Sparing no feelings, Temple coach Aaron McKie drives home his vision for the Owls this season

With a month left before Temple’s season opener against Wagner, the men’s basketball team recently spoke to the media for the first time.

With more experience than last year’s squad — a group that Aaron McKie described as a “[high school] varsity team” — it’s tournament or bust for the 2022-23 Owls.

McKie enters his fourth season as Temple’s head coach feeling as though he has molded the roster to what he envisioned when he took over for Fran Dunphy in 2019.

“You look at the pieces now, we’ve got inside play, perimeter play, scoring. We’ve got size, athleticism, and physicality,” McKie said. “But the one thing I talked to all these guys about is the teams that win are the teams that defend, and I thought we took a step in that [direction].”

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Temple added centers Kur Jongkuch and Jamille Reynolds from the transfer portal to a big man group McKie thought needed help. Jongkuch — a graduate transfer from Northern Colorado — is an athletic, rim-running shot blocker who will be looked to as Temple’s defensive anchor.

Temple’s staff and players say they are most excited about the addition of Reynolds. The 6-foot-10 sophomore is a traditional, back-to-the-basket big man who uses his footwork and 285-pound frame to punish defenders on the low block. He transferred to Temple from the University of Central Florida in May and has impressed since his arrival.

“He’s a generational talent,” said guard Damian Dunn. “We see him do stuff every day in practice that I probably haven’t seen a big guy do ever in my life.”

In addition to those two guys, the Owls are getting guard Khalif Battle back from a foot injury that limited him to seven games in 2021. During those appearances, Battle averaged 21.4 points per game, enough to make the redshirt sophomore test NBA draft waters before returning to North Philly for what presumably is his final season.

Combine all that with another year of experience for sophomores Zach Hicks, Jahlil White, and Hysier Miller, and the Owls have a team with high aspirations.

“Last year, with all of the obstacles that we had to face, we still were able to fight and finish in the top half of the conference,” McKie said. “That’s always been my goal, to be at the top of the conference. With our experience and riding our defense, I think we could be right there in the conversation.”

White comes into 2022 healthier than he has been during his college career after dealing with a shoulder injury throughout 2021. He also will be reunited with forward Taj Thweatt, a transfer from West Virginia. Thweatt and White have been close friends since they were in third grade and played high school ball together at Wildwood Catholic.

The two talked about playing college ball together during their Wildwood days, but always as a “third option,” as White described it. Temple wasn’t Thweatt’s first stop after West Virginia, as the sophomore spent a semester at Coastal Carolina before arriving on North Broad.

“Once he hit the portal again, it was one of my main priorities, one of his main priorities, to get him there,” White said.

White told reporters that he spent the summer focusing on his three-point shooting, playmaking, and post-up moves in an effort to further diversify his game and slow things down for himself.

The combination of key contributors from last season and new faces eager ready to make an impact has lifted the spirits around Temple. The next time McKie and his players speak will be next Wednesday during the American Athletic Conference’s media day as the Owls gear up for Wagner in the season opener (7 p.m., Nov. 7, ESPN+), followed by a Big 5 test at Villanova on Nov. 11 (7 p.m., ESPNU).