LANCASTER, Pa. – Following a second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, the Franklin & Marshall men's basketball program enters the 2026-27 season under new leadership, as Tim Sweeney begins as head coach in Lancaster following a seven-year stint at Connecticut College.

The team will open its season with a trip to (RV) Mount Union on Friday, November 6. 

2025-26 Diplomats

Another year as one of the best defensive sides in the country led Franklin & Marshall to a Centennial Conference Tournament semifinal appearance and a second-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. 

The Diplomats' consistent defensive performances remained a consistent strength in 2025-26, as the side ended the year with the sixth-best scoring defense (61.5 points allowed per game) en route to a 22-6, 10-3 Centennial Conference record. 

While the Diplomats fell at Elizabethtown to open the season, they followed that with a 12-game winning streak that stretched into the start of the Centennial Conference schedule. During that streak, the team won the Rutgers-Newark Tournament and the F&M Holiday Tournament thanks to a buzzer-beating triple from Steve Donahue.

F&M opened the conference schedule with a win at McDaniel before falling at Gettysburg. Yet again, F&M recovered from defeat with a run of five-consecutive victories over (RV) Johns Hopkins, Haverford, Dickinson, Washington College, and McDaniel. The streak was snapped with a narrow loss at Ursinus, but that was followed by back-to-back wins against Swarthmore and Muhlenberg. Johns Hopkins won the second meeting of the teams in Baltimore, while F&M ended the season with wins over Dickinson and Gettysburg at the Mayser Center.

The Diplomats entered the 2026 Centennial Conference men's basketball tournament as the fourth seed, and they played host to fifth-seeded Swarthmore in a 80-59 victory in the first round. The Bullets controlled the pace in a 69-45 defeat at Gettysburg in the semifinal round. 

F&M earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, but the team's second-straight appearance came to a close in the first round against No. 23 Cortland.

The 2025-26 Diplomats earned a return to the D3hoops.com Men's Basketball Top 25 for the first time since the final poll of the 2017-18 season. F&M spent three weeks in the top 25 later in the 2025-26 season with a peak ranking of No. 19. 
Kevin Nowsowiat led the way in individual accolades for the Diplomats, as he earned all-region nods from both the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC, first team) and D3hoops.com (second team). He was also named a Jostens Trophy Finalist for Division III Men's Basketball. Nowoswiat placed on the All-Centennial Conference First Team, while he was joined by Steve Donahue (Second Team) and Vakaris Grauslys (Honorable Mention).

Players to Watch

G - Bryson Amos-Whitfield - Jr.
G - Steve Donahue - Jr.
F - Franklin Jones - Sr. 
F - Carter Lawrence - Sr.
G - Asad Syed - Sr.

While three members of last season's starting five have departed, including former NABC First-Team All-American Kevin Nowoswiat and three-time All-Centennial Conference Vakaris Grauslys, Second-Team All-Centennial Conference guard Steve Donahue and senior forward Franklin Jones lead a group of nine players returning from last season's side. Six first-year players complete this year's roster. 

Junior guard Steve Donahue starred for the Diplomats in a strong sophomore campaign that produced a spot on the All-Centennial Conference Second Team, one Centennial Conference Player of the Week award, and a Franklin & Marshall Holiday Tournament Most Valuable Player Award. On the team, he totaled the third-most points (340) with a 51.3% field goal percentage and team-best 38.0% three-point field goal percentage.  Among Centennial Conference players, he ranked 13th in points per game (12.1), 16th in threes per game (1.3), 17th in steals per game (1.1), and 15th in minutes per game (28.4). He scored ten-plus points in 21 games and claimed the player of the week and tournament MVP award in a week where he averaged 15.7 points per game with a buzzer-beater three over Lancaster Bible to secure the Franklin & Marshall Holiday Tournament Championship. 

Junior guard Bryson Amos-Whitfield served as the Diplomats' sixth man last season, averaging 22.1 minutes from the bench. In that team, he produced the second-most rebounds (142) and fourth-most points (187) on the team with a 47.6% field goal percentage and 31.1% three-point field goal percentage. Among Centennial Conference players, he ranked 18th in rebounds per game with seven double-digit scoring performances.

Senior forward Franklin Jones was a vital component of the recent strong defense sides including a Diplomats side that had the fifth-best scoring defense in the country last season. Jones' 2025-26 season was his first where he was able to remain healthy from start to finish, and the now senior forward led the team in both steals (43) and blocked shots (21) across his 27 starts and 28 appearances. He posted the team's second-best field goal percentage (56.9%) and among Centennial Conference players, ranked ninth in steals per game (1.5), 12th in blocked shots per game (0.8), and 19th in rebound per game (5.0). 

Senior forward Carter Lawrence appeared in every game from the bench a season ago, averaging 10.0 minutes per contest. He totaled 88 rebounds and 74 points from 280 minutes.

Senior guard Asad Syed appeared in all 28 games from the bench, averaging 8.8 minutes per game at point guard. He totaled 59 points and offensively had the most success on triples, shooting 37.5% with 12 three-pointers alongside 26 assists, 22 rebounds, and 12 steals.

