By Joe Budzelek
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| Photo Credit: Steve McLaughlin Photography |
Central Connecticut has established itself as one of the NEC’s most consistent programs. The Blue Devils have won at least 12 conference games in each of the last three seasons, including a 25-win campaign in 2024-25 that earned them home-court advantage throughout the NEC Tournament.
But regular-season success has yet to translate into the program’s first NEC Tournament championship.
Central Connecticut reached the championship game in 2025, only to fall short against Saint Francis. A year later, the Blue Devils took a step back, finishing 18-12 before a first-round loss to Wagner ended their season.
Now, with another season on the horizon, Patrick Sellers believes his team has the pieces to get back to where it was two years ago—and finally finish the job.
“We have to finish the deal,” Sellers said.
That starts with a roster that looks considerably different from the one that fell short in 2025. The Blue Devils lost four starters, but returned a strong core of experienced contributors while adding a group of transfers and freshmen that Sellers believes gives his team more athleticism, skill and versatility.
Just as importantly, Central Connecticut enters the season determined to rediscover the defensive identity that helped make it one of the NEC’s best teams. After ranking second in the league in defensive efficiency in each of the previous two seasons, the Blue Devils slipped to ninth last season. Sellers has made correcting that regression a major focus of the offseason.
“Where we have to get better is defensively,” says Sellers, “Part of that was that last year we weren’t as athletic on the perimeter as we’ve been in the past. Then we lost two guys, JaKobi Williams and Gabe Spinelli, to injuries in December, so we were down bodies on the perimeter. We really struggled without those guys defensively.
“So we’re really looking to make our mark on the defensive end. We’ve put a ton of time into defense this summer—lots of shell drill, lots of work on how we’re going to guard ball screens. Everybody is all in on the defensive end.”
Offensively, however, Sellers remains confident in the foundation already in place. Despite losing their three leading scorers from last season—Northeast Conference Player of the Year Darin Smith to Rutgers, Second Team All-Conference selection Jay Rodgers to Penn State, and Most Improved Player and All-Defensive Team selection Max Frazier to Hampton—the Blue Devils return plenty of shooting, playmaking and versatility throughout the roster.
“We have the most returners of anybody in the league, which is great for us entering this year,” Sellers said. “We lost four starters, but we have James Jones, who was a starter last year, Roddy Jones and Ashton Reynolds, who were All-Rookie Team selections, plus Elijah Parker and Daniel James, who both played a lot for us. So we’ve got a good group of guys back.
“When you bring in so many new guys, it helps to have that group in place. They can keep our system in place and teach the new guys what Central Connecticut is all about.”
Six-foot-six, 190-pound New Britain native James Jones will step into a larger leadership role as a junior, serving as one of the program’s tone-setters with his unselfish, team-first, lunch-pail style of play. He also returns as one of Central Connecticut’s best rebounders and all-around defenders. Sophomore Waterbury native Elijah Parker is the Blue Devils’ top returning backcourt defender and could have a chance to start from Day 1 alongside sharpshooting sophomore Roddy Jones.
Among the returning guards, Sellers is particularly excited about the potential breakout of sophomore Ashton Reynolds. The six-foot-four, 185-pound Brooklyn native posted one of the better offensive rebounding rates among guards in NEC play last season, but Sellers also believes he can help replace some of the scoring lost with the departures of Smith, Rodgers and Melo Sanchez.
“Ashton is probably one of the best athletes in the league. He just had to adjust to how to play and how we play as a group,” Sellers said. “Our system really enhances basketball IQ because guys learn how to play. We’re a read-and-react team with really good spacing, and over those five weeks in the summer, guys really start to pick it up.
“Ashton had a great spring, too. That’s another thing we do differently here. A lot of times when guys enter the portal, coaches kind of kick them out of the locker room. We allow our guys to continue working out because we want 15 or 16 guys in the gym together, getting better as a team. It also helps us with recruiting because when we bring recruits in, they get to play with our guys, and we can see how quickly they pick up what we’re doing.
