On paper, sitting second in the National League East, with the fifth-best record in the MLB, sounds like a fantastic start for the Phillies. But when looking further, problems are beginning to arise for the team that could impact their postseason chances as the season continues.

From before the first pitch of the season was thrown, question marks around the quality of the Phillies’ bullpen were already rising. Could a quiet offseason with lower-risk signings make up for the losses of two all-stars in Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez? So far, not so much.

The Phillies bullpen ranks 25th among 30 MLB teams in ERA, and third worst in the National League. New addition Jordan Romano, who has been thrown into the closer role, has struggled to finish out games at times, pitching to a poor 7.36 ERA. Additionally, Jose Alvarado’s 80 game suspension for violation of the MLB’s drug usage policy, has seriously hurt the bullpen.

Aside from the bullpen’s ongoing struggles, the Phillies offense still feels like they are in early-season form, as the team has struggled to build real momentum. Without Kyle Schwarber’s unbelievable power and plate discipline, the crowd at the bank would have little to cheer for. No one aside from Schwarber has hit double-digit home runs, and extended slumps from JT Realmuto, Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm,and Brandon Marsh have put a damper on the offense.

Finally, the rotation, which has been the Phillies’ unwavering strength over the past few seasons, has seen growing uncertainties as well. Aaron Nola’s career-worst start and injury has meant the team’s most reliable arm no longer holds that position. Additionally, Ranger Suarez’s lingering back injury, and Taijuan Walker’s permanent transition to a bullpen arm signals the Phillies will have less “sure things” to call on for a quality start.

Although it is never a good idea to ring the warning bell for a team that is comfortably above .500, the Phillies have seen more question marks than ever in 2025. With the team’s championship window shrinking as their stars continue to age, it remains to be seen how the Phillies’ future will play out.

Unlike colleges such as the University of Alabama or Ohio State, Drexel is not typically top of mind when it comes to prestigious athletics programs. As a member of the Coastal Athletic Association, which is not part of the Power 5 conferences (which include the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big Ten Conference, the Big 12 Conference and the Southeastern Conference), Drexel is classified as a mid-major. This label comes from the conference that a school’s men’s basketball team plays in. In today’s college athletic landscape, which is shaped by name, image and likeness opportunities, this characterization has limited the ability of Drexel’s student-athletes to fully benefit from NIL deals. 

Unfortunately for Drexel, the shortcomings of the men’s basketball program have undermined the success of other Drexel athletics programs. Just this season, the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams made trips to the CAA championship, and the women’s team was consistently ranked as one of the top 25 programs in the nation. Both Drexel squash programs rank in the top 10, the rowing teams have dominated in recent competitions, and, in 2024, the women’s basketball team won the CAA championship and competed in March Madness. 

Despite these achievements, Drexel is still a relatively unknown school in college athletics. While this can be attributed to a number of factors, perhaps the main issue of name recognition stems from the lack of NIL funding towards athletes. 

Since the initial Supreme Court ruling back in 2021, NIL has transformed the landscape of college athletics. The court found that college athletes can profit off of their name, image and likeness on top of the scholarship given to them by their school. 

In the four short years since this ruling, how athletes prioritize and decide the schools for their collegiate career has completely changed. Now, on top of following their dreams of professional sports, athletes are also weighing the possibility of making as much revenue as they can. 

This dynamic is especially prevalent in men’s basketball, where it is not uncommon for players to enter the transfer portal two or three times. One example of this is PJ Haggerty, who has played on three different teams and recently announced he would be committing to Kansas State after negotiating to receive a $2.5 million NIL package. While athletes from mid-majors are not getting as large of deals as Haggerty, they still stand to benefit financially by transferring to schools with better NIL infrastructure. 

During this offseason, Drexel’s men’s basketball team lost four of its most impactful players to the transfer portal. Cole Hargrove and Kobe McGee, who both earned CAA awards this season, transferred to Providence and Florida State University, respectively. Jason Drake announced he would spend his final year at the University of Indiana, and Yame Butler transferred to Butler University after an outstanding season. In recent memory, other standout players such as Amari Williams and Justin Moore have made moves to larger universities. 

