{"id":230478,"date":"2025-09-16T04:33:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T04:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/230478\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T04:33:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T04:33:11","slug":"umbc-hoops-reloads-for-a-new-era-hopes-to-climb-america-east-ladder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/230478\/","title":{"rendered":"UMBC Hoops Reloads for a New Era, Hopes to Climb America East Ladder"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ngscsports.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/thumbs-up.svg\"\/>\t\t        <\/p>\n<p>\t\t            0\t\t        <\/p>\n<p>\t\t            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ngscsports.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/thumbs-down.svg\"\/>\t\t            <\/p>\n<p>\t\t            0\t\t        <\/p>\n<p>\n                \t Read Time:3 Minute, 38 Second                <\/p>\n<p>Continuing our tour of America East basketball, we turn our attention to the UMBC Retrievers. Coming off a 13-19 overall season with a 5-11 conference record, the Retrievers faced a quarterfinal exit in the America East tournament at the hands of eventual champion Bryant. Now, head coach Jim Ferry is banking on a fresh injection of talent to change the team\u2019s fortunes <a href=\"https:\/\/umbcretrievers.com\/news\/2025\/8\/19\/mens-basketball-unveils-entire-2024-2025-schedule.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">for the 2025-26 season<\/a>. The new-look roster features a blend of youth and experience, headlined by a redshirt fifth-year transfer, two freshmen, and a handful of graduate students.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a look at the new faces ready to don the black and gold.<\/p>\n<p>The Freshmen Guards<\/p>\n<p>Coach Ferry is bringing in a pair of promising guards to build for the future.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Riley Jacobs<\/b>, a 6-8 forward from Alexandria, Virginia, arrives from St. Stephen &amp; St. Agnes, where he earned First Team All-VISAA honors in 2025. Named the Alexandria Sportsman Club Boys Basketball Athlete of the Year, Jacobs is a skilled frontcourt player with a bright future. He intends to major in business education at UMBC.<\/li>\n<li><b>Saahil Thakkar<\/b>, a 6-1 guard out of Germantown, Maryland, joins the Retrievers after helping Northwest High School to a regional championship in the 2024-25 season. Thakkar is known for his clutch play, highlighted by a game-winning shot against Magruder. The guard, who scored 15 points in that game, has aspirations of one day becoming a basketball coach himself.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Veteran Transfers Bring Playoff Experience<\/p>\n<p>The heart of UMBC\u2019s new class is its group of experienced transfers, many of whom are looking to make an immediate impact.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Cougar Downing<\/b>, a 6-2 guard and a redshirt fifth-year transfer from Eastern New Mexico, is the headliner. Downing is a proven scorer who started all 26 games for Eastern New Mexico, averaging 12.2 points and 2.3 rebounds per game while shooting an impressive 45.8% from three-point range (65-of-142). He also brings a season of Division I experience from Arkansas Little Rock, where he averaged six points per game with eight double-digit scoring efforts.<\/li>\n<li><b>Devin Ceaser<\/b>, a 6-1 guard, comes from Old Dominion. In 30 games with the Monarchs, Ceaser averaged 9.3 points, 1.9 rebounds, and a steal per game, with those numbers rising to 10.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in conference play. His knack for scoring will be a key asset for the Retrievers\u2019 backcourt.<\/li>\n<li><b>Caden Diggs<\/b>, a 6-8 forward also from Old Dominion, is seeking more playing time at UMBC. In his limited minutes with the Monarchs, Diggs averaged 2.9 points, and he\u2019ll look to carve out a bigger role in Coach Ferry\u2019s system.<\/li>\n<li><b>Paul Greene<\/b>, a 6-6 graduate student, arrives from Southern New Hampshire University with a resume full of accolades. He was named NE10 All-Conference Second Team and NABC East All-District Second Team. Greene is a double-double machine, averaging 13.8 points and 12.1 rebounds per game in 28 starts, along with 21 blocks.<\/li>\n<li><b>Jah\u2019likai King<\/b>, a 6-2 graduate student guard, transfers from New Haven University, where he was named to the NE10 All-Rookie team in 2023-24. King brings a strong track record of production, averaging 15.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in 28 starts during his last season.<\/li>\n<li><b>D.J. Armstrong<\/b>, a 6-4 graduate student from Texas Permian Basin, provides versatility at the guard and forward spots. Armstrong led his team in three-point (36.6%) and free-throw shooting, while averaging 12.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game in 28 starts.<\/li>\n<li><b>Josh Odunowo<\/b>, a 6-6 forward from Columbia University, brings Ivy League experience to the frontcourt. Odunowo led the Ivy League in field goal percentage in 2023-24 at 61.1% and had 19 blocks on the season. After not playing in 2024-25, he will be a critical piece for the Retrievers\u2019 interior game.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With a mix of battle-tested transfers and talented underclassmen, UMBC is poised to make a serious run at climbing the America East standings. The Retrievers are banking on this infusion of new talent to turn last season\u2019s challenges into a new era of success.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll be back next week with another look at America East Basketball.<\/p>\n<p>                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/8a700114a51f6f174fbf9840bc4969c4c755ee97c561d34092325d271416bf74\"  class=\"avatar avatar-400 photo avatar-img\" height=\"400\" width=\"400\"\/>                                <\/p>\n<p>                    <a react-data=\"be-react-1\" post-id=\"67828\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"https:\/\/ngscsports.com\/2025\/09\/16\/umbc-hoops-reloads-for-a-new-era-hopes-to-climb-america-east-ladder\/javascript:void(0)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ngscsports.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/happy.svg\" 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src=\"https:\/\/ngscsports.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/angry.svg\" alt=\"Angry\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Angry<\/p>\n<p>\n                                                    0<br \/>\n                                                                        0 %<\/p>\n<p>                    <a react-data=\"be-react-5\" post-id=\"67828\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"https:\/\/ngscsports.com\/2025\/09\/16\/umbc-hoops-reloads-for-a-new-era-hopes-to-climb-america-east-ladder\/javascript:void(0)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ngscsports.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/surprise.svg\" alt=\"Surprise\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Surprise<\/p>\n<p>\n                                                    0<br \/>\n                                                                        0 %\n                                            <\/p>\n<p>    Author Profile<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/John-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"John Doucette\"\/><\/p>\n<dl id=\"profileTxtSet\" class=\"profileTxtSet\">\n<dt>\nJohn Doucette<\/dt>\n<dd>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<p>\t\tContinue Reading<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"0 0 Read Time:3 Minute, 38 Second Continuing our tour of America East basketball, we turn our attention&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":230479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[124302,1339,2076,1317,1337,1338,62,124303,1458,55506,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-230478","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-america-east-basketball","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-college-basketball","11":"tag-ncaa","12":"tag-ncaa-basketball","13":"tag-ncaabasketball","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-sports-blog","16":"tag-sports-news","17":"tag-umbc-retrievers","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}