2025-26 Men's Basketball Season Preview
Middletown, NY – Tom Rickard returns for his 13th season as the Head Coach of the SUNY Orange men's basketball team and is looking to bring a very talented team back to the national tournament for the second straight year.
The Colts return only three players from last year's Region XV championship team, sophomores Nate Johnson (Newburgh, NY/Newburgh Free Academy), Giovani Rupert (Miami, FL/Flanigan) and Johnny Floyd (Bronx, NY/James Monroe). Coach Rickard has noted the tremendous growth from these sophomores, "Gio is a great kid with a high ceiling. He continues to work hard and has put himself in a great position to succeed this season. Johnny continues to improve on the offensive end. He is a good defender and a solid rebounder for his size and has the athletic ability to play bigger than he is. Nate is a gym rat who has continued to improve a lot since his freshman year."
Joining the Colts via transfer are sophomores Keishawn Morris (Brooklyn, NY/South Shore) and Darren McFarlane (Bronx, NY/Monsignor Scanlon). Morris spent the 2024-25 season at NJCAA Division I Gadsden State Community College, appearing in 31 games for the Cardinals. McFarlane comes to Middletown by way of Bishop State Community College, an NJCAA Division I member in Mobile, AL, where he started 22 games in 2024-25.
Freshmen Elijah Witter (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth) and Kenderick Hunter (Cliffside Park, NJ/Cliffside Park) join the Colts after a post graduate year at First Love Christian Academy while freshman Marquese Dennis (Brentwood, NY / Brentwood) spent his post graduate year at Upper Room Christian School. "Kenderick is a good defender who can also score inside efficiently," says Coach Rickard. "Marquese's defense has been a pleasant surprise. He is very athletic on both ends and he can really put the ball in the basket in a variety of ways."
Rounding out the roster are true freshmen Gavin Williams (Fort Myers, FL/Bishop Verot), Joseph Jennings (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth), Anthony Pacciarelli (Monroe, NY/Saint Joseph Regional), Mike Fullerton (Middletown, NY/Middletown), Trashaun Reynolds (Yonkers, NY/Charter School of Educational Excellence), Jack Dellova (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville), RJ Little (Suffern, NY/Suffern) and Fritz Odige (Lehigh Acres, FL/Lehigh). "Each of these guys have their own unique personality and skill set they bring to the team," said Coach Rickard. "All of them though are coming in and working hard right away."
The Colts open up their 2025-26 campaign in Danbury, CT on November 4 as they take on the Western Connecticut JV team. They start Region XV play at home vs Westchester Community College on November 18th.