Despite head coach Zach Spiker’s claim of a culture with “a group that is connected [and] a locker room that loves being around each other” at Drexel, it seems not to be enough as the Dragons continue to lose top talent every offseason. What is the motive for these players entering their names into the NCAA transfer portal if not for potential NIL deals?

While NIL has given numerous opportunities to many different athletes, it has also created problems for universities struggling to keep up with the ever-changing rules. Currently, colleges believe that for NIL to be successful, rules and regulations are needed to stop the disproportionate allotment of money to players. At the time of publication, athletes are allowed to get paid in any amount and without any restrictions. In an attempt to make resources more equitable, the College Sports Commission was created by the Power 5 conferences to establish limitations.

For Drexel and other mid-major institutions, NIL equality is especially important, as they do not have the resources available to attract and keep star athletes. Earlier this year, an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer revealed that Drexel’s NIL resources rank in the bottom half out of all the schools in the CAA, raising concerns for Drexel and its sustainability in the coming years. 

In December 2023, Drexel announced that they were launching the Dragon Fire Collective, a NIL Collective intended to support Drexel athletes by creating NIL opportunities for them. However, this effort seems to be inactive at the moment, as the last post on their Instagram was a “day in the life” video featuring Yame Butler from June 2024. Without an active collective to assist students in earning NIL money, Drexel is positioning itself further behind other mid-major universities and running the risk of losing athletes to the transfer portal. 

The future of NIL remains uncertain to this day. Pending a judge’s decision on the House vs. NCAA lawsuit, which could allow schools to distribute up to $20.5 million to student-athletes, the CAA’s Board of Directors has voted to opt in to the settlement. If the judge rules in the athletes’ favor, CAA institutions, including Drexel, would be required to share their revenue. 

While this decision is expected to come in late June, Drexel has already announced that they will comply with the CAA’s decision and that they are prepared to share revenue with their athletes, as confirmed by the Inquirer. 

Other schools in the CAA, such as Stony Brook, have also stated plans to share their revenue with their athletes. On May 28th, they became the first school in the CAA to partner with a third-party platform to help manage revenue sharing. In addition to being an early adopter of the CAA’s mandate, Stony Brook, which has similar athletic success as Drexel, boasts one of the best NIL systems for a mid-major university. 

Despite Stony Brook’s collective being launched around the same time as Drexel’s, it has made much more progress. Since the launch of the 1957 Club, the organization has hosted galas, created merchandise and partnered with NIL websites that allow fans to subscribe and gain access to the Seawolves’ athletes. Although these efforts have not entirely prevented players from entering the transfer portal this year, the university is still setting itself up for a better future than Drexel, which does not have any of these opportunities in place.

Drexel will never become the next Notre Dame, but that should not be an excuse to not build up a NIL system that prioritizes keeping players at Drexel, winning games and creating better opportunities for their athletes. With the upcoming ruling regarding revenue sharing, Drexel has the chance to level the playing field with other mid-major programs. Taking action now will make the university more competitive and set up every current and future athlete to have a successful career as a Drexel Dragon.

The Philadelphia 76ers announced a partnership with Comcast Spectator, the owner of their current stadium, the Wells Fargo Center, to build a new arena for the Sixers and Flyers beginning in 2031.

The team had originally announced a $1.3B plan to open an arena right near Philly’s Chinatown which came with extreme backlash. Community groups organized protests, rallies, and petitions, stating the arena would threaten one of the few remaining historic Chinatowns in the U.S. Furthermore, this new location is much more convenient in terms of parking and public transportation compared to a potential Chinatown arena. 

There was also criticism of the team taking the stadium away from the famous sports complex, where all four major sports teams (Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, and Flyers) play right next to each other. With this new deal, that is no longer an issue.

Comcast Spectator had previously expressed concerns about the Sixers leaving the Wells Fargo Center, where they’ve played since 1996. In response, the company collaborated with the team to get this new stadium deal done.

The news comes close to more positive updates for the franchise, as the team secured the #3 pick in the 2025 NBA draft this past week. As they faced the possibility of not having a first-round selection at all after a brutal season (for instance, if the pick had landed 6th or later the Oklahoma City Thunder acquired it), getting the third choice was a massive victory. 

