EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Though the East Stroudsburg men's basketball team enters the 2025-26 season without a couple of their core players from previous years, the Warriors' goal, identity, and approach remain unchanged.
 
ESU had a solid 2024-25 campaign, finishing with a 21-9 overall record, earning the second seed in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Division, and making an NCAA Tournament appearance. Leading the charge for the Warriors was the trio of First Team All-PSAC East member LaKeem McAliley, the division's Defensive Player of the Year in Cam Young, and Evan Morton, the PSAC East Freshman of the Year. Even though all three are no longer around, head coach Jeff Wilson's outlook on his team and yearly expectations haven't wavered.
 
"We play a lot of people anyway, so we have a lot of experience back," Wilson said. "I think we have good depth pieces back, and we've added some people to the equation. We're trying to develop our depth, but we're going to play the same way we've always played. We're going to run, we're going to press, we're going to play 10 or 11 guys a night. That's how you make up for losing those really good players, you just continue to develop your depth and your system, and hopefully those guys rise to the occasion."
 
Two of the returners the Warriors look to lean on are their captains, senior guard Davon Lee and junior forward Jalen Pichardo. Lee's 2024-25 season was cut short due to injury, but the veteran guard averaged double-digit scoring across the 10 games he started. The unsung hero of last year's group, Pichardo became a fixture in the starting lineup down the final stretch of the season as he led the Warriors in rebounding and shot nearly 50% from the field.
 
Wilson credits his team's captains for helping set the tone during the preseason and turn the page coming into the new year.
 
"Those guys have been locked in, and they've gotten the rest of the guys locked in," Wilson said. "I've really liked how hard this team's practiced and prepared for the preseason. Now, it's time to tip-off and see where we're really at."
 
 
The season starts with three games in four days, which will give Wilson and his team a quick glimpse of how the team stacks up. Among the new faces are three transfers, including two from within the PSAC. Kevin Coleman, a senior forward, joins East Stroudsburg after spending one season at Lock Haven. Coleman was named PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Week twice in January and led the Bald Eagles to two wins against Warriors while averaging 12 points and 10 rebounds between the two contests. Saleem Payne, a junior guard, comes over from West Chester and is someone Wilson is excited to see perform in his system. An up-tempo full-court player, there's familiarity with the player after Wilson tried to land Payne coming out of high school. Now with two years of experience under his belt, Payne's in a position to make an immediate impact for the Warriors when he takes the floor.
 
The third transfer coming into the program is sophomore guard Ethan Maynard, the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Rookie of the Year. Maynard averaged 14.6 points per game for Bloomfield, the 11^th most in the conference, doing so on 45.5% shooting from three-point range. The young guard started 19 games for the Bears, getting plenty of playing time with 27.8 minutes per game. Through the scouting and recruiting process, Wilson said their tape reaffirmed his staff's belief that these are three players that can come in and help East Stroudsburg win right off the bat.
 
"Now we just have to have to get them acclimated to the way we're trying to play," Wilson added.
 
Also coming into the mix is a group of four freshmen with guards Keni Williams, Shane Crissman, and Milan Dean, and forward Adrian Brito. Wilson added that Williams and Brito could get some run early in the season, as he's liked what he's seen from the two so far and what they could add to the depth of ESU's rotation.
 
The players to be leaned on the most to start the season will be who Wilson and the Warriors have returning. In addition to Lee and Pichardo, ESU is also bringing back Nasir Griffin and Carson Howard. Griffin, a microwave scorer who can heat up in just a couple of possessions, was one of the first players off the bench for the Warriors and was named PSAC East Athlete of the Week in early February. Howard split time as the center between the starting lineup and the bench unit, providing a presence in the paint on both ends of the floor when he stepped on the court for the Warriors. Between the nine returning players, Wilson is confident that they'll come in to start the season and set the tone for the new additions.
 
"We have a lot of guys coming back," Wilson said. "While we lose three of our top 10, we still have seven of them. It's guys that have played games. And as guys go through their careers at any programs, they all want more additional responsibility, they want more looks, they want more opportunities to show what they can do. And I think the guys that have come through the program now and have played in games, it's their time to take another step."
 
The Warriors will be put to the test immediately with back-to-back matchups against Winston-Salem State and Virginia State on Friday and Saturday night. Starting with a physical Winston-Salem State team Friday at 5 p.m. and ending with Virginia State, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Preseason Poll one-seed, ESU and Shepherd make up the four other half of the four-team tournament, the Trojan Tip-Off Classic. In their own conference preseason poll, the Warriors came in as the second seed in the PSAC East. The results were nearly identical to the final standings from last season, with the exception of Shippensburg and Lock Haven switching spots. Despite the notable changes in the Warriors' rotation from last season to this year, Wilson expects ESU to contend in a tightly-contested division.
 
"Usually, when you have preseason polls, they kind of mirror what happened the year before," Wilson said. "West Chester's roster is every bit as good as it was a year ago, but I do think the East is going to be very balanced this year. Millersville, Shepherd, and Shippensburg are very good, and I think Mansfield is going to be considerably better this year as well. The top five or six teams are going to be very competitive and probably better overall this year. So being picked second is where we were a year ago, but we have a lot of work to do to not only achieve that goal, but hopefully challenge for a PSAC East Championship."
 
The general belief in the team is that there's untapped potential throughout the roster. Wilson, who's going into his 23^rd season as the Warriors' head coach, knows that the team he has right now will be different from the one he's coaching in March. The question the Warriors will have to answer is how quickly can they take that next step as a team to stay at the top of the division.
 
"When you talk about adding new guys to the puzzle, guys taking steps in their roles, adding some freshmen into the equation, I think this is a group that your top 10 or 12 guys will get better as the year goes on," Wilson said. "They'll understand the style better, and I think when you start in November, you're hoping you have a team that can get better by the time you get to March when it really counts. I think this team has that ability. We just have to put it together, stay cohesive, and work hard every day to try to achieve those goals."