The 2023–24 Le Moyne Dolphins men's basketball team represented Le Moyne College during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Dolphins, led by fourth-season head coach Nate Champion, played their home games on Ted Grant Court in the Le Moyne Events Center in DeWitt, New York as first-year members of the Northeast Conference and NCAA Division I. This was the 75th season of Le Moyne Dolphins men's basketball and their first in Division I.
Previous season The Dolphins finished the 2022–23 season 15–15, 11–9 in Northeast-10 (NE10) play, to finish in a four-way tie for fifth place. As the no. 6 seed in the NE10 tournament, they defeated Saint Michael's in the first round, before falling to Bentley in the quarterfinals. This was Le Moyne's final season as a member of the Northeast-10 Conference, as on May 10, it was announced that they would begin their transition to Division I, joining the Northeast Conference. They officially joined the conference on July 1.
Offseason Following the 2022–23 season, Le Moyne lost Xavier Wilson, who graduated. Wilson was third on the team in points per game with 9.7 and minutes per game with 24.
Zy'Ever Wingfield and Jeremiah Washington were regular members of the Dolphins' rotation, both appearing in all 30 games and playing about 17 minutes per contest. Wingfield had seven starts, and Washington had 10. Wingfield averaged 7.6 points per game, and Washington averaged 5.3. Wingfield transferred to Virginia–Wise, and Washington transferred to Texas A&M International.
Prior to the announcement of Le Moyne moving to Division I, Jamel Melvin transferred in from Northern Colorado. Melvin played only 11 games with the Bears in 2022–23, and averaged just six minutes per appearance.
Two weeks after the move to Division I was announced, Le Moyne signed Ball State transfer Kaiyem Cleary and junior college transfer Ocypher Owens. Cleary appeared in 21 games for the Cardinals in 2022–23, averaging just five minutes per appearance. Owens was named to the all-conference second team in the NJCAA Southern Conference.
Isaiah Elmore appeared in the Dolphins' first 18 games of the 2022–23 season, starting 17 of them, but he did not play the rest of the season. In August, Elmore and Kevin Constant transferred together to Roberts Wesleyan. Elmore was Le Moyne's leader in rebounds per game with 5.0 and contributed 5.8 points per contest, averaging 17 minutes. Constant appeared in 29 games, including five starts, and averaged 5.5 points and 15 minutes per game.
Jamie Young joined the Dolphins' coaching staff on October 3, as an assistant. This is Young's return to college basketball after 23 years in supporting roles in the NBA. He was an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers the previous two seasons. Prior to that, he was with the Boston Celtics for 20 years in various roles, including 10 years as an assistant coach. Young was serving as a Celtics advance scout, when the team won the 2008 NBA championship. He got his start in the NBA as an assistant video coordinator for the New Jersey Nets in the 2000–01 season. Young's first college job was as an assistant coach at Division III Greenville from 1998 to 2000.
Departures
Le Moyne departures 11 F 6'1" 180 Lawrence, MA Transferred to Roberts Wesleyan 24 F 6'9" 225 Tampa, FL Transferred to Roberts Wesleyan 13 G 6'1" 180 Scituate, MA Transferred to Ave Maria 0 G 5'10" 165 Chicago, IL Transferred to Texas A&M International 10 F 6'7" 210 Spring Valley, NY Graduated 2 G 6'4" 185 Richmond, VA Transferred to Virginia–Wise
Additions Incoming transfers Le Moyne incoming transfers 2 G 6'6" 185 Manchester, England Ball State 1 May 24, 2023 4 G 6'2" 170 Cashmere, WA Hawaii Pacific 2 March 29, 2023 10 F 6'11" 210 Upper Marlboro, MD Northern Colorado 2 April 15, 2023 24 F 6'8" 215 Orlando, FL Indian River State 2 May 24, 2023
Recruiting class Le Moyne incoming recruits 11 G 6'2" 175 Indianapolis, IN Southport 13 G 6'6" 165 Syracuse, NY Bishop Grimes
Preseason polls Northeast Conference poll The Northeast Conference released its preseason coaches' poll on October 24, 2023. The Dolphins were picked to finish last in the conference. 1 Sacred Heart (7) 2 Central Connecticut (1) 3 Fairleigh Dickinson (1) 4 Merrimack 5 Wagner 6 Stonehill 7 LIU 8 Saint Francis 9 Le Moyne (#) first-place votes
KenPom rating Le Moyne was ranked 361st of 362 Division I teams in the preseason Pomeroy ratings.
Preseason All-Conference Team No Dolphins were selected as members of the NEC Preseason All-Conference Team.
Season highlights Pre-conference season The Dolphins' top two scorers from the previous season, Luke Sutherland and Isaiah Salter, returned to the team and were joined by several Division I transfers.
Darrick Jones Jr. hit a three-pointer from the top of the key early in the Dolphins' season opener at Georgetown for Le Moyne's first points scored as a Division I program on November 7. Ball State transfer Kaiyem Cleary led the Dolphins with 11 points, all in the second half, and seven rebounds. Georgetown used a 9–2 run to take a 12–5 lead early in the game. The Hoyas extended the lead with an 8–0 run that made the score 20–7. After a brief flurry led by Jones, Trent Mosquera and Mike DePersia got the Dolphins within single digits at 28–19, the Hoyas closed the first half with a 19–4 run that gave them a 47–23 halftime lead on their way to a 94–57 victory. Jones and Luke Sutherland each contributed nine points for Le Moyne in the losing cause.
