Breakout freshman performance fuels Darris Nichols La Salle debut win

There’s a new energy surrounding La Salle’s men’s basketball team in 2025-26. With a new arena, a new coaching staff, and a completely overhauled roster, new life has been breathed into this once historic basketball program.

“I like our energy,” first-year Explorers head coach Darris Nichols said. “From our scrimmage to our exhibition, our enthusiasm was a lot better, and it showed. I was worried about when it would wear off, and it did in spurts, but we did a good job of maintaining it and our guys really locked in over the last week. … If we can bottle it up and do that consistently, I think we have a chance [to succeed].”

It was an offseason brimming with anticipation on 20th and Olney Avenue amid all the recent changes, and that finally culminated on Wednesday night with Nichols’ debut at Glaser Arena.

La Salle came out firing on offense, held the visitors to four points through the opening 12 minutes, never relinquished that lead and cruised to an 87-59 win against Coppin State. The physicality, tenacity and depth that Nichols promoted all offseason long when constructing this inaugural Explorers roster was on full display over the course of their season opener.

“The biggest thing is that guys are engaged,” Nichols said. “[Whether] starting or coming off the bench, they were really good. I think about teams in the past that had a lot of depth, and those guys didn’t care who starts or finishes the game, they’re just engaged and then ready to make an impact. We have a whole bunch of guys like that.”

Senior guard Jaeden Marshall arrived from Niagara in the transfer portal this past offseason, and on Wednesday night, he was a prime example of the tough-nosed, versatile style La Salle wants to play.

Marshall’s a proven contributor who averaged 10.3 PPG on 44% last season as a slasher and rim cutter but under Nichols direction, he’s moved into more of a scoring and playmaking role.

He pushed the early lead against Coppin State with nine points in the first half on his way to finishing the night at 15 on 5-for-10 shooting, along with four rebounds, four assists and a steal.

“[Marshall’s] physical, he makes shots, he gets to the free throw line, he’s also an underrated defender,” Nichols said. “But the biggest jump he’s made is in his coachability. This is his last go-around in terms of playing college basketball. I think he wants to pour everything he has into this team and finish out his career winning.”

Although the many transfers that this La Salle team is filled with garner a lot of attention, it was a freshman who helped steal the show on Wednesday night.

Ashton Walker, a 6-foot-5 guard who had originally committed to Radford to play for Nichols before following him to North Philadelphia, stuffed the stat sheet in his first college game. Walker finished with a game-high 18 points (6-for-10 FG), and threw in seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

A pair of injuries to two of La Salle’s major projected contributors at the guard spots made Walker’s performance even more needed. Old Dominion transfer Jaden Johnson, whom Nichols recruited hard to Radford, remains out due to a foot injury. Additionally, graduate senior Truth Harris, who followed Nichols from Radford, played just 5 minutes before an injury of his own had him relegated to the bench and in a walking boot for the rest of the night.

Walker wasted no time making his impact felt offensively, scoring 12 of his 18 points in the first half, helping La Salle jump out to a 47-23 lead through the first 20 minutes.

He even went on a stretch of just under five minutes where he scored nine of those first-half points, showing off his scoring ability at every level of the court.

Nichols spent a few years recruiting Walker at Oak Hill Academy, prior to the young guard transferring to Catholic High School in his hometown of Virginia Beach, Va. Nichols always knew that Walker had talent, but praised his work ethic and an approach that culminated in his performance on Wednesday night.

“You think about the work that he’s put in, when he committed to us at Radford, he weighed probably 165lbs and he got on campus here at 188 lbs,” Nichols said. “That’s a testament to his work. He’s coachable, he doesn’t have days where his mood is up and down. You don’t see that as much from freshmen. He came in here prepared.”

Walker saw the efforts that Nichols was making to recruit him to Radford. Routinely Nichols would drive out to the middle of nowhere, Mouth of Wilson, Va, to visit with Walker. They formed a connection early on and Walker knew that Nichols was the coach that he wanted to play for. When Nichols then made the leap from Radford to La Salle, Walker was going with him, and it wasn’t even a question.

“Coach Nichols has always been trustworthy,” Walker said. “I knew I wanted to commit to him when he and his brother were coming to a hot gym in the middle of nowhere with no AC to watch me play.”

Walker even recalls exactly where he got the news that Nichols was taking the La Salle job.

“I found out I was going to La Salle in the Nurse’s office,” he said. “As long as I was with [Nichols], I felt that I was safe. It’s been a really easy process.”

Walker, being from a popular vacation destination in Virginia Beach, received a text from his father that read “So, are we going to La Salle?” Walker thought La Salle was an island somewhere – which, if you consider the Olney section of North Philadelphia as one, then you’d be right.

Although just one game in, there’s plenty to build on and be excited about for La Salle fans.

However, don’t get Nichols thinking too far ahead. Fresh off of Wednesday’s win, he didn’t even want to mention the Explorers next game on Saturday agasint Monmouth. The Explorers are taking things one day at a time as Nichols’ tenure gets underway from Glaser Arena.

“We have to be good tomorrow,” Nichols said. “We’ve got treatment, we’ve got film, we’ve got to get to study hall. I’m obviously concerned about the next game, but we have so much other stuff to clean up as a team before we even talk about that”.