Beyond the on-court success, the finalized arena deal marks a major win for the city. Philadelphia mayor Cherelle Parker called it “a win, win, win, win for Philadelphia,” and it’s easy to see why. The city’s rich history and culture would have been compromised under the last proposal, and instead, it can be preserved. In addition, a brand new arena is added to an already iconic sports complex.

IMLeagues is a website used by over 1000 universities for managing intramural sports in North America. Despite its widespread use, IMLeagues gives a difficult user experience with confusing navigation, outdated design and questionable functionality. How did the IMLeagues website become so ineffective, and what can be done about it?

Drexel is one of the colleges that uses IMLeagues, allowing students to sign up and compete in intramural sports throughout the year. During the Spring 2025 quarter, students had the opportunity to sign up for sports such as soccer, softball, football and sand volleyball. 

On its Google page, IMLeagues advertises itself as “by far the easiest, most interactive, and graphically appealing online intramural league registration program out there on the market.” 

However, users of the website would likely disagree with this characterization. When attempting to log in, students are greeted with a list of every single organization that has ever used IMLeagues. The very first option is for the “2012 ASICS Flag Football team”, an event that took place 13 years ago. Other unique options include “Anderson’s Oozeball 2018,” “Extreme Toronto Sports Club” or the “Hotty Toddy Hoop Fest Regional Basketball Tournament.” 

Drexel alone has three different organizations on IMLeagues: Drexel University, Drexel University Athletics and Drexel University College of Medicine. This could confuse students trying to register for leagues, as they may be members of two or more of these organizations.

Drexel’s internal systems do not make the situation better. To log in, students must find Drexel on the IMLeagues homepage, get redirected to reccenter.drexel.edu, enter their Drexel ID into the rec center website and then redirect themselves back to the IMLeagues website. This process makes signing up for an intramural team even more time-consuming and could potentially turn off some students from participating in intramural sports. 

The confusion does not end once students are signed up for a team, however. For example, personal statistics from members of The Triangle Sports team, who played intramural sports, show data such as a 101 percent “Game Performance” in dodgeball, or a 66 percent IM Leagues “Performance Meter.” These statistics have no added value to a user, as there is no explanation as to what they represent or how they are calculated.

Visually, the IMLeagues website interface resembles a website that may have been used around  the time the company was founded in 2007. There are numerous ads that take up the entire homepage, poor quality photos and inconsistent fonts and colors. All of these factors create an unappealing visual and a poor user experience.

Yet, as students are allowed to participate in intramural sports for free, Drexel does not necessarily make money from students’ participation and, therefore, does not have a reason to improve the systems or create an internal website for intramurals. 

This begs the question: With so many colleges using IMLeagues, why isn’t the website better? The answer is most likely money. According to the IMLeagues FAQ, their website is free. “There are no hidden costs, nor will there ever be any costs.” By not charging colleges to use their site, they are cutting off a potentially large income source that could be used to help update the website. This has created a situation where IMLeagues is stuck on an ad-based model to continue to operate, and things will continue the way they are. 

In theory, IMLeagues gets the job done. Students can sign up for intramural sports with their friends, and colleges have a way to manage it. However, in practice, there could be much better solutions. If the company charged money to universities, it might be able to afford to upgrade the site for a better user experience in 2025. IMLeagues has virtually no competition in college intramural scheduling and signups, and therefore no incentive to make its site better. 

This leaves everyone in a lose-lose situation. The site continues to look more outdated as time goes on, students have to navigate a difficult website, and universities receive complaints from students. There is likely no solution to this problem in the short term, which means students will continue to use IMLeagues not out of choice, but out of necessity.

The Drexel softball season has come to an end, and, plainly, they have seen better seasons. The team ended the season with an overall record of 5-41, winning all five of their games in conference. This similarly reflects the team’s performances from the last two seasons, in which they ended their seasons with overall records of 15-30 and 12-37. The last winning season by the team came in 2022, where the Dragons finished the year 24-23. 

