On Monday night the A10 published its comprehensive preview of our Ramblers. The outlook is very high.
With Monday night's home opener, between now and then is a good time for some homework.

Led by Rubin, Defense and Shooting Will Be Cornerstone of Loyola Success
10/27/2025 4:51:04 PM
By: Patrick Stevens

Read entire story here - https://atlantic10.com/news/2025/10/27/mens-basketball-mbb-preview-loyola-chicago.aspx

Quote:

“This is the best shooting team we’ve had since my first year as head coach when we were 18th in the country and shot [about] 38 percent from 3,” Valentine said. “This team is on par with that.”

Quote:

“The summer was good, and the fall’s been outstanding,” Valentine said. “I feel like we have a lot of depth. We’re going to lean into the defensive identity that has made Loyola special. It feels like offense will be similar to what we’ve always been with the sum being greater than each individual part.”

Based on league notes and what we've seen thus far with this year's Rambler roster - we have depth at every single position, are likely to run 9-10-11 guys per game. The outside shooting could be as good as its ever been here. Rubin has grown into a monster (reminding me some of Marcus Camby's domination of the A10 in 1994-95-96). Defense still rules here. Justin Moore can now shoot. Despite losing Jalen Quinn and Jayden Dawson to the portal, we still bring back the most roster continuity & minutes of any A10 member.




Other League Previews

Basket Under Review - Atlantic 10 Preview 2025-2026 (https://www.basketunderreview.com/atlan ... 2025-2026/)

Atlantic10.com 2025-26 Preseason Poll and Awards (https://atlantic10.com/news/2025/9/30/v ... onors.aspx)

Other team previews, homework, intel

Dayton - Dayton may have regressed, but who knows. Might also be affected by this week's gambling scandal, as that is word on the street. Javon Bennett and Amaël L'Etang headline this year's squad, with L'Etang poised for a breakout year. Posh Alexander, Nate Santos, Zed Key, and Enoch Cheeks all exhausted their eligibility while Malachi Smith transferred to UConn. The question this year is if continuing to be good enough to come up just short of the NCAA Tournament is good enough for Flyer fans.

Saint Louis - SLU has addressed its depth problems from last year, and won't be overloading / overusing its starters like Schertz had to last year. This year's lineup will feature three 1,000 point career scorers. HUGE games with SLU again in February & March on tap.

George Mason - loses 90% of its roster and minutes. Skinn brings in a new roster again. This guy is a miracle worker if Mason goes deep and contends for a bid again.

VCU - intriguing and chosen to repeat as league champions in 2025-26. VCU did a nice job retooling the staff and roster, and bringing back some continuity of roster. Brandon Jennings was huge for them to retain.

George Washington - is a sleeper, retaining Castro and shopping the portal for starters. I wondered why GW was a sexy pick for a lot of people and now understand why. Incoming are Tre Dinkins III (12.9 ppg at Duquesne) is already familiar to A-10 fans, and he is a Preseason Second Team All-League pick. GW also added guard Jean Aranguren (14.2 ppg at Hofstra), wing Bubu Benjamin (13.9 ppg at Tarleton State) and forward Tyrone Marshall Jr. (10.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg at Western Kentucky). They'll have scoring, but will they also play defense?

Saint Joe's - lost their coach at the worst possible time.

Bonnies - - 11 new guys on the roster. Schmidt prioritizing veterans with experience over freshmen who ultimately end up leaving according to him. New roster features upperclassmen and Euro's.

Rhode Island - A program of never ending 100% roster turnover.

Davidson - - Loses its top 3 scorers from last season in Reed Bailey (18.8ppg), Kochera, and Durkin.

Richmond - Prioritized offseason recruiting / portaling on outside shooters > 40% from three. Expect them to shoot a ton and allow opponents to shoot a ton from perimeter (see our game with them last February). That's how they want to play.

Duquesne - A lot of experience on the roster between newcomers and holdovers. Trendy pick to contend for 20 wins and will compete all year long.

LaSalle - Could be in for a rough rebuild year. With Fran Dunphy's retirement, Darris Nichols of Radford takes over as HC. Only 1 player returns from 2024-25 roster.

Fordham - New coach, Mike Magpayo hails from a very impressive coaching tree with Kyle Smith and Todd Golden. As one of the historically worst programs and budgets in all of Division-1 basketball, Magpayo created his 2025-26 Fordham roster thru analytics. The priority was to get old and efficient quickly, and seek international players..... 6 of them on the roster.


Rambler Podcasts to listen throughout 2025-26

Talkin Blers with Dave and Bryan - https://www.buzzsprout.com/1754107

Ramble On with Zach and George - https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/r ... 1779982599

Rambler Roundtable - https://open.spotify.com/show/7sv5FXsmMkP5wcDtKwcT8x


Post Game Shows & Programs

Talkin Blers Twitter Spaces (after every game, on the X) - https://x.com/BlersTalking

Rambler Sports Network with Sudikoff and CT - https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Archi ... &type=Live