Anchormen basketball is back in action: A first-game preview

Tim Yean

Sports Editor

Seven players return and six new faces join head coach Sam Ferry’s Anchormen basketball team as Rhode Island College enters the 2025-26 season looking to improve upon their 16-11 record from the previous year. 

Ousmane Kourouma entered RIC’s 1,000-point club last season. What do the Anchormen look like without him? (photo cred. Tim Yean)

The Anchormen had a 10-6 record in the Little East Conference, but were stopped in the conference semifinal, 81-68 in overtime against Western Connecticut State University.

Staff changes

Over the offseason, Ferry was an accompanying coach for Cameroon’s U19 FIBA team, gathering experience overseas. He enters his third year as RIC’s head coach. The Anchormen lost assistant coach Irving Eggleston, but added Fernando Torres. 

Torres is actually a former player for the Anchormen, having been a part of former men's head coach Bob Walsh’s Little East Champion squad for the 2012-13 team. Torres rejoins after having a successful head coaching tenure with the North Providence High School Cougars, earning back-to-back division championship titles in 2022-23 and 2023-24, finishing his head coaching career being the top regular season team in the 2024-25 season.

Denzel Washington and Elliot Butcher both return as assistant coaches for their third year.

Player losses and returns

RIC’s top question on the court entering the year will be on who will lead the charge. Ousmane Kourouma, Dwayne Robinson-O’Hagan and Deyshawn Tengbeh, the Anchormen’s top three scorers from 2024-25, were lost to graduation in the offseason. Kourouma, now in Spain playing professional basketball is the biggest missing hole this year. He had led the team in scoring, blocking and was the nation’s leading rebounder at the Division III level last year.

Junior Xavier Mendez and sophomore Manny Ibidapo, the lone forwards listed on this year’s roster, are expected to fill in the paint this year. Mendez notched five starts for the Anchormen last year and was the second-leading rebounder with 5.8 boards per game, while Ibidapo was mainly a reserve player his freshman year, but should see a jump in playing time.

Behind the arc, senior Loudon Chupas returns as the primary sharpshooter from last year. He ranked only behind the also-departed Isaiah Dahl on three-point tries and connected on 34% of his attempts. The Anchormen’s top passer also returns this year. Junior CJ Wilson led the team last season with 95 assists, as well as making an impact defensively with a team-leading 40 steals.

The other Anchormen returning are all guards. Juniors Mike Paquette and Elijah Diallo and sophomore Jalen Claude should all now see more time in the rotation after getting more time to mesh with Ferry’s system.

Newcomers

Experienced college players and freshmen mix in as the newcomers for this year. Senior six-foot guard Kanye Wavezwa comes in from NCAA D-II American International College. He had his best year two years ago, but saw a dip in minutes his junior year. He aims to resurface with the Anchormen this year, potentially as a key three-point shooter, connecting on 39% of his attempts in his final year with the Yellow Jackets. The other senior, 6-foot-5 guard Tyriek Weeks, comes from Rider University, a Division I program in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. The ex-Bronc has already made an impact as an Anchormen, being named Male Student Athlete of the Week on Oct. 28 following an exhibition game against the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

This year’s freshman class is very intriguing for RIC. Perhaps most notable is the addition of Noe Bom, a 6-foot-3 guard coming from Hamburg, Germany, over 3,600 miles away from the Ocean State. The 19-year-old played for Basketball Lowen Braunschweig in the Basketball Bundesliga League and was also a part of Cameroon’s U19 FIBA team. 6-foot-5 guard Kyle Prete is from North Providence High School and was a 1,000-point scorer during his time with the Cougars. He was also named to the Third Team All-State and First Team All-Division and All-League during his high school career. 

Rounding out the freshman additions is Alex Hoxie, who lettered in the sport while at West Warwick High School, and Marcio Evora, a University of Rhode Island and Community College of Rhode Island transfer entering his first year as a college athlete.

Can the Anchormen win away from the port?

Ferry’s squad was a stellar 10-3 at the Murray Center last year, but was 6-8 in away contests, their final five games abroad a lowly 1-5. The Anchormen will need to prove they can win in hostile environments this year. 

Coming up

The Anchormen already played their first game, a 91-81 triumph over Nichols College on Friday, Nov. 7.

RIC will open up their home season at the Murray Center in a Veterans Day contest against Worcester State University. Tip-off will be at 1 p.m.