NEW BRITAIN — Despite losing the top six players from last year’s team that won the Northeast Conference men’s basketball regular season championship for the second time in a row, Central Connecticut coach Patrick Sellers is confident the Blue Devils can be even better.

After his last two teams became the first in program history to win 20 games or more in back-to-back seasons, Sellers believes this year’s team can extend the streak to three and do something the last two didn’t: win the conference tournament to advance to the NCCA Tournament for the first time since 2007.

That would be quite a feat considering that the six guys who averaged the most minutes last season and were among the team’s top seven scorers, all either graduated or cashed in on their success by using the transfer portal to sign lucrative NIL deals elsewhere.

It took Sellers and his coaching staff until the third week of the summer session to find enough guys to finalize this season’s roster, and they did so with 10 new players.

“Once we got the roster together, we told them we won 20 games, we were champions and this is the way we view ourselves now. That is our standard,” Sellers said. “You have to hold yourselves accountable as a player-coached team. You have to follow your veterans.

“The goal is to get 20, win the conference championship and win the conference tournament which we haven’t done yet. Can this team do it? I think we have a good chance if we defend and rebound. The jury is still out on that.”

There is plenty of uncertainty surrounding this team, but Sellers likes the Blue Devils’ makeup because of the solid foundation provided by talented returning players 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Darin Smith Jr., 6-9 junior forward Max Frazier and 6-3 senior guard Jay Rodgers.

They’re trying to fill the void left by the graduation of last year’s leading scorer and NEC Conference Player of the Year Jordan Jones and other losses.

Second-leading scorer and rebounder, Devin Haid, who led the team in steals was lured away to South Florida by a $250,000 NIL payday. And Abdul Momoh, who led the team in rebounding and field goal percentage, earned himself $150,000 by going to Illinois-Chicago through the transfer portal.   

Those players left the team not only with Sellers’ blessing, but with his help. Part of his recruiting pitch to players is that if they play great for the Blue Devils for two years with a chance to win a championship, they will have an opportunity to get signed out of the portal by higher-level teams and likely make big money. Central doesn’t have NIL to give players.

“Our guy Darin Smith is probably looking at $500,000-plus next year if he does what I think he can this year,” Sellers said. “We are going to help him find the right spot to go next year.

“When guys put their name in the portal, a lot of coaches tell them to pack their stuff and don’t come around. I am the total opposite. I want everybody to keep working out with us. You helped us win a championship. It is going to help our postseason workouts having you be with us, and then you go to your new school and get paid. It is a win-win for everybody.”

Smith redshirted his freshman year behind three very talented players and then showed real promise last year averaging 6.8 points and shooting 51.7% from the field, including 46.3% from 3-point range.

“He is a versatile player with a hunger to score and the ability to put the ball in the hoop,” Sellers said. “He has a really soft touch around the rim so the ball seems to trickle in for him all the time. He is also a much-improved defender.”    

Sellers said that Frazier was one of the more talented guys on last year’s team. Despite being in his third year of basketball this year, he’s still one of the youngest guys on the team and is ready to blossom.

“He is a super talented guy, and this is going to be the first time he is going to be counted on every day to bring it and show leadership,” Sellers said. “We believe he is prepared for it. He is an athletic pogo stick and rebounder. I think he is ready to explode onto the scene, and people are going to be like, ‘Who is this kid?’”

He also believes Rodgers is going to going to really surprise people. He played only nine games last season due to injury but averaged 9.1 points the year before.

“He was also a 2-to-1 assist/turnover guy and has a really high I.Q.,” Sellers said. “He is not the athlete that Jordan Jones was for us, but he is a really good, read-and-react guy. He will be one of our captains and leaders.”

One of the bright young stars the Blue Devils brought in is freshman Elijah Parker from Holy Cross-Waterbury. Sellers thought he might be a tremendous redshirt candidate, a guy like Smith who would learn for a year and then have a breakout season and become a star.

Parker has played so well since he arrived on campus, however, that he has played himself into the rotation for this season.

“He can really score, but what I really like about him is that he is such an elite decision-maker, playmaker and basketball I.Q. guy,” Sellers said. “He is becoming a better shooter. Not only does he definitely have a chance to be the rotation, but he might start.”

With a great core, the fate of the Blue Devils, who were 25-7 last year and 20-11 the year before, may rest on the development of transfers they brought in or redshirt players ready to emerge.

Sellers said they have remained near the top of the conference because of their ability to find talented Division II transfers, community college players or Division I guys who haven’t found their niche yet.

He believes shooters like Roddy Jones, who redshirted last season, and Melo Sanchez, who transferred from Arkansas could make the Blue Devils better offensively than their last two teams were.

“This team has a different personality from the last two, and we won’t know how good we are until we start playing,” Sellers said. “But I think this team has much more basketball I.Q. so when we play against a good defensive team and things break down, we have guys who can play and figure it out.

“We will shoot the ball better from the perimeter and have the potential to be a better offensive team, but whether we win the league again is a matter of whether or not we finish up on the defensive end.”