Seawright

SOUTH KINGSTOWN –– Kahiem Seawright will be one of the captains of this winter’s URI basketball team, but he has mixed emotions as the season nears.

For the most part, Seawright is excited and raring to get started for his final year. At the same time, the 6-foot-8, 225-pounder, who has been a mainstay for the Rams since he arrived from Long Island three years ago, is dealing with some difficult emotions, too.

He knows that for the first time he will have to play without his biggest fan cheering him on. Seawright’s mother, Marvena Johnson, died at age 53 shortly after last season ended.

“She was here all the time,” he recalled. “She was so supportive. She did so much. She worked two, three jobs to make sure everybody had something. She’d have people over for the holidays. She did everything.”

She did it alone, raising two daughters and one other son, along with Kahiem. Anyone who has been at URI games in the last three years saw Seawright’s mother. She sat directly behind the Rhody team and loved to waive pompons as she cheered on her son and the team.

She made the drive from Hempstead, Long Island, to the Ryan Center for most games and took in some road games, as well. She had been dealing with health problems, but her death was not expected.

“It was a shock to me,” Seawright said.

“It was hard for Kahiem, hard for all of us,” said URI coach Jim Baron. “Kahiem was very, very close with his mother.”

The URI team and coaching staff went to Long Island for the funeral.

“I thanked them for that. They’re all my brothers. I love them for what they did,” Seawright said. “We have a big family here. I can say that. From my freshman year, we’ve bridged the gap. I definitely appreciate them for that.”

Seawright does not like to talk about the situation at home, other than to say “it’s shaky. It’s not what it should be. One of the reasons I work so hard, that I don’t leave the gym until late is because I know I can make it change when I finish here. I definitely feel I can make it change.”

He speaks about how his mother emphasized that had to earn a college degree, that it would help give him a better life than he had growing up. Seawright vows to do that.

He is on pace to earn a degree in sociology in May. To remind himself of his goals, and all his mother did for him, Seawright had a tattoo of his mom burned into the inside of his lower left arm.

“Kaheim is special. He understands. He gets it. He’s going to do well,” Baron said of Seawright. He made it clear he was talking about much more than basketball.

Seawright, who is the leading returning rebounder in the Atlantic 10, is a vocal, hard-working player under any circumstances. He has been one of the team’s emotional leaders all along, so being one of the captains this year will not mean he has to change anything.

“I’ve always been there, I’ll just be involved even more,” he said of being a team leader. “We lost good players who graduated, but we’ve got new players who are good. It’s our turn now to hold down the fort. I don’t have a problem with that. I worked hard enough this summer that I’ll be ready for anything the coaches throw at me.”

Among other work this summer, Seawright helped lead his Long Island team to the gold medal in New York’s Empire State games. He is spending time now, with fellow seniors Jimmy Baron and Jason Francis, leading captain’s practices to help the Rams prepare for a season that will, among other challenges, see them play at Duke, in Oklahoma against Oklahoma State and in a tournament at The Palestra, in Philadelphia. “I expect big things from us this year,” Seawright said. “I expect a better year than last year and a better finish.”

The preseason magazines have begun hitting the newsstands and none expect the Rams to be Atlantic-10 contenders. Perhaps because of the team’s tough finish — the Rams lost seven of their last eight to finish 21-12 — URI is being picked anywhere from seventh to 11th among the 14 A-10 teams.

When that subject is brought up, the fire and energy begins flowing from Seawright.

“If you can pick eight or nine teams that are better than us in the A-10, you’re crazy. I mean, you’re crazy,” he said with emphasis. “I know we’re going to be good. With the guys we’ve got back and with how good the new guys are, we’re going to be good.

“It just means we’re back where we started,” he went on. “They never like to pick us. They had us high last year, but only because we finished second the year before. Now they have us back where they had us before. We showed them before that we can be good when we’re not placed at the top. We’ll have to do it again.”

pkenyon@projo.com