City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2024-25 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 4. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season, click here.)

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As always, Philadelphia basketball is everywhere.

Year after year, well over 100 Philly-area ballplayers are spread around Division I rosters, from East Coast to West Coast, North to South, low-major to high-major and everywhere in between. Each fall, CoBL rounds up all of those local prospects to update you on how their careers are going and what’s expected of them in the year to come.

We’ve split the area’s D-I alumni into a four-part list, the whole thing way too big to run all at once. Here’s Part 3 of our 2024-25 CoBL alumni roundup, featuring around two dozen players who are on scholarship on a Division I roster this season.

(If we’re missing someone, let us know: cityofbasketballlove@gmail.com)

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2024-25 Men's Alumni Roundup: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

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Trent Middleton Jr. (Soph. | Delaware)
A graduate of Math, Civics & Sciences, Middleton Jr. is back in the area for the first time in a few years after doing a postgraduate season at SPIRE Academy (Ohio) and then spending his freshman season of college at Ball State. The 6-3 guard had a solid rookie season, averaging 6.2 ppg and 2.6 rpg on .424/.429/.813 splits, with seven games in double figures. His best overall outing was a 13-point, six-rebound, three-assist effort against Eastern Michigan, one of his seven starts. 

Hysier Miller (Sr. | Virginia Tech)
Miller became The Guy for Temple this past season, averaging 15.9 ppg, 4.0 apg and 3.6 rpg for by far his best season yet on North Broad, with an assist-to-turnover ratio just shy of 2:1, though his 3-point shooting (29.4%) was the worst of his career, with a lot of attempts (262). But the Philly native and Neumann-Goretti grad became one of the multitudes who used his success to jump to the next level, leaving Temple for Virginia Tech this offseason to see how his game translates to the ACC. 

Keyishon Miller (Jr. | Sacred Heart)
A 6-5 wing out of West Philadelphia High, Miller comes to Sacred Heart after spending two seasons at Northwest Kansas Technical College, a Division I JUCO in the town of Goodland, Kan. As a sophomore, Miller averaged 18.8 ppg and 6.9 rpg, shooting 50.8% overall and 40.8% from 3-point range, getting to the foul line more than seven times per game and connecting on 80.2% of his freebies. Now he’ll see if that translates at the D-I level.

Gediminas Mokseckas (Gr. | Campbell)
An Archbishop Ryan product by way of Vilnius, Lithuania, Mokseckas is going into his fourth year at Campbell, having had an interesting four-year journey thus far. He started 11 games as a freshman and played 17 mpg but then only saw spare minutes in 19 games as a sophomore — then bounced back to start 58 of 66 games the last two seasons. He put up career-best numbers as a senior, averaging 6.3 ppg and 2.4 rpg while hitting 34.6% of his 3-pointers (36-of-104), playing a career-best 27.7 mpg.

Justin Moore (Jr. | Loyola Chicago)
Moore was in line to be a four-year starter at point guard and soar past the 1,000-point mark for Drexel, averaging 11.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg and 3.3 apg in two seasons after graduating from Archbishop Wood. He was especially good during the CAA season, averaging 13.0 ppg while hitting 36.2% of his 3-pointers during a 16-game stretch from Jan. 1 through Feb. 29. But he elected to hit the transfer portal this offseason after the Dragons won 20 games for the first time in 12 years, landing in the Atlantic 10. 

Rahmir Moore (Gr. | Wagner)
Moore has two years of eligibility remaining after missing all but three games of the 2023-24 season due to injury, combined with his COVID waiver from his sophomore year at St. Joe’s. This will be his third year at Wagner, where he’s averaged 8.3 ppg in 27 games (19 starts), mostly accrued in 2022-23. The 6-3 guard, a Philadelphia native, finished his high school ball at RISE Prep (Can.).

Jaren Morton (Soph. | VMI)
A 6-5 wing out of SCH Academy, Morton played in two games as a freshman at VMI before suffering a season-ending injury. He was 3-of-4 from 3-point range in those contests, scoring five points in one game and seven in another, both against non-Division I opponents, in a total of 12 minutes. One of only six returners from last year, he should be in for a bigger role this time around. 

