Sorrentine Behind The Arc St. Michael's 3-point specialist leaves his mark on school history.
By Amdework Assefa Staff Writer
Photo by Ali Destrempe Sorrentine takes a shot at the top of the square in Ross Sports Center.
Senior men’s basketball co-captain James Sorrentine is the new St. Michael’s three-point king.
By hitting 7 of 13 three-point field goal attempts against UMass-Lowell on Jan. 29, Sorrentine broke the previous record of 306 made in a St. Michael’s career, set by Todd Roberts in 2001.
“He has spent a tremendous amount of time to develop the kind of shot he has,” head coach Tom O’Shea said. “He has great fundamentals, a very quick release given his size because he is going against tall college level players and he is consistent.”
O’Shea knew when he saw the senior guard play in high school that he was a shooter.
“I saw Sorrentine play in the state tournament game in his senior year at St. Raphael Academy in Rhode Island,” O’Shea said. “He hit about six three-pointers in the first half, so I was convinced then that he could really shoot the ball.”
Sorrentine said he loves to have the ball at the end of the game.
“It’s always good to have the guys look for you at the end of the game to hit the shot, I try not to think about the shot too much, the more you think the worst it is,” he said.
He also loves silencing taunting fans during away games, Sorrentine said.
“Hitting the big shot, you don’t have to do anything or say anything because you just know you have silenced them,” Sorrentine said.
Sorrentine possesses a winning mentality.
“Sorrentine is all about winning, he is not about getting his points he sets up his teammates if he can’t score,” assistant coach Joe Krupinski said.
Sorrentine’s teammates and coaches have talked about his consistency as a characteristic of his play.
“James had a good year, but he had an injury right before Christmas on his abdominal muscle that really set him back a little bit, and he couldn’t play at our trip out in Pennsylvania,” Krupinski said, “but he has been one of the most consistent guys on our team.”
The guard always plays with the same determination, O’Shea said. No matter if the team is winning or losing, he said.
Krupinski said the team relies on Sorrentine to be an example for first-year players even though he may not be the most vocal.
“His effort level is the same day in, day out whether it’s practice or a game,” Krupinski said.
He credits Sorrentine outside shooting as helping the team receive a playoff berth last season.
“Sorrentine can certainly be helped with his game by other people, especially senior and co-captain Brian Monahan who plays forward, so we have an inside and outside balance with both of them,” Krupinski said.
Monahan said his outside shooting helps the team and can change the game at any point.
“When he gets hot he can pull us away in games or bring us back, so it is nice to have him as an option in the team,” Monahan said. “Opponents always had the best defender on him, so he could be more of a decoy at times, where we might be looking like we are running something for him but we are running for somebody else.”
The Purple Knights are in the middle of Northeast-10 conference play. They are looking to get positive results for the remainder of the season, and continue to work hard in practice, Sorrentine said.
“I think it’s mostly our defense we need to work on, because we can put the ball in the hoop,” Sorrentine said, “but it just comes down to defense and playing 40 minutes getting the play right.”
