catamount bench before taking the George Washington gig in 2011.

A repeat next year?

Steidl, the team’s best two-way player, is set to graduate, as are league defensive player of the year Dre Wills and Darren Payen, the sixth-man award winner.

Replacing Steidl and Wills’ leadership can’t happen overnight. Payen’s efficiency — he shot 70 percent from the floor in limited minutes — will be tough to replace.

But the returning talent likely will place UVM as the preseason No. 1 again.

Trae Bell-Haynes (11.2 points, 3.9 assists per game), the league player of the year, is back for his senior year, along with third-team honorees Payton Henson (11.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and Ernie Duncan (8.7 ppg), the program’s career 3-point percentage leader.

And then there is rising star Anthony Lamb (12.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg), the league rookie of the year whose exploits in the conference tournament and against Purdue only heightened expectations for next winter.

Redshirt players Ben Shungu, the former Rice High School star, Sam Dingba and Kian Dalyrimple will be eligible, and signed recruits Bailey Patella of Vermont Academy and Stefan Smith of Toronto offer promise to fill the missing voids. The Catamounts have one scholarship spot open after the graduation of the three seniors.

“We lose a lot, there is no question about that,” Becker said. “But Anthony Lamb has certainly emerged as a player-of-the-year type of talent, and we have a lot of good pieces coming back. It’s really exciting times for Vermont basketball."

A wider talent pool for recruiting might be an additional windfall for the program.

"The energy around this program and the enthusiasm around this program is as high as I’ve been here, and rightfully so,” Becker said.

Staff Writer Alex Abrami covers the UVM basketball beat for the Free Press. Contact Abrami at 660-1848 or aabrami@freepressmedia.com and follow him on Twitter @aabrami5.