Big changes for Portlaoise ahead of new Men’s National League basketball season

PORTLAOISE Panthers head coach, Jack Scully is anticipating a return to the style of basketball he and his players employed during his first year in charge of the team back in 2023/24.

Following the departure of some of last season’s high-profile players in the likes of American power forward, Eric Anderson, James Phelan, Liam Kinsella and Aleksandar Kovacevic, Scully insists it will be more about hard graft in this latest campaign, as a number of the club’s young guns make the step up.

Both Phelan and Kinsella have made the move to Super League outfit, Bright St Vincent’s, while Kovacevic has joined National League side, Tipp Talons, with Luxembourg the next stop for Anderson in his basketball career and Cormac Howson moving to the US to compete with Redemption Point Christian Academy in New York.

The loss of such key players left Scully will plenty of work over the summer in restructuring his squad, but the Portlaoise boss is pleased at how his panel is shaping up ahead of the start to the new Division One season which sees them play host to Maree in St Mary’s Hall on Saturday 4 October.

Indeed, he has managed to secure the services of 6’5” American point guard, Seth Dawson and 6’8” centre, Rich Ashu from London, while still managing to retain the hugely influential Xabi Arriaga and Kevin Donohoe along with the core of the club’s home-grown talent in the likes of Davin McEvoy, Dylan Dunne and Kyle Burke.

And, while Gary Morrissey is still working his way back from injury and Trevor Swayne is set to return to the team later in the season, Scully is looking forward to seeing the likes of Jayden Umeh and Justice Iheme make the step up to National League basketball.

Scully led the Portlaoise men to their most successful season ever in 2024/25, as they reached both the President’s National Cup and Division One play-off finals, losing out narrowly to Limerick Celtics on both counts.

But, with all the changes in personnel, the Panthers boss is expecting a different approach to this upcoming campaign, which also sees them moved from the North to the South Conference for the coming season.

“Last year was the most successful year we've had in the club's history, and it was my most successful season as a coach, but it was also the most difficult and challenging season I’ve ever had as well,” admitted Scully.

“With the size of the squad I had, it was hard to keep everyone happy. I was dropping some really good players, I was dropping players who are going playing Super League now. That was the squad we had.

“It's easy going in as underdogs and flying under the radar like we did in year one, whereas last season we were picked as one of the favourites.

“It’s a big change from last year when we got in load of transfers and, in some way, we've been the victim of our own success. We’ve lost James Phelan, Liam Kinsella and Aleksandar Kovacevic, and Eric Anderson has gone to play in Luxembourg.

“This year we have a couple of young players coming in. We’ve Jayden Umeh stepping up, Justice Iheme and others.

“I still think we're going to be really competitive and I still think we can be there or thereabouts, but it's going to be different sort of season.

“I think it's going to be more back to the way we played in my first year in charge, where we were fighting for everything and we just outworked teams.

“I think last year we just had the players where we could outplay teams. This year, I do think we still have really good players, but we don't have the depth that we had last year.

“So I think this year it's just going to be a little bit more about outworking teams and really focusing on getting the better of them” he predicted.

Regarding the new overseas players, Seth Dawson and Rich Ashu, whom he has introduced to his Portlaoise set-up in recent weeks, Scully told the Laois Nationalist.

“I just went to the market at the start of summer and they stood out for me. Seth is 6’5”, a nice size. He can score from all three positions. He can shoot and dribble. He looks like a natural scorer. He's been in about three weeks and I've been very impressed him so far.

“Rich only finished four years on scholarship in America as well. He’s a nice size, really athletic on the floor. It's early days, but at the moment I'm very happy with the two lads.

“We've played three practice games so far against teams that don't have their full squads back, but we've won three out of three.

“The team is moving along nicely. It’s a different team from last year. Last season we were stacked with numerous quality players, whereas this year, we’re a bit trimmed down, which is definitely a bit easier to manage from a coaching point of view.

“It gives lads more opportunity to settle into the game without being worried about who's coming off the bench.

“I'm really happy with the squad that we have and I'm really happy with the management team that we have in place.

“We've recruited well with the new lads and I feel there's a really nice balance of experience and youth there,” he said.