2023-2024 Roster

BALTIMORE – UMBC head men's basketball coach Jim Ferry has announced that five college and four prep student-athletes have signed National Letters of Intent and will compete for the Retrievers during the 2023-24 campaign.
 
"We filled a lot of our needs with this recruiting class and I'm really excited to begin working with them," Ferry stated. "I thought my coaching staff did an unbelievable job of identifying the right student-athletes for our program. Bringing in a group of this size is not an easy task, but we didn't rush things. We took our time in finding mature kids who are all good people and can make a positive contribution to the UMBC community."
 
Six-foot-4 guard Bryce Johnson (Orlando, Fl./Chicago State), 6-5 guard Marlon Short (Richmond, Ca./Stanislaus State), 6-9 forward/center Max Lorca-Lloyd (Melbourne, Fla./Pennsylvania), 6-8 forward/center Khydarius Smith (Fort Mill, SC/South Carolina- Upstate), and 6-3 guard Marcus Banks (Hampton, Va./Odessa College) have all excelled at the collegiate level and will continue their careers in Baltimore.
 
In addition, 6-3 guard Anthony "Ace" Valentine (Baltimore, Md./Mount St. Joseph), 6-8 forward Marcel Gardner (Potomac, Md./ St. Andrews Episcopal), 6-5 guard Franck Emmou (Mansfield, Texas/Mansfield Summit) and 6-5 guard/forward Alpha Chibambe (Democratic Republic of Congo/Phoenix Prep) carry a winning pedigree to Baltimore and are highly regarded prospects.
 
"I think this group will give us a lot of versatility and we've addressed some of the needs that we lacked last year," Ferry explained. "We've added size, ball handling, shooting and more athleticism. We're bigger on the perimeter and our players will not be stuck at a particular position."
 
Johnson, a rising junior, appeared in 54 games and made 29 starts over his first two seasons at Chicago State. He averaged a combined 8.8 points along with 3.5 rebounds while shooting 42.4 percent overall and 36.1 percent from long-distance. Last season, Johnson drilled 57 treys and played in all 31 contests for the Cougars.  He reached 20 points on three different occasions, including a career-high 29-point outburst versus Aurora.
 
Short was named to the 2022-23 All-California Collegiate Athletic Association Second Team after averaging 15.3 points and 5.2 rebounds during his sophomore year at Stanislaus State. He led the Warriors in scoring and shot 46.8 percent overall from the floor. The rising junior reached 20 points in five different games, also recorded 31 steals while shooting 76.3 percent from the charity stripe. He will have two years of eligibility remaining.
 
Lorca-Lloyd made 43 appearances and earned ten starts during his three seasons at Penn. This past year, he played in a career-high 28 games and averaged 14.0 minutes off the Quakers' bench. Lorca-Lloyd paced the squad with 34 rejections, which slotted fourth in the Ivy League, and added 3.6 rebounds per game. He recorded a career-high 14 rebounds and nine points in the season-opener at Iona and also tied his career-mark with three blocks. Lorca-Lloyd, who will have two years of eligibility, started the first six contests in 2021-22 before suffering a season-ending injury.

Smith, a fifth-year senior, logged 109 games and earned 28 starts during his four-year tenure at USC Upstate. Last season, he made 15 starts and played a career-best 18.6 minutes per night while averaging 7.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. Smith recorded a career-high 16 points against Gardner-Webb and pulled down a career-best ten rebounds versus Presbyterian. He reached double-digits in scoring in 13 different contests this past year.
 
Banks, a rising junior, made his collegiate debut during the 2021-22 season at Western Carolina, where he made the SoCon All-Freshmen Team after averaging 7.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Banks, who made 16 starts for the Catamounts that season, drilled 55 treys and added 22 steals. He scored a career-best 22 points at Charlotte, going 8-for-9 from the field with five 3-pointers in the first half. Last season, Banks started 30 games and averaged 7.7 points and 2.6 rebounds in 19.6 minutes per game last season at Odessa (Texas) College.
 
Valentine, a four-year player at Mount St. Joseph, helped direct the Gaels to a combined record of 80-14 over his final three seasons. He was named to the Baltimore Catholic League First Team after the squad captured the 2023 BCL regular season and tournament titles. Valentine scored 18 points and added seven assists against St. Frances in the MIAA A Conference final, which was held at UMBC's Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena. "Ace" averaged 13.2 points, 5.5 assists and four rebounds to make the jump to the All-Metro First Team (Baltimore Sun) after earning Second Team honors as a junior.
 
Gardner helped lead St. Andrews Episcopal to a record of 80-28, including a 37-12 region mark during his career. Last season, the squad went 24-7 (9-1 in the region) and earned a second place conference finish. SAE captured the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship in 2020 and lost in the title game in 2023. He was named to the All-MAC Team for the second straight season after averaging 15.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.
 
Emmou helped steer Mansfield Summit to the state playoffs for the first time in program history after his squad captured the 5A Region I Championship. Emmou scored 27 points and grabbed seven rebounds in his team's regional quarterfinal victory over Mansfield Timberview. At the completion of the campaign, he was named to the 5A Region I All Region Squad. Emmou also earned First Team All-District honors as a senior after earning Second Team accolades in 2022. He averaged 14.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game last season.
 
Chibambe helped lead Phoenix Prep to a 27-13 record and an appearance in the Grind Session Sweet 16 this past year. He averaged 14.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists on the season while shooting 56 percent overall, 38 percent from deep and 81 percent from the charity stripe. Chibambe also played at national power J Serra Catholic (CA) with Bronny James before finishing up at Phoenix Prep.
 
The Retrievers recorded an overall record of 18-14 for the second straight season in 2022-23 and finished fourth in the America East Conference standings.