Members of La Salle's 2012-13 Sweet 16 team, (l-r) coach John Giannini, Tyreek Duren, Tyrone Garland, Jerrell Wright, and Rohan Brown, are honored at halftime on Saturday. Also pictured is Explorers AD Ash Puri.
By AARON BRACY
February 2, 2025
PHILADELPHIA – On Saturday afternoon at halftime of La Salle’s home game against George Washington, Tyrone Garland and Tyreek Duren walked out on to court to loud cheers and outstretched cell phones as eager fans wanted to say thanks with their voices and capture this special moment on video.
Garland, Duren, and the rest of the 2012-13 Explorers will live on forever in the hearts and minds of La Salle and Big 5 supporters after their memorable run to the NCAA Sweet 16.
“I think it was our camaraderie,” Duren said of the key to La Salle’s success that season. “We had four people from Philadelphia. We already had that connection. Some of us grew up playing against each other. When you’ve got that, it’s hard to fail. We were all together, we all wanted each other to succeed. There was no competition between us. The only competition we had was trying to win. We all wanted to push each other. So I think that made it easier for us.”
Garland’s game-winning shot to send La Salle into the Sweet 16, the Southwest Philly Floater, is one of the most iconic shots in Big 5 history.
“Every time I think about it, I get chills, man,” Garland said. “Every year when March comes around, my phone blows up. It just lets you know how great Philadelphia basketball is. Being a kid from Philly, it should let you know more kids should stay home and get this feeling and take your home school team to the tournament. They will love you forever.”
For sure, no one in Philly will forget Garland, Duren, or that team anytime soon. Among others, the same can be said for Villanova’s great teams under Jay Wright that included a pair of national titles (2016 and ’18); St. Joe’s NCAA squads under Phil Martelli that included the 2003-04 Elite Eight Hawks who are the subject of my soon-to-be-released book, A Soaring Season: The Incredible, Inspiring Story of the 2003-04 Saint Joseph’s Hawks; Temple’s long run of March Madness appearances under John Chaney; Penn’s Final Four team; and Drexel’s appearances in the 1990’s with Malik Rose.
Who will be that next great team in the city that Big 5 fans will remember forever? Or, at the very least, one that qualifies for the NCAA tournament? The Big 5 hasn’t been to the Big Dance in two years, and the odds are long to end this disappointing trend in 2025. All six Big 5 teams were in action on Saturday, and they went 2-4, kind of symbolic of how the city’s teams are right now. La Salle and Temple’s wins were offset by losses by Drexel, Penn, St. Joe’s, and Villanova. There have been some bright spots this season, but the combined record of 69-61 (.531) bears out that this is, more or less, an average group.
Can a team emerge to make the NCAA tournament this season? Let’s take a look at the chances of each team, ranking them below from greatest to least, at roughly the midpoint of league play for each.
1. Temple
Record: 14-8 overall, 6-3 American Athletic Conference (4/13 teams)
Last NCAA appearance: 2019
How to Make NCAAs: Win American Athletic Conference tournament
Why they will get there: Jamal Mashburn Jr. is arguably the best player in the conference. He scored 32 points, his second straight contest with at least 30, in Temple’s 98-94 overtime win over East Carolina on Saturday that improved the Owls to 10-0 at home. Quante Berry (11.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists) and Steve Settle III (11.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 41.6 three-point percentage) are reliable, do-it-all types of players who don’t need the ball but can score when needed. Zion Stanford (11.7 points per contest) is another scorer if Mashburn is off.
Why they won’t get there: Depth is an issue. As good as Mashburn, Berry, Settle, and Stanford have been—and they’ve been really good this season—Temple lacks depth. Elijah Gray chipped in 10 points in Saturday’s win but no other Temple player even scored. Come conference tournament time, you need multiple players to contribute, and sometimes a surprising contribution, to win three or four games in a row.
Final Thought: Right now, the Owls have the best chance in the city to make the NCAA tournament. Temple has played really good basketball this season and has been the most consistent team in the city. It won’t be easy, though, as Memphis, North Texas, and UAB all are going to be tough outs in the American.
2. La Salle
Record: 12-10, 4-5 Atlantic 10 (T8/15 teams)
Last NCAA appearance: 2013
How to Make NCAAs: Win Atlantic 10 tournament
Why they will get there: Rider transfer Corey McKeithan and rookie Deuce Jones are two of the best and most exciting guards in the A-10. Jones helped the Explorers come back from a late, six-point deficit in Saturday’s 73-67 win over George Washington at Glaser, starting the run with a four-point play and an amazing, lefty layup that even coach Fran Dunphy, who’s seen just about everything in basketball, couldn’t believe went in. Dunphy again praised Jones’s fearlessness. McKeithan made a high-arcing floater and a three-pointer during the late run. Both are hard on opposing A-10 guards, and La Salle has size and skill down low with Jahlil White, Demetrius Lilley, Daeshon Shepherd, and Mac Etienne.
Why they won’t get there: Like Temple, the Explorers lack depth. La Salle gets very little offensive production from its bench. As good as McKeithan (15.7 points per game) and Jones (11.8) have been, can they string together four consecutive strong performances that will be needed to win the A-10 tournament?
