La Salle players huddle during Saturday's 71-66 loss to Howard. (Photo archive: Aaron Bracy)
By AARON BRACY
March 26, 2024
Big5Hoops.com
The Philadelphia Big 5 went 44 consecutive seasons with a representative in the NCAA tournament from 1978 through 2022. (There was no tournament in 2020.) Over that stretch, the five schools combined for 92 trips to the Big Dance that included national championships in 1985, 2016 and 2018 for Villanova.
Add in Drexel’s five appearances during that stretch and the combined number of NCAA berths is 97. (Drexel was not part of the Big 5 until this season.)
But this season marks the second straight year without a Big 5 team in the Big Dance. The reasons for Philly schools’ absence have some to do with each of the schools and some to do with the changing landscape of college basketball.
Let’s take a look at each school’s season, why they are not in the tournament and how they might get back there.
Here’s the schedule:
Friday: Villanova
Saturday: Temple
Sunday: Saint Joseph’s
Monday: Penn
Today: La Salle
Wednesday: Drexel
Thursday: All-Big 5 Selections
La Salle
NCAA tournaments between 1978-2022: 8
2023-24 record: 16-17, 6-12 Atlantic 10
Leading scorers: Khalil Brantley 15.0, Jhamir Brickus 13.9, Daeshon Shepherd 10.6, Anwar Gill 9.3, Rokas Jocius 8.5, Andrés Marrero 7.9
Leading rebounders: Shepherd 5.6, Jocius 5.4, Brantley 5.3
What went right: La Salle finished 9-4 in nonconference play, highlighted by their 93-92 overtime victory over Penn in the Big 5 Classic third-place game on Dec. 2 in which Brantley drained a buzzer-beater from just over halfcourt that will go down as one of the greatest game-winning shots in Big 5 history. After starting league play 2-10, La Salle recovered from losing five in a row to win four of the final six contests in the regular season, including an 84-61 home victory over Rhode Island on Feb. 25 in the final game at Gola Arena. The tenth-seeded Explorers won their opening game in the Atlantic 10 tournament over No. 15 George Washington before ending their season in a second-round, 75-73 defeat to No. 7 St. Bonaventure.
What went wrong: The Explorers were picked to finish last in the 15-team A-10, so their 2-10 league start wasn’t exactly surprising – though it was disappointing after the promising nonconference record (albeit with the wins against mostly lower-level opponents). A low point might have been a 102-84 home loss to St. Louis during that five-game losing streak. It was to a Billikens team that would finish with five league wins that would cost coach Travis Ford his job after the season.
The biggest hit might have come after the season when the top four Explorers scorers – Brantley, Brickus, Shepherd and Gill – all entered the transfer portal.
My thoughts: There is some hope for the Explorers, and there are many challenges.
Let’s start with the hope. La Salle has one of the all-time best Big 5 coaches in Fran Dunphy. He got as much as could possibly be expected out of this Explorers team, which was undersized and lacked depth. The depth took a greater hit when Gill was sidelined for four games in January and Marrero missed the last seven contests due to injury.
In Brantley, Brickus and Gill, the Explorers had an experienced and talented but undersized backcourt. Brantley (6-foot-1) and Brickus (5-11) presented matchup problems defensively for La Salle. But I didn’t see two tougher guards this season. It was inspiring to watch the Explorers go punch for punch with bigger, stronger St. Bonaventure in Brooklyn. La Salle had a chance to win that A-10 second-round tourney game at the buzzer, or send it to overtime, but came up just short.
The players get the most credit, but Dunphy’s leadership clearly helped the Explorers exceed expectations in the league. Dunphy indicated after that Bonnies game that he would talk to La Salle leadership to determine his future. If he stays, the Explorers have one of the best in the business on the sidelines.
The Explorers also have an administrative commitment to men’s basketball as an important part of the university, and strong leadership with athletic director Ashwin Puri. They also are getting a badly needed upgrade in facilities with the renovation of Gola Arena, which will be rebranded as John Glaser Arena at TruMark Financial Center beginning next season.
So, in Dunphy, the administration and the new arena, there are some definite positives happening and reasons for hope at La Salle.
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And there are definite challenges. And the challenges, quite frankly, require more words.
Let’s start with on the court. As mentioned above, I think Dunphy got the most out of the Explorers. But they still finished 6-12 in the Atlantic 10. In 29 seasons in the A-10, La Salle has just four winning seasons. The Explorers have made just one NCAA tournament since 1992, in 2013 when Tyreek Duren, Ramon Galloway and Ty Garland gave the school a magical ride to the Sweet 16. La Salle has wonderful basketball tradition, but their most recent sustained success happened 35 years ago during the era of the great Lionel Simmons when the Explorers went to four NCAA tournaments in five years between 1988 and 1992. The Explorers also can point to their 1954 national championship. La Salle is one of just 37 schools who can say they’ve won an NCAA title. But it happened 70 years ago.
For the last 30 years, the Explorers have not been relevant nationally, with the exception of 2013.
