City of Basketball Love

Will Slover (@WillSlover31)
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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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Tunnel vision.

That’s the only way to describe the attitude of the three high-major transfers that will be able to take the court for the La Salle Explorers this season after sitting out for a year due to NCAA regulations last season.

Demetrius Henry (South Carolina), B.J. Johnson (Syracuse), and Pookie Powell (Memphis) all have one thing in common, and that is putting last year on the back-burner and focusing on the year ahead.

“I mean, a lot of our guys have got a next play, next game mentality,” said Johnson, a 6-7 wing and '13 Lower Merion grad. “After our last game, it was a little rough but after we got back in the gym and started working out again it was focused on this year.”

The Explorers, who finished last year 9-22 (4-14 Atlantic 10), could certainly have used the help of all three of these former high-major players who will be taking the court in the blue and gold in less than a month.

“I won’t say it’s easy, but we’re just trying to put last year in the past,” said Powell, a 5-11 point guard and the only one of the trio who has three years of eligibility remaining; Johnson and Henry are both redshirt juniors. “We’re looking to come in this year, work hard and just get wins. That’s all we’re trying to do.”

It’s not just these three players that have this attitude, it’s a mindset that has taken over the La Salle locker room after the underwhelming season put forth by the squad that reached the Sweet 16 just three years previous.

“I haven’t really been focusing on last year,” returning leading scorer and senior Jordan Price said. “I’m just looking forward to this year.”

Price, along with the rest of La Salle’s starting five, will be coming back with one more year of experience -- add in the three transfers and a promising freshman class, and there is present a deep Explorers team that may contend for the top spot in the Atlantic 10.

“Our biggest strength is how deep we are,” said Johnson.

The addition of depth will be a huge advantage for the Explorers, who played many close games last year, despite only suiting up single digits players for an overwhelming amount of their games, including having only six players see the floor in their January 9 win over the then-No. 25 ranked Dayton Flyers.

Since their debut in an Explorers’ uniform is right around the corner, the intensity has been upped in practice for the three players who have been itching to get back on the court since their last college games over 18 months ago.

“More intense because last year Coach (Giannini) wanted the guys that were actually playing to do stuff at practice,” said Henry, a 6-9 forward. “We were more so doing just scout things or more of a decoy just to help those guys get ready for the game. But now that it’s everybody is playing this year, it’s more intense. Everybody is pushing each other to the max and we’re just ready to play.”

This vamped up intensity is creating a newfound excitement for the entire Explorers team.

“Anytime, that sit-out year is great for kids but it’s also long. And these guys love basketball and they miss playing in games and those guys are tremendously excited,” said La Salle head coach John Giannini, who is entering his 13th season at the helm for La Salle and will be looking to get back over the double-digit win plateau after failing to do so for the first time in his tenure last season. “I’m going to let them be excited, I’m not going to try to calm them down, because I like the energy that they have and I think it’s going to help them and help all of us.”

With their season opener on the road against Big 5 rival Temple less than a month away, (Nov. 11, 7 PM) the time they’ve all been patiently waiting for since their decisions to transfer in the Summer of 2015 is finally within sight for the three promising veterans is in sight and they’re ready to perform.

“Last year, just sitting out watching guys play was rough but now it’s time for me and the transfers to get ready to play and we feel pretty good,” Johnson said

Tunnel vision, depth, intensity and excitement. The perfect mesh of these four things can create a winning formula for the La Salle Explorers, who will look to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013, when the advanced to the Sweet 16.