Temple basketball opens up its season this Friday against #1 North Carolina at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland as part of the Veteran Classic. The Owls are coming off a bounce back year where the team finished 26-11 following their first losing season since Coach Fran Dunphy’s first year on the job. Temple just barely missed receiving a bid for the NCAA Tournament and had to settle for a spot in the NIT Tournament, where they made it to the Final Four before Miami knocked them out. It’s hard to project what Temple will do this year after losing some key pieces, but I have faith Fran Dunphy will have them ready for whatever they have to face this year.
Key losses: Will Cummings 14.8 ppg, 4.2 apg, 4.2 rpg
Jesse Morgan 11.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg
Key returning players: Josh Brown- Josh Brown will take over the reins of the Temple offense and it’s certainly in capable hands. The lefty guard has had a good amount experience running the offense and being mentored by Will Cummings gives me full confidence Brown will do the job well.
Quenton DeCosey- Quenton DeCosey is one of the three returning starters for Temple and he will be relied on to play Jesse Morgan’s role as a floor spacer and keep the defense on their feet. DeCosey has been a streaky shooter during his time at Temple, but it’s important for him to get off to a hot start early and not have too many stretches, where he can’t hit anything.
Jaylen Bond- Jaylen Bond transferred from Texas to Temple and he was a huge factor last year and one of the reasons why the Owls went on the run they did. It’s important for Bond to limit the fouls because there too many long periods last year with him not on the floor and it seriously hurt Temple. Bond will be one of the most important players for Temple this year and he is one of the clear cut leaders of the team.
Obi Enechionyia- Obi Enechionyia had an impressive freshman campaign, but you would never know it by just looking at the raw numbers. We saw a lot of flashes of the playing making capabilities Obi has and it will be interesting to see how he does as a starter, the talent is certainly there. I’m looking for Obi to have a breakout season and I see no reason why that cannot happen.
Projected starters: PG Josh Brown, SG Quenton DeCosey, SF Devin Coleman, PF Obi Enechionyia, C Jaylen Bond
Prediction: Although it seems like Temple lost a lot from last year, they really haven’t because they are returning three starters from last year and a majority of the key players from last year were freshmen, sophomores, and juniors so they’re all back. Temple will be an interesting team for sure this year because they could be better than what most people think they are. I also believe a fire will be lit under this team after missing out on the NCAA Tournament last year and the fact the players do not want to know what that feels like again this year. A lot sites like CBSSports.com, sbnation.com, and si.com have Temple finishing in the top five in the American Athletic Conference, which I think is pretty accurate. They could still sneak into the top four of the conference, but that would require the Owls to finally beat SMU, which they haven’t done in two years. Expect Temple to have another 20-plus win season and you should see them dancing in March this year.
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