City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2025-26 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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Philly hoops are represented throughout the country on Division I programs from coast to coast.

Each 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, with all the representation being too big to run at once. Here’s Part 3 of our 2025-26 CoBL alumni roundup, featuring more than 20 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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2025-26 Men's Alumni Roundup: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

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Matt Mayock (Jr. | American)
Mayock’s second year at American didn’t quite live up to his first; after averaging 8.6 ppg as a rookie at AU and hitting 42.3% from 3-point range, his shot didn’t quite fall at the same rate and so he averaged 7.3 ppg on 34.7% from deep as a sophomore. The 6-7 wing from Conestoga and Westtown enters his junior year five points shy of halfway to 1,000, with 97 career 3-pointers, with his career-best 20-point outing coming midway through his freshman year. 

Kevin McCarthy (Soph. | Army West Point)
Coming off a big senior year at Episcopal Academy, McCarthy earned a spot in the deep West Point rotation as a freshman. Playing in 29 games and even getting two starts, McCarthy averaged 2.3 ppg and 1.2 rpg while hitting 20-of-54 (37.0%) from 3-point range. His best game was no doubt his 14-point showing in January against Colgate, when he was 4-of-6 from 3-point range. 

Matt McCarthy (Fr. | Florida Gulf Coast)
The FGCU backcourt adds another local piece in McCarthy, who also played at Episcopal Academy but is unrelated to his former backcourt mate Kevin. Matt McCarthy’s coming off a senior year where he was a first-team All-Inter-Ac selection, averaging 15.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg and 2.4 apg and hitting 44 3-pointers.

Pearse McGuinn (Soph. | Stonehill)
As a freshman at Stonehill, McGuinn appeared in 15 games, averaging 1.5 ppg and 1.1 rpg in about six minutes per contest. The 6-8, 205-pound forward from Cardinal O’Hara with the ability to stretch the floor will hope to make a bigger on-court impact as a sophomore.

Jaron McKie (Fr. | Dayton)
One of the best shooters in the city the last few years, McKie was a four-year standout at St. Joe’s Prep; the 6-4 combo and son of former NBAer Aaron McKie is a knockdown threat from all over the arc with the ball in his hands. It’s a skill that should translate right away at the next level, and he’s got the length and athleticism to compete defensively.

Jacob Meachem (Fr. | Bucknell)
The pride of Pottstown, Meachem played at the Hill School in his hometown and led them into the PAISAA championship game as a senior, the 5-8 point guard coming up big as he averaged 18 points, five assists and three rebounds per game. He was also named MVP of the 2025 Donofrio Classic, and is a strong outside shooter who hit 40% from deep as a senior.

Trent Middleton Jr. (Jr. | North Carolina A&T)
Now at his third college in three years, Middleton has a good bit of experience under his belt between his stints at Ball State and Delaware. Between the two, he’s played an average of 18 minutes per contest in 61 games with nine starts, averaging 5.8 ppg and 2.6 rpg along the way; as a sophomore at UD, he averaged 5.5 ppg and 2.7 rpg, with a season high of 16 points as well as a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double. 

Justin Moore (R-Jr. | Loyola Chicago)
A former standout at multiple Philly-area high schools and then for two years at Drexel, Moore was nine games into his role as Loyola’s starting point guard when he suffered a season-ending knee injury, having played just few enough games to earn a medical redshirt. Moore was playing a much different role than he had at Drexel, his scoring average dropping from 12.4 to 7.7 ppg as he was taking far fewer shots, but his assists went from 3.5 to 5.3/game and his shooting percentage went up 23 points.

Khaafiq Myers (R-Fr. | Saint Joseph’s)
A 5-10 point guard, Myers suffered a season-ending knee injury during his senior year at Neumann-Goretti and didn’t return in time to see the court during his freshman year at St. Joe’s. With Xzayvier Brown now in Oklahoma, a healthy Myers would be a positive sign for the Hawks’ chances in 2025-26. But it’s been nearly two years since he was last on the court in a meaningful contest.

Muneer Newton (Gr. | Campbell)
Newton began his college career at NAIA William Penn (Iowa), playing there for two years before one year each at Albany and then Delaware State before now ending up at Campbell. A physical 6-5 wing forward out of Archbishop Wood, Newtown averaged 8.9 ppg and 5.9 rpg on 58.0% from the floor last season, going for a career-high 27 points against NC Central and collecting a pair of double-doubles during the season as well. 

Onyx Nnani (Fr. | South Florida)
For three years, Nnani was an impressive prospect, a 6-9 wing/forward with a versatile skillset, but he was on a Phelps roster loaded with talent, including future first-round NBA draft pick Will Riley. But he really got to shine as a senior, averaging 21.5 ppg, 9.2 rpg and 3.5 to lead Phelps to the PAISAA championship. A big wing who can play with the ball in his hands and score from all three levels, Nnani might be a diamond in the rough for the Bulls. 

Ahmad Nowell (Soph. | VCU)
A highly-touted recruit out of Imhotep Charter, Nowell couldn’t quite crack the rotation at UConn, averaging 1.5 ppg and 1.1 apg in 18 games, playing around six minutes per contest. A physical 6-0 combo guard and one of the city’s best while at Imhotep Charter, he’s playing for a Philly-heavy staff under Phil Martelli Jr. at VCU, at a program whose style fits Nowell’s toughness and physicality to a ‘T.’