“I told Ashton that he had the same type of spring Allan Jean-Rose had when I was at Fairfield going into his sophomore year. I’m hoping he makes that same kind of jump. We’re really excited about him.”
Not only do the Blue Devils return plenty of pieces in the backcourt, but they’ve also added a trio of third-year transfers who should provide valuable depth after Sellers had to navigate injuries throughout last season.
The most familiar addition is six-foot-four, 190-pound Cromwell, Connecticut native Victor Payne, who transferred from Saint Francis after the program announced its move to the Presidents’ Athletic Conference at the Division III level. Payne started 27 games for the Red Flash last season and is best known for his floor spacing, converting 37.6 percent of his three-point attempts. Despite a lower-usage role in Saint Francis’ offense, Payne posted the second-best offensive rating in the NEC, according to KenPom.
Six-foot-three UMass-Boston (DIII) transfer Raphael Laurent provides another efficient shooting option. Laurent knocked down 38.7 percent of his three-point attempts last season while averaging 22.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game for the Beacons.
“Raphael has really impressed us,” Sellers said. “I’m shocked he didn’t get recruited at the Division I level because physically, he’s a specimen. He had a great summer for us.
“He can really score, but he can pass just as well. He’s super athletic, unselfish and has the potential to be an All-League defender. I think he has a chance to be a special player for us because he can score, he can pass and he impacts the game in so many ways. We’re really excited about him.”
Six-foot-one, 185-pound combo guard Jhace Johnson averaged 13.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists last season and reminds Sellers of two successful junior college transfers from his recent past.
“Jhace Johnson is a JUCO transfer who went to the same junior college as Jay Rodgers, Cochise College. He gives us a little bit of that Jordan Jones feel because he’s really quick and fast. He’s a great mid-range shooter, and he can really guard.
“We’re really excited about him. This is probably the most athletic perimeter team we’ve had since we’ve been here. We’ve got some really good guards who can defend on the perimeter, and I think that’s going to help us.”
England import Matt Goodwin was unable to work out with the team this summer, but Sellers believes the six-foot-two guard will bring another dose of toughness and intensity to the perimeter.
“One of the guys I think will be a big part of this, even though he wasn’t here for the summer because he was in England, is Matt Goodwin,” Sellers said. “He came in for one of our spring workouts, though, and he really impressed us. He’s 20 years old, but he’s an adult. He’s extremely smart, he’s played at a high level, he understands how to play and he’s tough.
“He’s from Manchester, England, and I played in England, too. A lot of people don’t realize that Manchester is kind of like New Britain, South Boston or old Brooklyn. It’s a blue-collar town, and that toughness is part of who he is.”
James Jones started at the three last season, but with the Blue Devils’ backcourt now loaded with options and the frontcourt remaining largely unproven, there could be opportunities for him to slide up to the four alongside three true guards. While Central Connecticut lacks depth up front, the Blue Devils do have plenty of upside in the frontcourt, something Sellers is excited to unlock.
The sole portal addition is St. Bonaventure transfer Brayden Jackson. The Ontario native did not suit up for the Bonnies last year, but averaged nine minutes-per-game with Buffalo in his freshman season. The last two seasons, the center spot was led by Abdul Momoh and Max Fraxier, who classify as more traditional low-post players while Jackson exemplifies a more skill-oriented approach the team is looking for in its frontcourt this season with Jackson joining returning forwards Jayden Mott, Daniel James and Rashawn Tibby.
"Brayden Jackson is a guy we recruited out of high school,” says Sellers, “He spent a year at Buffalo before transferring to St. Bonaventure, where he redshirted last season. After the coaching change there, we were able to bring him here.
“He's 6-foot-9 and incredibly skilled. He can handle the ball like a point forward, operate in ball screens as both the handler and screener, and make plays in a variety of ways. Defensively, he's got a nearly 7-foot wingspan, which gives him the versatility to guard multiple positions.
