City of Basketball Love

By 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. 3. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season, click here.)

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It was an offseason of change in the area’s Division II landscape. 

Of the six D-II programs in the Philly area — Chestnut Hill, Cheyney, Holy Family, Jefferson, Lincoln and West Chester —  two of them are under new leadership, while the others are all dealing with significant graduation losses and an influx of new talent, with only one local D-II men’s coach who’s been tenured for longer than four years. 

Here’s a look at each of the six and how they’re shaping up at the start of the 2025-26 season:

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Chestnut Hill Griffins
Head Coach: Andrew Radomicki, 3rd season (23-34, .404)
Last Year: 14-14 (9-7 CACC), lost in CACC quarterfinals
Key Returners: Kamal Lee (Jr./G), IV Pettit (Jr./G), Alejandro Redondo Cybak (Sr./C), Landon Shivers (Sr./F)
Key Newcomers: Raj Bencono Shah (Fr./John Champe, Va.), Malcolm Day (Jr./F) Jeremiah Gorham (Fr./Highland School, Va.), Tyler Spencer (Jr./SF)

The Griffins took a step forward between Radomicki’s first and second seasons, improving their win total by five and qualifying for the postseason for the fourth year in a row. They return two starters, including the team’s leading scorer in Pettit (15.9ppg), a Devon Prep grad who’s already within 200 points of 1,000 as he enters his third year at CHC; the 6-8 Redondo Cybak (12.1 ppg, 7.9 rpg) is a versatile big who can stretch the floor. Also back are Lee (5.4 ppg), who was fourth on the team in scoring and started six games while usually serving as sixth man, and Shivers, who averaged 3.3 ppg and 2.5 rpg in a reserve role. 

This year’s Chestnut Hill squad is going to be young, with three true freshmen, three redshirt freshmen and one sophomore taking up half the roster. SCH Academy alum Cam Burns, a redshirt freshman, and sophomore Travis Reed (Roman Catholic) will make a push for minutes this season as well, while a couple D-III transfers in the 6-6 Day (Bryant & Stratton) and the 6-5 Spencer (Kean Univ.) are expected to chip in as well.

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Cheyney Wolves
Head Coach: Jordan Bushrod, 2nd season (5-17, .227)
Last Year: 5-17 overall
Key Returners: Joshua Blackmon (Sr./G), D’Angelo Lake (R-Sr./F), Lavion Morales (Sr./G) Dajer Muldrow (Sr./F)
Key Newcomers: S.J. Hutchinson II (Sr./G), Naadhir Wood (Jr./F)

The area’s only D-II independent, Cheyney plays a slate of opponents from all different divisions and even some non-NCAA opponents, from Division I through community colleges. It’s tough sledding for a school that’s had plenty of financial struggles over the years and wasn’t even able to field a team two years back, but Bushrod — a 2020 graduate of Delaware State who was previously the associate head coach at Southern Maryland (JUCO) for four years — has managed to stabilize the men’s program, with a good bit of the roster returning from a year ago. 

Cheyney only has partial stats available on its website from last season, but in the 10 games they have, Blackmon (13.2 ppg) and Lake (9.8 ppg, 7.1 rpg) were the team’s two leading scorers, starting all of those contests, as did Frasier (5.6 ppg), who also had a team-high 26 assists in those games. Wood, a 6-8 forward from Math, Civics & Sciences, should bring some quality to their frontcourt, while Hutchinson, a Phelps product, brings athleticism to the wings.

