City of Basketball Love

By Matt Allibone (@Bad2theAllibone)
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Stefan Phillips is used to Jarrell Little messing with him. 

The pair competed against each other when Phillips was at Roxborough High School and Little was at Dobbins Tech. Little ended up on the winning end in those matchups. 

“I hear about that a lot,” Phillips said with a laugh. “But we mostly talk about the mutual opponents we had.”

Little and Phillips are now teammates on the Salem County Community College men’s basketball team, and their connection isn’t unique among the Mighty Oaks. There are 11 players on Salem County’s roster, and six are from Philadelphia — with two more from its surrounding counties. 

That Philadelphia talent has fueled an incredible start to the 2025-26 season. The Mighty Oaks are 19-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III level heading into Thursday’s road matchup with No. 5 Northampton (14-1). 

The community college — which eliminated its athletic programs in 2013 before restarting them in 2019 — has never enjoyed a season like this in its history. 

Salem County’s players want to keep their historic winning streak going, but they also want to set themselves up for bigger opportunities at the collegiate level. The community college offers a two-year program, so all 11 players — nine freshmen and two sophomores — will be moving on within the next two years. 

For most of the Mighty Oaks, this season is a second chance to reach their goals.

“Out of high school I only had Division III (offers) and my goal was to be a Division I player,” said Little, a freshman and the team’s leading scorer. “This was another opportunity. Another chance to reach my goal.” 

The architect of Salem County’s historic season is head coach Mike Green, another Philadelphia native who has the background and resume to connect with this group of players. 

An All-City and All-Public League Player at Franklin Learning Center, Green earned a scholarship to Towson and started immediately. That led to the opportunity to transfer to Butler, where he became a standout for Brad Stevens on back-to-back NCAA Tournament teams in 2007 and 2008. He went on to play professionally overseas for 12 years. 

His connection with former Butler assistant Micah Shrewsberry led to a job as Director of Player Development at Penn State. When Shrewsberry left the Nittany Lions for the head coaching job at Notre Dame in 2023, Green was set to join him. Then he and his wife found out they were expecting a child.

Not wanting to drag his growing family across the country, Green started looking for jobs back home. A friend helped him get an interview at Salem County. 

He wasn’t offered the job. 

A few weeks later, Green got another call from the school. Its coaching hire unexpectedly fell through. Green immediately took the job and led the Mighty Oaks to a .500 finish. Last season, he led them to a 26-8 record and a No. 5 national ranking. 

His recruiting philosophy has been simple: Find kids in his hometown getting overlooked. 

“I know what type of players we (in Philadelphia) breed,” Green said. “The transfer portal is killing everybody. Some of these guys I really think are scholarship players but weren’t offered any. So I see what they can be. I can help them out and get them better and they’ll be in front of more eyes.” 

The key to Salem County’s success becomes obvious the moment you watch them play. The Mighty Oaks are long, fast, determined and tenacious. They’re outscoring opponents 93-73 and outrebounding them 41-34. With a 32% 3-point percentage and 69% free throw rate, their shooting can be streaky. But they share and protect the ball — sporting a 1.58:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. 

In last Saturday’s road contest against Rowan College-Gloucester, the Mighty Oaks fell behind by 13 early but controlled the second half in a 96-84 win. Little, who is averaging nearly 20 points per game this season, finished with 15 points after a slow start. Math, Civics and Sciences’ Nasseem Wright continued his strong season (18 points and 8 rebounds per game) with 16 points and five boards. 

West Catholic Prep’s Saaid Lee chipped in with 17 points, nine assists and four steals. 

There’s an interesting dynamic within a community college team. The players want to win, but they also know they need to showcase themselves. Unlike players at a four-year school, they aren’t deciding between staying long-term or transferring. 

Green and his players said that reality hasn’t stopped the Mighty Oaks from playing cohesively as a unit. 

“You can be a team player and still be aggressive,” said Little, a 6-foot-3 guard who has already drawn interest from Division I and Division II schools. “It’s going to look very odd if you're trying to outscore and outplay your teammate. Being a facilitator was never my strong suit and I’ve learned to do that here. I’m a winner before anything else. I’ll still be happy if I don’t go Division I because I know I’m a winner at the end of the day.”

This experience has been about more than winning for the Mighty Oaks. One of the team’s two sophomores, Phillips said he’s learned to be accountable and dependable. He hopes to play Division III basketball next season. 

Green said coaching at this level has been “extremely rewarding” since it’s allowed him to develop a winning program while still helping players off the court. He’s encouraged his players to not focus on becoming Division I players, but to find an opportunity where they can “be a big fish in a small pond.”

“He coaches us to be better men,” Phillips said about Green. “Be on time, follow directions, understand that your actions have consequences. If you do that, everything else will come.” 

While all of Salem County’s players will be moving on in the near future, they still have games to win now. They have 11 more regular season games over the next month before the start of the Region 19 and Northeast District Championships, which they won for the first time last season. 

The NJCAA Division III tournament starts in March and the Mighty Oaks will be determined to win it after losing in the Elite Eight last season. 

“Being the No. 1 team in the country is crazy. I’ve never been No. 1 in nothing,” said Little. “This has been so fun. It’s been a dream come true.”