Final Thought: Right now, to the disbelief of many preseason pollsters, La Salle has the second-best chance in the city to make the NCAA tournament. The Explorers were picked to finish last in the 15-team league in the preseason poll, but they have been very consistent all season and have played above what prognosticators predicted. With McKeithan and Jones, La Salle has two guards that won’t take a backseat in the league. Give the Explorers a puncher’s chance of winning the league, and it’s a punch that likely no A-10 opponent wants to have to take in March.
3. Drexel
Record: 12-11, 4-6 Coastal Athletic Association (T8/14 teams)
Last NCAA appearance: 2021
How to Make NCAAs: Win Coastal Athletic Association conference tournament
Why they will get there: Kobe MaGee and Yame Butler, who each average 14.4 points per game, give the Dragons a backcourt as good as any in the conference. Drexel has shown it can play with the league’s elite, losing 55-54 at first-place Towson on Saturday when Victor Panov’s tip-in of MaGee’s miss went in but came just after the buzzer sounded. Drexel also had Towson down late at home last month, only to fall in OT.
Why they won’t get there: The CAA is a really competitive league. Other than a couple of teams maybe, this is a league in which anyone can beat anyone, much like the Atlantic 10. Big man Cole Hargrove (10.2 points, 7.9 rebounds) gives the Dragons a really good interior presence, both offensively and defensively. But the Dragons lack production elsewhere in the frontcourt, something that could prevent a deep run in the conference tournament.
Final Thought: The Dragons were picked 11th in the preseason but have shown they can play with any team in the league. Zach Spiker’s teams always are in games, so it will not be a surprise if the Dragons, the third-best chance in the city to make the NCAA’s, make a deep run in the conference tournament.
4. Villanova
Record: 12-10, 5-6 (T5/11 teams)
Last NCAA appearance: 2022
How to Make NCAAs: Win Big East conference tournament, or improbably win out in regular season and get at-large bid
Why they will get there: Eric Dixon is leading the country in scoring at 24.2 points per contest. Jhamir Brickus is shooting a team-best 47.7 percent from three-point range, just ahead of Dixon’s 45.3, to help the Wildcats be one of the best offensive teams in the country. Wooga Poplar is a dynamic wing who has shown unstoppable explosiveness.
Why they won’t get there: The Wildcats have shown to be an inconsistent team and have come out on the short end of close losses in several games, most recently Saturday’s 62-60 setback to Creighton at the Wells Fargo Center when the Bluejays’ Steven Ashworth banked home a game-winning three-pointer from the corner with 5.8 seconds remaining. The Big East likely will get three NCAA bids, with an outside chance of four, but it seems like St. John’s, Marquette, UConn, and Creighton are the teams most likely to be hearing their names on Selection Sunday.
Final Thought: Villanova has shown it can play with the league’s best, beating UConn at home last month—though the Huskies were without star freshman Liam McNeeley—and the Wildcats have some top-of-the-league talent. But they just haven’t put things together consistently enough. An at-large bid is all but out of the question, barring an undefeated mark from this point forward in conference play, and it doesn’t seem as if the Wildcats will be able to knock off multiple conference elites in the Big East tourney.
5. St. Joe’s
Record: 13-9, 4-5 Atlantic 10
Last NCAA appearance: 2016
How to Make NCAAs: Win the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament
Why they will get there: Rasheer Fleming (15.5 points, 9.2 rebounds, 40.7 three-point percentage) is the best NBA prospect in the conference and a nightmare matchup for everyone in the league. Erik Reynolds II and Xzayvier Brown have the talent to play with any guard tandem in the A-10. The Hawks have good depth and some solid rotation pieces in both the frontcourt and the backcourt.
Why they won’t get there: Neither Reynolds nor Brown have matched their play from a season ago, and the Hawks have been overly reliant on three-point shooting that has been inconsistent, at best, this season. The Hawks missed 16 of 19 three-pointers in Saturday’s 58-55 loss at Loyola Chicago, making it 6 of 35 (17.1 percent) from deep in the last two contests.
Final Thought: The Hawks could be a dangerous team for any opponent in the A-10 tournament but have not shown the consistency to be counted on to win three or four straight games.
6. Penn
Record: 6-13, 2-4
Last NCAA appearance: 2018
How to Make NCAAs: Win Ivy League Madness tournament
Why they will get there: Ethan Roberts (17.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 38.9 three-point percentage) is one of the Ivy’s top players and does a little bit of everything for the Quakers. Sam Brown is starting to return to form. Nick Spinoso is a proven point forward in the Ivy, who can beat teams with assists and buckets down low.
Why they won’t get there: The Quakers have made some progress this season, but are nowhere close to the league’s elite, as shown in Saturday’s 90-61 home loss to first-place Yale that followed Friday’s 88-79 defeat to middle-of-the-pack Brown. Against Yale, the Quakers surrendered 20 of the first 24 points and the game was basically over.
Final Thought: The best-case scenario, and one that isn’t that far-fetched, is for Penn to sneak into Ivy Madness as one of the four teams to qualify among the Ancient Eight. The Quakers are just a game back of fourth-place Dartmouth with still plenty of time to get there. However, even if they get there, Yale, Cornell, and Princeton appear to be too good for the Quakers.
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Aaron Bracy has been covering Philadelphia sports since 1996. Follow Bracy on X: @Aaron_Bracy and like his Facebook and Instagram pages. His book on the 2003-04 Saint Joseph’s men’s basketball team is expected to be published on March 1, 2025. Read a summary and preorder it by clicking HERE. Contact him at aaron@big5hoops.com.