2023–24 La Salle Explorers men's basketball team

American college basketball season
2023–24 La Salle Explorers men's basketball
ConferenceAtlantic 10 Conference
Record16–17 (6–12 A–10)
Head coach
  • Fran Dunphy (2nd season)
Assistant coaches
  • John Cox
  • Donnie Carr
  • Mark Hueber
Home arenaTom Gola Arena
Seasons
2024–25 →
2023–24 Atlantic 10 men's basketball standings
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Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Richmond 15 3   .833 23 10   .697
Loyola Chicago 15 3   .833 23 10   .697
No. 24 Dayton 14 4   .778 25 8   .758
UMass 11 7   .611 20 11   .645
VCU 11 7   .611 24 14   .632
Duquesne 10 8   .556 25 12   .676
St. Bonaventure 9 9   .500 20 13   .606
George Mason 9 9   .500 20 12   .625
Saint Joseph's 9 9   .500 21 14   .600
La Salle 6 12   .333 16 17   .485
Rhode Island 6 12   .333 12 20   .375
Fordham 6 12   .333 13 20   .394
Davidson 5 13   .278 15 17   .469
Saint Louis 5 13   .278 13 20   .394
George Washington 4 14   .222 15 17   .469
2024 A-10 tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 2023–24 La Salle Explorers men's basketball team represented La Salle University in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Explorers, led by second-year head coach Fran Dunphy, played their home games at Tom Gola Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Previous season

The Explorers finished the 2022–23 season 15–19, 7–11 in A-10 play to finish in a tie for 11th place. As the No. 11 seed in the A-10 tournament, they defeated Rhode Island in the first round, Duquesne in the second round before losing to Fordham in the quarterfinals.

Offseason

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
Hassan Drame 4 F 6'7" 200 Senior Bamako, Mali Graduate transferred to Duquesne
Josh Nickelberry 10 G 6'4" 205 Senior Fayetteville, NC Graduate transferred to Florida State
Fousseyni Drame 11 F 6'7" 200 Senior Bamako, Mali Graduate transferred to Duquesne
Mamadou Doucoure 14 F 6'9" 250 GS Senior Bamako, Mali Graduated

Incoming Transfers

Name Num Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Milos Kovacevic 31 F 6'9" Junior Belgrade, Serbia Highland CC

2023 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi
SF
Stockholm, Sweden Hoosac School 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) N/A May 6, 2023 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A
Efe Tahmaz
SF
Kadıköy, Turkey Beşiktaş Basketbol 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) N/A Aug 22, 2023 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2023 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 29, 2021.

