A lot of eyes will be on Keene State as the 2024-25 Division 3 men’s basketball season begins. The Owls have a new coach, All-American caliber talent and a loaded early schedule.
Keene plays at Williams on Nov. 24 in the Purple & Gold Classic, and then visits Tufts on Dec. 4 for another showdown of New England powers.
But there are plenty of other intriguing teams to keep an eye on in New England during this first month, and you can see two of them when Saint Joseph’s (Conn.) opens its season with a home game against Clark on Nov. 13.
Find out which players return for those teams, and who else made our preseason watch list:
Babson
Last year: 15-14, NEWMAC Champions, Reached NCAA First Round (Lost to Oswego State 74-63)
The Beavers return seven of their top eight scorers and were picked to finish first in the NEWMAC preseason poll. Nate Amado, a 6-foot-3 senior guard from Hanson, Mass., was a Second Team All-NEWMAC pick last year after leading Babson in scoring (20.5 points) and blocks (25) to go along with 7.2 rebounds. Amado is back for coach Stephen Brennan, now in his 30th season at Babson, as is Timmy O’Toole, a 6-5 junior guard from Milton, Mass., who averaged a team-high 8.5 rebounds last season and 7.9 points. Senior forward Aidan Horan (6-6) averaged 6.1 points and made nine starts, and 6-7 junior forward Tyler Lauder finished with 4.4 points and 5.9 rebounds.
Clark
Last year: 20-7, NEWMAC runner-up
Four starters and 90 percent of the scoring return for Clark, including 2024 First Team All-NEWMAC members Bruce Saintilus (Plainville, Mass.) and Isaiah Taylor (Methuen, Mass.) and 2024 Second Team All-NEWMAC selection Kekoa McArdle (Pittsfield, Mass.). Saintilus, a 6-4 senior guard, led the Cougars in scoring (16.6) and free throws made (118). Taylor averaged 13.9 points and 3.6 assists, and McArdle had 13.9 points and 9.3 rebounds. Reid Neumann, a 6-6 junior guard who averaged 8.3 points last season, is the fourth returning starter for Clark, which was picked to finish second in the NEWMAC preaseaon poll.
Keene State
Last year: 26-4, LEC Champions, Reached NCAA Sweet 16 (Lost to Guilford, 82-60)
Steven Enright, from South Kingstown, R.I., takes over as the Owls head coach after leading the men’s basketball program at D-III Bridgewater (Va.) College for the last five seasons. He inherits a team with a lot of returning talent, led by 6-4 senior guard Octavio Brito (Lincoln, R.I.), who is a two-time D3hoops.com Third Team All-American selection. Last year, Brito averaged a team-high 19.7 points to go along with 7.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Starting guards Nate Siow (Lowell, Mass.) and Mason Jean Baptiste (Lynn, Mass.) both decided to come back for a fifth year. Siow finished with 8.6 points and a team-best 4.3 assists last season, while Jean Baptiste was third on the team at 9.8 points.
Saint Joseph (Conn.)
Last year: 25-5, GNAC Champions, Reached NCAA Second Round (Lost to Randolph Macon, 75-64)
The Blue Jays return two starters, add a couple of transfers and have been picked to finish first, again, in the GNAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Junior guard Lence Altenor (Everett, Mass.) was a Third Team All-GNAC selection last season after he scored 12.8 points, pulled down 3.4 rebounds and shot 41.1 percent from 3-point range. Junior forward Friedrich Feldrappe (6-6) averaged 10.0 points and 5.6 rebounds last year while shooting 61.3 percent from the field, and 6-6 guard Kevin Cummings (Portsmouth, N.H.) came off the bench to average 7.4 points. Senior guard Taheem Dupree transfers in from Keene State after starting 10 games and scoring 7.2 points per game last year for the Owls, and senior guard Ty Calloway scored 8.9 points per game at Eastern Connecticut State University in 2023-24.
