City of Basketball Love

By Jeff Griffith
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As the calendar shifts to November, college programs all over the Philadelphia area are finishing up preseason practices and preparing to tip-off their season openers. For the majority of the area’s Division III programs — four of which made the NCAA Tournament last season — the season gets underway during the weekend of November 10.  

With the regular season just days away, here are our Division III men’s preseason rankings for the 2023-24 season: 

1. Swarthmore Garnet
Head Coach: Landry Kosmalski, 12th season
Last Year: 28-4 (16-2 Centennial Conference)
Key Departures: George Visconti (14.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg), Colin Shaw (9.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg), George Corzine (7.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg), Cal Hanson (5.3 ppg, 2.1 rpg)
Key Returners: Vinny DeAngelo (17.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg), Michael Caprise (10.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg), Eddie Paquette (5.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg)

Swarthmore has solidified itself as one of the area’s top teams in recent years, and reached the NCAA Tournament national semifinals last season. In terms of 2023-24 roster turnover, the pro is that two of the Garnet’s top three scorers from 2022-23 are back, including junior guard and CoBL Player of the Year Vinny DeAngelo. The con, though, is that all but three of Swarthmore’s rotation players from a year ago are no longer on the roster. Head coach Landry Kosmalski, though, has developed the Garnet into a perennial national contender in recent years, and should be able to keep Swarthmore at or near its recent level of excellence in the upcoming season despite lost production.  

First Five: vs. Washington University in St. Louis (Nov. 11 @ NYU), at NYU (Nov. 12), at Cabrini (Nov. 15), vs. DeSales (Nov. 18), vs. Muhlenberg (Nov. 21)

2. DeSales Bulldogs
Head Coach: Scott Coval, 31st season
Last Year: 21-6 (13-3 MAC Freedom)
Key Departures: None
Key Returners: Nate Ellis (11.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg), Elijah Eberly (10.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg), Ryan Boylan (8.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg), Christian Guldin (8.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg), Jordan Holmqvist (7.7 ppg, 1.3 rpg), Mason Barnes (7.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg)

It’s hard to ignore Swarthmore’s proven winning standard for the No. 1 spot, but few teams have the combination of returning production and recent success that DeSales has entering 2023-24. The Bulldogs have plenty of reason for optimism, with the top nine scorers returning from a DeSales team that won 20 games last year and earned a MAC Freedom title, but fell short in the conference tournament, including all-rookie selection and leading scorer Nate Ellis. DeSales will get its shot at Swarthmore early, visiting the Garnet two weeks into the season.

First Five: vs. Rosemont (Nov. 9), vs. The College of New Jersey (nov. 14), @ Swarthmore (Nov. 18), @ Moravian (Nov. 21), vs. Widener (Nov. 29)

3. Widener Pride
Head Coach: Chris Carideo, 18th season
Last Year: 19-9 (11-5 MAC Commonwealth)
Key Departures: Pat Holden (13.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg)
Key Returners: Dominic Dunn (18.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg), Kevin Schenk (10.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg), Steven Matlack (9.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg), Kenny Lewis (8.5 ppg, 8.3 rpg)

Among an intriguing group of transfers, Widener adds graduate guard Howie Rankine Jr., who led Susquehanna’s 16-10 squad in scoring a year ago, and earned CoBL’s Division III All-Area Second Team honors. He joins 2022-23 CoBL First Teamer Dominic Dunn, who transferred to Widener from Susquehanna last season. With an array of experienced transfers joining a Widener roster that features all but one of its notable contributors from a year ago, the Pride will have to figure out rotations for a very deep lineup, but will have plenty of production and talent to work with in aiming to build off of last year’s MAC Commonwealth Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament bid. 

