City of Basketball Love

Rich Flanagan (@richflanagan33)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2016-17 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 11. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season, click here.)

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For Jordan Price, being looked upon to routinely score not just in double figures but to go for 20-or-more night in and night out last season was seen more as a responsibility than a burden.

La Salle's 6-foot-5, 220-pound guard averaged 19.2 points per game, tied for 47th nationally with players such as Louisiana State forward Ben Simmons and Associated Press Player of the Year Denzel Valentine, scoring at least 20 points on 12 occasions.

He also played 37.7 minutes per game, an unhealthy load for any player, even one of Price's caliber.

The third-year starter felt last year’s squad was strong, but didn’t get the results it wanted consistently in the win-loss column.

“I never honestly feel like I have to score 30 every, single night [but] sometimes, I get into a groove,” he said after practice last week. “We had a good team last year and we beat some of the top teams in our conference so night in and night out we had a chance every time.”

Price -- an Auburn transfer whose 1,164 points as a member of the Explorers rank fourth in school history in any players' first two seasons --is optimistic that not only will the scoring load be a little lighter this season but also the wins will follow suit as new additions were added to the roster and another year of experience should benefit many of the key returnees.

The new additions include three transfers in Demetrius Henry (South Carolina), B.J. Johnson (Syracuse) and Pookie Powell (Memphis).

Henry, a 6-9, 225-pound forward, started 48 games over two seasons with the Gamecocks from 2013-2014 averaging 5.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. The 6-7 Johnson appeared in 35 games in two years with the Orange which included a 19-point outburst in a win over No. 9 Notre Dame in 2014-15. After a senior year of high school where he averaged 27.8 ppg at Dr. Phillips High School (Fla.) in 2012-13, Powell started 11 games in his first year with the Tigers before transferring to the corner of 20th & Olney.

Price expects the trio of transfers to contribute immediately for the Explorers (9-22, 4-14 Atlantic 10), and sees their ability to spread the floor as an advantage so he does not have to force the issue as often this season.

“They’re going to be able to open the court for me because a lot of the shots I took last year were contested," he said. "This year, they’ll be able to open things up for me if they’re scoring.”

Johnson, a Lower Merion grad, echoed those sentiments.

"I know just from playing together in practice, if he’s covered and I’m open he’ll get it to me and vice versa," Johnson agreed. "I think just as a whole, our team is getting more unselfish and relying on anybody to score instead of just a single person.”

Henry will be a key piece in the post for La Salle at both ends of the floor and feels he, Johnson and Powell have already been integrated into the Explorers’ culture.

“Guys like Jordan, from day one he treated me like a brother so he’s definitely made it easier,” Henry said. “All the guys made it easier for me out here. I felt like I belonged as soon as I stepped on campus.”

While Henry, Johnson and Powell are about to get their first taste of playing in front of a raucous crowd at Tom Gola Arena, the Explorers return two players who helped ease the scoring load at times last season: Cleon Roberts and Tony Washington.

Roberts, the 6-6, rangy combo guard, started all 31 games was second of the team with 12.2 ppg. He certainly showed he can fill up the stat sheet as evidenced by his 30-point performance against Florida Gulf Coast on Dec. 31, and he went on to score in double figures in the next eight games immediately following. Washington showed flashes of being a force down low recording five double-doubles and scored in double figures eleven times.

After finishing 331 out of 346 NCAA Division 1 teams in scoring at 64.1 ppg, the only place for the Explorers to go is up. The growth of Price, Roberts and Washington combined with the addition of the transfers into the team’s rotation should benefit head coach John Giannini’s squad. Giannini, now in his 13th year at the helm, says there is a plethora of scorers on this year’s team and he’s working to find the best combination of them.

“I think everybody on the practice floor can help us and we’re trying to be ultra-competitive,” Giannini said. “Everything is score-driven, everything has a winner, and we want to see who our best winners are. And we’re going to reward our best winners with more opportunities.”

At the outset of practices, Giannini said was worried about how the team’s scoring options would meld together -- but now, “the guys I’d been concerned with have been playing really well, so I’m really pleased.”

The Explorers are hoping that continues as the season tips off.