And any hope of building off of some encouraging performances this season seems to be gone with the portal decisions. Brickus is practically a lock to leave and likely will be gobbled up by a Power 6 school or a high-level mid-major. Brantley, Shepherd and Gill still might return, I think, depending on potential landing spots. Deuce Jones is a talented incoming freshman, and the Explorers coaching staff is closely monitoring the portal based on La Salle interest I have seen. So, things can change quickly — and, possibly, for the better—in terms of roster construction today. But La Salle feasibly could lose its four leading scorers to transfer and see an overall decline in talent from a six-win A-10 team.
Then, there is Dunphy. I have the ultimate respect for him as a person and a coach. My late, great friend Jack Scheuer held Fran Dunphy in the highest regard. Scheuer was a mentor and role model for me, and I still value his words and heed his advice every day today. It is easy to see why Scheuer thought so highly of Dunphy.
I had forgotten how great his record at Penn until looking up the numbers for Monday’s Quakers column. Five undefeated seasons in the Ivy League in his 17 years at the helm is pretty amazing. And Dunphy still can coach. La Salle is in great hands with Dunphy at the helm.
But will Dunphy stay? I have no doubt he can adjust to the rapidly changing landscape of the NIL and transfer portal. But will he want to at this stage in his career? Recruiting already was a 24/7 demand for any coach, and the NIL and the portal only have turned that up a notch – or 100. I would think the sooner a decision on Dunphy’s coaching future, the better with the importance of the portal in order for recruits to know what they are getting into.
And that brings us to the portal and NIL. Like just about every higher education institution, La Salle has seen a declining enrollment in recent years. You can just Google “La Salle and financial situation” to get an idea of how this has affected the school. Boosters are trying to build NIL reserves through Explorers United, but it’s clear that La Salle doesn’t have the deep pockets of some other A-10 schools. If so, it’s likely that there wouldn’t be four players who got basically as many minutes as they could possibly play last season and likely would again in 2024-25 in the portal.
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So, what can be done about all of this?
I think La Salle powers-that-be really need to take a close, hard look at the program and ask the following questions:
Who are we?
Who do we want to be?
What can we be?
I think those questions really will inform the direction of the program.
Personally, I don’t see how being an also-ran in the A-10 year after year after year really can do much to galvanize support among students and alumni, draw donations from supporters and boosters and create interest in the school among high school juniors and seniors who are potential applicants. Maybe Dunphy has another miracle up his sleeve and could lead the Explorers back to the NCAAs through the A-10. I wouldn’t put it past him. But when we’re talking about miracles, it’s time to have another conversation.
For me, as an outsider, the first choice would be to stay in the A-10 and be competitive. But only insiders know if there is a budget to do that. It takes money to be competitive. With a budget, there’s no doubt Dunphy could do it.
If that budget isn’t there, then I think it’s time for the Explorers to seriously consider – if they haven’t already – leaving the A-10. I think dropping down a level to either the America East, CAA, MAAC or NEC would keep the Explorers in a sensical geographic situation conference-wise while putting them more on par budget-wise with their competitors. I’d guess that there would be a financial hit from leaving the A-10, so obviously that will have to be weighed. It seems to me, though – and others surely might disagree – that it would be more enjoyable for students, alumni and Explorers fans to go into a season with a real chance to make the NCAA tournament. That would require winning the conference tournament in those one-bid leagues, something that would be more doable in those four conferences than the A-10. Most of all, I think it would be a better situation for players and coaches rather than being outmanned every night.
Imagine La Salle building a winning program in one of those four named conferences with Philly players who are just a little too undersized for higher levels but are tough in the tradition of Philly players. Maybe with an exciting, different brand of basketball that is fun and packs Glaser. A trademark style.
What about a combination of Shaka Smart’s pressure Havoc defense and Billy Lange’s eye-pleasing and effective 3-point happy NBA offense? Give it a name, like Explorers Experience. You’ll need good guards and lots of them to play like this. Luckily for La Salle, there are going to be plenty of options in their backyard. Philly is great guards. (The website guru behind this site and La Salle grad Joe Fedorowicz has been advocating publicly for more 3-pointers.)
And brand it. Surround Explorers Experience with a marketing and social media campaign. Get students excited. Make basketball home games an event. Students, alumni and fans, I think, would take a fun league win over, say, Rider than a loss to nationally ranked Dayton. (Could Explorers Experience, with underecruited but hungry guards, even work while being outbudgeted in the A-10?)
Maybe no one at La Salle wants to leave the A-10. Maybe the status quo is preferred.
But winning is fun. It creates energy. Excitement. Increases admissions. Brings in donations.
Can that happen in the A-10? Based on history, it would be a really hard sell to say yes. But if the Explorers think they can get the funds for a legit A-10 run, I’d say go for it. If the budget confirms the unlikelihood of realistically being competitive A-10, then I’d say find a home in one of the aforementioned four conferences.
With this route, the likelihood of a path back to the NCAA tournament would be greater. And it would give the Explorers yet another reason to hope.
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Aaron Bracy has been covering Philadelphia sports since 1996. His byline regularly appears on Associated Press stories. Big5Hoops.com is his second website dedicated to Philadelphia college basketball. Follow Bracy on X: @Aaron_Bracy and like his Facebook and Instagram pages.