SUNY - Canton Men's Basketball

Dylan Seikel enters his fourth season as head coach of the SUNY Canton men's basketball program during the 2025-26 academic year. SUNY Canton won four league games beating teams like Potsdam, New Paltz, Fredonia and Plattsburgh in its first season as a member of the SUNYAC during the 2024-25 season. Senior Eli Larson was recognized as one of SUNY Canton's 2025 Outstanding Baccalaureate Graduate Award winners. He also was tied for the highest male in the SUNY Canton Athletics department with the highest overall cumulative GPA entering the final semester. Six players were named to the SUNYAC Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll.  The Roos posted double digit wins (10) in Seikel's second year at the helm improving by four wins from the previous season. Quran DuBois was named NAC Second Team All-Conference following the 2022-23 season, while Eli Larson was named NAC Third Team All-Conference following the 2023-24 season. Larson was also recognized on the D3hoops.com National Team of the Week as well as the NAC Defensive Player of the Week (both 1/16/24).  Prior to Canton Seikel spent the past four seasons at St. John Fisher as the top assistant where the team saw incredible success going a combined 67-27 (.712 win%).  “Dylan’s experience helped him rise to the top of an extremely competitive pool of national candidates,” Director of Athletics Randy B. Sieminski said at the time of his appointment. “His experiences as the top assistant at a perennial power like St. John Fisher, along with his involvement with AAU and his playing experience will serve him well. He was tremendously impressive throughout the interview process and brings a wealth of enthusiasm and knowledge. We look for him to build on our recent success on the court, including an NCAA playoff appearance just a couple of years ago.” With Seikel on the bench, the Cardinals posted 18 wins in the 2018-19 campaign reaching the Empire 8 Championship. The success continued for Fisher in 2019-20 as the Cardinals won 19 games and claimed their ninth Empire 8 Championship after defeating top-seeded Nazareth to advance to the program's 17th NCAA Championship.     Seikel would go on to receive high praise at the conclusion of the season as the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) tabbed him to the Under Armour 30 Under 30 Team, which recognizes the top coaches across all three Divisions who are under the age of 30. In 2020-21, Seikel helped lead Fisher back to the postseason after winning an Empire 8 Regular Season Championship.  He helped groom the Empire 8 Player of the Year and the Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year.  Seikel's impact continued to show in 2021-22 as Fisher was once again back in the national conversation.  The Cardinals posted 19 wins and boasted the Empire 8 Player of the Year for the fourth straight season.   “I would like to thank President Szafran, Randy Sieminski, and the rest of the search committee for trusting me to be the next head men’s basketball coach,” Seikel said at the time of his hiring. “I am eager to build on the recent success of the program, while putting my footprint on the team as we look to compete for NAC championships and NCAA Tournament berths. I am looking forward to hitting the ground running, meeting the players and continuing the success here at SUNY Canton.” Prior to Fisher Seikel spent time as an assistant with Case Western Reserve in 2018.  Seikel, who was a student-athlete at Wabash College before transferring to Division I Akron University, worked in the high school ranks as an assistant coach for Revere High School for two years where he helped teach basketball fundamentals and aided in the development of numerous collegiate athletes including a Division I player. Seikel graduated from Akron with a Bachelor's degree in Education and brings a wealth of experience coaching at the AAU level where he was the president and co-founder of the Akron Bobcats. (Updated 10/29/25)  

Bender joins the Roos after serving as an assistant coach at Arapahoe High School last season in Centennial, Colorado, a suburb of Denver. Arapahoe is a 6A school in the Centennial League, one of the toughest in the state of Colorado.   "We are thrilled to welcome Coach Bender to the SUNY Canton men's basketball family, Seikel said at the time of his hiring. Jesse's experience coaching multiple levels of basketball will greatly assist our program moving forward. Coach Bender has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to help our players improve on and off the court."   Prior to his time in the greater Denver area, Bender was an assistant coach with the International Sports Academy (ISA) at Andrews Osborne, a prominent prep basketball academy in Cleveland, Ohio. During the 2021-22 season the team played a national schedule that took them to 11 different states playing high-level competition.   While in Cleveland he also spent time as a head coach at Luke Toth Basketball, an AAU program run by Luke Toth, a skill development coach for the National Basketball Associations (NBA) Cleveland Cavaliers. Before joining the staff at ISA, Bender was an assistant varsity and head junior varsity coach at Denver West High School.   "I am extremely excited to be joining the SUNY Canton's men's basketball staff for the upcoming 2023-24 season, Bender said when hired. I hope to bring enthusiasm and intensity to our program and help our student-athletes achieve success. I am ready to work with Coach Seikel to build something special with him in the North Country."

Mike McQuade enters his first season as the head JV men's basketball coach and varsity assistant with the Roos during the 2025-26 season.  McQuade joins the Roos after serving as the Head Varsity Boys Basketball Coach at nearby Hermon-DeKalb and Edwards-Knox. “We are excited to welcome Mike McQuade as our head JV coach and varsity assistant,” Head Varsity Coach Dylan Seikel said. “Coach McQuade has a wealth of experience in the North Country and will lead a group of tough and talented student-athletes. Coach McQuade is best known as a fantastic person, and we are looking forward to his tenure with the program.” (Updated 11/3/25)