OAKDALE, Conn. — For nearly five decades, legendary coach Jere Quinn has built his St. Thomas More in a mostly similar fashion, assembling rosters heavy with postgraduate players who spend one year on the beautiful lakeside campus.
But as he enters the 2026-27 season, Quinn is facing a rare first. Five members of his 13-player roster are returners. He can’t remember a year he’s had that many.
“It’s fascinating,” Quinn said following Tuesday’s open gym. “It’s a nice, eclectic group of kids coming in. They seem to get along.”
“They know how hard it is to go to schools and play. They know, you know, when you head up to Maine and play at Bridgton or you go to New Hampton or you go to Hoosac and try to win at those places, they understand there's challenges. It's nice when you have some kids who know the league more than kids who just show for a year and go.”
Along those returners, a very exciting group of newcomers have come together at St. Thomas More to create one of the most loaded rosters in NEPSAC. A whopping four players in the Top 10 of our Best of New England Class of 2027 rankings – Patrick Otey, Declan Griffiths, DJ Hawkins and Greyson Pierce – will suit up for the Chancellors, and they have a deep mix behind them.
Here’s what to expect from the St. Thomas More boys in 2026-27.
State of the program
There should be extra motivation for this St. Thomas More team, which was upset at home by No. 6 Hoosac in the first round of last season’s NEPSAC Class AAA playoffs on a buzzer-beater. The Chancellors went on to reach the Sweet 16 of the national prep championship tournament, finishing their season at 25-13. Quinn thought late-season injuries to Otey and Pierce disrupted their rhythm at an important stage of the season.
St. Thomas More is two seasons removed from reaching the national prep championship game, which they lost to Putnam Science in an instant classic. The Chancellors won the national prep title in 2011.
The coach
Quinn, entering his 49th season, is regarded as one of the best prep basketball coaches in New England history; he made our Mount Rushmore earlier this year. An incredible stat continues to ring true: St. Thomas More has posted a winning record in all 48 seasons with Quinn as the head coach.
Quinn said he’s still having fun at this stage of his career.
“Kids keep you young,” he said. “The number of games we’ve won, it’s just a number. All the success we’ve had in the past carries absolutely no weight this year. All these kids want to see what I can bring to them. Yeah, I’m having a blast. It’s funny, someone said to me, ‘coach, you’re maybe in the last quarter of your career.’ I said, ‘well, possibly life,’ but I told them I’m definitely going to overtime anyways. I’ll steal a few more out of this than most people. I enjoy the school, I enjoy the community and I enjoy helping kids find their journey.”
The star players
You could go anywhere on this star-powered roster. We’ll start with Otey (Westwood, Mass.), our No. 2-ranked Class of 2027 prospect. In his first season with STM, he averaged 21.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game as he landed on our All-NEPSAC Class AAA first team. One of the most offensively gifted talents in New England, the 6-foot-5 guard missed the most important periods of the summer, including both NEPSAC Showcases and the July live period, but he’s back and fully healthy.
“He’s an elite worker,” Quinn said. “He loves to spend time in the gym and he’s a kid who can score in three different ways. He’d like to see himself become more of a point guard, but it’s interesting when you talk to him. He has such an intriguing scoring (skill). You never want to lose that skill. You just want to add things on. We’re certainly not going to sacrifice your best skills to do that. He’s a big, strong kid and he scores pretty easily.”
Next is a newcomer in Griffiths (Simsbury, Conn.), our No. 3-ranked senior coming off a stock-rising summer with the Middlesex Magic. The Avon Old Farms transfer initially committed to Newman this spring before pivoting closer to home at STM, where he’ll be the most impactful newcomer. An elite 3-point shooting threat with size and athleticism at 6-foot-8, Griffiths is continuing to get stronger. He had a strong debut with his new team at the June NEPSAC showcases and he should fit in nicely with the Chancellors’ high-octane offense. He’s not afraid to let it fly from deep, and Quinn believes this season will be a great benefit to him as he takes on a high-level schedule.
“The demands on him are going to be greater, but also learning how to play will be a benefit,” Quinn said. “He’s going to have to guard really talented kids and he’s going to have to become a great defender. But he’s as good a catch and shoot kind of kid as we’ve had. He’s as good as it gets and he’s athletic, and he’s got a little bit of an attitude, edge, grit to him. He wants to validate himself.”
Hawkins, who’s No. 4 in our 2027 rankings, is a rare three-year player in the program who was a vital piece of the Chancellors’ national finalist team as a sophomore in 2025. He’ll be looked on as a leader, and his unique skills can’t be ignored either. He’s probably the most athletic prospect on the team, capable of unleashing a highlight dunk at any moment, and he adds another deep-ball threat.
The under-the-radar players
While he may not generate the same level of buzz as his four starting teammates, Dillon Callahan’s impact will be just as important. The 6-foot-5 guard from New York, another returner, committed to Siena on Monday. In Otey’s absence in June, he looked terrific as a lead guard, and he’s already established himself as one of the best defending guards in NEPSAC. He’ll play off Otey as another on-ball creator for an offense that’s going to look to play fast, share the ball at a high rate and find their shooters.
The fifth returner, Josh Okoduwa, a 6-foot-9 forward from England, should give them valuable size, physicality and length in the frontcourt.
And while he’s ranked No. 7 in our 2027 rankings, Pierce (West Hartford, Conn.) is still quietly one of STM’s most important players. A small starting five will likely see him as a small-ball 5 who can stretch out and be a 3-point threat. But his rebounding ability will be critical.
The newcomers
Outside of Griffiths, STM boasts a handful of newcomers who should be impact contributors off the bench. Jayden Johnson, a 6-foot guard from New Jersey, is a certain Division 1 prospect. He should bring a high-level scoring punch. Three more international prospects should earn significant playing time. Nagi Soto is a lightning-quick 5-foot-11 point guard from Japan; Toby Gass is a 6-foot-8 shooting forward who played for Great Britain’s U18 national team; and 6-foot-6 Serbian forward Filip Raicevic has creator skills. All of them are in the 2027 class.
“We have three international kids who are PGs who are all significant players,” Quinn said. “They’re somewhat different. They’ve all had pretty good careers before they’ve come, so they’ve played in some pretty competitive games. …
“Jayden is a kid who’s just a very high-level scorer and shooter who can help us in so many ways. Jayden, like Nagi, like every kid who wants to elevate their game, needs to learn how to play with a lot of good players. The quicker they do that, the better we’ll be.”
Our expectations
St. Thomas More’s talent is undeniable, and few teams in the region will be able to keep up with the Chancellors offensively with their level of 3-point shooting and amount of scorers both in the starting lineup and off the bench. As Quinn said, the guard play will “make guarding us a nightmare.” With so many talented players, sacrifice will be key, and Quinn said he’s liked how well they’ve shared the ball already during open runs and he emphasized that the sacrifice he’ll ask of his players this season is no different than what they’ll be asked of next season.
My one concern for St. Thomas More is its frontcourt; the Chancellors don’t boast a physically imposing big. But they still have good length and switchable defenders, and they’ll need to commit to cleaning up the glass. As long as they stay healthy, I expect St. Thomas More to contend for the top seed in Class AAA and be in the mix for both a NEPSAC and national prep championship.
