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Jacksonville may have lost nearly its entire 2025-26 roster this offseason, but the Dolphins kept key pieces to lead their push in the 2027 ASUN title race. 

Of the 17 players on Jacksonville’s roster to start last season, 14 left, with 12 via the transfer portal. Only three players returned: Hayden Wood, Evan Sterck and Roman Loux. 

Although all three were freshmen last season, they produced in big ways. The three returners accounted for 26% of the Dolphins’ total minutes and 25% of their scoring. Wood and Sterck finished among Jacksonville’s top three in minutes played, providing the program with experienced building blocks as it rebuilds for 2026-27. 

Wood established himself as one of the ASUN’s top freshmen a season ago, averaging 13.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, and shooting 37% from three-point range during conference play. He also made an impact on both ends of the floor, with 13 blocks and 11 steals. The final stretch of ASUN play solidified his role as a roster cornerstone. Over Jacksonville’s last five games, Wood averaged 21 points while playing nearly 35 minutes per contest. 

His standout freshman campaign earned him ASUN All-Freshman Team honors. 

Alongside Wood, Jacksonville also retained its primary point guard from conference play in Sterck. 

Sterck started 23 games as a freshman, averaging 6.4 points and 3.1 assists while recording 36 steals. He ended his first college season with at least one assist in nine consecutive games.  His best scoring performance came in the first edition of the River City Rumble, when he scored a career-high 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. 

With Wood providing an established scoring threat and Sterck returning at point guard, Jacksonville had two young guards to build around as it turned to the transfer portal to reconstruct the rest of the roster. If the Dolphins could surround returning production with the right additions, the foundation was there to compete for an ASUN championship. 

Their first move was to land junior guard Caleb Williams from Lafayette.  

Williams arrived as a proven scorer, having averaged 13.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game last season for the Leopards. Williams is also returning to the 904 area code, where he played at Jean Ribault and broke numerous high school records. He totaled over 1,500 points and dished out 600 assists.  

He demonstrated his ability to stretch the floor during 2025 non-conference play, hitting on 40.6% of his threes (43-for-106). His strong season earned him 2026 All-Patriot League Third Team honors, following an All-Rookie Team selection the previous year. 

Williams adds another scoring threat alongside Sterck, giving Jacksonville two different options at point guard. The pairing also lets the Dolphins keep using the two-point-guard lineups they frequently featured in 2025-26. 

Source: Lafayette transfer Caleb Williams has committed to Jacksonville.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 11, 2026  

Next, Jacksonville landed one of the ASUN’s top players from the past two seasons: Jamie Phillips Jr. 

Phillips played two seasons at Stetson, starting 41 games and averaging 13.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists. He earned ASUN All-Freshman Team honors in 2025 and was named to the 2026 Preseason All-ASUN team. 

Phillips describes himself as a “big guard,” offering a unique skill set in Jacksonville’s backcourt. He brings size, playmaking and scoring ability typically associated with both guard positions. 

Despite a foot injury last season, Phillips flashed his potential before the setback, erupting for 30 points, five threes, six rebounds and six assists against Lipscomb. Before his injury in January, he had posted consecutive scoring performances of 22, 22, and 30 points. 

NEWS: Stetson transfer Jamie Phillips Jr. has announced he’s committed to Jacksonville.

The 6-foot-5 guard joins a backcourt with Lafayette transfer Caleb Williams who just committed to Jacksonville yesterday.

He averaged 16.0PPG, 5.6RPG and 2.8APG this season. Repped by… pic.twitter.com/dy08V4mtdf

— Sam Kayser (@KayserHoops) April 12, 2026  

Jacksonville then bolstered its roster further by adding former ASUN standout Nehemiah Turner. 

The Minnesota transfer returns to the ASUN after a strong freshman campaign at Central Arkansas in 2024-25, where he started nine games and averaged 10.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists. In ASUN play, he elevated his game, averaging 17.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists, including a 37-point explosion against Stetson in the 2025 ASUN Tournament. 

Turner’s size and scoring ability gives Jacksonville another proven ASUN weapon who can create from multiple spots on the floor. As a versatile forward, he also gives the Dolphins a strong presence in the paint on both ends. 

He is Jacksonville’s first transfer from the Big Ten since Omar Payne in 2022. 

Jacksonville is one of the top mid-major portal winners so far. Nehemiah Turner will be a double-double threat for them. Big Ten was just a bit too high of a level. He’s a perfect mid-major bruiser.

Caleb Williams averaged 15 ppg for Lafayette and Jamie Phillips averaged 16 for…

— Sean Paul (@SeanPaulCBB) April 22, 2026  

With quality pieces in place, Jacksonville still needed to build its frontcourt. The next group of additions included forwards James Morrow from South Carolina State, Rex Stirling from Wofford and Jaden Newell from Georgia. 

Morrow played in 81 games with 18 starts at South Carolina State, averaging 7.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.1 assists while adding 20 steals and 14 blocks. The move also brings him back home to Jacksonville, where he starred at Andrew Jackson High School. 

Stirling comes to Jacksonville from Wofford after appearing in 30 games last season. He started the final five contests, averaging 7.6 points, five rebounds, and two assists in 23 minutes per game while shooting 67% from the field. The Melbourne, Australia, native also led Wofford in offensive rebounds. 

Newell spent four seasons at Georgia and appeared in 19 games for the Bulldogs. He opened his collegiate career in a win over North Florida. 

At 6-foot-8, Newell adds more size and rebounding ability to Jacksonville’s frontcourt. He is also the older brother of Asa Newell, a former Georgia standout and first-round NBA Draft pick. 

The Dolphins are reloading ???#TRUE X #JUPhinsUp pic.twitter.com/5D9NqxDGZr

— Jacksonville Men’s Basketball ?? (@JAX_MBB) June 1, 2026  

Along with its experienced transfer additions, Jacksonville welcomed a five-player freshman class featuring guards Maddox Palmer, Lyndell Buckingham Jr., Evan Roberts and LJ Katz, along with forward Samuel Mbingazo.  

Roberts and Katz add depth at point guard, while Buckingham provides a more traditional shooting guard option. Palmer from Ponte Vedra Beach brings length at 6-foot-6 on the wing, while Mbingazo adds another interior presence in the frontcourt. 

Jacksonville built its roster around two of its most productive young players at the center. The Dolphins added proven scoring in Williams and Phillips, ASUN experience and size in Turner, and frontcourt depth in Morrow, Stirling and Newell. 

With Wood and Sterck still at the center of the team, Jacksonville has surrounded its young core with the pieces to make a push in the ASUN in 2026-27.