City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2024-25 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 4. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season, click here.)

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As always, Philadelphia basketball is everywhere.

Year after year, well over 100 Philly-area ballplayers are spread around Division I rosters, from East Coast to West Coast, North to South, low-major to high-major and everywhere in between. Each fall, CoBL rounds up all of those local prospects to update you on how their careers are going and what’s expected of them in the year to come.

We’ve split the area’s D-I alumni into a four-part list, the whole thing way too big to run all at once. Here’s Part 4 of our 2024-25 CoBL alumni roundup, featuring around two dozen players who are on scholarship on a Division I roster this season.

(If we’re missing someone, let us know: cityofbasketballlove@gmail.com)

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2024-25 Men's Alumni Roundup: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

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Ray Somerville (Sr. | Delaware State)
Another local product on the Hornets, the Shipley School grad enters his third year at Delaware State after two at Cal State Bakersfield. Somerville’s started 49 of 63 games in a DSU uniform, averaging 4.1 ppg and 3.0 rpg in 18 mpg, with better numbers as a junior (4.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg). A physical 6-11 post, Somerville had one double-digit game last year, exploding for 19 points and seven rebounds against Lamar. 

Thomas Sorber (Fr. | Georgetown)
Sorber arrived at Archbishop Ryan a promising young big with a lot of maturing to do, and left the Raiders as a sculpted 6-9 forward with an extremely well-rounded game as well as a transformed physique, fully deserving of the Catholic League MVP award he won as a senior. Highly-coveted by Ed Cooley and staff, it’ll be interesting to see how they use him as a rookie.

Zion Stanford (Soph. | Temple)
Stanford got his freshman start off to a bang, averaging 12.1 ppg in his first nine career games, then entered an 11-game skid where he only averaged 0.8 ppg. The West Catholic grad recovered to average 7.7 ppg over the closing 14 games, finishing his freshman season averaging 6.6 ppg and 2.3 rpg, the 6-5 wing guard going for a season-high 20 points against UAB.

Amiri Stewart (Sr. | Sacred Heart)
An Archbishop Carroll grad, Stewart comes to Sacred Heart after three seasons at D-II Wilmington (Del.), where he went from a barely-used freshman (1.4 ppg) to a standout star. As a junior, the 6-3 guard averaged 17.5 ppg on .537/.434/.771 splits, adding 4.4 rpg and 3.5 apg. 

Masud Stewart (Jr. | Binghamton)
A 6-1 guard out of Neumann-Goretti, Stewart has played in 25 games thus far in his college career, averaging 2.2 ppg in limited minutes. He only played in eight games as a sophomore, averaging 2.4 ppg.

Jaylen Stinson (Sr. | Merrimack)
Stinson is in his third season at Merrimack after beginning his college career at James Madison, and he’s been a valuable bench piece for each of the last two seasons. Hes played in 67 games with nine starts in a Merrimack uniform, averaging 3.6 ppg, 2.1 rpg and 1.4 apg in 33 appearances (1 start) as a junior. The 6-2 guard from Archbishop Wood set his new career high with 14 points against NC A&T. 

Deywilk Tavarez (Soph. | Charleston)
Tavarez had a productive first season of college hoops, averaging 13.7 ppg, 3.6 apg, 3.4 rpg and 2.0 spg as a freshman at Delaware State, starting all but three of 33 games for the Hornets. He hit the portal in the offseason and ended up at a Charleston program which has suddenly become the class of the CAA, making two straight NCAA Tournaments under Pat Kelsey; with Kelsey now at Louisville, former Xavier coach Chris Mack takes over the Cougar roster.

Ma’Kye Taylor (Fr. | Albany)
The Albany staff has been pulling Philly talent up to the New York capital ever since Dwayne Killings took over three years ago. The latest local product to join the Great Danes is Taylor, the 6-8 forward coming out of Imhotep Charter. Though he spent much of his senior year sidelined due to injury, Taylor returned to help the Panthers capture District 12 and PIAA Class 5A titles; a strong passer, Taylor’s best asset is his versatility and basketball IQ. 