Gabe Moss (Jr. | Delaware)
A 6-8 forward out of the Hill School, Moss has missed the last two seasons with injuries. Back on the court, he’s finally healthy and ready to play for the upcoming season. 

Allen Myers (Soph. | Manhattan)
A 6-9 wing who used to be center when he was at Bensalem but is now being listed as a guard, Myers didn’t play at all in his freshman season in 2023-24 and still has four years of eligibility remaining. 

Khaafiq Myers (Fr. | Saint Joseph’s)
A 5-10 guard out of Neumann-Goretti, Myers went down midway through his senior year with a significant knee injury. It remains to be seen whether he’ll be recovered in time to play in the 2024-25 season or if he’ll take a redshirt. 

Muneer Newton (Sr. | Delaware State)
Newton finishes his college career near home at Delaware State after first spending two years at NAIA William Penn (Iowa) and then the University at Albany, where he averaged 4.5 ppg and 4.2 rpg last year in his first at the NCAA Division I level. The 6-5 wing out of Archbishop Wood had three double-doubles last season, including a 20-point, 11-rebound performance against Bryant in March.

Ahmad Nowell (Fr. | UConn)
The Imhotep Charter product begins his tenure in a Huskies uniform as one of the nation’s top lead guards in his class. The 6-foot-tall, 195-pound bulldog combo guard led the Panthers to three straight PIAA Class 5A titles, earning state Player of the Year as a senior and junior, and he joins a program coming off back-to-back national championships under Dan Hurley. 

Kachi Nzeh (Soph. | Penn State)
As a freshman at Xavier, Nzeh saw action in 19 games (four starts), averaging 2.5 ppg and 2.5 rpg in just under 10 minutes per contest. The 6-9, 230-pound forward/center out of the George School now is back a little closer to home at Penn State, which has a new-look frontcourt under Mike Rhoades. 

Trey O’Neil (Fr. | Elon)
An Ardmore native, O’Neil played at the Hill School before finishing up at IMG Academy and now heading down to North Carolina to begin his college career. A 6-1 combo guard with a sweet outside shot, he averaged 48.8% from deep in his post-grad year at IMG Academy. 

Izaiah Pasha (Fr. | Delaware)
A Cardinal O’Hara grad, Pasha comes to Delaware after doing a post-graduate season at St. Thomas More (Conn.). The 6-4 guard, who’s originally from Harrisburg, averaged 17.7 ppg and 7.7 rpg as a senior at O’Hara, where he played anything from the ‘1’ to the ‘3.’ 

Andrew Phillips (Soph. | Lafayette)
A multi-sport athlete early in his years at Malvern Prep, Phillips gave up football to focus on basketball and became an all-league performer his senior year. As a freshmen with the Leopards, the 6-4 wing played in 16 games, averaging 1.7 ppg.

Wooga Poplar (Sr. | Villanova)
A late-blooming prospect who didn’t play organized basketball until his sophomore year at Math, Civics & Sciences, Poplar comes to Villanova after three years at Miami where he went from a deeper reserve as a freshman (2.3 ppg) to a star by his junior year, where he averaged 13.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg and 2.1 apg while shooting 38.5% from beyond the arc. A big season for the 6-5 wing guard could launch him to the NBA.

Nyle Ralph-Beyer (Fr. | Sacred Heart)
A 1,000-point scorer at West Chester Henderson, the 6-4 Ralph-Beyer is a versatile wing with deep shooting range and the ability to pull up and knock down jumpers from all over the court. 

Marcus Randolph (Sr. | Saint Peter’s)
Randolph enters his second year with Saint Peter’s after start his college career at Richmond. The move back to his home state seemed to be a positive for the 6-3 Archbishop Wood grad, who started 19 of 32 games last season, averaging career bests of 6.5 ppg and 1.3 rpg, making 40.4% of his 3-pointers (42-of-104). Randolph hit double digits 10 times last season, topping out with a 19-point outing against Fairfield; though he’s listed as a senior, he only played in nine games as a freshman and could have another year of eligibility. 

