City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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(Ed. Note: This story is part of CoBL’s “Prepping for Preps” series, which will take a look at many of the top high school programs in the region as part of our 2023-24 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed thus far can be found here [cityofbasketballlove.com].)

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Upper Dublin plans on measuring success a little differently this year.

By any measure, the Flying Cardinals had a special season in 2023-24. They won their first league title in 22 years, made their first state playoff in two decades, played for their first District 1 title since 1985 and won their first SOL Tournament title.

While the Cardinals can appreciate that, they also know they didn’t win nearly enough.

“I’m excited, I know the school is excited but we definitely have a lot of work to do,” Upper Dublin senior Ryan Mulroy said. “That makes us work harder, we accomplished something really good last year, but we have a lot of big games

UD looks primed to be a contender in the SOL again, although their Liberty division is always a tough one to navigate, and in District 1’s Class 5A pool. It’s largely thanks to a robust returning core and a supporting cast that’s improved from a season ago.

The Cardinals went 25-5 a year ago, also their most wins in a season since 1984-85, highlighted by a program record 15-game win streak. Like his players, UD coach Derek Brooks can appreciate it for all it was and still agree it wasn’t enough.

A one-sided loss to Unionville in the district final followed by a season-ending loss to Exeter in the state opener that followed left a bit of a sour end to the year. They also propelled the returners into an offseason full of work.

“We won a lot, but we also lost a lot too,” junior point guard Kobe Bazemore said. “We lost the district ‘chip and it wasn’t close, then we went into states and lost in the first round. This year, we’re trying to win districts then go farther into states, we want to capitalize on our success and do better from it.”

Upper Dublin was at its best in the open court last season, using a full-court pressing defense to fuel plenty of runs  and take advantage of the team’s athleticism. When the Cardinals most struggled offensively was when games slowed down, which wasn’t lost on Brooks even in the minutes after the season ended.

To that end, he wanted his group to play at a slower pace this summer and fall, taking the press off so the team could get more reps in halfcourt defenses and offenses.

“Last year was a great year and with the amount of guys we have returning, we do have high expectations for this year but we do have to make sure we understand we can’t get complacent,” Brooks said. “You see it all the time, a team has a good year and is supposed to be better the next year then they disappoint a little bit. We achieved some good things last year but we didn’t do everything we wanted to do, we still have goals we want to accomplish.

“Whether you’re bad, average or good, you better be hungry or else you’re definitely going to underachieve so that’s the message we’re preaching.”

It all starts with Mulroy, the 6-foot-4 wing is a true do-it-all type of player coming off back-to-back first team All-SOL selections. Mulroy played with Team Final Rio this summer and had some specific areas of his game he wanted to improve on going into his last run with the Cardinals.

He’s not alone, with UD returning three of last year’s five starters and a deep group ready to fill in the other starting spots and bench roles. 

Senior Idris Rines, a 6-foot-5 post with plenty of comfort playing on the perimeter, gives UD another versatile weapon. Rines, who got in terrific shape during the offseason, can play tough inside but is also able to handle the ball and is a strong passer, so he’ll be vital on both ends.

Bazemore is back for his third year as a starter. A tenacious defender who plays a pivotal role in the Cardinals’ pressure defense, Bazemore is also looking to increase his scoring capacity this season.

“I think all of us went out and worked on our individual games, now we have to come back and mesh together,” Bazemore said. “You can tell everyone’s got a different skill set, I think I’m better at shooting. Ryan's adding some more passing into his game, we all got after it on defense, now we have to come together as a group instead of trying to play as individuals.”

The Cardinals have to replace two starters in sharpshooter Brady Fogle and an energetic defender in Chris Kohlbrenner, now playing football at West Chester. Brooks used his bench plenty last year, so a couple of them will slot over into the starting lineup while the reserve unit will still be deep.

A pair of juniors in Noah Cohen and Brandon Altman figure to step into the first five, Cohen bringing reliable shooting and Altman a smart player who can work on or off the ball. Senior James Castruonuovo adds frontcourt depth at 6-foot-5, senior guard Reilly McLaughlin came on late last year and a pair of sophomores in 6-foot-5 Justin Ragsdale and 6-foot-3 Horace Jackson IV look primed to increase their roles.

“I couldn’t be luckier to be honest to have the depth and in all different grades too, it’s not like they’re all seniors,” Brooks said. “You can see not only what we might be able to do this year but also in future years and we’re very lucky that we have a group that is buying into the team and will eventually get their turn.”

Brooks didn’t hold back scheduling this year either, the third-year UD boss noting his group may not reach last season’s gaudy win total but the postseason prep will be worth the trade.

The Cardinals will face some perennial District 1 powers including Lower Merion in their opener on Nov. 30 and Coatesville on Dec. 21 at the Diane Mosco Foundation Shootout held by Archbishop Wood. La Salle is on the schedule as the team’s second game and the Cardinals will compete in two in-season tournaments with Downingtown West and Cardinal O’Hara as their confirmed opponents to start each.

“We have a target on our back, every team is going to want to come and beat us, especially in Suburban One,” Mulroy said. “We can’t take anything lightly and just go after it every game.”

Repeating in the SOL Liberty is no guarantee either, especially with the league’s divisional crossovers gone this winter. Plymouth Whitemarsh got better this offseason and Abington figures to be more cohesive this year while one of Wissahickon, Hatboro-Horsham or Quakertown seems to have a major upset every year that impacts the title race.

“We can’t think we’re above a team because we might have beat them last year,” Bazemore added. “Every year is different, we’ve got different players and they’ve got different players but we have to approach it the same as last year like we hadn’t beaten them before.”

Upper Dublin will measure its success by a different standard this year. The Cardinals are embracing it and they know it’ll be up to them to live up to it.

“We could potentially be the best team in school history and that should be our goal,” Brooks said. “We want to attack all our goals with aggression, it’s ok to have expectations and you can’t be afraid of them.”