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Holy Family Tigers
Head Coach: John Baron, 1st season (0-0, .---)
Last Year: 8-20 (2-14 CACC)
Key Returners: Najee Coursey (Sr./F), RJ Delahaye (Jr./G), Omarion Jett (Sr./G), Jason Shields (Sr./G), Karrington Wallace (Sr./F)
Key Newcomers: AJ Cortes (Fr./G), Raphael Dupouy (Jr./F), Matt Gardler (Fr./G), Eli Hernandez (Jr./G), Kobe Jerome (Gr./G), Di’Andre Howell-South (Gr./G) 

The Baron era begins in the Northeast with a group that has some real potential, mixing a strong group of returners with some quality transfers and a couple freshmen who look ready to break into the rotation from the jump. Perhaps the biggest ‘addition’ will be the return of Delahaye (10.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg), a 6-1 junior from New York who tore his Achilles five games into last season, a major blow to what had been a promising 4-1 start to the year. His return means the Tigers get their second through fifth-leading scorers back from last year in Jett (11.9 ppg), Delahaye, Coursey (10.2 ppg) and Shields (9.8 ppg), with only Tairi Ketner (14.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg) graduating. 

To replace Ketner in the middle, Baron brought in the 6-9 Dupouy from Yavapai (Ariz.) College, and the 6-8 Wood grad Wallace (5.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg) will move up in the rotation as well. A couple additions from Division I landscapes, Howell-South (Wagner) and Jerome (Delaware) — whose brother Ty Jerome plays for the Memphis Grizzlies — bring talent to the wings, while Gardler (Marple Newtown) and Cortes (Miami HS, Fla.) will play good minutes on the ball. Baron won over 67% of his games at Gwynedd Mercy, and he’s got a group that could finish much higher than its 11th (last)-place pick in the CACC. 

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Jefferson Rams
Head Coach: Jimmy Reilly, 4th season (57-34, .626)
Last Year: 16-13 (9-7 CACC)
Key Returners: Jeremiah Dorsey (Jr./G), Sean Fullerton (Sr./G), Farouk Kaba (Jr./G), Isaiah Thomas-McClain (Sr./G), Moustapha Sanoh (Jr./F)
Key Newcomers: Alex Bates IV (Jr./G), Chris Cervino (Fr./G), Matt McCool (Gr./F), Jahmare Memphis (Fr./G), Brendan Mykalcio (Gr./G), Jacob Nguyen (Fr./G)

A glimpse at the Jefferson roster is a little eye-opening — after all, there are more than 20 players listed for the Rams — but it’s due to the program adding a JV squad for the first time. But thanks to a current rash of some minor-to-moderate injuries, the rotation that Reilly rolls out early in the season is unlikely to look like the group he’s hoping to feature come January as players get back to health. They do have to replace their top two scorers from last year in Justin Hawkins (16.2 ppg) and Ashton Miller (15.6 ppg), but have their next four back in Fullerton (11.5 ppg), Dorsey (10.1 ppg), Kaba (9.4 ppg) and Thomas-McClain (5.0 ppg). 

Bringing a heaping dose of experience and size to the frontcourt are the 6-8 McCool, a Marist transfer, and Mykalcio, a 6-7 wing forward who was previously at Gardner Webb; those two could both start up front and can both score inside and out, while Bates IV, a Stonehill transfer, is a 6-5 wing. There are seven freshmen on the roster, some of whom have been a little banged up in the preseason; Nguyen (Spring-Ford) and Memphis (Westtown) are two locals who figure to be in the mix at some point sooner rather than later.

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Lincoln Lions
Head Coach: Julius Hodge, 2nd season (18-12, .600)
Last Year: 18-12 (11-5 CIAA)
Key Returners: N/A
Key Newcomers: Amadou Fall (Fr./F), Bonard ‘BJ’ Johnson (Jr./G), Julius Olanrewaju (Fr./G)

A former first-round NBA Draft pick now in his second year running a collegiate program, Hodge brought in almost an entirely new roster from last year, with only two holdovers in junior guard Tyleek Fields, who started four games last year before suffering a season-ending injury, and sophomore wing Jahmire Brewer, who played in 15 games with four starts last year, averaging 2.3 ppg and 2.6 rpg. After that, it’s 11 new faces on the roster, including four freshmen, two sophomores, and five juniors, without a single senior in the mix. 

