Bradford, PA – The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's basketball team had a season for the ages in 2024-25, but with the program's first AMCC title in 20 years and its first NCAA Tournament victory in the rear window, the Panthers will look to reset with the beginning of the 2025-26 campaign.
Daniel Smay has taken the reins of the program, joining the Panthers from Penn State-DuBois over the summer. Smay, who has had assistant coaching spots at Florida State, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and Penn State-Mont Alto, will look to build on the base set by the program last year.
"We will be running a very similar system to what the team had success with last season," said Smay. "While a lot of the production from last year's team has moved on, we feel we have a strong base of players who have played in the system before and will continue to thrive."
The Panthers not only have seen a change in the coaching staff from last season but also lost four starters from last season, including All-AMCC Performers Jamarion Butler, Jesse Laster, and Braylen Salters.
The Panthers will look to a few key returners, as well as a pair of transfers, to fill the void. Jeremy Rodriguez returns for his junior year to lead the backcourt. Rodriguez played 17 games for the Panthers and was 2nd on the team in scoring, averaging 17.1 points per game. Xander Norris (10.0 ppg), Coby Farley (7.8 ppg), and Xavion Boone (6.1 ppg) will also provide valuable experience. Kaleb Pryor and Niare Poplar have followed Smay from Penn State-DuBois, where they averaged 16.0 and 13.8 points per game, respectively.
The Panthers will open their season on Friday, November 7th at Houghton. They will open their home slate on Wednesday, Nov. 19th, against Grove City. AMCC Play begins with a matchup against Hilbert on December 3rd.
Despite winning the AMCC regular season and tournament championships in 2025, the Panthers were predicted to finish 4th in the AMCC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
