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2023-24 W&L Men's Basketball Season Preview

Generals selected fifth in ODAC preseason poll

10/26/2023 11:00:00 AM

LEXINGTON, Va. - The Old Dominion Athletic Conference released its 2023-24 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll on Thursday and Washington and Lee was selected fifth with 102 points.

Hampden-Sydney topped the poll with eight first-place votes and 140 points to edge out Randolph-Macon for the top spot. The Yellow Jackets accrued the remaining five first-place tallies and 135 points. Guilford came in third with 122 points and Virginia Wesleyan held a slight two-point advantage over the Generals to complete the top-five teams.

W&L is coming off an 18-8 2022-23 regular season, which saw them clinch the No. 5 seed in the ODAC Tournament. Despite falling in the quarterfinal round, W&L and Roanoke faced off in an epic showdown in the Salem Civic Center that ended in a 117-103 win for the Maroons in quadruple overtime. Then junior Robert DiSibio tallied a game-high and ODAC Tournament single-game record of 46 points.

The Generals are led into the 2023-24 season by seventh-year head coach Chris McHugh '09, who holds a 90-44 overall record across his first six seasons. The team also returns DiSibio and senior Jack d'Entremont, who claimed All-ODAC Second and Third Team honors last season, respectively.

2023-24 ODAC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll

Hampden-Sydney College (8) 140 pts.
Randolph-Macon College (5) 135 pts.
Guilford College 122 pts.
Virginia Wesleyan University 104 pts.
Washington and Lee University 102 pts.
Roanoke College 96 pts.
Bridgewater College 65 pts.
Shenandoah University 63 pts.
Averett University 51 pts.
Ferrum College 48 pts.
University of Lynchburg 45 pts.
Eastern Mennonite University 23 pts.
Randolph College 20 pts.

We are excited about the upcoming season and building upon the momentum of last year. Our seniors are a very accomplished group, and we expect Rob DiSibio, Jack d’Entremont, Carter Dummett and Drew Harrell to join rarified air in our program history after a special final season.

We will be a very explosive offensive team that can score from every position and place on the floor. Our ability to win an ODAC Championship and make a run in the NCAA tournament will come down to our defense. We have made great strides on that end this year and have the potential to be elite.

Our non-conference and ODAC schedule will have us competing against some of the best teams in the country. We are built for the challenge and ready to stake our claim

Head Coach Chris McHugh '09 (Seventh Season)

2023-24 Schedule Overview

The Generals have 25 games slated for regular season play, spread out amongst 11 home contests and 14 on the road, including three neutral site matchups.

Prior to the official start to the season, the Generals will head down to Davidson, N.C., to take on Division I Davidson in an exhibition contest on November 6. The regular season will then commence for the Blue and White at the Gettysburg Tournament from November 10-11, where the Generals will face Messiah on 11/10. Their opponent the following day will be determined by the results from the first day of the tournament.

In total, W&L will play eight of its first nine games away from Lexington, with the home opener coming on November 21 against nearby rival Southern Virginia. Two of those first nine will be against ODAC foes in Bridgewater (11/14) and Eastern Mennonite (11/29), along with non-conference opposition in Mary Baldwin (11/15) and Maryville (Tenn.) (12/2).

The Generals will wrap up the 2023 calendar year at the Leslie Robinson Christmas Classic, hosted by Trinity (Texas), and the annual W&L Holiday Tournament. In Texas, the Generals will face the hosts on December 20 and St. Thomas (Texas) the following day, before hosting Franklin & Marshall to kick-off the home holiday tournament on December 29. The two losing teams from the first day will face each other in game one the following day, followed by the December 29 winners in the championship game.

The 2024 portion of the season will feature only conference play for the Generals. They will begin with two games out of five at home, hosting Lynchburg (1/3) and Ferrum (1/10), while traveling to Hampden-Sydney (1/6), Averett (1/13) and Roanoke (1/17). That precedes a stretch of six games out of seven at home, the final of which will be Senior Day on February 10 against EMU. The lone road game will be on January 31 at Shenandoah which will be sandwiched around three home games each against Guilford (1/20), Randolph (1/24), Virginia Wesleyan (1/27), Averett (2/3), Randolph-Macon (2/7) and the EMU game.

W&L will close out the regular season with a pair of road games at Lynchburg (2/14) and RMC (2/17) before the ODAC Tournament gets underway.

W&L’s regular season will feature two first-time opponents in Messiah and St. Thomas, with two or fewer matchups against each of Denison and Susquehanna, one of whom the Generals would face on the second day of the holiday tournament, as well as Trinity (Texas).

The ODAC Tournament will commence on February 19 with first-round matchups that will send the No. 10 seed to the No. 7 seed and the No. 9 seed to the No. 8. The winners of those two matchups will join the top-six teams in Salem Virginia for the remainder of the tournament. The quarterfinal round will be played on February 22, followed by the semifinals on February 24 and the championship game on February 25.

Key Returners

The Generals return both of their All-ODAC players from a season ago in seniors Robert DiSibio and Jack d'Entremont, as well as senior Drew Harrell who logged the most minutes played per game off the bench in 2022-23.