Other Returners

Junior Sean Donovan and Sophomore Max Pearis return at forward for the Diplomats in 2026-27. Donovan logged 71 minutes and converted seven of his 12 field-goal attempts, totaling 21 points with 18 rebounds across 15 appearances. Pearis made nine appearances from the bench with three rebounds in 18 minutes. 

Two sophomores return at guard in Landon Brownstein and Quin Frasher. Brownstein made ten appearances with 17 points, shooting 3-of-6 on field goals and 9-of-12 on free throws across 29 minutes, while Frasher totaled eight rebounds across ten games and 30 minutes. 

Joining the Diplomats

Six first-year players join to complete the 2026-27 Diplomats. Four guards join the Class of 2031 including JT Lindi (Harrison, N.Y. / Iona Prep.), Gunther Neumann (San Juan, Puerto Rico / Delbarton School (N.J.)), Nick Nsenkyire (Hillsborough, N.J. / Rutgers Prep. School), and Jackson Wickenheiser (Emmaus, Pa. / Bethlehem Catholic). At forward, Ehi Ataga (Memphis, Tenn. / Memphis University School) and Eb Ehgie ( Kells, Ireland / Westtown School) complete a group of six forwards on the team's roster. 

The Road Ahead

The Diplomats will open the 2026-27 season with a 12-game non-conference schedule that features six games at the Mayser Center. Four of the opponents also competed in last season's NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament. 

F&M's opening weekend sees the Diplomats travel for the Mount Union Tip-Off Classic. They'll face the (RV) Purple Raiders on opening night, Friday, November 6, before competing against Muskingum in a neutral-site matchup.   

After the 2025-26 season opener against Elizabethtown was shifted from Lancaster to Elizabethtown due a to a campus outage, the Diplomats will now play host to the Blue Jays on Saturday, November 14. F&M follows that by hosting Marymount on Wednesday, November 18. The Diplomats travel to play Eastern on Saturday, November 21 before hosting NCAA Tournament Second Round qualifiers (RV) SUNY Cortland on Tuesday, November 24.

The Diplomats return from Thanksgiving Break with three away games ahead of the holiday break. Hamilton returns to the schedule as hosts on Sunday, November 29, while F&M will play Haverford in a non-conference contest on Friday, December 4. The team concludes the away run at Albright on Tuesday, December 15. 

The Franklin & Marshall Holiday Tournament returns for the third consecutive season on Tuesday, December 29, and Wednesday, December 30. F&M opens play against (RV) Montclair State and will play either Lancaster Bible or Misericordia on the following day. The non-conference schedule concludes against (RV) Stevens on Wednesday, January 6. 

With the Centennial Conference split into divisions, F&M will be competing in the same division as McDaniel, Gettysburg, No. 22 Johns Hopkins, and Dickinson for the 2026-27 season. They will play each of those schools both home and away as part of the 13-game conference slate, featuring Wednesday and Saturday matchups over a seven-week span. The inter-division matchups will see the Diplomats host Haverford, Washington College, and Swarthmore with trips to Haverford, Muhlenberg, and Ursinus.

F&M hosts Dickinson to begin the schedule on Saturday, January 9. That'll be followed by a week away, first at McDaniel on Wednesday, January 13, followed by an away game at Ursinus on Saturday, January 16. F&M is home for the next three contests including Gettysburg on Wednesday, January 20, No. 22 Johns Hopkins on Saturday, January 23, and Haverford on Wednesday, January 27. F&M starts concluding home-and-away series in the next two contests, traveling to Gettysburg on Saturday, January 30, before hosting McDaniel on Wednesday, February 3. Three of the next four games are standalone conference games, beginning at Muhlenberg on Saturday, February 6. F&M then travels to No. 22 Johns Hopkins on Wednesday, February 10. Up next is a home game against Swarthmore on Saturday, February 13 followed by the regular season home finale against Washington College on Wednesday, February 17. The regular season wraps up at Dickinson on Saturday, February 20.  

The Centennial Conference Tournament will feature the top six teams, regardless of division, from the regular season standings. The top-two teams in the regular season standings will get a bye directly into the semifinal round of the tournament. The postseason starts on Tuesday, February 23 and will continue through the championship game on Sunday, February 28 with the higher-seeded team hosting each of the playoff games on their campus sites.

The 64-team NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament will take place over the following three weekends, starting with regionals on Friday, March 5, and Saturday, March 6. The Sweet 16 is slated for Friday, March 12 followed by the Elite 8 on Saturday, March 13. The Final Four onwards will be hosted on the campus of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pa. from the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The Final Four games will occur on Thursday, March 18, while the DIII National Champion will be crowned on Saturday, March 20. 

In The Polls

The Diplomats, Centennial Conference semifinalists and NCAA Tournament qualifiers a season ago, were picked to finish in third place in the 2026-27 Centennial Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Poll. Defending champions Gettysburg and runners-up Johns Hopkins split both first place overall with 77 votes and first-place votes with five apiece. Behind F&M, Ursinus (58), Swarthmore (49), and Dickinson (45) complete the top six spots representing the number of available slots in the conference tournament. Haverford (27), Muhlenberg (25), McDaniel (23), and Washington College (10) round out the poll. You can view the complete Centennial Conference Men's Basketball Coaches Preseason Poll here.
 
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