After three years of effort but disappointing results, the men’s varsity basketball team secured its first win in Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAC) play on Tuesday, Jan. 20. The team’s 58–51 win against Flint Hill marked their first MAC win since the 2022-23 season.
Over the summer, the team hired an all-new coaching staff that players said revitalized the program. With two additional non-league wins since the MAC victory, the team’s overall record now stands at 8–11. The team ended the 2024-25 season with four wins.
“A lot of it has to do with the values the coaching staff has instilled in us,” senior Khalin Patel said. “We did a lot of work over the summer and in the fall to prepare for the season. We also have a pretty new team this year, and with that we’ve built good chemistry and learned how to play together.”
Patel said the increased offseason practices and the renewed commitment from the coaching staff helped the team improve. “[The coaches] show up, they bring energy and they’re dedicated,” Patel said. “That motivates us to be dedicated, too.”
Senior Paul Alle-Koffi said the coaching staff came prepared to make changes to the program. “The head coach [Alpha Bangura] knew this wasn’t a program that wins all the time. He kept that in mind during practice and made changing the narrative our definition of success,” Alle-Koffi said.
While the Flint Hill game showcased the team’s success in terms of numbers, Athletic Director Mike Brooks highlighted the game against Sidwell a week prior as an earlier sign of improved performance. “[The team] played a Sidwell Friends team who has four-star players that are going to play major D1, and we were only down by five points at halftime,” Brooks said. “Even though we ultimately didn’t come out winning, we gave a winning effort. Games like this show that we can compete in this league.”
Alle-Koffi said part of the team’s growth this season has been recognizing that league opponents are beatable despite their reputations. “When we play these teams that people say are the best, I don’t see anything we should be afraid of,” Alle-Koffi said. “They’re not doing anything spectacular. We have the potential to beat them. This team has done a better job realizing that, and we’ve shown that we can compete with anyone.”
Brooks said the team benefited from several changes the athletics department made this year. “We really focused on improving communication,” Brooks said. He said the athletics department’s new policy encourages one-on-one communication between coaches and players as well as weekly or biweekly check-ins between coaches and captains.
Sophomore Rafa Westelius said the coaching staff has reinforced their team-first mentality throughout the season. “All season, they’ve been telling us that we’re trying to make a change in this program,” Westelius said. “After the win, it was like, ‘Yeah, great win—now let’s go get the next one.’”
The team showed their determination during the final minutes of the game against Flint Hill. “In the fourth quarter, we kept our momentum and kept our lead,” Westelius said. “Earlier in the season, second halves kind of fell apart in big games, so that was a turning point where we realized we could actually win this game.”
The team only has three games left in the regular season, including a rematch against Flint Hill. “We know the games will be tough,” Patel said. “But if we work hard in practice and bring a positive attitude, we can get the most out of these last games.”
The team plays next against St. Andrew’s on Tuesday at home. The game starts at 5:45 p.m.