While Hogde will likely utilize the majority of his roster, a few of his newcomers are particularly intriguing. Fall, a 6-9 forward, is a high-upside wing/forward who’s still in his first few years of playing hoops but has a ton of promise with the ability to play multiple positions and score from multiple spots. Johnson, a 6-2 guard from California, averaged 16.6 ppg last year at Long Beach CC while hitting 34.5% from deep; Olanrewaju, a 6-6 wing guard from Fresno (Cali.), had a DIvision I offer to Montana State during his high school years.

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West Chester Golden Rams
Head Coach: Damien Blair, 18th season (304-160, .655)
Last Year: 23-7 (18-3 PSAC)
Key Returners: Dylan Blair (Jr./G), Davante Dennis (Sr./F), Anthony McCall (Sr./SF)
Key Newcomers: Dinari Boykin (Sr./G), Donovan Fromhartz (Fr./SF), Gabe Moss (Sr./F), Ruben Rodriguez Jr. (Jr./G), Jake Warren (Jr./C)

The Golden Rams are coming off one of their best seasons in Blair’s tenure, capturing the PSAC East’s regular-season title for the first time since 2006, winning 12 straight at one point and making it back to the NCAA Tournament after a six-year absence, though they lost in the Round of 64. They lost their top two scorers in Elijah Allen (15.8 ppg) and Joshua Walker (10.5 ppg) but have their next three back in Dennis (10.3 ppg), Blair (10.1 ppg) and McCall (8.8 ppg) along with several others from the rotation.

There’s also a neat reunion on the WCU roster, as a trio of former Downingtown West standouts — Fromhartz, Warren and Blair — team up once again. Boykin, a 6-5 guard from Baltimore, has a rare thing at the Division II level: experience with USA Basketball, as he was on a 3x3 Nations League team representing his country. And Rodriguez, a Reading grad, comes to West Chester after two years at Rider. In other words, the Golden Rams should be strong once again — and indeed, they were picked to finish atop the PSAC East in the league’s preseason poll.

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And a quick peek at….

East Stroudsburg: The No. 2 pick behind West Chester in the PSAC East preseason poll, East Stroudsburg always has a healthy dose of Philly-area talent on the roster. This year, that’s in the form of senior forward and West Catholic alum Nasir Griffin (9.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and junior forward/Wood alum Carson Howard (6.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg) plus newcomers in junior Saleem Payne (Cheltenham/West Chester) and freshmen Milan Dean (Archbishop Wood) and Keni Williams (SCH Academy). 

Kutztown: Expectations are low for Kutztown, picked eighth in the PSAC East after an 8-20 (4-17 PSAC) year last season, and which is under new leadership after Bernie Driscoll retired in late August. Junior wing Yahmir Satterfield (Imhotep) is the most experienced local player returning, though his scoring average dropped from 9.7 ppg as a freshman to 3.4 ppg last year; he’s joined this year by freshmen Amon Fowlkes (Coatesville) and Kyle Shawaluk (Perk Valley/Perkiomen School). 

Lock Haven: There’s a whole bunch of local representation on the Bald Eagles’ roster, with eight different players who hail from Philly or the suburbs (nine, if you include Camden Catholic’s Luke Kennevan). Redshirt sophomore and Carroll alum Blake Deegan (5.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg) and Wood alum Mike Knouse (2.6 ppg) return from last year’s rotation; junior guard Dean Coleman-Newsome (Archbishop Carroll/Chipola College) and redshirt freshman Deuce Ketner (Millersville) transferred in and Mike Green (Archbishop Wood), Devon Nelson (Bonner-Prendergast), Tommy Kelly (Spring-Ford) and Jake Manigault (Abington) all come in as true freshmen.

Millersville: The Marauders were picked to finish third in the PSAC East, and while Upper Dublin product and leading scorer Drew Stover (17.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg) graduated, they still return Neumann-Goretti’s Aamir Hurst (8.6 ppg) and George School alum Dante Weise (1.7 ppg), both of whom played in all 31 contests; they add to the mix this year freshmen Carnell Henderson (Imhotep Charter), while sophomore Ron Brown III (SCH Academy) will try to break into the rotation.