City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
—

The holidays give us a good chance to take a breath and survey the Big 5, to check in on the teams as the non-conference slates wrap up and league play begins. We’re far enough into the season now to get a good read on how teams are playing, and who still has a realistic shot at the postseason, or who’s looking like they’re in need of a reboot at the midpoint of the season. 

Here are our rankings of the Big 5 men’s programs: 

~~~

6) La Salle Explorers
Record: 4-9 (0-0 A-10)
Recent Results: vs. Merrimack (L, 66-60), vs. Drexel (W, 69-64), @ LIU (L, 70-60), @ High Point (L, 84-72), @ #2 Michigan (L, 102-50)

The Good: Not a ton to put here, to be honest. Freshman guard Ashton Walker has gotten his college career off to a solid start, averaging 8.7 ppg and leading the team in assists (3.7/game), making 41.2% of his shots. And grad student Jaeden Marshall, previously at Omaha and Niagara, is putting up career-best numbers, leading the team in scoring (12.8 ppg). Finally, a team that made ‘Rebound that Jawn’ its motto is 36th in the country in offensive rebounding rate (37.4%) according to KenPom, the only stat in which they’re top 50 in the country.

The Bad: The Explorers might be solid on the offensive glass, but they’re pretty rough everywhere else. They’re turning the ball over on 21.2% of possessions (339th on KenPom) and have an eFG% of 45.5% (333rd), making just 30% of their 3-pointers while allowing opponents to scorch them at 37.6% from deep. And they’ve lost nine of their last 10 against D-I opponents, with a brutal A-10 slate upcoming. 

The Skinny: La Salle hired Darris Nichols to try and inject some energy into a program that’s not exactly built to succeed in this new era of college hoops, without the financial backing and facilities of many of its peers, even after the Glaser Arena renovation. It might be theoretically possible for a low-budget program to Moneyball its way to success with the right influx of transfers, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with this group this year. The Explorers could be in for a rough next 10 weeks. 

~~~

5) Drexel Dragons
Record: 6-7 (0-0 CAA)
Recent Results: @ American (L, 75-73), vs. La Salle (L, 69-64), vs. Howard (L, 74-66), vs. Mount St. Mary’s (W, 75-67), vs. Maine (W, 74-56)

The Good: Junior wing Shane Blakeney is having the best season of his career so far, leading the Dragons in scoring at 12.9 ppg, though his shooting splits (.366/.342/.767) aren’t stellar. Junior guard Kevon Vanderhorst (11.2 ppg) joins him in double figures, and D-III transfer Eli Beard (9.2 ppg) is shooting 35.5% from deep. They’ve also been getting better play of late from sophomore guard Josh Reed, who’s averaging 9.4 ppg over his last eight. As a team, the Dragons are 89th in the country in offensive rebounding rate against D-I opponents (34.3%), according to KenPom. 

The Bad: The Dragons are currently on pace to finish with their worst KenPom ranking since the site started tracking them in 1997, currently 288th in the country. According to the hoops statistician’s website, the Drexel men are in the bottom third nationally in both offensive and defensive efficiency, and they’ve done that against a schedule that’s one of the weakest in the country (362nd), with only one win (Old Dominion) against a team ranked higher than 302nd on KenPom.

The Skinny: For the better part of a decade, Zach Spiker slowly improved the Drexel program, taking them from the bottom of the CAA to a 20-win season just two years ago. But the roster got decimated by the transfer portal last year, and they weren’t able to reload with enough talent to be competitive in the Coastal Athletic Association, at least not based on what we’ve seen so far. Too many turnovers, an inability to score inside the arc (or get stops) and being one of the worst foul-shooting teams in the country (64.5%) don’t help matters at all. 

~~~

Khaafiq Myers (above) is going to have to play a bigger role with Deuce Jones no longer at St. Joe's. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

4) Saint Joseph’s Hawks
Record: 7-5 (0-0 A-10)
Recent Results: vs. Temple (W, 70-69), vs. Coppin State (W, 87-65), @ Syracuse (L, 71-63), vs. Delaware State (W, 67-51), vs. Coastal Carolina (L, 68-62)

The Good: Were we putting these rankings together just a few days ago, this section would look a lot different. We’ll get to all of that in a second, but suffice to say, despite the record, there aren’t a ton of positive notes around the Hawks right now. Redshirt freshman Jaiden Glover-Toscano, a St. John’s transfer, is averaging 13.6 ppg but has missed the last two games due to injury; freshman wing guard Austin Williford looks good long-term and has averaged 6.2 ppg and 5.3 rpg while going 10-of-27 (37.0%) from deep. Oh and it’s been good to see Neumann-Goretti product Khaafiq Myers (3.7 ppg, 23/9 A/TO) back on the court after losing most of two seasons to injury. 

The Bad: It wasn’t a great sign when leading scorer and La Salle transfer Deuce Jones II sat out the last two games for ‘personal reasons,’ and then the news dropped on Tuesday afternoon that the New Jersey product was no longer with the program. Through 10 games (eight starts), Jones was averaging 15.8 ppg and 4.3 rpg, though he was shooting below 40% from the field and was 13-of-49 (26.5%) from 3-point range. 

The Skinny: It’s been a rocky few months for St. Joe’s, which lost head coach Billy Lange to the NBA in September and now is without its two leading scorers, coming off a disappointing home loss to a low-major opponent. With the Atlantic 10 coming after a game against Arcadia on Dec. 28, the Hawks faithful have to hope the wheels don’t totally come off, forcing some difficult decisions to be made in the offseason. 