Erik Timko (Sr. | Delaware)
Coming out of the COVID pandemic which ruined the end of his high school career at Methacton and messed with his freshman year at Jefferson, Timko proved himself one of the best scorers in Division II, averaging 21.1 ppg in three years in a Rams uniform, hitting 43.6% of his 3-pointers while scoring 1,792 points. He’s using his final year of eligibility to prove himself at the D-I level, joining a Blue Hens roster that could use the 6-5 guard’s scoring ability.

Deuce Turner (Gr. | UC Santa Barbara)
Turner rediscovered the scoring touch he showed during a 2,000-point career at Malvern Prep during the 2023-24 season. After averaging 8.3 ppg during his freshman year at Bucknell (2020-21) and then 6.5 ppg in his sophomore year at San Diego (2022-23), he averaged 15.5 ppg to lead the Toreros in scoring, hitting 37.4% of his 3-pointers (64-of-171) and topping out with a 34-point outing against Saint Mary’s. He’ll finish his college career at USCB this winter.

Blaise Vespe (Jr. | Florida Gulf Coast)
A 6-7 wing/forward who played at Neumann-Goretti before finishing up at IMG Academy (Fl.), Vespe has made 32 appearances in two seasons at FGCU. As a sophomore, he averaged 1.6 ppg and 1.3 rpg in 21 appearances (10.3 mpg). 

Mike Walz (Jr. | Richmond)
After only appearing sparingly as a freshman two years back, Walz became a regular reserve for the Spiders as a sophomore, the 6-11 post out of Conestoga averaging 2.8 ppg and 2.5 rpg in 33 appearances, seeing double-digit minutes in 22 different games (10.9 mpg overall). That included a 12-point game against UNLV where he hit a pair of 3-pointers, two of the six he made (on 20 attempts) over the course of the season. 

Derrius Ward (Sr. | Coppin State)
Ward’s college career has had him at five different schools in five years, from La Salle to Harcum College (JUCO), then to Texas-Rio Grande Valley, on to Florida Memorial (NAIA), and finally up to Maryland to finish out at Coppin State. The 6-6 wing from Sankofa Freedom has played in 29 games at the D-I level, most of which came at UTRGV, where he averaged 3.9 ppg and 1.8 rpg in 25 games (one start) two years ago.

Jalen Warley (Sr. | Virginia)
After three years at Florida State, Warley made an inter-ACC transfer to Virginia for his final season of college hoops. The point guard from Westtown, who’s now listed at 6-7, started 32 of 33 games last year, averaging 7.5 ppg ppg, 6.8 apg and 2.6 rpg, the scoring a new career high. He hit double figures nine teams, with a season-high 23-point game against Louisville. 

Jacob Warren (Soph. | Fairleigh Dickinson)
A 6-10 forward from Downingtown who finished up his high school career at Calvary Christian (Fl.), Warren enters his second year at FDU having gotten a decent bit of experience as a rookie. In 32 appearances, though only playing about five minutes per game, Warren averaged 1.4 ppg and 0.9 rpg while making 48.6% of his shots. The Knights bulked up their frontcourt through the transfer portal, but hes still two inches taller than the rest of his teammates. 

Kareem + Kaseem Watson (R-Soph. | Delaware State)
The Watson twins, identical 6-8 wings, both come to Delaware State after two years at Cal State-Bakersfield. They both took one redshirt season and played in another, but at different times: Kaseem played as a freshman back in 2022-23, averaging 3.4 ppg and 1.3 rpg, then sat out last year; Kareem sat out their true freshmen season and then averaged 1.5 ppg and 1.1 rpg in 22 appearances last year. 

