2026-27 Clarkson University Men's Basketball Preview

Kaelyn Buehler

Men's Basketball | 11/4/2026 9:00:00 AM

Nearly the entire roster from a season ago returns for the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team in 2026-27 and that veteran presence hopes to make a buzz in the Liberty League this winter.

Guided by 13th-year head coach Jeff Gorski and assistant Aidan Holmes, the Golden Knights return four of their five starters as well as 93% of their scoring from 2025-26. The biggest issue for the Knights a year ago was beginning the season at 1-6 in league, a deep hole from which to recover, but this year the Green and Gold open with five of the first six league contests at home, providing an opportunity to get off to a hot start in the conference.

The frontcourt and its offensive versatility provided plenty of scoring punch for the Knights last year as senior Braeden Burns and sophomore Nate Abernethy combined for better than 30 points per game. Burns ranked fourth in the Liberty League in points per game (17.0 ppg) and was fourth in field goal percentage (49.1%), pushing his career total to 1223 points through 75 games and leaving him 466 points behind the program's all-time leading scorer John Coleman (1689). Whether Burns is able to surpass Coleman remains to be seen, but the likeliest path to success for Clarkson this fall would be a combination of Burns challenging the mark while also seeing the growth of scoring from other sources around the court. Abernethy showed his prowess often in his freshman season where he averaged 14.2 points per game, which ranked 12th in the conference. Abernethy's growth as a player may play a part in Clarkson's success this winter where if he can become a consistent second option to compliment Burns, the Knights' frontcourt could be a tough defensive matchup for many opponents.

Clarkson will have plenty of other options down low as well. Graduate student Aidan McGuire comes over from Plattsburgh State where he appeared in 23 games last year and averaged roughly 10 minutes per contest. He will join senior Ben Phillips as the bigs in the post responsible for put backs, defense, and rebounding. Juniors Grayson Wallace and Jeff Dewar are similar players to Abernethy, though each spends a bit more time as long-range shooting threats. Sophomore Bobby Piddock contributed more as the season went on appearing in 14 league contests as a key reserve, and freshman Shamus George will also battle for minutes in the mold of McGuire and Phillips.

The backcourt will be led by senior Steve DeRegis who will look to join Burns in the 1000-point club. Always a threat from the perimeter with a range that goes well beyond the actual 3-point stripe, DeRegis ranked second in the Liberty League with 67 3-pointers made a year ago and has 171 for his career, placing him sixth all-time and putting him in position to become just the fourth Clarkson player to reach 200 3-pointers made in a career. DeRegis is joined by several other senior guards in the backcourt, including Tyson Maxam, Matt Toscano, and Casey Montesano. Maxam averaged 5.3 points per game, but showed offensive outbursts on occasions, scoring 23 in the season finale against RPI when he nailed six 3-pointers, and tossing in 18 points in just 15 minutes against SUNY Poly. Toscano was excellent off the bench as a ball handler and defender, while Montesano is looking to recover from a season mostly lost to injury a year ago.

Juniors Lorenzo Rappa and Ben Rappa also return for the Knights. Lorenzo has served as the team's starting point guard for two years and Ben has come off the bench for extended minutes as a standout defender. Sophomores Ben Bianco and Liam Mali spent a season getting their feet wet at the collegiate level and look to make a leap in minutes for the Knights. Additionally, newcomers Kieran Barnes and Tyler Witazek will receive minutes and will get time to learn from the veteran upperclassmen.

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