After the Saint Joseph’s Hawks raised the Big five Championship banner for the second consecutive season, all six Philadelphia area schools have seen dramatic shifts in player and coaching personnel this offseason.
While Villanova and Penn dominated the headlines with the hirings of big-name coaches, the Temple Owls, Saint Joseph’s Hawks, La Salle Explorers and Drexel Dragons have all seen roster shakeups that will lead to a different looking Big 5 Tournament layout for 2025.
Drexel Dragons
It was another season of ups and downs for Zach Spiker’s squad in 2024-25. The Dragons finished fifth in the Big 5 after a defeat of the Pennsylvania Quakers in last year’s rendition of the Battle of 33rd Street. In a similar fashion to last offseason, this spring has seen the exit of Drexel’s most impactful scorers, as just days after their loss to Towson, veteran guards Yame Butler and Kobe Magee entered the portal, transferring to Butler and Florida State respectively.
In the following weeks, defensive standout Cole Hargrove left for Big East powerhouse Providence, and versatile point guard Jason Drake transferred to Indiana. Aside from the four key losses, however, the Dragons brought back familiar key contributors, including guards Shane Blakeney and Kevon Vanderhorst, and forwards Garfield Turner, Victor Panov and Villiam Garcia Adsten.
Drexel’s transfer portal additions fit a similar mold to last year’s, and feature a mix of relatively inexperienced players at a variety of positions. Dillon Tingler, a 6’7” guard from Eastern Michigan appeared in all 32 games, starting five for the Eagles. Tingler was a three-star recruit and the second-ranked player in West Virginia, and projects to be a strong scoring and rebounding presence for the Dragons.
French big man Martin De Laporterie also transferred to Drexel this spring, from junior college, Yavapai. The 7’1” forward from Bordeaux, France can play the four or five, and was a JuCo Top 100 honorable mention after averaging 12.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per contest.
Boise State guard Moses Hipps is the third and final name in Drexel’s transfer class, who did not appear in action for the Broncos last season. The 6’4” guard was a top 250 player, and top 50 guard in the class of 2024, following a successful high school career with multiple stops. Hipps spent his sophomore year of high school at local school Archbishop John Carroll, where the New Jersey native finished second in Delco in scoring average with 18.9 points per game. Hipps was named first-team all-state for his scoring and three-point shooting abilities, and received Division I interest from fellow Big Five programs, Temple and La Salle.
La Salle Explorers
The Explorers have experienced a full clearing of the house this offseason, after the retirement of Philadelphia basketball icon Fran Dunphy. La Salle saw 15 of their 16 rostered athletes enter the portal, a tall task for new head coach Darris Nichols.
Nichols, the former Radford coach, has added a deep pool of transfers, featuring a strong group of small-school standouts and a group of Nichols’ former players from Radford. Noah Collier, a strong forward from William & Mary, who has given the Dragons problems in the past, is the highlight new addition.
Marcus Randolph (Saint Peter’s), Josue Grullon (UT-Martin) and Jaden Johnson (Old Dominion) all look to bring their strong experience at other mid-majors to the A-10 next year. Additionally, Justin Archer, Josiah Harris and Truth Harris have all played for Nichols in the past, while Rob Dockery from Texas A&M looks to bring his limited Big 12 experience to the John Glaser Arena.
Pennsylvania Quakers
Following multiple disappointing seasons in West Philadelphia, the Quakers are going in a new coaching direction, bringing in former Iowa head coach Fran McCafferty. McCafferty was able to keep a majority of last year’s team in University City, including Ethan Roberts, Dylan Williams and Michael Zanoni.
The only reported transfer for the Quakers so far has been former five-star TJ Power, the #21 recruit in the 2023 class, who spent the past two seasons at Duke and Virginia. With only Sam Brown and Nick Spinoso leaving the Palestra, and a newly signed, experienced head coach, expect a new contender in the Ivy League to emerge.
Saint Joseph’s Hawks
It was another solid year seeing the Hawks finish with a winning record, but falling short of the NCAA tournament once again. With Xzayvier Brown headed to Oklahoma, Erik Reynolds and Rasheer Fleming looking towards the NBA draft, Billy Lange’s squad had scoring production to replace.
The Hawks added Deuce Jones from La Salle, last year’s A-10 Rookie of the year, who averaged 12.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game for the Explorers. Another A-10 rival, Jaden Smith from Fordham, who provides solid bench scoring and rebounding, was added to the roster. Lange also added former Big East players Al Amadou (Marquette), and Jaiden Glover (St. John’s), who was the #55 recruit in the 2024 class.
Temple Owls
The Owls were raided by the transfer portal, leaving the Liacouras Center with only four returning players this spring. Temple graduates Jamal Mashburn and Steve Settle provided a strong portion of the offensive production, while Zion Stanford (Villanova), Quante Berry (Memphis), Jameel Brown (Delaware) and Dillon Battie (Wichita State) all left North Philadelphia as well.
To address the losses, the Owls added a pair of experienced guards in Jordan Mason and Derrian Ford, as well as inexperienced forwards from larger schools in Gavin Griffiths (Nebraska) and Spencer Mahoney (Cal). Bowling Green’s Jamai Felt, a MAC All-Freshman forward, rounds out a solid incoming group for Temple, adding size and further paint scoring.
Villanova Wildcats
The biggest shift in energy this offseason for a Big Five program belongs to Villanova. After the Kyle Neptune experiment failed, the Wildcats looked to Maryland’s Kevin Willard, who led the Terrapins to the Sweet Sixteen, to bring Nova Nation another title.
Villanova added Zion Stanford from Temple, a multi-level scorer, as well as Devin Askew (Long Beach State) and Bryce Lindsay (JMU) to round out an accomplished group of guards. Forward Duke Brennan from GCU looks to bring his defensive prowess to the main line, while Maryland’s Braden Pierce and Malachi Palmer join Willard at his new home.