Hofstra’s Juan’ya Green puts milestone on Joe Mihalich’s foundation

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – One key reason for Hofstra’s success this season is transfer Juan’ya Green, who followed coach Joe Mihalich here from Niagara and helped set the tone, culture-wise, as Mihalich laid the foundation for the program he wanted to build.

“It’s the way he talks and the way he carries himself,” Green said. “He's always that guy who's going to be on me and make sure I do the right thing, especially on the court and off the court. I always liked that about him. He's a very funny guy and a generous person. I love that about him.”

Joe Mihalich more than 'steady rudder' in Hofstra's transformation

The Pride is in the midst of its best start since 2006-07 and leads the Colonial Athletic Conference entering Thursday’s game against UNC Wilmington.

During Green’s initial recruitment to Niagara, he remembers Mihalich telling him he’d put the ball in his hands. And that’s worked quite well at both places for Green, a 6-2 guard who’s leading Hofstra in scoring with 17.7 points, 6.8 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game. But he’s not doing it alone either; four other Pride players average double-digits, including Rokas Gustys, who averages a double-double (13.0 points, 11.1 rebounds in 28 minutes per game).

During Hofstra’s current four-game winning streak, Green and Gustys have combined for nearly 40 points and 20 rebounds per game. Now, Green is just 31 points shy of becoming only the fourth player to ever score 1,000 points at two different Division I schools.

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