However, despite the unfortunate season, the Dragons posted some stand out moments. This includes ending the season with a win against the Stony Brook Seawolves (18-17), taking their first series win, and ending the 2025 season on a two-game winning streak.

Individually, freshman player Kylah Reading was named to the CAA All-Rookie Team. She ended her season with a team-high .325 batting average, .452 slugging percentage and .379 on-base percentage. Additionally, Reading added 41 hits, six doubles, two triples and two home runs, while also notching 22 RBIs and 19 runs scored. Furthermore, she was also second on the team in games played, appearing in 44 of Drexel’s 46 contests in her freshman season. 

The unfavorable season for the team seems to fall on the shoulders of head coach Katie Jansson. Due to the lack of success the team has undergone, Katie Jansson will not return next season as head coach of the Drexel softball program, Vice President, Director of Athletics Maisha Kelly announced. Kelly stated that the path forward requires a new vision and approach. Coach Jansson was 56-131 in her four seasons coaching in West Philadelphia, with a 25-70 record in Coastal Athletic Association play.

With a national search underway to fill the coaching position, we can eagerly anticipate what next year’s season will look like for the Drexel softball program.

April 22nd marked a sad day for the Drexel Dragons, as men’s basketball point guard Jason Drake transferred to the University of Indiana. Drake, known as “Deuce” to fans among his three past homes, joins a uniquely built Hoosiers team, where he and new head coach Darian DeVries will look to bring Bloomington a national championship.

For Jason Drake, there was not always a historic power-five school calling with a lucrative NIL package. Although Drake was ranked the fourth best guard in the state of Michigan by 24/7 Sports out of high school, the floor general committed to Cleveland State, a mid-major program residing in the Horizon League. After a freshman season where Deuce saw limited minutes, he, like a growing number, entered his name in the transfer portal, with his future destination being outside Division I.

The Butler Grizzlies, a junior college program in the KJCCC, would be the sophomore’s next home, where a larger role in the offense would lead to seriously improved results. Drake averaged 9.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.7 assists, while shooting 42 percent from the three-point line for the Grizzlies. Drake thrived in an offensive driver role, showcasing his ability for big scoring and strong facilitating. Following the season, the guard entered his name in the transfer portal once again, eventually committing to Drexel last spring.

Drake was an exciting prospect, and was poised to battle it out with incoming transfer Kevon Vanderhorst for the starting point guard position. However, an unfortunate injury for Vanderhorst in the preseason saw Drake leading the charge with the starting unit in the season opener. Drake would register only six points on zero made field goals in that game, with all his points coming from the free throw line, but would add six assists and seven rebounds to go with that. A fairly promising start from the JUCO transfer.

However, the D1 game is very different from what he was used to playing at Butler Community College. It’s a more physical and demanding game, and it took some time for Drake to get used to this. Efficiency was a big issue early on for Drake. Shooting 49 percent from the field and 29 percent from three. While 49 percent from the field is still good, that number is heavily inflated by some low shooting attempt games. Drake shot about 45 percent in games when taking less than or equal to eight shots, and about 40.5 percent in games when taking more than eight shots. In about one-third of games, Deuce took more shots than points scored – highlighting his struggles early. 

Drake really picked it up in the second half of the season, with his efficiency changing dramatically. He averaged 11.6 ppg on 44 percent from the field, and 38 percent from three. He had three of his four 20+ point games here as well. In regards to his efficiency, Drake shot the ball pretty well, registering a field goal percentage when taking fewer than eight shots of 47 percent, and a field goal percentage when taking more than eight shots of 46 percent. Now he shot the ball about the same as he did in the first half, with 30 percent of his games shooting more field goals than points, but his efficiency in most games improved dramatically. Drake’s best game came in the second round of the CAA championship – where Drexel took on Elon. In an astounding 91-74 point win, Drake poured in 25 points with three rebounds and four assists, shooting a blistering 61.5 percent from the field and 75 percent from three. Unfortunately, Drake entered the transfer portal on April 15, 2025, marking an end to his time at Drexel. 

It was obvious Drake got more comfortable with his shot as the season went on, and became an even better playmaker and defender. His ability to score at any level, matched with his facilitating and pick-and-roll skills will help him as he starts his career as a Hoosier.

