City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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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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It doesn’t take a fortune teller to figure out who the stars will be in the Big 5 this year. 

St. Joe’s Erik Reynolds II and Villanova’s Eric Dixon will, barring injury, be two of the best players in the region, nearing the end of outstanding runs at their respective schools. Temple added Jamal Mashburn Jr., a preseason First Team All-AAC selection before even donning the Cherry & White.

But the difference between being a competitive Division I team and a successful one often hinges upon the emergence of the third, fourth and fifth starters in the lineup, players who might not be considered “stars” but whose play is just as critical. Players like now-graduated Cameron Brown (St. Joe’s), Luke House (Drexel), Sam Hofman (Temple), and others.

After a busy offseason of transfers, it’ll take until the games get going for us to really see how the Big 5 rotations will shape up. But here are the Big 5 players on the men’s side whose potential breakthroughs would be most helpful to their teams: 

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Rasheer Fleming (Jr. | Saint Joseph’s)
Yes, Fleming already took a significant jump from his freshman year to his sophomore one — after averaging a solid 5.8 ppg and 5.0 rpg as a freshman, the junior from Camden boosted those to 10.7 ppg and 7.4 rpg as a sophomore, starting all 35 games for the Hawks, finishing fourth on the team in scoring and leading them in rebounding. And with Reynolds and Xzayvier Brown in the backcourt, Fleming won’t likely be Priority No. 1 or No. 2 when opposing teams try to figure out how to slow down the SJU attack. 

But perhaps he should be. A 6-foot-9 forward, Fleming’s versatility really flashed during that sophomore season as he hit 32.4% of his 3-pointers (34-of-105), not a knockdown percentage but a respectable one, and a jump from his freshman year (29.7%) as well; his overall effective field goal percentage was 59.2%, amongst the best in the Atlantic 10. If he becomes an even more efficient jump-shooter this year while pairing with 6-10 Harvard transfer Justice Ajogbor in the frontcourt, Fleming could be the biggest matchup problem in the city.

Demetrius Lilley (Jr. | La Salle)
Over the course of three years at Lower Merion, Lilley went from a promising young post just scratching the surface of his potential into a powerhouse District 1 forward, getting his body in shape and becoming a two-way threat with vacuums for hands who really impacted the game offensively. That earned the 6-foot-10, 260-pound post a spot at Penn State, but he was never quite able to crack the top part of the rotation, playing in 20 games (9.2 mpg) as a sophomore, averaging 2.8 ppg and 2.7 rpg — numbers that showed he was indeed productive with his time. 

Now playing under Fran Dunphy with the Explorers, Lilley is hoping to be the latest in a long line of area natives who started their college careers elsewhere but found success in a La Salle uniform — joining the likes of Clifton Moore, Ramon Galloway, Ty Garland, Earl Pettis, BJ Johnson and more who’ve had strong second acts in North Philly. He’s one of two ‘5’s the La Salle staff brought in this summer, along with former UCLA and DePaul post Mac Etienne, but Lilley has the ability to stretch the floor with his shooting and is a better passer, and should be a big piece for the Explorers.

Kobe MaGee (Jr. | Drexel)
The whole Drexel rotation is pretty much up for grabs, with its top five scorers all graduating or transferring out, along with two other key parts of a rotation that legitimately went 9-10 deep last year. MaGee, a 6-6 wing out of Executive Education Charter in the Lehigh Valley, was in that mix, averaging 6.3 ppg — tops of all returners — while hitting 50.9% of his shots and going 23-of-65 (35.4%) from beyond the arc, as well as 16-of-17 (94.1%) from the foul line. 

It’s not clear if the 2024-25 Dragons will have a star scorer, or who will even start. MaGee is just one returning wing option, along with Yame Butler (6.1 ppg), Shane Blakeney (2.0 ppg) and redshirt freshman Horace Simmons Jr. (La Salle College HS), and there’s a host of newcomers as well. It’s going to be a preseason of exploration and experimentation for the Drexel staff, one which will likely continue into the non-conference portion of the slate. But expect MaGee to be a significant part of the mix and one of their most veteran voices on the court or off it.

Jhamir Brickus (Gr. | Villanova)
Brickus is a little bit different from anybody on this list, as he’s already been a collegiate standout, averaging 13.9 ppg, 4.8 apg and 3.5 rpg as a senior at La Salle last year; he enters his lone season at Villanova with 1,254 career points and 104 career starts (119 games). But playing in the Big East will be a new challenge for the 5-foot-10 Coatesville grad, and he’s yet to be part of a team that’s finished above .500 either overall or in league play. And the role he’s going to have to play this year is going to be a change from before, his scoring no longer the focal point of his contributions.

At Villanova, Brickus might only be the fourth option on offense. Eric Dixon and Miami (Fl.) transfer Nisine Poplar have both proven themselves on NCAA Tournament-quality squads, and freshman wing Matthew Hodge comes in with a ton of fanfare with his versatility and game. Oh, and there’s also Penn transfer Tyler Perkins, who averaged 13.7 ppg and 5.3 rpg in a promising freshman campaign with the Quakers. Brickus’ best role on this Wildcats squad is to serve as a leader and table-setter, without needing to be a ball-dominant guard.

Ethan Roberts (Jr. | Penn)
Penn doesn’t traditionally take many transfers, but it’s a new era of college hoops, and they have a few impact ones this season. Roberts is actually on his third school in three years, after starting off at Army and then transferring to Drake, but he sat out the entire 2023-24 season due to injury and still has three years of eligibility remaining. A 6-5 wing, Roberts was the Patriot League Rookie of the Year two years back, averaging 12.4 ppg and 4.4 rpg, shooting 40.7% from 3-point range. 

Penn knows it has a quality post in senior Nick Spinoso, and sophomore guard Sam Brown is a star-in-the-making who’s likely going to be the team’s leading scorer after Perkins’ transfer. But a playmaking wing with good size isn’t something they really have. If Roberts can regain his previous production and prove to be a capable third scorer along with Spinoso and Brown, then the rest of the Quakers’ pieces — Johnnie Walter, George Smith, Cam Thrower, et. al. — can find their places to fill in and make an impact rather than feel like they all need to go for 12-15 points on a given night.

Zion Stanford (Soph. | Temple)
It’s not entirely a “new-look” Temple, but with the Owls’ top three scorers from a year ago all gone, all those who are back will be in different places than they were a season ago. It’s very possible the team’s leading scorer this year is one of its transfers, like Jamal Mashburn Jr., who averaged 17.3 ppg in three years at New Mexico. Out of the returners, they could see steps up from grad students Steve Settle III (8.6 ppg), or Shane Dezonie (7.9 ppg), Matteo Picarelli (7.0 ppg). But the biggest step comes from Stanford, that’s a really good sign for the Owls moving forward. 

In his first season with the Owls, Stanford played in 34 games with one start, averaging 6.6 ppg and 2.3 rpg; he hit 51.5% of his shots overall, almost all of them coming from inside the arc (5-19 3PT, .263). He came out hot, averaging 12.1 ppg and 4.6 rpg in his first nine career games, then hit a midseason skid before finishing strong, with a season-high 20-point game coming against UAB.