Roster

2023–24 La Salle Explorers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Andrés Marrero 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS So Upper Room Christian School (NY) Caracas, Venezuela
G 1 Charles Ireland (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr La Salle College Glenside, PA
G 2 Jhamir Brickus 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Coatesville Coatesville, PA
G 3 Anwar Gill 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Montverde Academy Washington, D.C.
G 5 Khlil Brantley 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Our Savior Lutheran Bronx, NY
G 10 Jorge Sanchez-Ramos 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 160 lb (73 kg) So Colegio Peñalar Torrelodones, Spain
G/F 11 James Joseph (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Springfield Township
Montgomery County CC
Torrelodones, Spain
G 12 Tommy Gardler (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr The Phelps School
USciences
Broomall, PA
G 13 Daeshon Shepherd 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Archbishop Wood Philadelphia, PA
F 14 Efe Tahmaz 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Smartanac Istanbul, Turkey
F 21 Ryan Zan 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Rutgers Prep Princeton, NJ
G/F 25 Lucas Mercandino 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So IPEM 21 Alfonsina Storni Córdoba, Argentina
F 31 Milos Kovacevic 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr Sagemont (FL)
Highland CC
Princeton, NJ
G/F 34 Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Hoosac School (NY) Stockholm, Sweden
G 35 Rokas Jocius 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 260 lb (118 kg) So Vilniaus Perlas Energija Kaunas, Lithuania
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 7, 2023*
6:30 p.m., ESPN+
Drexel
Big 5 Classic Pod 1
W 67–61  1–0
 18  Brickus   9  Jocius   4  Gill  Tom Gola Arena (1,641)
Philadelphia, PA
November 11, 2023*
3:30 p.m., ESPN+
Northeastern W 79–74  2–0
 22  Brickus   5  Gill   7  Gill  Tom Gola Arena (2,871)
Philadelphia, PA
November 14, 2023*
6:30 p.m., ESPN+
Bucknell
Blue Devil Challenge
W 69–57  3–0
 22  Shepherd   9  Shepherd   6  Brantley  Tom Gola Arena (1,612)
Philadelphia, PA
November 18, 2023*
2:00 p.m., ESPN+
Southern Indiana
Blue Devil Challenge
W 79–78  4–0
 30  Brantley   8  Shepherd   6  Gill  Tom Gola Arena (1,254)
Philadelphia, PA
November 21, 2023*
7:00 p.m., ACCN
at No. 9 Duke
Blue Devil Challenge
L 66–95  4–1
 17  Gill   9  Jocius   4  Brickus  Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314)
Durham, NC
November 26, 2023*
1:00 p.m., ESPN+
Coppin State W 81–62  5–1
 21  Gill   10  Jocius   6  Brantley  Tom Gola Arena (1,473)
Philadelphia, PA
November 29, 2023*
7:00 p.m., ESPN+
at Temple
Big 5 Classic Pod 1
L 99–106 3OT 5–2
 41  Brickus   14  Brantley   5  Brantley  Liacouras Center (4,229)
Philadelphia, PA
December 2, 2023*
4:45 p.m., NBCSP+/Peacock
vs. Penn
Big 5 Classic third place game
W 93–92 OT 6–2
 24  Brantley   8  Shepherd   7  Gill  Wells Fargo Center 
Philadelphia, PA
December 6, 2023*
6:30 p.m., ESPN+
Loyola (MD) W 62–61  7–2
 18  Marrero   9  Shepherd   8  Brickus  Tom Gola Arena (1,269)
Philadelphia, PA
December 9, 2023*
2:00 p.m., ESPN+
at Lafayette W 67–51  8–2
 20  Marrero   9  Brantley   8  Brickus  Kirby Sports Center (1,009)
Easton, PA
December 16, 2023*
12:00 p.m., The CW
at No. 24 Miami (FL) L 77–84  8–3
 23  Brantley   8  Shepherd   8  Brickus  Watsco Center (6,407)
Coral Gables, FL
December 21, 2023*
2:30 p.m., ESPN+
Rosemont W 107–41  9–3
