Temple basketball is out to exceed expectations in 2022-23

Aaron McKie and Temple basketball team view their 2022-23 season as tournament-or-bust, while Diane Richardson and the Owls’ women are trying to prevent a full-on rebuild.

These teams are in two different phases, but Temple fans will get a first look at both during Cherry and White Night at the Liacouras Center on Tuesday, starting at 7 p.m.

It was announced at American Athletic Conference media day that sophomore guards Damian Dunn and Khalif Battle were named to the preseason all-conference first and second teams, respectively. The men’s team as a whole was ranked fifth in the preseason coaches poll behind Houston, Memphis, Cincinnati and Tulane.

Dunn led the Owls with 14.9 points per game in 2021, stepping into the role once Battle tore the fifth metatarsal of his left foot. In seven games before the injury, the guard averaged 21.4 points per game. When asked what the biggest thing Battle brings in a return to the lineup, McKie centered on Battle’s scoring ability.

“His ability to shoot the ball and score the ball, which is something we desperately needed last year,” McKie said. “He’ll give us that scoring and shooting punch, and he’s another guy that defenses have to really keep an eye on.”

The men also feature transfer guard Shane Dezonie, along with centers Jamille Reynolds and Kur Jongkuch.

Dezonie will serve as a combo guard off the bench for the Owls and help stretch the floor. He shot 56% from the 3-point arc as a freshman for Vanderbilt. He now joins a perimeter of Dunn, Battle, Hysier Miller and Zach Hicks to make the Owls more of a threat from deep.

Temple will look to Jongkuch for energy, rebounds and rim protection. Reynolds, however, will be the Owls’ go-to force in the paint as a traditional big with face-up abilities — something McKie has stated before that he hasn’t had since he began coaching the team in 2019.

“It seemed like they had some really good guards [when I was at Central Florida],” Reynolds said. “They probably had the best guards in the conference, but they were missing that big piece — a big man in the paint. So I feel like that’s the best spot for me.”

The women’s team is entering its first season under Richardson and was ranked seventh in the preseason coaches poll. After spending the past five seasons at Towson, she inherited a Temple program that had just six players on the active roster.

Richardson brought in six transfers, including three that followed her from Towson. The most notable of those transfers is point guard Aleah Nelson, a senior who led Towson with 16.6 points and 5.3 assists per game en route to a first-team All-CAA selection.

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With Temple’s all-time leading scorer Mia Davis now gone from the program, Richardson wants to implement an “equal-opportunity offense,” one focused on spreading out shot attempts as opposed to playing through one person.

“It’s great that I’ve come into a program where we’ve got scorers,” Richardson said. “Mia was a great player. I watched Mia as she grew up in the area where I come from. But, again, with this equal-opportunity offense, it’s getting them confident that they can score as well. So, it’s been exciting for them.”

Temple is now less than two weeks away from their season-openers on Nov. 7. The men start their season against Wagner while the women’s team face Princeton.