Saint Joseph’s College (Maine)
Last year: 18-10, GNAC Runner-up
The Monks return four starters – 6-5 junior guard John Paul Frazier (York, Maine), 6-4 junior forward Wani Donato (Portland, Maine), 6-3 sophomore forward Remijo Wani (Portland, Maine) and 6-2 senior guard Teagan Hynes (York, Maine) – and were picked second in the GNAC preseason poll. Frazier was a First Team All-GNAC selection last year after averaging a team-high 14.9 points and shooting 89-for-230 (38.7 percent) from 3-point land. Wani finished with 11.0 points and 5.7 rebounds and made the GNAC All-Rookie Team, Hayes led the team in assists (3.6) to go along with 6.1 points and 3.2 rebounds, and Donato finished with 9.7 points and 5.5 rebounds.
Trinity
Last year: 30-2, NESCAC Champions, Reached NCAA Final Four (Lost to Trine, 66-54)
No. 6 in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25, the Bantams are the highest-ranked team in New England heading into the season. They posted the best record in program history last year and return three starters from that team – Henry Vetter, Jarrel Okorougo (Stoneham, Mass.) and Will Dorion (Needham, Mass.). Vetter, a 6-5 junior wing, was a D3hoops.com All-Region Second Team and First Team All-NESCAC member after averaging 14.5 points, and 3.3 assists. He also led the conference in free throw shooting (91.5 percent). Okorougo, another 6-5 wing, averaged 10.9 points and 5.9 rebounds last year, and he led the team in steals (42). Dorion has been a three-year starter at guard for coach James Cosgrove, who was named the 2024 Regional Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and D3hoops.com.
Tufts
Last year: 21-8, NESCAC semifinalist, Reached NCAA Sweet 16 (Lost to Trinity, 70-53
Scott Gyimesi, a 6-6 wing, returns for his junior season after leading the Jumbos in scoring (13.1) and rebounding (NESCAC-best 11.0) last year, and earning Second Team All-Region 1 honors from both D3hoops.com and NABC. Tufts returns two more starters in 6-4 junior guard James Morakis (11.2 points per game last year) and 6-11 junior center Joshua Bernstein (8.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 59 total blocks last year). The Jumbos are ranked No. 13 in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25.
Western Connecticut State University
Last year: 22-5, Little East Conference Runner-up
The Wolves have brought in a pair of junior college All-Americans (Tayejon Lynch and Nick Boyce) to go along with their two All-LEC returners – 6-5 senior wing Cameron Gallon and 6-2 guard Jeremiah Williams. Gallon was a Second Team All-LEC pick after averaging 12.3 points and 4.7 rebounds last year, and Williams was an All-LEC Defensive Team selection. Lynch, a 6-foot guard, averaged 20.2 points and 2.5 steals per game last season at Rockland Community, and Boyce, a 6-4 wing, averaged 12.7 points and 8.3 rebounds for Herkimer College.
Williams
Last year: 23-7, NESCAC Runner-up, Reached NCAA Sweet 16 (Lost to Christopher Newport, 60-49
The Ephs return their top two scorers from last year in 6-2 junior guard Alex Lee (11.0 points per game in 2023-24) and 6-8 senior captain and forward Brandon Roughley (10.3 points, 4.2 rebounds). Roughley (Dalton, Mass.) is one of three senior captains for head coach Kevin App, now in his 10th season at Williams, which is ranked No. 25 in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25. The other two are 6-3 guard Evan Glatzer and 6-4 guard Noah Dinkins. Glatzer is back after his 2023-24 campaign was cut short after just nine games.
WPI
Last year: 21-5, NEWMAC semifinalist
The Engineers will build around four-year starter Aidan Callahan (Rowley, Mass.), a 6-2 senior guard who made his second All-NEWMAC Second Team last season after averaging 10.8 points and leading the team in assists (3.6) and steals (1.8). After Callahan, WPI coach Chris Bartley, the 7-time NEWMAC Coach of the Year now in his 24th season with the Engineers, has a handful of part-time starters coming back as he figures out how to fill the void left by double-double machine John Adams, the 2024 NEWMAC Player of the Year. Those returners include 6-3 junior guard JR Newman (6.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, 41 total steals last year), 6-6 sophomore guard Justin Morlen (4.3 points per game, 22 total assists, 18 steals) and 6-7 senior forward Brett Marelli (Hampton, N.H.).