First Five: vs. Kings (Nov. 10), vs. Ursinus (Nov. 15), vs. Hampden-Sydney (Nov. 17), at Wooster (Nov. 18), vs. Salisbury (Nov. 26) 

4. Alvernia Wolves
Head Coach: Mike Miller Jr., first season
Last Year: 21-9 (12-4 MAC Commonwealth)
Key Departures: Malik Green (17.4 ppg, 7.5 rpg)
Key Returners: Jakob Kelly (13.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg), Nigel Cooke (12.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg), Robert Mullan (10.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg), Jalil Schenk (8.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg)

Of their five consistent starters from last season, the Wolves lost just one — that’s Malik Green, last year’s leading scorer, who was selected to CoBL’s All-Area First Team and won MAC Commonwealth Player of the Year. Every other starter, plus Alvernia’s two other players to have averaged double-digit minutes a year ago, are back in the fold for 2022-23, looking to build off of a 20-win season that saw the Wolves reach the MAC Commonwealth title game and advance to the third round of the ECAC Tournament. Alvernia also added a pair of experienced newcomers this season in Lebanon Valley transfer Kegan Hertz (6.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and Harcum transfer Naji Hamilton (2.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg). 

First Five: vs. Juniata (Nov. 8), vs. Penn State Berks (Nov. 10), at Wilkes (Nov. 18), at Neumann (Nov. 28), vs. DeSales (Dec. 2)

5. Neumann Knights
Head Coach: Jim Rullo, 11th season
Last Year: 21-8 (9-3 CSAC)
Key Departures: Tony James (10.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg), Ryan Starr (9.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg), Kyson Rawls (6.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg), Justin Smith (4.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg)
Key Returners: Jalen Vaughns (23.0 ppg, 10.5 rpg), TJ Lewis (12.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg)

For Neumann, here’s the bad news: the Knights lost four of their top six scores from a year ago. The good news: nearly half of their scoring production is back in the form of two players, senior wing Jalen Vaughns and junior guard TJ Lewis. Vaughns has been a force during his career at Neumann, winning CoBL’s Division III Player of the Year honors in 2021-22, and earning a first team nod last season. Vaughns also enters his senior year with back-to-back Atlantic East Player of the Year honors, and will be looking to lead the Knights — who added Lincoln transfer and Imhotep Charter alum Bernard Lightsey, a 6-foot guard — to another 20-win season, after falling short in last year’s conference title game. 

First Five: at Franklin & Marshall (Nov. 9), at Manhattanville (Nov. 12), TBD (Nov. 18), TBD (Nov. 18), vs. Valley Forge (Nov. 21)

6. Eastern Eagles
Head Coach: Dan Pruessner, 4th season
Last Year: 18-9 (10-6 MAC Commonwealth)
Key Departures: Draig Cooley (11.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg), Sam Gallardo (8.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg)
Key Returners: Jaron Fairweather (12.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg), Zubair Lee (11.1 ppg, 7.8 rpg), Keeshawn Ward (10.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg), Elijay Morris (7.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg)\

Eastern loses two of its top five scorers in terms of scoring average on last year’s roster, but one was only available for 15 games, so the Eagles are pretty well set up in terms of returning season-long production from a successful 2022-23 slate. Graduate guard Jaron Fairweather — a CoBL fourth-teamer last year — and sophomore forward Zubair Lee — last year’s MAC Commonwealth Rookie of the Year and a CoBL All-Rookie selection — comprise the top two scorers from last year’s squad, which dropped a close MAC Commonwealth semifinal game at Alvernia to end its 18-win campaign. 

First Five: vs. Waynesburg (Nov. 10), vs. TBD (Nov. 11), vs. Rowan (Nov. 15), vs. Penn State Schuylkill (Nov. 20), at Cabrini (Nov. 29)

7. Gettysburg Bullets
Head Coach: B.J. Dunne, 6th season
Last Year: 16-11 (12-6 Centennial)
Key Departures: Elijah Williams (9.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg)
Key Returners: Carl Schaller (14.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg), Jordan Stafford (11.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg), Ryan McKeon (8.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg), Antonello Baggi (7.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg), Nate Williams (7.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg), Rassoul Abakar (4.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg)

There wasn’t anything incredibly astounding about Gettysburg’s 2022-23 season; other than a surprise win over Swarthmore to end the regular season the Bullets posted a respectable mark of 16-11 and finished fourth in the Centennial Conference. Gettysburg was hot down the stretch lsat year, though, winning five of its last six regular season games, and is essentially the same team it was a year ago, with all but one noteworthy contributor back. Junior guard Carl Schaller and sophomore guard Jordan Stafford — both of whom received mentions on CoBL’s All-Area awards lists last year, comprised a third of last year’s production, and will have plenty of help from a slew of returning role players. 

