Projected beginning lineup, affect gamers and rotation explored

The Temple Owls are beginning contemporary within the 2025-26 NCAA season. Coach Adam Fisher added eight gamers to his lineup by means of the switch portal after the Owls completed the 2024 season with a 17-15 report. Let’s get into the Owls’ outlook for the upcoming season.

Temple Season Preview

The Temple Owls skilled a mass exodus of gamers following the 2024-25 season. Key gamers Jamal Mashburn Jr, Steve Settle III, Matteo Picarelli and Shane Dezonie have all graduated, whereas Elijah Grey, Dillion Battie, Zion Stanford, Jameel Brown and Quante Berry opted to switch to different colleges.

Adam Fisher went to work this offseason to switch these gamers, signing AJ Smith, Jamai Felt, CJ Hines, Spencer Mahoney, Jordan Mason, Derrian Ford, Masiah Gilyard and Gavin Griffiths by means of the switch portal. The Owls additionally added incoming freshmen Ayuba Bryant and Cam Wallace to their roster.

Starters

Guard: Derrian Ford

Derrian Ford joined the Owls after spending two seasons with Arkansas State. He performed 34 video games in his ultimate 12 months with the Purple Wolves, 14 of which had been begins. Ford averaged 8.0 factors and three.4 boards within the 2024-25 NCAA marketing campaign.

Ford impressed in his final two video games for Arkansas State within the NIT, averaging 12.5 factors and 4.0 rebounds within the first two rounds in opposition to Saint Louis and North Texas. He’s anticipated to be considered one of Fisher’s key backcourt gamers this coming season.

Guard: AJ Smith

AJ Smith dazzled in his junior 12 months with Charleston, averaging 11.5 factors, 3.1 boards and 0.9 dimes by means of 30 video games within the 2024-25 season. Adam Fisher satisfied Smith to make use of his ultimate 12 months of eligibility with Temple and fill the Owls’ backcourt void.

Smith will enter his senior 12 months with 992 profession factors. He performed his first two seasons at The Citadel earlier than transferring to Charleston forward of the 2024-25 marketing campaign.

Ahead: Aiden Tobiason

Aiden Tobiason is among the few gamers from the 2024-25 roster who will return to Temple subsequent season. He rapidly gained the belief of coach Adam Fisher, making 22 begins in his freshman 12 months. He averaged 4.8 factors, 2.1 rebounds and 1.0 assists by means of 27 video games final season.

Ahead: Gavin Griffiths

Gavin Griffiths moved to Temple after spending only one season at Nebraska. Griffiths’ switch to the Cornhuskers from Rutgers did not pan out, averaging simply 2.1 factors and 1.6 rebounds by means of 16 video games within the 2024-25 marketing campaign. He missed chunks of the earlier season as a result of numerous accidents.

Griffiths’ outdoors taking pictures can be a worthwhile weapon for Fisher, particularly with Picarelli and Brown now each gone. The backcourt duo helped the Owls end second within the AAC in three-point taking pictures proportion, with Temple pulling down 36.2% of its makes an attempt from past the arc final season. Griffiths shot 28.2% from deep in his freshman 12 months with Rutgers.

Middle: Jamai Felt

Temple strengthened its frontcourt for the 2025-26 season, including massive man Jamai Felt by means of the switch portal. He posted strong numbers in his freshman 12 months at Bowling Inexperienced, averaging 5.7 factors and 6.3 rebounds per contest.

What makes Felt such a worthwhile addition to Temple is his defensive play. He led the Mid-American Convention in blocked photographs throughout the 2024-25 season, swatting away 46 makes an attempt. Felt’s performances in his first 12 months within the collegiate ranks had been acknowledged as he was named a member of the MAC All-Freshman Group.

Rotation Gamers

Adam Fisher bolstered his frontcourt with the arrival of Spencer Mahoney. He spent only one season at California earlier than transferring to Temple, averaging 1.5 factors and 1.0 rebounds by means of 27 video games in his freshman 12 months.

Different transferees who can be relied upon off the bench are CJ Hines, Jordan Mason and Masiah Gilyard. Incoming freshmen Cam Wallace and Ayuba Bryant may also be given alternatives to contribute subsequent season.

Impression Gamers

The onus is on Aiden Tobiason to hold the scoring load for Temple within the 2025-26 season. He already confirmed what he’s able to in his freshman 12 months, turning into an everyday starter for Fisher within the 2024-25 marketing campaign.

Fisher additionally added affect gamers by means of the switch portal, signing AJ Smith, Derrian Ford and massive man Jamai Felt to supply assist to Tobiason in his second season with the Owls.

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” data-lazy=”https://keedag.sportskeeda.com/user-pic/4427487-1731939489-200.jpg?w=200″
alt=”Joel Reyes” top=”72″ width=”72″>

Joel Reyes is a university sports activities journalist at Sportskeeda who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the College of the Philippines.

Joel has 10 years of labor expertise in sports activities writing, starting his profession at TopBet Information (2014-2017) earlier than becoming a member of Sportradar as an Integrity Analyst for its Integrity Providers group (November 2017 to December 2020). He grew to become a Content material Author at Sports activities World Information (June 2021 to 2022) earlier than becoming a member of Sports activities Transient as a Sports activities Editor in February 2023.

Duke is Joel’s favourite faculty basketball group, a confirmed winner within the NCAA that at all times attracts the perfect expertise. His favourite second was Duke beating Wisconsin within the 2015 ultimate.

When not working or watching sports activities, Joel likes to look at films and TV collection, in addition to journey.

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