Kachi Nzeh (Jr. | Arkansas-Little Rock)
The centerpiece of a couple powerhouse George School squads, Nzeh has been looking for the right fit for his first few years of college. The powerful 6-9 forward spent his freshman year at Xavier and his sophomore one at Penn State, putting up similar numbers at both, with career averages of 2.6 points and 2.3 rebounds across 48 games with six starts. Nzeh has one double-digit scoring game to his credit, a 13-point, six-rebound effort against Georgetown in March of his freshman year.

Trey O’Neil (Soph. | Elon)
An Ardmore (Pa.) native who played most of his high school ball at the Hill School before finishing at IMG Academy, O’Neil’s going into his second year at Elon. As a freshman, the 6-2 guard appeared in 12 games, averaging 1.6 ppg in limited minutes; 16 of the 19 points he scored came against non-Division I opponents. 

Erik Oliver-Bush (Soph. | Manhattan)
A Roman Catholic grad, Oliver-Bush thrived in his first and only year at D-II St. Anselm (N.H.). The 6-5 wing averaged 11.3 ppg and 3.0 rpg while hitting 35.2% of his 3-point attempts, earning Rookie of the Year honors in the always-tough Northeast-10 Conference. He hit the transfer portal after the season and signed with Manhattan, where he'll play for Philly native John Gallagher. 

Lucas Orchard (Soph. | Monmouth)
A 6-4 wing and Devon Prep grad who then did a post-graduate year at the Perkiomen School, Orchard enters his second year at Monmouth this fall. The former Tide standout and state champ played sparingly in 12 games in his first year with the Hawks, averaging a little more than one point per game while hitting 44.4% from the floor.

Izaiah Pasha (Soph. | Virginia Tech)
The 2024-25 Coastal Athletic Association Rookie of the Year, Pasha hit the transfer portal in the offseason and will play his sophomore year in the ACC. As a freshman, the 6-4 guard from Harrisburg — who played at Cardinal O’Hara and then did a post-graduate year at St. Thomas More (Conn.) — averaged 11.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg and 3.9 apg, hitting 51.7% of his shots overall and 33.3% from the 3-point arc. 

Andrew Phillips (Jr. | Lafayette)
Phillips has had quite a rise, from coming out of the pandemic and breaking his collarbone his sophomore year in high school to breaking out as a junior and senior at Malvern Prep, earning him a spot at Lafayette; after averaging 1.7 ppg as a freshman, he jumped up to 9.5 ppg and 4.8 rpg as a sophomore, hitting 43.1% of his 3-pointers (47-of-109) and starting 28 of 33 games for the Leopards. His best game was no doubt a 27-point, nine-rebound outing against Loyola where he was 10-15 from the floor and 5-7 from deep.

Nyle Ralph-Beyer (Soph. | Sacred Heart)
Looking for potential breakout players on this list? Ralph-Beyer’s gotta be near the top of that group. The 6-4 wing from West Chester Henderson averaged 9.5 ppg and 2.3 rpg while hitting 43% of his 3-pointers as a rookie at SHU, going from barely being in the rotation at the start of the season to starting the final eight games of the year. The silky-smooth combo guard with a sweet outside shot topped off at 24 points against Siena, doing most of that from inside the arc, but he also hit three-or-more 3-pointers on 10 different occasions. 

Malik Rasul (Soph. | Lafayette)
A West Coast product who played his high school ball at the Westtown School, Rasul played in 26 games as a freshman at Lafayette, averaging 3.8 ppg and 1.9 rpg in only about 10 minutes per contest. The 6-7 wing/forward had his best stretch from late November into December, averaging 7.6 ppg and 3.4 rpg during seven contests in that span; he also missed almost all of February due to injury.

Josh Reed (Soph. | Drexel)
A physical, athletic combo guard out of Archbishop Wood, Reed got stuck at the back end of a deep Drexel backcourt last year. Appearing in 16 games (7.0 minutes/game), Reed averaged 1.2 ppg and 1.4 rpg as he made just 28.6% of his shots. There aren’t many true guards left on the DU roster, which is heavy on wings and bigs, so Reed should be able to take a big step up in the rotation this year due to positional need alone. 

Kai Shinholster (Fr. | Minnesota)
The second member of Penn Charter’s terrific trio of high-major-bound 2025 seniors, Shinholster arrives at Minnesota to play for new head coach Niko Medved, who took over after leading Colorado State into the NCAA Tournament three times in four years. A 6-5 wing, Shinholster is a smooth combo with a quality outside shot who’s used to playing around and against high-level talent. 

Shawn Simmons (Jr. | UMass-Lowell)
A bouncy 6-6 wing from Delco, Simmons went to multiple high schools but finished up at Hillcrest Prep (Ariz.), then played the last two seasons at St. Joe’s. He made 52 appearances in his first couple years of college hoops but was never really able to crack the top part of the rotation, averaging 1.5 ppg and 1.3 rpg over that time with similar numbers in both seasons.

Horace Simmons Jr. (R-Soph. | Drexel)
Simmons is in his third year with the Drexel program, a college veteran even if his on-court experience still remains limited. The 6-6 wing out of La Salle College HS played in 18 games last season, averaging 2.2 ppg in limited minutes; a known quality outside shooter, he went 11-of-25 (44.0%) from deep last year.