Another year, another new-look Temple team. Adam Fisher sees something different.
Entering his fourth year for the Owls, Temple coach Adam Fisher continues to adjust to the roster turnover that has defined each season. Now, it’ll be up to his team to respond to his messaging.
Adam Fisher, in his fourth year at the helm of Temple basketball, is no stranger to roster turnover. Excluding graduates, seven Owls left after his inaugural 2023-24 season and six after 2024-25.
This time around seven players transferred after last year’s 16-16 campaign and the lineup features 10 newcomers.
Fisher worked through another offseason putting together the pieces. As Temple gets ready to open its season Monday against Central Connecticut, he hopes to turn that effort into positive results.
“We’re super excited to get going,” Fisher said. “It used to be, ‘Oh, we got so many new guys.” Everybody does. So now it’s a matter of, ‘How do you get the group to come together as quick as you can?’”
Pieces in the portal
Fisher used the portal to rebuild Temple’s roster. After three big men departed, he replaced them with centers Sir Issac Herron and Christian Beam. When two guards and forwards left, including second-leading scorer Aiden Tobiason, Fisher landed four guards and three forwards.
“We were looking for guys that were experienced,” Fisher said. “You add some shooting, then you want to see what else you can get. We want to get size, bigger on the wings was a big thing for us. We wanted some toughness.”
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Temple’s front court has grown. The Owls mainly leaned on 6-foot-9 centers Babatunde Durodola and Jamai Felt last year. They now have 6-10 Beam and 7-1 Herron.
Jason “Deuce” Drake and Dez White add shooting depth. Last season, Drake and White made 39.6% and 37.9% in three-pointers, respectively.
Gelling together
Fisher spent the offseason building team culture with the newcomers. He’s installed “Team Tuesdays,” a weekly activity where the roster spends the evening together off the court.
Temple also continued its “Family Day” tradition where players’ families watch practice and have a meal with the team, which is Fisher’s way of saying thank you to the parents.
The hope, Fisher said, is to see those efforts stretch onto the court. Fisher has watched the team’s returners explain the fundamentals of practice to the newcomers, who seem to be picking it up quickly.
“It is competitive,” Fisher said. “This is practice 19. Three or four of the 19, we’ve stopped early just because the competitiveness has been so high that we felt maybe we accomplished enough.”
New team, same goals
A Temple donor told Fisher something that stuck with him: you need to combine talent, health, and luck to be successful. He’s saving that mentality for conference play.
American games didn’t go Temple’s way last year, and Fisher attributed it to a lack of depth. He no longer wants to run his starters into the ground. He wants the entire team to be ready come January, when a well-balanced attack matters.
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That also requires commitment. Fisher tells his team that just because someone is starting in early November doesn’t mean the same for the end of the month. His search for postseason success will depend on how this new group will respond to his messaging.
“Give us everything you’ve got, all the outside noise, we all put our egos away,” Fisher said. “If you ever want to be back together in the same room, you’ve got to do something special. … Our goal is that these guys have a great experience, that we win, that we’re successful, that they want to be back.”