Transferring schools up to four times has become more common, but Drake’s journey is one that truly embodies the spirit of the current college basketball landscape. When he saw limited minutes for Cleveland State, he transferred to a school where he knew his abilities could shine. Jason Drake has developed from a junior college guard in rural Kansas, to one of the most versatile guards in the CAA, to a legitimate power-five prospect, all in under two years.

As Drexel prepares for their sports seasons to end, a few changes are being made to the athletics’ coaching staff. With new hirings and now-empty positions, it will be interesting to see how these changes will impact these Drexel teams, including golf, softball and women’s soccer. 

Drexel’s head golf coach Ben Feld, who has been leading the team for the last nine seasons, has decided to take a step away from collegiate coaching. Feld was named Drexel’s head coach in May of 2016, after serving as the team’s interim head coach prior. Feld himself played four years of golf at Drexel, and was a two-time captain. He graduated in 2013, and later received his master’s at Drexel in 2016. 

Under his leadership, the golf team has thrived. With eight players named to All-CAA teams, seven CAA All-Tournament team selections in his tenure, a total of 19 events won, and five City 6 Championships under his belt, it is clear that Feld has established himself as a celebrated head coach. Additionally, his players have gone to play in three major championships, two Professional Golfers’ Association of America Tours, as well as numerous events on the PGA and the PGA-owned Korn Ferry Tour. 

Feld is leaving the program to spend more time at home, seizing every opportunity to make memories with his family. Coach Feld’s time serving as head coach has made an impressionable impact on the achievements of the Drexel golf team. As Drexel continues to search for his replacement, it will be interesting to see how the upcoming seasons for the team will be impacted by his absence. 

The golf team is not the only Drexel sports team that is searching for a new head coach. Katie Jansson, the head coach for Drexel softball, will not return next season after coaching since the 2022 season. Unlike the golf team, the softball team has seen varied success in the past few seasons. Their last winning season was in Jansson’s first, 2022, where the team finished 24-23. In 2023, they ended their season with an overall record of 15-30, before taking a further step back with an overall record of 5-41 in 2024. 

Prior to her time coaching at Drexel, Jansson finished 51-131 in her four seasons in West Philadelphia and has a 25-70 record in the Coastal Athletic Association play. Changes made to coaching may help the team in seasons to come. With standout players, such as freshman Kylah Reading, the team might have a shot at making the best out of these new changes, as a search for Jansson’s replacement has begun. 

While new hires for head coaches are being searched for, the women’s soccer team has welcomed Kendra Jones as a new assistant coach. The Pennsylvania native began her collegiate soccer career at Villanova and American University as a midfielder/forward. Between both programs, Jones played a total of 55 games, scored a total of four goals, an assist and nine points. 

After playing at Villanova, she played professionally in Australia, the Czech Republic and in the United States. Her coaching career started at Washington & Jefferson, where she was head coach, compiling a 23-24-13 overall record and collecting a 15-10-9 record in the President’s Athletic Conference. Prior to coming to Drexel, she also acted as assistant coach at Elizabethtown College, leading the Blue Jays to a 9-5-4 record, and earning a spot in the Landmark Conference Championship tournament. 

Additionally, Jones also spent a season as an assistant at Niagara, where she helped lead the team to a 4-4-2 record, as well as reached the program’s seventh straight MAAC tournament. The experience and knowledge of both player and coach Jones will bring to Drexel will help elevate the women’s soccer team, which ended this past overall season 4-9-4. 

The life of a student-athlete is one of constant balance between athletics and academics. In addition to attending classes, finishing homework assignments, and studying for exams and tests, student-athletes also have to balance a rigorous practice schedule with accounting for home games and traveling for road games. Therefore, these student athletes’ academic achievements do not go unnoticed. Over the past year, Drexel student-athletes have gained considerable attention for their academic achievements.