“He arrived during the second week of the summer, so he was only here for about three weeks, but he had a really good summer. You could see him getting better each week, and we're excited about what he brings to our program.
“When we talked about the frontcourt as a staff, we had to decide what direction we wanted to go. Rashawn Tibby is 6-foot-8 or 6-foot-9, Brayden Jackson is 6-foot-9 and Daniel James is 6-foot-8, so we’ve got that 6-foot-8, 6-foot-9 range. I kept saying, do we want to bring in a 6-foot-10, 240- or 250-pound guy who might struggle in our system, or do we want to bring in another skilled basketball player?
“I’m a big NBA guy and watch a ton of basketball. The Celtics were really good last year because they had skill all over the floor. They didn’t have a lot of traditional bigs; they just had good basketball players at every position. That’s what we’ve been talking about—loading up on good basketball players.
“We’re better off with 6-foot-7, 6-foot-8 guys who can switch a little bit. Nowadays, so many teams play five-out that you’re not going to have a ton of guys just throwing it inside. If they do, we can double, we can do different things, and we can really pressure the ball on the perimeter to make it hard for them to get the ball into the scoring area.
“So we decided to move away from taking that big, slow, unskilled guy and stay with skilled, good basketball players. That’s the direction we wanted to go, and I think the guys we have give us a lot of versatility.
“Daniel James played a lot of minutes for us last year, and he’s part of that veteran group that understands our system. Jayden Mott has taken a big step. He only played 14 games last year because of some injuries, but he’s had a great summer. He’s shot the ball really well, he can play multiple positions, and he’s strong, tough and a good defender. I told him this summer that one of his goals should be to make the All-Defensive Team. I think he’s that good defensively.
“Rashawn Tibby is another guy who had a great spring and a really good summer. He redshirted last year, and he’s super skilled and can really shoot the ball. Brayden Jackson is 6-foot-9, but he’s extremely skilled. He can play like a point forward, handle the ball, use ball screens and set ball screens. He also has a seven-foot wingspan, so he can defend multiple positions.
“Those guys give us a lot of skill and versatility up front, and they all fit the way we want to play.”
While it remains to be seen which of the Blue Devils will step into the spotlight this season, Sellers believes the key to finally translating Central Connecticut’s regular-season success into an NEC Tournament title could come down to how effectively he utilizes the depth of his roster. After studying how NBA teams manage their rotations, Sellers plans to be more intentional with his players’ minutes in an effort to keep them fresh for the postseason.
“Two years in a row, we’ve been right there,” Sellers said. “The year before last, we won 25 games, had home-court advantage and got to the championship game, but we played awful. We had butterflies, whatever you want to call it. We played tight and didn’t play loose.
“Last year, I thought we were headed in the right direction, but when our two guards went down, it set us back. One of the things we did as a staff was study a ton of Lakers games and look at how they managed their rotation and minutes. I came into the office one day because Jay Rodgers was getting worn down from being doubled, trapped and pushed up the court. I said, why don’t we treat Jay and Darin [Smith] like they do those NBA guys and manage their minutes?
“We started experimenting with it, and when we went back and looked at the numbers, it really worked. When Jay played 27 minutes or less, we were 14-2. When he played 28 minutes or more, we had a losing record. We won eight of our last nine games using that approach.
“So I think we’re going to go to that minute-management approach right from the jump this year. Guys will know when they’re coming in and when they’re coming out, and hopefully that allows us to play more guys and keep everyone fresh. Obviously, it’s going to take some time to figure out, but I think that can help us take that next step.”
Now, the challenge is putting everything together—and making sure another successful regular season finally leads to the postseason breakthrough the program has been chasing.
After coming within one win of an NCAA Tournament berth two seasons ago and returning to the championship game last season, Sellers and the Blue Devils now have another opportunity to turn sustained regular-season success into the program’s long-awaited breakthrough.
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