​ALBANY – Zacharie Matulu stayed at home so he could win at home.The University at Albany men’s basketball guard could have hopped into the NCAA transfer portal following a breakout season in 2025-26, looking for a higher-profile opportunity. Instead, the Albany native and Shaker High graduate redoubled his commitment to the Great Danes, announcing his return back in March.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement”I’m from Albany,” Matulu said Wednesday. “I want to win for Albany before I do anything in the realm of leaving or going pro, anything like that.”This week, Matulu and a very new cast of Great Danes got to work trying to turn that into a reality with the start of summer workouts on campus.Matulu is one of just four players returning to UAlbany from last season’s 11-21 team, alongside fellow guards Miles Rose, Abdoulaye Fall and Wilkin Paulino. The 11 newcomers were brought in from a wide variety of sources: High school and prep recruits, junior college and Division I transfers, and a raft of international signings.The roster assembled by coach Dwayne Killings and his staff includes players from the United States, Canada, England, France, Portugal, Croatia, Senegal and Qatar.University at Albany head coach Dwayne Killings is seen during a preseason workout for the men’s basketball team at Broadview Center on Wednesday, July 15, 2026 in Albany, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union) (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)”We wanted to find guys that are committed to winning, guys that are committed to basketball,” Killings said. “I thought last year we had some talent, but we had some immaturity that really hurt us.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement”I just think there’s a desire to come in here and be about our business,” he added. “Practices have been very businesslike the last couple days.”Killings noted that one player, Moustapha Ndao – a native of Senegal who last played for Al-Ahli in Qatar – was not on campus yet, but the program was “working to get him here, hopefully in the next couple weeks.”With such a diverse new cast, a big focus in the first few days of UAlbany’s summer session has simply been on the players getting familiar with each other and their respective backgrounds.”We’ve talked a lot about communication,” Killings said. “We have to be a good communicating team, because the one thing we’ve learned so far with some of our international guys, there’s a little bit of hesitation sometimes to talk, because they don’t want to get things wrong. We said, ‘Don’t worry about getting it wrong. Just make sure you guys communicate.'”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMatulu is UAlbany’s biggest known quantity among its returning players. This past season, he emerged as a regular starter, averaging 9.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game while shooting 48% from the field and 36% from 3-point range. A bout of plantar fasciitis in his right foot forced him to miss nearly a month of the season before returning for the final few games.Among th