 19  Zan   7  Zan   12  Brantley  Tom Gola Arena (1,045)
Philadelphia, PA
December 30, 2023*
2:00 p.m., ESPN+
Howard L 66–71  9–4
 17  Brantley   13  Shepherd   3  Brantley  Tom Gola Arena (1,732)
Philadelphia, PA
Atlantic 10 regular season
January 3, 2024
6:30 p.m., ESPN+
George Mason L 62–77  9–5
(0–1)
 19  Brickus   5  Tied   4  Tied  Tom Gola Arena (1,243)
Philadelphia, PA
January 6, 2024
12:00 p.m., USA
at Fordham W 81–76  10–5
(1–1)
 15  Shepherd   8  Shepherd   5  Tied  Rose Hill Gymnasium (1,246)
Bronx, NY
January 10, 2024
7:00 p.m., NBC Sports App
at UMass L 65–81  10–6
(1–2)
 14  Vahlberg Fasasi   8  Shepherd   6  Brickus  Mullins Center (2,227)
Amherst, MA
January 13, 2024
12:30 p.m., USA
VCU L 65–71  10–7
(1–3)
 20  Brickus   9  Zan   3  Marrero  Tom Gola Arena (1,647)
Philadelphia, PA
January 15, 2024
4:00 p.m., CBSSN
at Saint Joseph's L 62–82  10–8
(1–4)
 16  Brantley   5  Marrero   5  Brantley  Hagan Arena (2,796)
Philadelphia, PA
January 23, 2024
6:30 p.m., ESPN+
No. 16 Dayton L 54–66  10–9
(1–5)
 13  Marrero   7  Tied   6  Brantley  Tom Gola Arena (1,571)
Philadelphia, PA
January 27, 2024
6:00 p.m., ESPN+
at George Washington W 80–70  11–9
(2–5)
 20  Brantley   8  Brantley   8  Brickus  Charles E. Smith Center (2,054)
Washington, D.C.
January 31, 2024
7:00 p.m., ESPN+
at Rhode Island L 69–71  11–10
(2–6)
 19  Brantley   13  Jocius   6  Brickus  Ryan Center (4,033)
Kingston, RI
February 3, 2024
12:00 p.m., ESPNU
Saint Joseph's L 82–88  11–11
(2–7)
 24  Brickus   8  Brickus   8  Brickus  Tom Gola Arena (3,174)
Philadelphia, PA
February 7, 2024
6:30 p.m., ESPN+
Saint Louis L 84–102  11–12
(2–8)
 24  Gill   10  Brantley   6  Brickus  Tom Gola Arena (1,202)
Philadelphia, PA
February 10, 2024
2:00 p.m., ESPN+
at Richmond L 65–82  11–13
(2–9)
 22  Brantley   10  Jocius   4  Brickus  Robins Center (7,201)
Richmond, VA
February 13, 2024
7:00 p.m., ESPN+
at Davidson L 56–71  11–14
(2–10)
 16  Brantley   7  Shepherd   3  Brantley  John M. Belk Arena (2,268)
Davidson, NC
February 17, 2024
2:00 p.m., ESPN+
UMass W 82–81  12–14
(3–10)
 19  Tied   10  Brantley   6  Tied  Tom Gola Arena (1,636)
Philadelphia, PA
February 21, 2024
6:30 p.m., ESPN+
St. Bonaventure W 72–59  13–14
(4–10)
 23  Shepherd   7  Tied   7  Brantley  Tom Gola Arena (1,439)
Philadelphia, PA
February 25, 2024
12:00 p.m., USA
Rhode Island W 84–61  14–14
(5–10)
 22  Brantley   8  Shepherd   6  Gill  Tom Gola Arena (1,642)
Philadelphia, PA
February 28, 2024
7:00 p.m., ESPN+
at Duquesne L 63–75  14–15
(5–11)
 17  Shepherd   7  Tied   7  Brantley  UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (2,233)
Pittsburgh, PA
March 2, 2024
2:00 p.m., ESPN+
George Washington W 72–66  15–15
(6–11)
 15  Tied   7  Brantley   6  Brantley  Tom Gola Arena (2,278)
Philadelphia, PA
March 9, 2024
4:00 p.m., ESPN+
at Loyola Chicago L 54–64  15–16
(6–12)
 11  Brickus   6  Tied   4  Brickus  Joseph J. Gentile Arena (4,557)
Chicago, IL
Atlantic 10 tournament
March 12, 2024
2:00 p.m., ESPN+
(10) vs. (15) George Washington
First round
W 61–60  16–16
 21  Brickus   9  Brantley   3  Brickus  Barclays Center 
Brooklyn, NY
March 13, 2024
5:00 p.m., USA
(10) vs. (7) St. Bonaventure
Second round
L 73–75  16–17
 15  Jocius   7  Jocius   5  Brickus  Barclays Center 
Brooklyn, NY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern Time.

Source[1]

References

  1. ^ "2023–24 Men's Basketball Schedule". The Official Athletics Website of La Salle University Athletics.
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NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics