College basketball season preview: Millersville dives into transfer era, local season begins this weekend
Local men's college basketball gets a warm welcome back this weekend. The outlook:
Last season:
Coach: Casey Stitzel (eighth season).
Starters back:
Key players lost:
Outlook: The Marauders have won 64 games and made the NCAAs twice over the past three years. Faulkner and Dade were multi-time all-conference players. Dade is now playing professionally in Argentina and Faulkner will likely also play professionally.
Stover, a classic low-lost scorer, made all-PSAC last year and nearly led the country in field-goal percentage (71.5%). Ested is an athletic, versatile point guard.
The big news here is an influx of transfer-portal finds, eight of them, from Divisions One, Two and Three and from all over the country. Most notable is 6-6 junior Siraj Ali, who led Mansfield in scoring and rebounding last year and was the PSAC freshman of the year two seasons ago.
Siraj was the Class AAA state high school player of the year in 2022, after leading Loyalsock to a state championship.
"When I took the job, we had a vision of building with freshmen, letting them develop, letting them fail, and by the time they become juniors and seniors, they're ready,'' Stitzel said. "And it worked, right? Obviously, this is the new normal, and so far, we're happy with it.''
One "traditional,'' recruit: Ethan Benne, a 6-6 forward from neighboring Penn Manor High. Benne, a likely redshirt this year, was the best player in the Lancaster-Lebanon League a year ago.
F&M
Last season:
Coach: Nick Nichay (sixth season)
Starters back:
Key newcomers:
Outlook: After three straight sub-.500 seasons, the Diplomats returned to prominance last winter, trading blows with the powers of a top-heavy Centennial.
Five of the top six are back (including versatile, athletic glue-guy Sebastian Charles), all in their third or fourth year playing together. This should be Nichay's best team.
"We've developed an identity,'' he said. "They understand how to win games, had the taste of playoff basketball. They've been close enough to taste it.''
Grauslys should be one of the CC's best guards, and Parra one of its best centers. The other regulars are mid-size guys who bring a variety of things - Seidman passing, Nowoswiat scoring, Charles defense and energy. Jones, who missed all of last year with an injury, could be an elite defender.
Lancaster Bible
Last season:
Coach: Jon Mack (sixth season).
Starters back:
Key newcomers:
Outlook: In 2022-23, the Chargers won 21 games and reached the second round of the NCAA DIII tournament.
Last year, they finished the regular season on a 12-1 run, and seemed primed to continue that roll.
"On paper, I feel pretty confident,'' Mack said. "It depends how we make it fit together. November will be a month of answering questions, figuring things out, and hopefully getting wins while you do that.''
Sareyka averaged 21.2 points last year, and will lead a guard-heavy group suited to Mack's preferred up-tempo, pressing style.
It might be a four-guard (plus Storr) lineup, at least until Adiok is ready to move Storr to power forward.
Transfer Hurst, a three-time all-state player at Lancaster Mennonite, should be a game-changer. He is one of a group of Lancaster Countians, including Daniel King (Linville Hill) who started 10 games last year, Erisman (Penn Manor), Luke Rumbaugh (Conestoga Valley) and Trey Grube (Manheim Central).
Last season:
Coach: Britt Moore (eighth season).
Starters back:
Key newcomers:
Outlook: Seven players return who averaged double-figure minutes last year. Russo (16 ppg) and Finarelli (14.7) got all-conference recognition and are reliable, plug-in scorers.
Size could be a problem. Moore hopes Lilly and MJ Branker, a very athletic 6-5 sophomore wing from Philadelphia West Catholic, will address it.
That makes two years in a row Moore has plucked a player from the elite Philadelphia Catholic League.
Harris, the leading scorer on a very good high school team at Coatesville last year, could address the other issue: putting the ball in the basket. The Jays made 42 percent of their shots and 30 percent of their threes last year.
"This summer, we looked at the shots we got, and they were generally shots we would take again,'' Moore said. "Lots of attempts at the rim, and open threes. Making 3-5 more of those (per game) could be the difference.''