First Five: vs. Muskingum (Nov. 10), vs. TBD (Nov. 11), vs. Stevenson (Nov. 15), at York (Nov. 18), at Johns Hopkins (Nov. 21)

8. Lancaster Bible Chargers
Head Coach: Jon Mack, 4th season
Last Year: 21-8 (15-1 United East)
Key Departures: Jordan Shewbridge (18.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg), Andrew Zentner (11.6 ppg, 7.1 rpg), Adam Stoltzfus (11.2 ppg, 10.0 rpg), Ethan Beachy (5.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg)
Key Returners: Grant Sareyka (15.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg), Seth Beers (6.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg), Malachi McDowell (5.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg)

Lancaster Bible ripped through its Atlantic East conference slate last season, dropping just one league game en route to a regular season and conference tournament title . The Chargers were also one of just two area teams to earn an NCAA Tournament win, defeating NYU in the opening round before falling to eventual national runner-up Mount Union. Here’s the snag, though — four of Lancaster Bible’s top six contributors last season are no longer around, and top scorer Jordan Shewbridge — who was named to multiple all-region first teams, including CoBL’s — is now an assistant on the Chargers’ coaching staff. The onus will likely fall on senior guards like Grant Sareyka — a CoBL All-Area fourth-teamer last year — and Seth Beers to carry the torch from last year’s highly-successful group. 

First Five: vs. Allegheny (Nov. 10), vs. TBD (Nov. 11) vs. Franklin and Marshall (Nov. 18), vs. Shenandoah (Nov. 21), vs. Immaculata (Nov. 27)

9. Arcadia Knights
Head Coach: Adam Van Zelst, 5th season
Last Year: 15-12 (9-7 MAC Freedom)
Key Departures: None
Key Returners: Jalen Watkins (18.7 ppg, 12.0 rpg), Nas Johnson (14.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg), Justin Money (13.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg), Dom Vazquez (10.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg), Joshua Okocha (5.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg)

Essentially all of the notable production from a 2022-23 Arcadia team that showed plenty of glimpses is back in the fold for the upcoming season. Last year, the Knights posted a surprise run to the NCAA Tournament, winning seven of their last nine regular season games after a 5-11 start, and picked off DeSales twice in the span of a week in mid-February. Arcadia came up short, but held its own in a six-point first round NCAA Tournament loss to Case Western Reserve. With, essentially, nothing lost in terms of contributors from last year’s roster — and key faces like MAC Freedom Player of the Year Jalen Watkins back for another year — Arcadia may be able to build off of its surprise success in the 2023-24 season. 

First Five: vs. Susquehanna (Nov. 9), vs. Cabrini (Nov. 11), vs. Gwynedd Mercy (Nov. 15), vs. Haverford (Nov. 18), vs. Immaculata (Nov. 21), at York (Nov. 29)

10. Muhlenberg Mules
Head Coach: Kevin Hopkins, 7th season
Last Year: 18-9 (12-6 Centennial)
Key Departures: Dan Gaines (16.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg), Tommy McGuire (5.8 ppg, 6.9 rpg)
Key Returners: Giovanni Rubino (18.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg), Jayson Williams-Johnson (8.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg), Brandon Goldberg (7.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg), Charlie Gillikin (5.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg), Luke Gordos (5.5 ppg, 35 rpg)

Muhlenberg played a relatively shallow yet balanced rotation on its way to 18 wins last season, with seven players averaging more than 19 minutes, but just one other averaging more than 10. Of those, just two have departed from the program, but that pair does include Dan Gaines, a 6-foot-2 guard who helped comprise nearly half of the Mules’ scoring when paired alongside returning senior guard Giovannni Rubino, a Second Team selection on CoBL’s postseason recognitions last year. For the most part, though, Muhlenberg’s roster is well intact from a team that doubled its win total from 2021-22 to 2022-23 and won six of its last even regular season games. 

First Five: at Rosemont (Nov. 11), vs. Moravian (Nov. 15), at Swarthmore (Nov. 21), vs. Dickinson (Nov. 28), at Johns Hopkins (Dec. 2)