After a long off-season, the 2025-26 Friars played their first two games with plenty to be excited about and a number of concerns. At the AMP for the season opener, the Friars beat old-time rival Holy Cross 98-79, then traveled down Route 395 to the Mohegan Sun Arena and suffered a tough loss, 107-101 in overtime to a strong Virginia Tech team. Both results caused some concern among the fan base; the Holy Cross game because their indifferent defense down the stretch resulted in bad metrics, and the Virginia Tech game because despite an incredible performance from future lottery pick Neo Avdalas, the Friars appeared to have the game in hand in the final minute. With that introduction, following are some quick thoughts on week one.
Read more: Brian Reddy: Beyond the Box Score – Opening Week Thoughts
- Coach English’s roster and substitution patterns are a work in progress. Trying to manage minutes and combinations for a ten-player rotation is not easy, especially when seven of the players are new to the program. Each of the ten players has more skills than flaws, but it is going to take a few games for the staff to adjust. I thought this was an issue especially on Saturday when some lineups seemed to leave the team with limited ball movement and major holes on the defensive end. My opinion is that at least one of Jaylin Sellers, Corey Floyd, or Jason Edwards needs to be on the floor most of the time. I am confident that this will improve as the staff and players get better used to each other in game conditions.
- Rebounding outside of Oswin Erhunmwunse has been a concern. This was especially evident against an athletic Virginia Tech squad. Oswin battled two and three players at a time underneath, but the fact that Ryan Mela (6) and Floyd (4) were the next two highest rebounders is a concern. The other bigs have to be able to be more productive on the glass to limit second chance hoops and allow the offense to break quickly.
- The defense needs to step up. This is somewhat obvious when the team gave up 186 points in the first two games, and not all of it was due to the faster pace of the Friars this year. Stefan Vaaks had trouble keeping up defensively as he adjusts to the American style of play, while Edwards, Mela, Cole Hargrove, Duncan Powell, and Jamier Jones have had ups and downs on that side of the ball.
- This team can score! Enough of the negativity, the 190 points is the most in the Friars first two games this century, and likely ever (the 1972-73 Final Four squad appears to be next with 187 points). The best part is that they are showing the ability to score in multiple ways. Against Holy Cross they struggled from deep but hit two-thirds of their shots from inside the arc. Then on Saturday the Friars hit 11 threes while still hitting 54% of their two-point shots.
- Jaylin Sellers is getting better and better. I noticed in the final five minutes of the Holy Cross game that something clicked for him as he scored eight points over that period and finally resembled the player who averaged over 15 points per game in the Big 12 two years ago. Saturday was more of the same over 45 minutes, as he exuded confidence without forcing the offense. Despite the game Avdalas had Saturday, Sellers made him work for most of his shots when Sellers was in the game. Without him, Avdalas might have gotten 43 points. Fellow pcbb1917 Discord member Rob (the Saint) Bernard said that he doubted my prediction of Sellers for Big East player of the year but sees the talent in him now.
- Corey Floyd can play the point guard position. I feel obligated to defend this because he does a lot of things that do not show up in the box score (beyond the box score?). He is not Bryce Cotton or God Shammgod or Ernie D. What he does is facilitate the office without getting lost going side to side or having us resort to prayer shots at the end of the shot clock. We’re getting into our offense much quicker and getting the ball to our scorers. I rewatched Saturday’s game and noticed that Floyd was on the floor for our first eight possessions before subbing out, and we got a good shot opportunity every time. This continued for the most part throughout the game.
- Coach English has brought in another strong freshman class. Rich Barron was Big East all-freshman two years ago while Oswin and Mela made the team last year. If the first two games are any indication, Vaaks and Jamier Jones are primed to join them this year. This does not even include top 100 sharp-shooter Jaylen Harrell, who will be a positive factor for the Friars in the future.
My take on all of this is that the long season has just begun, and we have already seen pluses and minuses. The best part is I believe the positives are sustainable and the negatives are somewhat easily correctible. Despite some concerns, I still believe this team has the talent to compete at or near the top of the Big East conference, and the season has the potential to be a lot of fun for the Friar Faithful.
Go Friars!