The Dolphins took on another Big East opponent, when they visited Vilanova on November 10. Led by Darrick Jones Jr. and Luke Sutherland, Le Moyne got off to a quick start and took an early 8–4 lead. The Wildcats responded with an 8–0 run to surge ahead, 12–8. However, the Dolphins responded with a run of their own led by Kaiyem Cleary, Mike DePersia and Ocypher Owens to take a 20–17 lead. Villanova used a 21–4 run to take control of the game, pushing their lead to 38–24. Le Moyne got no closer than 10 points down the rest of the way, as the Wildcats cruised to an 83–57 victory. Sutherland led the Dolphins with 15 points, and Isaiah Salter added 10. Cleary grabbed six rebounds for Le Moyne, while DePersia contributed six assists.
Le Moyne used first-half runs of 16–2 and 20–2 to build a 47–15 lead and never looked back on their way to a 105–46 victory, their first as a Division I program, over Division III SUNY Canton in their home opener on November 13. Five Dolphins had double-figure scoring games led by Kaiyem Cleary with 21 points, Nate McClure with 16, Darrick Jones Jr. with 13 and freshman AJ Dancler with 12. Redshirt freshman Nate Fouts made his collegiate debut and scored 11 points with three assists and two blocked shots. Cleary shot 8 for 10 from the field, while adding seven rebounds and two steals in just 16 minutes. McClure hit six of his seven shots, including 4-for-5 shooting from three-point range. Dancler grabbed five rebounds and dished out five assists. The Dolphins shot 32 for 37 on two-point field goals for the game, including 15 for 16 in the first half.
The Dolphins raced out to an early 10–0 lead in the opener of their four-game California road trip at San Diego on November 17. The early run was sparked by five points from Darrick Jones Jr., who finished with 11 points and three rebounds. With Le Moyne leading by eight at 27–19, the Toreros went on a 17–1 run that pushed them into the lead for good. San Diego opened the second-half scoring with a tree-point play to extend their lead to 12 at 46–34, and the Dolphins responded with a 6–0 run, including four points from Ocypher Owens, who finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. The Toreros reasserted control over the game with a 22–9 run on their way to an 80–71 victory. Mike DePersia had 12 points, six assists and five steals for the Dolphins.
Ocypher Owens was named an NEC Prime Performer for the season's second week. He averaged 15 points, 5.7 rebounds, two assists, 2.7 blocks and one steal and shot 54.3% during week 2. Through the season's first two weeks, Le Moyne averaged just 9.2 turnovers per game, ranking first in the NEC and 24th in Division I with a 6.6 turnover margin. The Dolphins topped the NEC with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.74. Graduate student guard Mike DePersia was the catalyst, leading the NEC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.67. DePersia topped the NEC with 4.4 assists per game and had only six turnovers in 129 minutes over the season's first five games.
Le Moyne recorded its first victory over a Division I opponent as a Division I program, an 80–70 win at Cal State Northridge on November 21, in their opening game of the Golden State Hoops Jam, a multi-team event sponsored by Pacific. Luke Sutherland led the Dolphins with 24 points and five rebounds. Le Moyne started five graduate students for the first time in the program's history, and they responded by sprinting to an 11–4 lead to start the game, getting early scoring from Sutherland, Nate McClure (12 points, four rebounds and three steals for the game) and Isaiah Salter. After Le Moyne fell behind, 15–12, Mike DePersia (eight points, nine assists, four rebounds and three steals for the game) sparked a 19–2 run with a pull-up jump shot. The Matadors could not get closer than three points behind the rest of the way. The Dolphins closed out the game with strong free-throw shooting, finishing the game 31 for 34 from the charity stripe.
The Dolphins suffered a heartbreaking defeat when they visited Pacific on November 24, for their final game in the Golden State Hoops Jam. The teams exchanged the lead several times throughout the tightly contested game. With the score tied at halftime, Le Moyne scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 49–42 lead. The Tigers used a timeout and responded by scoring the next six points to cut the Dolphins' lead to one. Le Moyne went ahead, 70–69, on a three-point play by Kaiyem Cleary, who led the team with 19 points and added six rebounds and three steals. Cleary drove the baseline for a dunk and then converted the free throw to complete a three-point play with 2:03 on the clock. Neither team was able to score again until the closing seconds. Lesown Hallums Jr. hit a pair of free throws with 14.4 seconds remaining to put Pacific ahead, 71–70. Mike DePersia, who had his first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 12 rebounds along with three steals and two assists, drove the lane and drew a foul with 1.9 seconds remaining. He missed the first shot, but made the second to tie the score at 71. The Tigers called timeout and then made a long pass to Hallums, who dribbled once and then hit a fadeaway jump shot from just inside the three-point line at the buzzer to give Pacific the 73–71 victory.
Mike DePersia and Luke Sutherland were both named an NEC Prime Performers for the season's third week. DePersia averaged nine points, eight rebounds, 5.5 assists and three steals and had an 11.0 assist-to-turnover ratio while shooting 50% from the floor. Sutherland averaged 18 points, 3.5 rebounds and one block and shot free throws at a 92.3% clip during week 3.
Le Moyne ranked 293rd of 362 Division I teams in the season's first release of NET rankings by the NCAA on December 4. This was 68 spots higher than the Dolphins' preseason Pomeroy ranking. Le Moyne's initial NET ranking was higher than four of the other eight Northeast Conference teams. Le Moyne's Pomeroy ranking through games of December 3, was 351, up 10 spots from their preseason Pomeroy ranking.