After winning a Liberty League Championship in the 2024-25 season, the Ithaca College men’s basketball team has struggled to win games consistently. As of Jan. 22, the Bombers have compiled a 5-10 record and have failed to produce a winning streak under new head coach Mike McSloy.
After winning the Liberty League Championship Tournament in the 2024-25 season, former head coach Waleed Farid departed IC in May to take the head coaching position at New York University. The Bombers hired McSloy, formaly the head coach at Drew University. McSloy brought over an abundance of winning experience and a new fast-paced pressing style of play.
In basketball, the press is a high-tempo style of play that emphasizes aggressive defense on the entire court. The press is designed to make opponents feel uncomfortable, disrupt their rhythm, force turnovers, mistakes and quick decisions with the ball.
McSloy used the press during his last two years at Drew, leading them to a 44-10 record. Farid often ran a “run and gun” playstyle, which focuses more on the offense and shooting.
“I think anytime you have a new coach, there’s going to be bumps in the road,” McSloy said. “Anytime you start playing a new system, there’s going to be a learning curve, and I think we’re experiencing that in a big way right now, but I think our guys have done a really good job of being positive about moving on to the next day.”
Press increases the speed of the game and increases changes in possessions, which creates more scoring opportunities for both teams. McSloy said the goal is to force a high turnover rate but decrease the opponents’ field goal percentage.
This season, the Bombers are averaging 81.0 points per game, first in the Liberty League, but allowing on average 81.4, which ranks last in the conference.
“We haven’t done a ton consistently,” McSloy said. “Our offense has been inconsistent, but by the pace of our play, we score more points. I think defensively, we’re just allowing too many easy baskets out of our press within the half court. … It’s not ideal, but it’s just kind of the nature of the way we play.”
In the 2024-25 season, the Bombers averaged 13.6 turnovers per game. This year, they increased the average to 15.9. However, they have allowed opponents a 48.5 field goal percentage this season, their highest in over 13 years.
The Bombers concluded their non-conference schedule Jan. 3 and finished 1-6. McSloy said the team struggled with the difficult matchups, including teams like Western New England University and SUNY Cortland, early in the season.
“We were kind of thrown into the fire with who we had on the schedule, and I think the guys have grown tremendously in the press,” McSloy said. “I think in the areas of like, just knowing the positions, knowing what it takes, and the mentality that goes into it, it’s a huge [adjustment] and … there wasn’t a lot of grace period.”
Junior guard Jaylon O’Neal, one of the Bombers’ most productive players, says the team has been battle-tested, especially since losing two of their senior leaders from last year: Logan Wendell ’25 and Aidan Holmes ’25.
“At the beginning of the season, I’m not gonna lie, I think it was more of a mentality thing,” O’Neal said. “We knew what we did last year coming into the season, and I think we kind of carried that ego with us, and [did not] realize that we’re the underdogs again.”
Playing press is very physically demanding. Players must be well-conditioned to be able to sustain a full game. Having depth is also crucial, since players get subbed in every 2 1/2 to four minutes versus the typically five to six minutes in more traditional rotations. Most teams are also comfortable having eight to nine players rotating in the game; McSloy aims to have 11 to 12.
“We think that having the depth in those … games over the course of time could become really fruitful for us in terms of the actual system,” McSloy said. “It’s all about pressure, high intensity, got to have a lot of energy, got to be in really good shape to do it. … We always want [our opponents] to feel our presence. We always want them to feel like they’re under pressure, under duress.”
O’Neal said that focusing on sleep, nutrition and hydration is crucial when part of a pressing system. O’Neal also said that the Bombers have a system where if a player gets tired, they raise their fist to call in a teammate.
“You got to be built for [the press],” O’Neal said. “You’ve got to be willing to make sacrifices, even if it means sacrificing some of your minutes for one of your teammates again. … It’s all about knowing, knowing how much you can handle and how much you can take while still being able to help the team out. … It’s the unselfish thing to do, put your pride aside.”
Sophomore forward Chris Leysath, the 2024-25 Liberty League Rookie of the Year, has seen less court time this season despite being one of the team’s most productive players. In 2024-25, he averaged 23.8 minutes per game, in 2025-26, he is averaging 16.1.
“We’re relying on each other to come in and pick us up whenever we need that break,” Leysath said. “Since we’re trustworthy [to] everybody, we know when somebody comes into the game like they’re gonna give it their all, their best effort, and they’re gonna work hard every time they step on the court.”
McSloy said his press scheme is unique in the Liberty League. Besides the Hobart College Statesmen, everyone has a more “controlled” style. The Bombers lost to the Statesmen 86-66 Dec. 9, then defeated them 88-85 Jan. 13.
“Our philosophy is — not just this year, but in the future — we want to bring a system that’s more up and down, a little bit more fast paced, to try to be a little bit different [than] our opponents,” McSloy said.
Despite the struggles this season, McSloy says that the team has improved and is optimistic about January and February. The Bombers have 10 games left on their regular season schedule.
“As a coach, I don’t think you’re ever comfortable or like feeling great, necessarily,” McSloy said. “But our goal since the start has been to improve as the year has gone on. I think up until this point, we’ve done that, despite what our record shows.”
O’Neal said the team is committed to the process of learning the new system and everything will work itself out in the end.
“The only way that you can move at this point is forward,” O’Neal said. “I feel like that’s kind of the mentality that we’ve had. … We’ve gotten punched; we’ve given punches. It’s all about moving forward, sticking true to what we do, having trust in your brother and your teammates and the coaches and everything.”
