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City Six roster updates: Villanova, Temple, Penn, La Salle, St. Joseph’s and Drexel to enter next season with new-look teams

March Madness was postponed due to the coronavirus, but that didn't stop the shake-up of college basketball rosters in the City Six.

Head coach Jay Wright will eye his third title in six years without potential first-round pick Saddiq Bey in the lineup next season.
Head coach Jay Wright will eye his third title in six years without potential first-round pick Saddiq Bey in the lineup next season.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer

Not even a pandemic can stop the constant movement that occurs in a college basketball offseason.

Transfers are more popular than ever due to the graduate transfer option and the transfer portal. Coaches are adjusting on the fly, but there is a nervousness and excitement to the madness that doesn’t happen in March.

Each of the City Six men and women basketball programs experienced this. Unexpected transfers create surprising roster holes, and staffs have to move fast to fill them. Zoom video chat has become a coach’s best friend.

The excitement stems from the same place as the nervousness. Just like players leave, promising talents from other programs hit the transfer market looking for a new start.

City Six teams will look different next season not only due to the freshmen coming in, but the transfer market shook up these schools for better, and for worse.

Villanova is losing potential first-round pick Saddiq Bey, but the Wildcats’ returning staple of players may be enough for a third national title in six years. Bey’s minutes will be hard to replace, but Villanova has options to fill them.

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Aaron Mckie’s Temple squad may have undergone more change than any other program in the city. Transfers, early draft entrants and graduations all impacted Temple’s roster, but McKie is bringing in more players that he personally recruited.

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Penn basketball is losing three double-digit scorers, including the program’s all-time scoring leader, AJ Brodeur. A four-man recruiting class is tasked with filling a big hole.

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Ashley Howard is setting the tone for what type of players he wants in the La Salle program. His 2020 recruiting class is an example of that.

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A lot of help is on the way to Hawk Hill. Well, some of that help has already been there. Hawks coach Billy Lange already has a good idea of what some of his newcomers look like.

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Zach Spiker went to familiar territory to add two of his new players. Drexel gets its three top scorers back, and now the goal is to create more quality depth around them.

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Program-changing players like Mary Gedaka and Bailey Greenberg are gone on the women’s side. There’s a new crop of talent waiting to take the keys in the City Six, but some of the incoming recruits will have to contribute. Luckily for these schools, some good options are on the way.

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