~~~

3) Penn Quakers
Record: 6-5 (0-0 Ivy League)
Recent Results: vs. La Salle (W, 73-71), vs. Hofstra (L, 77-60), vs. Villanova (L, 90-63), vs. Lafayette (W, 74-72), @ Rutgers (L, 70-69)

The Good: Fran McCaffery has put a little juice into the Quakers, a four-game November win streak the high-water mark thus far. They’re shooting 38.6% from the 3-point arc, which is 27th in the country, thanks to the terrific wing duo of Ethan Roberts (18.0 ppg, .436 3PT%) and T.J. Power (15.4 ppg, .379 3PT%). The emergence of Power, a former four-star recruit, has been a welcome sight, as has been the play of freshman forward Dalton Scantlebury (8.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg). 

The Bad: The biggest issue currently is the health of Roberts, who’s missed the last two games after suffering an undisclosed injury against Villanova; the program has not released any details or any timeline about his potential return. If he’s out long-term, that’s a major blow towards any hopes the Quakers have of climbing the Ivy ladder. They’re also still not good defensively, 281st on KenPom in defensive efficiency (1.129 points per possession), and are one of the worst teams inside the arc (45.3%, 331st against D-I comp. per KenPom).

The Skinny: The first season of the Fran McCaffery era has been a mixed bag thus far, though generally more positives than negatives, as long as Roberts’ injury isn’t too serious. And while they’re getting significant contributions from a number of seniors, there’s enough impressive youth to think that McCaffery still might be able to work his alma mater back up the ranks in the only D-I league in the country where it’s not solely about how much money you have to spend on players. 

~~~

2) Temple Owls
Record: 8-5 (0-0 American)
Recent Results: vs. Saint Joseph’s (L, 70-69), vs. Georgian Court (W, 103-57), vs. Saint Francis (W, 95-67), @ Davidson (W, 68-63), vs. Princeton (W, 65-61)

The Good: Despite an entirely-new roster coming together in the offseason, the Owls have been playing solid ball, with four players in double figures and an offense ranked No. 86 on KenPom. It helps that they’re turning it over on just 13.1% of possessions, second nationally, and are shooting it from deep at a 37.3% clip against D-I competition. Arkansas State transfer Derrian Ford (17.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg) has been an outstanding lead guard, and sophomore Aiden Tobiason (15.1 ppg, .500/.400/.800 splits) has taken a massive leap towards stardom. 

The Bad: As good as Temple has been offensively, they’ve been equally bad defensively. KenPom has them 289th in the country in defensive efficiency (1.134 points per possession allowed), mostly because they’re awful at forcing turnovers and defending the 3-point arc. They’re not getting much at all in terms of frontcourt production; starting forward Babatunde Duradola is averaging only 4.5 ppg in 17.4 minutes, and they’re a bottom-third team in the country in offensive rebounding. 

The Skinny: Fisher has done a good job without a ton of NIL support in putting together a competitive roster, which has them No. 152 in the KenPom rankings as of this writing (Dec. 24). That’s a slight improvement on the last two seasons but slightly worse than the program was under Aaron McKie, finishing No. 120 in 2022-23 when he was let go. It’s still unclear what Temple’s long-term outlook this season is beyond being generally competitive, but that’s the state of the Big 5 right now that they’re the second-best team in the city.

~~~

Duke Brennan (above) has been one of the nation's best rebounders this season. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

1) Villanova Wildcats
Record: 10-2 (1-0 Big East)
Recent Results: vs. Penn (W, 90-63), @ #2 Michigan (L, 89-61), vs. Pittsburgh (W, 79-61), @ Wisconsin (W, 76-66 OT), @ Seton Hall (W, 64-56)

The Good: The Kevin Willard era is off to a quality start, as the Wildcats’ only two losses thus far are to BYU and Michigan, the No. 11 and No. 1 teams in the current KenPom rankings. They’ve handled business against everybody else, including three wins over top-100 opponents in their last three. They’ve got a top-30 offense and defense (okay, 31st offensively), are strong in all sorts of statistical areas, and are getting quality production from their top six, with a few others chipping in here and there. Bryce Lindsay (16.6 ppg), Acaden Lewis (12.3 ppg, 5.0 apg) and Duke Brennan (12.0 ppg, 11.4 rpg) have all been terrific additions, and Matt Hodge (10.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg) has put together a number of quality outings. 

The Bad: There’s not a ton to complain about here. Defensively, their biggest issue has been guarding the 3-point line (37.7%, 329th nationally against D-I competition), and they’re also not great at blocking shots, but that’s less of a concern, as they’re still very strong in 2-point field goal defense. They haven’t gotten a ton this season out of Maryland transfer Malachi Palmer (2.8 ppg) and Temple transfer Zion Stanford (1.3 ppg) has been almost a non-factor, both of which are disappointing. 

The Skinny: There’s not a ton to complain about if you’re a Villanova fan, as the Wildcats are right back in the top-25 discussion under Willard, in addition to being Big 5 champs. They’re getting quality outside shooting, offensive creation, rebounding, effort and defense, and look like a program that could win a Big East title at the Garden in March. If they can keep Lewis, Lindsay and Hodge around long-term, they could be competitive for quite a while. 

~~~