WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Following its first outright PSAC East Regular Season title since 2006 and a program-record tying 23 wins, the West Chester University men's basketball team enters the 2025-26 season with high hopes and higher expectations as the team opens its season at Bowie State on Friday and Saturday. West Chester will begin its season on Friday night at Bowie State against Fayetteville State at 5 p.m. before facing host Bowie State on Saturday at 3 p.m. in its second game of the weekend.
"Early on, we look good," opened head coach
Damien Blair when asked about his first impressions of his new group. "We are playing a lot like we did last year, both offensively and defensively. We are working through a bit of adversity right now with the injury bug, and we always have some things to get cleaned up, but overall, it looks promising. This first weekend is going to be a great challenge for us. Fayetteville State is a really good group that added some great players from Bluefield State with the coaching change, so that first game is going to be a great test. Bowie State is always a tough game, especially in Bowie, so we are definitely excited for this weekend."
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Fan Information
This season, West Chester basketball games will be cashless. Similar to WCU football games, tickets should be purchased via
wcupatix.com/athletics. WCUPATIX.com is the only authorized ticket purchasing site for regular season West Chester basketball games. Fans are advised that purchasing tickets through third-party sites such as VividSeats does not guarantee entrance into Golden Ram Athletic events. Ticket prices remain $10 for general admission and $5 for students (K-12) and seniors (65+), with anyone with a WCU ID being admitted free of charge. The Carol Eckman games this weekend will be free admission.
Last Time We Saw Them
West Chester matched its single-season win record of 23 a year ago and punched its ticket back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019 after finishing PSAC play at the top of the Eastern Division with a record of 18-3. West Chester finished the regular season on a four-game winning streak as winners of seven of eight in February to capture its first outright crown since 2006 after earning a share of the regular season title in 2023. West Chester fell to Millersville 85-71 in the PSAC Quarterfinals before falling to Virginia State 80-64 in the NCAA Tournament at West Liberty.
Preseason Prognostications
As the defending PSAC East Champions, West Chester received early respect from its peers this season as the Golden Rams were voted the unanimous favorites to win the PSAC East Regular Season title once again in 2025. East Stroudsburg, Millersville, Shepherd, and Shippensburg rounded out the top five, followed by Lock Haven, Mansfield, Kutztown, and Bloomsburg. Gannon, who was ranked 22
nd in the NABC Preseason Coaches' poll as the lone PSAC team in the top-25, is the preseason favorite out west with six first-place votes. Indiana (Pa.), California (Pa.), Slippery Rock, and Seton Hill rounded out the top five. Gannon will join West Chester in Maryland this weekend as the Golden Knights are the other participant in the CIAA/PSAC Challenge.
The full PSAC preseason poll release is available
here.
"Being the preseason favorite is a great honor and is good for the kids, but I don't put too much stock in it," said Blair. "For the kids, it's great because it gives them good confidence and lets them feel good about themselves, but it's important to remember that basketball season is a marathon, not a sprint, so it just puts pressure on us. It's going to be important for us to remember, it's not about how we start but how we finish and how we get to where we want to be by the end of the season."
Flock Talk
West Chester returns three of its five starters from a year ago, led by All-PSAC selection
Davante Dennis (Baltimore, Md./Red Lion), who averaged 10.4 points per game on 51.9 % shooting in his first season as a Golden Ram a year ago.
Dylan Blair (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) and
Anthony McCall (Philadelphia, Pa./ANC) are the two other returning starters from last season's group, averaging 10.1 and 8.9points per game, respectively.
As a group, West Chester scored 2,335 points last season, averaging 77.8 points per game, and the Golden Rams return just over 50 % (1,190) of those points in 2025, thanks in large part to the return of Dennis, Blair, and McCall, along with six other key reserves. West Chester's calling card in recent years has been its defense, which ranked third in the PSAC, limiting opponents to 72.5 points per game on 42.6% shooting, second-best in the league. The Golden Rams also led the PSAC in rebounding margin (+7.7) for the second straight season, averaging 41.9 rebounds per game while limiting opponents to 34.3 per game.
Asked about the experience of last season's run, Blair said, "Experience is always huge. Returning three starters is a luxury because they know what league play is like and what it's like to play in those tough games on the road. They can help the new guys get an early feel before they go to play those tough crossover games and tough road games in the East, what it's going to be like, and I think that only helps the new guys be more confident and comfortable going into those matchups, which always helps."
In addition to the return of three starters, West Chester also welcomes back a number of key reserves from last year's group, including
Myles Grey (Reading, Pa./Reading), Anthony Purnell Jr. (Chester, Pa./Kiski), Luke Boyd (Somerton, Pa./Archbishop Ryan), Nix Varano (Chalfont, Pa./La Salle College HS), Gavin Dalen (Milford, Ohio/Milford), and Larenzo Jerkins (Chester, Pa./Neumann Goretti).
"We have a good returning group and a lot of talented new players, who have impressed us early," said Blair. It's going to be a decent bit of mixing and matching this first month to see which groups work, and as we get some players back, but I think we have a lot of really good pieces that when they mesh together will make us a really tough team."
Oh Captain, My Captain
West Chester will look to the trio of Blair, Grey, and Boyd to lead the Golden Rams on and off the court as captains throughout the 2025-26 season.
