Saturday, November 01, 2025
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PHOTO: URI
URI basketball begins its 2025/26 season against the Stetson University Hatters on Monday, November 3rd, at the Ryan Center. As they begin the season, this team lacks an identity.
The team has 11 new players. Eight transfers and three freshmen. Only one scholarship player who received playing time last year returned to the team – Drissa Traore.
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Revolving door
Players with unrestricted transfer ability, aided by the transfer portal and the quest for ever-increasing NIL payments, have resulted in a revolving door in college basketball locker rooms. It’s like going to the gym on Saturday afternoons for a pickup game. You’re on one team the first Saturday and a different team the next week.
Players and fans have no connection
In the past, rosters were consistent, with teams adding three or four new players every year to replace those who graduated. Fans got a feel for the players. They had favorites, enjoyed watching them grow, and developed a connection to the players.
The players also developed a connection with the school, the community, and the fans. The athletic department promoted and marketed established players, and a player would surface as the “Face of the Team.”
URI – 49 different players in five years
With transient, mercenary players, none of this happens. During the past five years, URI has had 48 different players on its rosters. The basketball office recently put out a digital promotional flyer featuring a player’s picture. This is a common marketing tool. However, this year, with virtually a whole new team and no established players, they used a new player who had never played in a game for URI, and by not including his name, few people knew who he was.
The player was a newly arrived junior guard, Johah Hinton, who most likely got paid for the use of his image!
Player revolving door impacts
Coach Archie Miller was asked about the potential consequences of annual wholesale roster changes. He was asked whether this would diminish interest in the team, hurt ticket sales, weaken support for the program, and shrink financial giving. He said, “I think that could be accurate, and if you are not winning, fans can get frustrated or bored.” He continued, “We have to continue to do things to get players in front of fans.” He talked about player appearances at an event in Newport, the open scrimmage the team held, the use of social media, news releases about players distributed by the athletic department, and educating the fan base on the movements and changes so they are always informed.
Importance of fan base
Miller than went on to talk about the importance of the fan base, saying, “Programs are special because of the fans and my message to anyone who ask why is Rhode Island a great place to work, why is it a great place to play, why is it a great place to go to school, is because of the fan base, and the support, and because we have a great tradition.”
It will be interesting to see the impact of the wholesale roster changes over the past few years on ticket sales and attendance this year.
What to expect from the Rams this year
Miller was asked about this year’s team and what fans would see on the floor. He said, “The strength of this year’s team is speed by far and away, top to bottom, players one through thirteen, our athleticism, quickness, and speed at every position is just top notch. That excites me in terms of our ability to get up and down, but also for what the speed will do for us on the defensive end.”
Aggressive defense predicted
Miller continued, “Defensively, with great quickness, we are going to be able to play an aggressive style defensively, which should lead to offense and more scoring opportunities for us.”
Miller continued, “This team will be very different from our previous teams. We are finally able to have some size at our wing positions, being bigger at the three and four. Not big in terms of muscle and weight, but with length.”
Tempo will be even faster
Last year, URI played an up-tempo style, and Miller was asked whether fans could expect to see more of that. He responded, “Yes, but it will be different. We had great tempo last year, and at times, the fastest tempo in the league. Sebastian (Thomas) had the ball in his hands a lot and pushed the pace. This year, we have more guys who can handle the ball. We have more interchangeable parts. More guys who can play, and I think to be able to play even faster.”
Positionless basketball
Miller went on, “We have more versatility and way more skill getting more spacing than we have had in the past. What’s unique about this year’s team is that the defensive ability should be way more up-tempo as well. This is going to be a different team than we have had in the past. We may play five guards. We may have four guys who are 6’7” and bigger on the floor at the same time. We are moving to positionless basketball.”
No big man underneath
This year’s team has limited height and bulk. With the 7’1” Moek Icke not cleared to play, the tallest players are two 6’9” forwards. They are senior, 217 lb. Mouhamed Sow from St. Peter’s and the 220 lb. grad student, Keeyan Itejere from Northern Kentucky. Itejere is extremely athletic and can jump, but he is slender.
When asked about the lack of a big man inside, Miller minimized the issue, saying, “With our speed and quickness we can mask the lack of height …. and I have some schemes to take advantage of situations.”
The 6’3” 185 junior guard, Johah Hinton, who previously was with St. Bonaventure, will likely be the starting point guard, but none of the starters are known yet.
Picked 12th of 14 in A-10 poll
In the A-10 preseason coaches’ poll, URI was picked to finish 12th in the 14-team conference. No URI players were selected for preseason all-conference teams for overall play or defensive play.
The team has nine guards, one player designated as a guard/forward, five forwards, and one center (Icke, who is not cleared to play).
This year’s Ram team is the most experienced Miller has had, featuring six graduate students, two seniors, two juniors, and five freshmen, two of whom are redshirt freshmen, so they are in their second year with the program.
Here is the 2025/2026 URI Basketball Roster:
#0 Jahmere Tripp Guard/Forward Jr. 6’6” 230 lbs. previously with Fordham
#5 Johah Hinton Guard R-Jr. 6’3” 185 lbs. previously with St. Bonaventure
#7 Jalen Harper Guard Fr. 6’4” 190 lbs. from Philadelphia, PA
#8 Alex Crawford Forward R-Sr. 6’8” 215 lbs. Previously with Fresno State
#10 Barrett Loer Guard Fr. 6’5” 190 lbs. from Millis, MA
#11 Javon Perry Forward Fr. 6’8” 200 lbs. from Springfield, MA
#13 Jaymien Aponte Guard So. 6’3” 183 lbs. Returning player
#17 Moek Icke Center R-Fr. 7’1” 223 lbs. Returning player
#20 Myles Corey Guard Gr. 6’0” 185 lbs. South Alabama/William Jessup
#21 Damone King Guard R-Fr. 6’2” 175 lbs. Returning player
#22 R.J. Johnson Guard Gr. 6’1” 185 lbs. Charleston Southern/Holly Cross
#23 Tyler Cochran Guard GR. 6’3” 225 lbs. Minnesota/Toledo
#30 Jimmy Ball Guard Sr. 6’2” 183 lbs. Returning player
#35 Mouhamed Sow Forward Gr. 6’9” 205 lbs. St. Peter’s
#40 Keeyan Itejere Forward Gr. 6’9” 220 lbs. Northern Kentucky/Maquette
#55 Drissa Traore Forward Gr. 6’8” 220 lbs. St John’s
James Malachowski is the former Chairman/Managing Partner at RDW Group. He previously served as the chair of the Public Utilities Commission. He is a graduate of URI and PC.
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