The Drexel wrestling team was announced by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) as having earned the eighth highest grade point average in the NCAA Division I during the 2024 – 2025 season. The team averaged a 3.562 GPA – the highest of all the EIWA squads. This is not the first time the team has done this, as the Dragons have finished with the top GPA in the nation in 2019, 2020, and 2023. Furthermore, Drexel ended as a NWCA DI Top 30 All-Academic Team for the last 12 seasons. Additionally, four individual Dragons were recently named as NWCA Scholar All-Americans. All nominees were evaluated based upon meeting one of the following criteria: Top 8 and 3.00 GPA, National Qualifier and 3.2 GPA, conference qualifier and 3.5 GPA, or 15 matches with 60% win record and 3.5 GPA. Wrestlers Giuseppe Hoose, Mickey O’Malley, Desmond Pleasant, and Kyle Waterman were recognized for their academic achievements by being awarded this title. 

Outside of wrestling, many other Drexel teams have had their athletes awarded for their stellar academic achievements. Lacrosse player Jenika Cuocco was named Drexel’s Coastal Athletic Association Female Scholar Athlete. Cuocco was named the 2023 and 2024 CAA Goalie of the Year, as well as receiving All-American honors from USA Lacrosse, IWLCA, and Inside Lacrosse. Outside of her on-field hardware, she has been a CAA Commissioner’s Honor Roll recipient for four years. She was also named the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Performer of the Year in her redshirt freshman campaign, as well as receiving an All-Area Team selection last season. 

Patrick Short of the Drexel men’s soccer team was named Drexel’s Coastal Athletic Association’s Male-Scholar Athlete. Short was named the CAA’s Co-Midfielder of the Year and to the All-CAA First Team, the first Drexel Dragon to do so in both occasions. Additionally, he was named to the SCS Academic All-America First Team, the second Drexel men’s soccer player to earn this accomplishment. 

Ten members of Drexel’s squash team were named Academic All-MASC (Mid-Atlantic Squash Conference) by the conference. This included six members of the men’s squash team: Fritiof Jacobsson, Yuri Pelbart, Darien Benn, Haris Qasim, Shomari Wiltshire, Tavneet Mundra and four members of the women’s squash team: Claudia Adam, Maddie Laine, Ariyan Irani, Raya Singh.

Several Drexel athletes have been named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District, as announced by the organization. To be eligible for this achievement a student-athlete must be of a sophomore academic standing or higher, with a minimum 3.50 cumulative GPA, while also being a key member of the team. From Drexel’s women’s swimming and diving team, athletes Federica Nocera, Mari Alencar, and Megan Ehrnfeldt were all awarded with this achievement. Additionally, Drexel men’s swimming and diving team members Jakub Kwasny, Kacper Karnik, and Alessio Gianni were announced with this award. Outside of swimming and diving, Drexel basketball players Chloe Hodges and Grace O’Neill were also named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District. 

Student-athletes have been praised for their success in the court, field, lane, or wherever they may be competing. However, their achievements within the classroom are often just as important. As these athletes continue to impress with their successes in both worlds, the recognition of their accomplishments in the classroom merit just as much applause as their athletic achievements.

As the volume of commitments increases and the May 15 signing deadline crawls closer, Drexel men’s basketball team has signed a player who could make a big impact in the near future. Clemson Edomwonyin is a big 6’10” forward from East London, England, who has a unique basketball background, making him a fascinating prospect to watch out for. 

Edomwonyin has a rather unorthodox story of how he elevated to basketball excellence, as he first started playing basketball in the fall of 2020. He began his career at the City of London Academy, gaining initial attention for his incredible speed and athleticism as a forward. Edomwonyin follows a trend of Drexel recruits with British backgrounds, as both big man Amari Williams and sharp shooter Mate Okros played high school basketball in England. 

“In the UK, there’s a lot of underrated players that go undiscovered,” Clemson mentioned, “there are some unexpected people with big talent, and you kind of just go, damn this guy is good.”

Although Drexel was his first Division 1 offer, it was not his only, as A-10 school Fordham also extended an offer to Edomwonyin. When I talked with Clemson, he made it clear the reason why he chose to be a Dragon in the long run. 

“The coaching staff was the primary reason,” he asserted. “Speaking with Spiker and all the other coaches gave me a lot of confidence.” Clemson added that his coaches in the U.K. were in full support of his decision, and admired Drexel’s track record of developing big men.

