Men's Basketball Media Day 2026
For the second straight year, Dean Men's Basketball media day was a huge success allowing sports broadcasting students the ability to get inside opinions from players about the upcoming 2026/2027 season.
With a roster of twenty-four and seventeen new faces, Head Coach Joe Cabral continues his trend of bringing in transfers from junior colleges and having them immediately take important roles in the rotation. A trend he has kept since taking the head coaching job back in 2021. This year's roster includes transfers like Devin Bowers, Kymel Williams, Amari Moses, Thomas Faucett, and Alex Ball. Some first years also had their say including Ryder Grinnell, Josh Dorsette, Jalen Thomas, and Isaiah Johnson.
With so many transfers from JUCO and first-year recruits coming in, there have been a lot of team bonding activities during pre-season and in-between practices. Transfer Kymel Williams and Freshman Ryder Grinnell discussed how Coach Cabral and the captains have set the tone for the year.
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Williams said, "The captains have done a great job in the preseason to show us what the standard is here. And I feel like the returners have been meshing with the new guys very well."
Grinnell stated, "The team feels brand new to almost everyone, and it's been good. We are definitely a family, we are all brothers, and we are all pretty close."
Grinnell also stated that the captains do care, like how Senior Izayah Porter sets the tone through practice, and that Coach Cabral is all about winning with his philosophy based on the acronym EDGE; Energy, Determination, Grit, and Execution.
Grinnell added, "That's what we live by every day. Getting to the gym, if you can get in there and if we're growing in EDGE in some sort of way, it's a good day."
When asking Jae'den Stewart, a returning sophomore, about how the team has changed from last season, he stated there is a bit more size in the front court compared to having a smaller team last season; on top of the wings and guards showing more physicality around the rim. One of those new guards on this Bulldogs team, Devin Bowers, commented on what he can bring to the team.
Bowers said, "One thing I can bring to the team is leadership, just being vocal, and not letting anybody slack off."
Bowers also stated that his playstyle is based around attacking downhill to the basket and bringing extra defenders to kick out to the open guy on the perimeter.
Just before media day, the GNAC Preseason Coaches' Poll was posted. The Dean College Bulldogs come in 7th tied with Regis College. When asked about it, the players had some mixed opinions. Most found it not ridiculous but still being under ranked to where the players believe they should be. Tre'von Coney had just one word to say, "Bet."
Returning Senior Darius Leonard said, "Ok cool, Dean's coming with all the ammo we need."
Freshman Ryder Grinnell found it "disrespectful".
Junior transfer Amari Moses said, "I saw that and screenshotted it because I'm not feeling seventh," Moses added, "When we come here, we aren't playing games, we came here to take care of business."
Moses' interview mate Thomas Faucett had a slightly different answer, "I love it, the underdog mentality going into the season. Seventh isn't crazy but, I feel like they are underestimating us," Faucett also remarked, "I think this is going to be a good year, and I think every game is going to be a fun game to watch. Stay tuned."
The Bulldogs will kick off their 2026-2027 season at home against the University of Maine at Presque Isle on November 7th at 2 PM. If you can't find your way to Pieri Gymnasium, you can find the watch link on www.deanbulldogs.com.
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