Malik Rasul (Fr. | Lafayette)
A 6-7 wing from Arizona, Rasul spent his high school years at Westtown, where he was a three-year starter for Seth Berger. Listed as a forward, Rasul can play the ‘2’ through ‘4’ with his ability to stretch the floor.

Aaron Reddish (Sr. | Albany)
A Norristown native and the younger brother of NBA wing Cameron Reddish, Aaron has gone from a reserve to a starter in his three years with the Great Danes thus far. Over the last two seasons, the 6-7 forward has averaged 8.0 ppg and 3.0 rpg while shooting 43.6% from the floor, though his scoring number was slightly higher as a sophomore (8.5 ppg). His most productive game as a junior was a 21-point, 10-rebound outing against UMBC. 

Josh Reed (Fr. | Drexel)
A 6-2 combo guard, Reed spent the last few years at Archbishop Wood teaming up with Jalil Bethea (Miami) to form one of the top backcourts around. A tremendous athlete, Reed averaged 18.9 ppg, 8.3 rpg and 3.4 apg as a senior as the Vikings made it to the PIAA 6A semifinals.

Will Riley (Fr. | Illinois)
A Canadian wing who played his high school ball at the Phelps School, Riley proved himself one of the top prospects in the continent over the last 24 months, a 6-8 lead guard who continually improved. Riley was originally in the class of 2025 but moved up to 2024 when he committed to Illinois earlier this summer, and comes in with sky-high expectations and a potential NBA future.

Bobby Rosenberger III (Soph. | St. Francis)
A 6-5 wing guard who helped Perkiomen School to a PAISAA state championship in 2023, Rosenberger had a strong freshman year in Latrobe. Starting in 26 of his 30 appearances, Rosenberger averaged 9.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg and 1.8 spg, finishing in double figures 13 times. His high-water scoring mark was a 22-point effort against Stonehill with nine assists, one of three times he fell one rebound shy of a double-double. 

Daeshon Shepherd (Sr. | La Salle)
Shepherd entered the transfer portal after his junior year with the Explorers but ultimately elected to return for a fourth year under Fran Dunphy, under whom he’s taken notable steps forward each year. The bouncy 6-5 wing from Archbishop Wood moved into the starting lineup full-time as a junior, putting up career-best numbers of 10.6 ppg and 5.6 rpg; 3-point shooting (30.7%) continues to be his main weakness.

Shawn Simmons (Soph. | Saint Joseph’s)
A 6-6 wing from Philadelphia who went to several high schools before coming to St. Joe’s (including Bonner and Friends’ Central), Simmons appeared in 22 games as a freshman, averaging 1.4 ppg and 1.6 rpg while providing good defensive energy.

Horace Simmons Jr. (R-Fr. | Drexel)
A 6-6 wing out of La Salle College HS, Simmons redshirted in his freshman year at Drexel but will have a big opportunity to produce after the Dragons saw most of their rotation leave due to graduation or transfer. 

Daniel Skillings Jr. (Jr. | Cincinnati)
Skillings took a good step forward from his freshman (5.3 ppg/2.4 rpg) to sophomore year, averaging 12.9 ppg and 6.4 rpg while starting 15 of his 36 appearances for the Bearcats. The 6-6 wing out of Roman Catholic shot 42.1% overall last year but just 28.4% from 3-point range (40-of-141); he surpassed the 20-point mark six times, topping out with a 29-point game against Stetson. 

Robert Smith (Sr. | Delaware State)
The former Bishop McDevitt standout lit up the PSAC for three seasons, scoring 1,326 points in three years at West Chester. As a senior, the 6-1 combo guard nicknamed “Man-Man” averaged 17.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg and 2.0 apg on .441/.364/.779 splits, then elected to hit the transfer portal and test himself at the Division I level before his eligibility clock ran out.