THE MATCHUP
Lafayette opens the Mike McGarvey era at St. Joseph's to kick off the 2023-24 season, facing a St. Joseph's squad that was picked to finish fifth in the Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll. 

Junior guard Erik Reynolds II was named to the A-10 Preseason All-Conference First Team, and graduate student Cameron Brown was selected to the A-10 Preseason All-Conference Third Team. Returning 10 letterwinners, including four starters, the Hawks enter the winter ranked fourth nationally in returning scoring as they bring back 2,104 points of 2,388 points for 88.1 percent.

LAST MEETING
Lafayette was defeated, 63-59,  in Philadelphia, Pa. on Nov. 14, 2022. Kyle Jenkins led the the Maroon and White, knocking down 18 points, going 6-for-11 from the floor with an added five 3-point buckets. He grabbed five rebounds, made two assists and listed one block. 

GEARING UP FOR MCGARVEY
Mike McGarvey took over as the 20th head coach in Lafayette men's basketball history on March 29, 2023, following a one-year tenure as the associate head coach and acting head coach. Last season, he led the Leopards to Patriot League Tournament victories over Lehigh in the quarterfinal round and American in the semifinal, before falling to Colgate in the championship game.

He arrived on College Hill after a four-year tenure as the men's basketball head coach at Lycoming College where he led the program to three-straight MAC Freedom Conference championship games, including two conference crowns. McGarvey guided the Warriors to a remarkable resurgence in his second year as head coach, taking the team from a 5-11 conference record in 2018-19 to a 10-6 mark in 2019-20 while managing a roster filled with a school-record 11 freshmen.

As a player, McGarvey was a finalist in 2006 for the Jostens Trophy. He was also a consensus two-time All-American and two-time Centennial Conference Player of the Year.

Ursinus retired McGarvey's No. 11 jersey on Dec 1, 2010, honoring a career where his teams won three conference championships. He started every game of his career, and finished fourth on the school's all-time scoring chart with 1,460 points and he is still 14th in the Division III record book with 754 career assists. McGarvey holds the Centennial Conference records for career assists and steals, and single-season assists and steals. He was inducted into both the Ursinus College Hall of Fame (2016) and the Sam Cozen Philadelphia Area Small College Hall of Fame (2015).

STARTING FAST
There won't be any easing in to the 2023-24 season as the Leopards play eight of their 13 non-conference games on the road, including trips to UCLA, Pepperdine, Columbia and Richmond. 

CONTINUING THE CLASSIC
For the second straight season, the University of Pennsylvania men's basketball program will host a multi-team event (MTE) at The Palestra over Thanksgiving. Belmont, Lafayette and Monmouth travel to University City for the Cathedral of College Basketball Classic.

The four teams will play a round-robin schedule over the weekend with doubleheaders starting at 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 24; 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 25; and noon on Sunday, Nov. 26.

ONE B1G GRADUATE
Leo O'Boyle '23 entered the transfer portal following his spring undergraduate commencement date, landing on the 2023-24 Penn State University men's basketball roster as a graduate student. He looks to aid a Nittany Lion program who reached the NCAA Tournament this past season for the first time since 2011.

During his final tour at Lafayette, he led the team in scoring with 384 points (an 11.6 ppg. average) as a co-captain. The Scranton, Pa. native netted 23 points versus American in the Patriot League championship semifinal round to reach 1,000 career points, only the 48th Leopard to do so. He left College Hill with a grand total of 1,027 points, 147 assists, 309 rebounds, 71 steals and 20 blocks.

THE PORTAL
One student-athlete made his way to College Hill after playing two seasons for Eastern Michigan. Luka Savicevic is a 6-3 junior point guard from Skopje, North Macedonia. At EMU, he totaled 83 points, 41 assists, 40 rebounds and 12 steals in two seasons and was named to the Academic All-MAC team following his final season with the Eagles. He was a member of the Senior and U18 Macedonia National teams, averaging 9.2 points, 2.9 assists and 2.0 rebounds in the North Macedonia Super League.

On the flipside, the Leopards will watch last year's Third Team All-Patriot League guard CJ Fulton play for the College of Charleston and second leading scorer Josh Rivera play for Fordham. 

FRESH MEAT
Lafayette brings five first-year student-athletes aboard this season in Mark Butler, Joshua Wyche, Luke Rasmussen, Mike Bednostin and Andrew Phillips.

Butler is a four-year varsity point guard out of Philadelphia, Pa., who attended William Penn Charter School. The 5-10 incoming Leopard was given the Coaches Award as a freshman and tabbed Second Team All-Inter-AC as a sophomore. Butler has club experience for Philly Pride, under coach Brandon Williams in his home city where he was a 16u Under Armour Association champion as an eighth grader.

Wyche is a three-year varsity guard/forward from Philadelphia, Pa., who attended Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School. The 6-6 wing has club experience with the K-LOW Elite, under coach Kyle Sample in his home city.

Rasmussen, a 6-7 guard, is a Haverford, Pa. native who lists three years of basketball experience at the Hill School and the Haverford School. He earned the Don Ronnie Award and was the starting quarterback for two years. Rasmussen has club experience with both the East Coast Power in the UA Rise circuit and the PMT Warriors in the New Balance circuit.

Bednostin, who attended Trinity High School and Crestwood Prep, stands in as a 6-11 center from Dillsburg, Pa./Kyiv, Ukraine. He was a runner-up in the state finals at Crestwood and was a District 3A champion with Trinity High School. Bednostin has club experience with Grassroots Elite Canada under Ro Russell in Toronto, Ontario. Last summer he participated in the FIBA U20 European Championship for his home country of Ukraine.

Phillips is a 6-4 wing who hails from Downingtown, Pa. with three years of varsity experience at Malvern Prep. During senior year, Phillips averaged 18.5 points, 4.0 assists and 6.5 rebounds per game, which earned him Inter-AC MVP, First Team All-State and All-County laurels. 

THE RETURNING STARTERS
The program returns nine players from last season, most of whom saw significant game time in winter 2022-23. Kyle Jenkins will provide senior leadership for the Leopards, followed by juniors Justin Vander Baan and TJ Berger. Lone sophomore Ryan Pettit also will return for the Maroon and White.

DURABLE DEFENSE
Lafayette finished second in the Patriot League for scoring defense in 2022-23 with a 65.6 average through 34 games. The program rests only behind Navy, who played 31 contests and retired with a 64.9 average.

BIG BLOCKER
Junior center Vander Baan blocked 31 shots (a 1.1 average per game) last season, good for fifth in the conference.

FROM DEEP
The Leopards are not shy about shooting from beyond the arc, attempting more shots from deep (26.8) than any other team in the league and only fewer than 13 other schools across the NCAA. With 8.8 made 3-pointers per game, the program led the conference and sat at 45th in the country.

MAJOR MINUTES
Senior forward Jenkins amassed 1,116 minutes through 34 games in 2022-23, leading the program with 32.8 per game. He ranked sixth in the Patriot League for that statistic.