City of Basketball Love

Mark Jordan (@corpmjo)
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Nobody knew what to expect when Colgate’s Raiders walked onto the court today at Drexel’s Daskalakis Center. 

Owners of four straight Patriot League championships, coach Matt Langel had built the program into a Patriot League powerhouse. Colgate had a collective win rate of 72% over that period but there have been key departures. 

Drexel came in with memories of a very successful season in 2023-2024, but ending in disappointing fashion watching a possible CAA championship slip away with an injury to starting center Amari Williams in the second half of their quarterfinal game against Stony Brook. And then all five starters either transferred or graduated.

Five minutes into the game at least one question was answered. Drexel was the better team, at least on this day, rushing out to a 13-point lead. Drexel’s Kobe Magee had dropped in 12 points enroute to a career-high 28 for the game, more than quadrupling his season average from last season. Spiker noted that Magee was ready to play, that “he had a terrific game today.”

So was the rest of the team, as Drexel picked up a 73-56 win. While Colgate cut into that lead several times, they just couldn’t catch up. It didn’t help that they went a woeful 16% from beyond the arc, but that was mostly due to the frenetic pace set by Drexel on both offense and a harassing defense. 

It must have been a bit like déjà vu, though, for Colgate’s Jeff Wooward, the Raiders’ dominating center, as he faced Drexel’s Cole Hargrove at center court for the game’s opening jump ball.

The last time he had faced him was in practice at Methacton High School five years earlier. Then, Woodward was a senior, leading and mentoring his teammates, and Hargrove, a sophomore, was the apt pupil. 

Woodward won the tip-off, but it probably was the final time he felt he had the advantage over his former teammate. Hargrove, giving away two inches, outplayed Woodward, scoring 15 points, grabbing nine rebounds and blocking four shots to Woodward’s 14 points, five rebounds and no blocks.

“Going back to high school – it was a different game then – and he was two years younger, you could definitely see the potential he had. Not just his frame, but his work ethic, the way that he carried himself, and how much he loved the game. He wanted to win and he wanted to compete,” Woodward said after the game. “It’s no surprise to me, you know, at this stage of his career, not really having an opportunity to play the last two years because of the guys they had in front of him, he’s taken full advantage of every opportunity he’s been getting.”

Drexel coach Zach Spiker made special mention of the intensity in which the game was played: “You gotta have real energy to play [a 2 o’clock game], and I think you can get yourself in a tough spot if you’re not ready to play. Both teams were ready to play, Colgate was ready to play. We made some shots, and we got on top early. Boy, you gotta keep making them though, right?’

Spiker then went on, “We lost [senior forward] Garfield Turner [to a season-ending injury], a big physical presence, but that gained opportunities for other guys to expand their play. Cole Hargrove was one of those guys. 

“I doubt you came to the DAC today expecting to see a Methacton one-on-one shootout,” Spiker chuckled and added, “You got Cole Hargrove going one-on-one with Jeff Woodward. Just another day at practice in Audubon.” 

Woodward smiled as he remembered the battle. “He’s a competitor and he wants to win as much as I do,” Woodward mused.

For his part, Hargrove enthusiastically remarked, “I was feeling the touch, having fun, enjoying the game.” When asked about what his relationship was with Woodward, he nodded, saying “When I was a sophomore, he was a senior, and he was the guy I had to guard at practice. He was the tallest guy and like, it was extra, like extra [hard], a move based on a spin, and that was it.”

In his first two years at Drexel, Hargrove had only played in 34 games, averaging about one point and one rebound per outing, averaging fewer than five minutes per contest. It was clear that his junior year would be different from the first game, when he got the start and played 20 minutes against D-II Georgian Court (N.J.), scoring nine points with eight rebounds. That just got him comfortable for the game that served as the Dragons’ actual first of the season on Saturday.

Late in the first half, Hargrove hit his second 3-point shot in a row, and Woodward literally almost bent over double in frustration before racing upcourt to get into his offensive position.  When asked if he was a three-point shooter in high school or was Woodward surprised to see that today, Hargrove responded, “I could always shoot the three in high school, but my role was to be the spot guy, and maybe take the three if open.”

On Saturday, Hargrove went 3-7 from three, and 2-5 from inside the arc. His final long bucket put a dagger in the heart of Colgate’s final run of the game, clinching the win for the Dragons. 

“Cole won the game today because he has the skill set that Woodward doesn’t, he can come out and take the three,” Spiker said. “He’s a very different player and human being today.”

Despite taking the loss, Woodward was still nothing but complimentary of his former teammate afterwards. 

“I love the kid so much and I’m proud of where he’s at and I’m proud to see him keep going,” he said. “Some of the Methacton guys were here tonight and one of our assistant coaches, and his former head coach was here. It was cool, and I think that, um, passing on the torch and passing on the tradition, and getting to see what results that program is continuing to yield for both of us.”

Woodward’s basketball career is likely to end with this season because he is applying for graduate school to pursue being a clinical therapist. But for Cole Hargrove, he still has at least two years to go, and performances like Saturday’s should only continue to springboard him towards a strong few upperclassman years.