Ife West-Ingram (Soph. | Rider)
As a freshman at Rider, West-Ingram played in 20 games (6.5 minutes/game), the 6-6 Cheltenham grad averaging 1.8 ppg and 2.0 rpg with that opportunity, which equates out to a double-double in a 40-minute run. He scored in 12 of his 20 outings, but never more than four points in a game.

Jahlil White (Gr. | La Salle)
Another intra-Big 5 transfer, White comes to La Salle after four years at Temple, having played the last three seasons after an injury redshirt his freshman year. The 6-7 wing guard, noted for his abilities as a defender, has played in 86 games with 44 starts in his career, averaging around 25 mpg in each of his three seasons. Despite playing the fewest minutes of his career last season (23.6 mpg), he put up career-best scoring numbers (10.1 ppg) while hitting career-best 46.2% of his shots, adding 5.5 rpg and 1.5 apg. He’ll finish out his career playing under Fran Dunphy with the Explorers, where he’ll bring a much-needed dose of experience to the backcourt.

Amir Williams (Fr. | Hofstra)
A versatile 6-4 swingman from Neumann-Goretti, Williams begins his college career at Hofstra, where he hopes his high-level athleticism will play well in the CAA. As a senior with the Saints, Williams averaged 9.9 ppg and 3.1 rpg while dealing with injuries. 

Darren Williams (Fr. | Florida Gulf Coast)
Williams joins the group of Philly-area talent that Pat Chambers has amassed at FGCU, the Archbishop Ryan grad coming off a quality senior year in the PCL. The 6-4 left-hander averaged 16.8 ppg and hit 35.4% of his 3-pointers (92-of-260), with 3.8 ppg and 2.4 apg. His size and ability to play both guard spots should help him some earn minutes as a freshman, but there’s a lot of backcourt experience.  

Ryan WIlliams (Fr. | Northeastern)
The former Malvern Prep sharpshooter starts his college career in Boston as Northeastern’s only freshman on the roster. A 6-4 guard and 1,000-point scorer, he joins a Huskies squad that went 12-20 (7-11 CAA) last year but has five 20-win seasons and two NCAA appearances under head coach Bill Coen (19th season).

Seneca Willoughby (Sr. | Bethune-Cookman)
A graduate of the now-closed Bishop McDevitt, Willoughby first went to Contra Costa (Cali.) college, averaging 10.3 ppg as a sophomore in 2022-23, then transferring to Bethune-Cookman for his junior year. Last year, the 6-4 guard started eight of his 34 appearances, averaging 3.5 ppg and 1.9 rpg, hitting 38.2% (21-of-55) from downtown, with a season high of 14 points.

Jeff Woodward (Gr. | Colgate)
Woodward entered the portal but ultimately elected to return to Hamilton (N.Y.) for one final season. The 6-11 bruising big man from Methacton has been a significant contributor for all four years, his 2023-24 averages of 7.2 ppg and 4.2 rpg right around his career marks (7.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg), though he started 18 games after only making seven starts his first three years. With fellow big man Keegan Records graduated, Woodward’s going to be the man in the middle for the Raiders in his fifth and final collegiate season. 

Robert Wright III (Fr. | Baylor)
Wright III comes to the Big 12 after spending last season at Montverde Academy (Fl.), the former Neumann-Goretti standout proving himself as one of the best point guards in the 2025 class during the course of his PCL tenure. 

Malcolm Wrisby-Jefferson (Soph. | Brown)
A 6-4 guard from New York who did his last few prep years at the Phelps School in Malvern, Wrisby-Jefferson only played in nine games as a freshman at Brown, playing a total of 64 minutes, with six points and 11 rebounds. 

Josh Wyche (Soph. | Lafayette)
Wyche had a solid first collegiate season, playing in 31 games off the bench for the Leopards (11.5 minutes/game), averaging 2.5 points and 2.7 rebounds per contest. The 6-6 wing forward from Cristo Rey. His best games came in Patriot League play, including seven points, four rebounds and three assists in 18 minutes against Holy Cross; he grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds in 21 minutes against Richmond.