With the 2024-2025 Drexel men’s basketball season about to tip off, the Dragons have much to prove. After their winningest season in over a decade, the Drexel roster was raided through a combination of outgoing transfers and players running out of their eligibility. Despite this, there are many reasons for optimism in the DAC. Here is all that you need to know for the 2024-2025 Drexel men’s basketball season.
Who’s out?
When the ball is tipped on Nov. 4th for the home opener against Georgian Court, the starting five will be nearly unrecognizable. Drexel returns just one player who made a single start last season, Senior guard Yame Butler. Gone is three time CAA Defensive Player of the Year Amari Williams, third team All-CAA point guard Justin Moore, and perhaps their most consistent scorer, Luke House.
Other departures include Lamar Oden Jr., Mate Okros, Lucas Monroe and Jamie Bergens.
Furthermore, projected starting center Garfield Turner will miss the season with a knee injury.
Head coach Zach Spiker has a reputation of deferring to veteran players, something that he certainly will not have the luxury of doing this season. Spiker does not return a point guard, center, or power forward that saw any notable amount of playing time.
Who’s in?
For a more in-depth look into the newest recruits, read New on Campus: Get to know Drexel’s newest hoopers! According to Dragonscast.com, the most well regarded recruits that Zach Spiker brought in this offseason were JuCo transfer Kevon Vanderhorst and Pacific Transfer Villiam Garcia Adsten.
Unfortunately, Vanderhorst suffered a broken wrist and is out indefinitely, although the program expects him to be back at some point this season. Until then, Jason ‘Deuce’ Drake will run point for the Dragons. Drake is an aggressive player who showed well in Drexel’s scrimmage against Chestnut Hill College.
Season Outlook
Drexel is projected to finish at 11th in the conference according to the Preseason Coaches Poll. This would be a remarkable step back for Drexel coming off a 20 win season where they finished second in the conference. The Dragons have a fighting chance to land well above this prediction, however, if they get production from previously underutilized talent.
Yame Butler and Kobe Magee will be the x-factors for this squad, and Butler in particular will be expected to shoulder a sizable burden for the offense. Butler was described by Spiker as, “as good of a one on one player our league has.”
Spiker noted that Butler has, “had big segments of different seasons. We’d like to see him do that on a higher, more consistent level.”
Butler saw a reduced role as the 2023-2024 season went on, going from a starter to a bench player, however, his talent certainly merited more opportunities than he has received in his Drexel career.
Magee has consistently improved season after season, and entering his third season Magee will play an important role on both ends of the court, as a premier perimeter defender with a strong offensive presence. However, he has never been a focal point of a Division I offense to this point, so how his production fares with increased volume and attention from opposing defenses remains to be seen.
Fellow veteran Shane Blakeney will also receive a long awaited opportunity to get minutes for the Dragons. The guard has the physical profile and skill set to be a dynamic offensive player and showed it in spurts last season.
Otherwise, the biggest question marks lie amongst the forward group. Starting center Cole Hargrove is a strong 6 foot 8 inch presence on the court, but how he fares against opposing seven footers will be a question mark. On offense, he has more range than either Williams or Turner can offer, so he may help the Dragons space the floor although he may not be as large a presence on the glass as his predecessors.
Victor Panov and Villiam Garcia Adsten are versatile 6 foot 7 inch forwards who can play the three or four. The belief within the DAC is that both players will be key cogs for the team, but the only way to confirm this suspicion is through their performance.
The Dragons are likely better than the 11th place they are projected to finish in, but by how much is an open question. Without significant steps up from their returning players, and some pleasant surprises from some new ones, they are going to struggle against the upper echelon of the CAA. If Coach Spiker is able to get the right scheme for this specific group of players, the Dragons should at least be able to play a fun, explosive brand of basketball in the DAC this year.