"Our captains are three special players," said Blair when asked about that group. "Luke has been here a little longer than most in the current college basketball climate, and they understand West Chester, along with West Chester basketball, really well. He is a great high-energy player and a great role model. Dylan and Myles are two more players who are great role models on and off the court and know the playbook as well as anyone. All three of these guys relate really well to our guys and were picked by their teammates, which speaks to their leadership."
What's New
Ruben Rodriguez Jr. (Reading, Pa./Reading/Rider), Dinari Boykin (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley/Mars Hill), Gabe Moss (Pottstown, Pa./The Hill School/Delaware), Jaysean Williams (Bloomfield, Ct./The Patrick School), Joe Sedora (York, Pa./Red Lion/Penn State), Xavier Vann (Euclid, Ohio/Euclid/Cuyahoga Community College), Jake Warren (Downingtown, Pa./Calvary Christian/Fairleigh Dickinson), and Donovan Fromhartz (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) are all new faces for the Golden Rams in 2025-26. Williams and Fromhartz are the lone two members of the Golden Rams without college basketball experience, as the remainder are transfers.
"I've been really impressed by this new group," said Blair when asked about his eight newcomers. "I've been very impressed by how good Jaysean and Donovan have looked as they are adjusting to college basketball. Right now, they look like two guys who can step into almost any game and help us on both ends of the floor. Our transfers have looked good, too. Ruben (Rodriguez Jr.) ran the point a lot at Rider, and I think he will be a good combo guard for us. He's always been a dynamic scorer who can finish at all three levels, and he is a great defender.
Dinari Boykin is another guy who can guard one through five, bring the ball up, rebound well, and has a great outside shot.
Joe Sedora is one of our big post additions, who I've been excited by. He is a tough, strong player who can play well almost anywhere on the floor because he has a good perimeter shot and is a good passer. Overall, I think we have a lot of really good pieces, so it's just going to be which five to six on any given night are going to help us win."
The Slate
West Chester will open its season away from home this weekend for the CIAA/PSAC Challenge against Fayetteville State and Bowie State before returning home to face Caldwell on November 19 at 7 p.m. West Chester will head to Goldey Beacom on November 21 for a 3 p.m. start before hosting Immaculata on Thanksgiving Eve at 3 p.m. and Lincoln on December 2 at 7 P.M. West Chester will open league play at home on December 6 against Pitt-Johnstown beginning at 3 p.m. before wrapping up non-league play at Jefferson on December 16 at 6 p.m.
West Chester will finish 2025 on December 20 and 21 at home against Gannon and Clarion before starting the New Year with Indiana (Pa.) and Seton Hill on January 2 and 3. West Chester will open East play on January 7 at Mansfield before hosting Shippensburg for its East home opener and Alumni Day on January 10.
The Opening Weekend
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West Chester will open its season away from home for the fifth year in a row as the team returns to a CIAA/PSAC Conference Challenge Tournament to open the season after playing in an MEC/PSAC Challenge event last November in West Virginia. West Chester will open its season against fellow NCAA Tournament team Fayetteville State on Friday evening at 5 p.m. before facing off against host Bowie State on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
Friday's matchup against the CIAA Power that is Fayetteville State is believed to be the first-ever matchup between the Golden Rams and Broncos. Fayetteville State was picked to finish third in the CIAA Preseason poll, and Ezekiel Cannedy and Larry Howell are Preseason All-CIAA selections. Cannedy, a senior guard, surpassed 1,000 career points last season and finished with 476 points, averaging 15.9 per game across 30 starts. He shot 88.5 % from the line and splashed 89 threes along with 85 rebounds, 39 assists, and 48 steals. Howell joins Fayetteville State as a transfer from Bluefield State, where he appeared in 31 games, averaging 12.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game with 138 total rebounds, 42 assists, and 39 steals. Fayetteville State was at West Liberty with West Chester last season, advancing to the Semifinals of the Atlantic Regional Tournament before falling to West Liberty by an 89-69 final. The Broncos are under new leadership in 2025 as Devin Hoehn was named the 19
th head coach after leading CIAA rival Bluefield State to a runner-up finish in 2024-25.
On Saturday, West Chester will look to improve to 9-0 against Bowie State in its history, dating back to the first meeting between the two foes in 1992, which West Chester won 82-72. West Chester has not faced Bowie State since a 76-57 victory over the Bulldogs in November 2018 and has not been to Maryland since a 94-85 road victory in December 2017. Led by senior guard Justin Morrissey, who averaged 9.7 points per game last winter, Bowie State was picked to finish ninth in the CIAA, while Virginia State is the preseason favorite.
Asked about his final message to his group before the season gets underway on Friday night, Blair said, "Adhere to our standards on defense and offense. If we can be disciplined enough to adhere to those standards day in, day out, I think we will be a great spot by the time March gets here."
Home Sweet Home
West Chester will return home from Maryland on Saturday night and begin preparing for its home opener against Caldwell at 7 p.m. on November 19, which will be the first of a stretch that will see the Golden Rams play four of five in Hollinger Field House. The lone road game in this stretch will be a visit to Goldey Beacom on November 21 at 3 p.m.
West Chester is 60-15 at home since the start of the 2019-20 season, including a 14-1 mark a year ago, when the Golden Rams went unbeaten in Hollinger during the regular season.