On top of the coaching staff, Edomwonyin gave credit to Amari Williams, a fellow British forward, for helping assure him of his decision. “I was able to speak with Amari on my visit, and we got along well. He talked about how he used to play, and how the coaches helped him develop,” Clemson recounted. “It helped me picture the vision of playing at Drexel.”

Following his time in London, Edomwonyin transferred to the South Kent School in Connecticut, an incredibly well established prep basketball program that has produced over 100 NCAA division 1 basketball players and 10 NBA players, including former NBA all-star Isaiah Thomas. 

Adding to his impressive resume of high caliber basketball and rapid development, Clemson played with the U18 Spanish National team, where he followed in both Williams’ and Okros’ path playing at the Hoopsfix showcase. Clemson showed appreciation for what playing in Spain had done for his growth. 

“Early on I recognized I had to improve to compete with the tough competition,” Clemson stated. “I feel like [playing in Spain] gave me a lot of confidence in what I can do, and will help me translate my speed and athleticism to playing at Drexel.”

It’s clear Clemson Edomwonyin is an incredibly talented basketball player with a lot of passion for the game, as well as a passion for the fans. When asked about what he was looking forward to about playing in Philadelphia he talked about the people. 

“I’ve heard the people in Philly are good fans, and I want to win for them.” 

Additionally, the talk of Philadelphia may have brought up the recruit’s appetite, as he expressed his excitement for trying Philly Cheesesteaks. 

Clemson Edomwonyin joins Archbishop Wood’s Josh Reed as Drexel’s incoming freshmen for the 2024-25 season. Edomwonyin’s size paired with his athleticism could make him a big contributor, and his passion and personality should make him a fan favorite for the Dragons. 

At the Team Impact’s Philadelphia gala, one theme was prominent: community. Athletes, coaches, community members, children who have been part of the program and executives at team IMPACT came together to celebrate the commitment of Big 5 basketball schools. 

Team Impact is a non-profit founded in 2011 by a group of former college students in Boston, that has now expanded to many major cities and universities. Their mission focuses on matching children with disabilities or serious illnesses with collegiate sports teams to create bonds the children and athletes will never forget. 

The organization was inspired by Co-Founder Jay Calnan’s brother Chris, who has a condition that has prevented him from participating in sports, and was given the opportunity to be a bat boy for a Boston Red Sox minor league affiliate. This experience inspired Calnan and seven of his college friends to reconnect and establish Team Impact. 

The event opened with a “tailgate,” which saw all people present walking around the venue, socializing and mingling, as the hall was filled with community members wearing college apparel for their respective Big 5 school. Following the tailgate, the attendees filed into a large hall to hear speakers from Team IMPACT. 

The presentation was opened by IMPACT Co-CEO Brad Korman who introduced the IMPACT Philly goals and successes with possible donors and community members, showing emotional videos demonstrating the good the organization has already done in the U.S. 

Following Korman’s introduction, sixteen-year-old Jacob Orlick took the stage to talk about his battle with cancer and being a part of the University of Pennsylvania’s Men’s Basketball Team. Throughout his time on stage, Jacob showed his speaking chops presenting his great humor with an uplifting story of beating cancer, and how creating bonds with the UPenn basketball players and coach changed both his and the athletes mindsets. 

Ever since his match with the team has ended, Jacob has found his passion in broadcasting, saying “It’s my passion and always has been,” while giving thanks to the UPenn team for helping him realize he could still be a part of athletics as he’s always desired. Jacob’s emotional yet hilarious speech was a tearjerker for many, especially with his line, “I’m Jacob. I’m just me.” 

Following Jacob’s presentation, all six Big 5 schools were honored and acknowledged for the work they do before Josh Walker, Executive Director of the Mid-Atlantic region, closed out the presentation. 

When I spoke with Josh prior to the event, he could not be happier with the work Big 5 schools, including Drexel had already done to implement and strengthen Team IMPACT’s mission. 

“Tonight’s event is a celebration of the work that the schools in Philadelphia have been doing for kids in local children’s hospitals,” Walker said. “[Philadelphia] is a community of support and through college athletics, we’re making matches that change these kids’ lives.”