DiSibio was not only W&L's leading scorer last season at 22.8 points per game, but he also led the ODAC and the region in scoring average. His 22.8 points per game was the fifth-highest mark in a season in program history, and it was also the highest scoring average by a player for the program since Pat Dennis averaged an even 25.0 during the 1977-78 season. DiSibio's season was highlighted by his efforts in the team's quadruple overtime loss to Roanoke in the ODAC Tournament quarterfinals, when he poured in a tournament record 46 points on 15-of-29 from the floor and 12-of-14 from the free throw line. DiSibio collected First Team All-ODAC and Second Team VaSID All-State laurels, as well as two ODAC Player of the Week awards.

d'Entremont led the Generals in rebounding last season with a career-high 7.3 per game, while adding 11.6 points per game on 44.7 percent shooting overall. He played in all 26 games during the 2022-23 campaign and added five double-doubles. d'Entremont scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed eight boards in a narrow 85-84 loss to then fourth-ranked and eventual national champion Christopher Newport, with top rebounding efforts of 14 against both Mary Baldwin and Lebanon Valley, plus 13 more in the season opener against PSU-Altoona.

Harrell saw the most minutes of any reserve player last season, covering 24.7 minutes per game and contributing 9.2 points, 5.9 rebounds per game and 30 total steals. His 30 steals leads all returning players to this year's team, while his rebounding average was the fourth best on the team and his scoring average was fifth. He scored a season-high 17 points on December 20 against Scranton and saw his best rebounding total come in the 4OT game against Roanoke when he secured 14 boards.

The Generals also return several experienced players who mostly saw time as reserves last season. Junior Thomas Feigin and sophomores John Loughlin and Colin Ryan were regular rotation pieces for the Blue and White, as each appeared in at least 20 games. These three players will look to build upon their 2022-23 seasons, as they combined for 39.5 percent shooting from long range.

Drew Harrell enters his senior season in 2023-24 with 51 career appearances.

Harrell broke out during his junior campaign, as he averaged 9.2 points per game on 44.6 percent shooting from the floor, while adding 5.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game across 24.7 minutes per contest. Normally the team's first player off the bench, Harrell's minutes average was more than double the next closest bench player. For his career, Harrell has totaled 294 points (5.8/game) on 41.9 percent field goal shooting.

An English major, Harrell is a four-time W&L Scholar Athlete and three-time selection to the ODAC All-Academic Team. Harrell earned a nod on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team last season, and he also volunteers with Habitat for Humanity and interned for the Atlantic County Civil Courts in Atlantic City, N.J., this past summer.

Jack d'Entremont enters his senior season with 54 career games played.

d'Entremont has averaged double-digit points in all three seasons for the Blue and White so far, with a career average of 12.5 points on 47.8 percent shooting overall. He has totaled 677 points, 362 rebounds, 103 assists, 35 steals and 27 blocks in his career, while increasing his rebounding average in each season. d'Entremont is a two-time All-ODAC selection, and he added his first ODAC Athlete of the Week award on November 21 of last season as well.

Off the court, d'Entremont is a business administration major who has earned ODAC All-Academic Team laurels twice. He also serves as a volunteer for Campus Kitchen and Habitat for Humanity, and he worked as a Revenue Management Intern for Constellation Brands over the summer.

Robert DiSibio has been the Generals' go-to scoring option over the last three seasons, and he enters his senior season with 72 games played.

DiSibio's scoring average jumped nearly 5.0 points per game from his sophomore to his junior season, as he ended the 2022-23 year with an ODAC-high 22.8 points per game on 48.8 percent shooting from the floor and 39.4 percent from long range to claim First Team All-ODAC and Second Team VaSID All-State laurels. For his career, DiSibio holds a 15.0 scoring average to go along with 4.9 rebounds per game and 1.5 assists per game.

A cognitive and behavioral science major, DiSibio is an ODAC All-Academic Team student, has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and served as an assistant basketball coach for ACC Connecticut and Newtown High School. DiSibio also completed an internship with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks over the summer, serving as a Basketball Operations Intern.

Upcoming Milestones and Records

Jack d'Entremont enters his final campaign as a General on 1,000-point watch, despite playing in only five games during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season. Entering the 2023-24 season, d'Entremont has scored 677 points in his career, leaving him 323 away from becoming the 30th player in program history to join the 1,000 point club. His single-season career high in total points scored is 319, which came during the 2021-22 year. d'Entremont averaged a single-season career-high 13.9 points per game that season, and is averaging 12.5 per game for his career.

d'Entremont also will be looking to cross the 500-rebound barrier for his career, as the senior needs 138 more boards to reach that mark. He has surpassed that total in each of the last two seasons (147 and 189), with a career average of 6.7 rebounds per game.

Robert DiSibio became the 29th member of the program's 1,000-point club last season when he scored 21 points at home against Randolph on February 15. With 1,083 career points scored, DiSibio will continue his ascension up the program's all-time points leaderboard this season. DiSibio is averaging 15.0 points per game for his career, but logged averages of 17.9 and 22.8 points per contest the last two seasons, with over 1,000 total points scored in those two years alone. At an average of well over 500 total points per season in the last two, DiSibio can become the 11th player in program history to reach 1,500 points scored with 417 more this season.

Other statistical milestones being chased by DiSibio this season include breaking into the career Top 10 lists for three pointers made and attempted, free throws made and attempted, scoring average and free throw percentage. DiSibio enters his senior season as a career 40.2 percent three-point shooter, which is the fourth-best mark in program history.

Head Coach Chris McHugh needs just 10 more wins to reach 100 in his W&L coaching a career. Outside of the five-game 2020-21 season, McHugh's Generals have won no less than 12 games in each year of his tenure, with four of his six seasons resulting in at least 17 wins. With a 90-44 overall record in his six seasons, McHugh's 0.672 winning percentage is the highest in program history among coaches to have been at the helm for multiple seasons.