Prep Profiles 23-24 - St. Thomas More School

Owen Carlson | Thursday, December 7th, 2023

The St. Thomas More Chancellors, 5x NEPSAC Class-AAA Champions and 1x National Prep Champions, have gotten off to a hot start this high school season with a rejuvenated roster enriched with high-level talent. The Chancellors already have four players signed to play in college on full scholarships. Let’s explore the exciting lineup of St. Thomas More for this season.

3 Things You Need to Know About This Year’s Team

They are home to one of New England’s best prospects…

2024 6’8” forward Tyler Betsey has gotten off to a hot start in his second season with St. Thomas More. Last year, he averaged 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists per game, earning All-NEPSAC Class-AAA First Team honors, as well as the #1 spot on NERR’s New England Class of 2024 Rankings. 

During the grassroots season this past spring/summer, Betsey ran with NY Rens on the Nike EYBL Circuit. He averaged 12 points and 3 rebounds, shooting over 35% from 3-point range and just under 40% from the field. Just a couple of months ago, Betsey announced his commitment to Cincinnati. 

Four  other players have already signed:

2024 6’3” point guard Justin Menard is another All-NEPSAC returner, as he earned Class-AAA Honorable Mention for his performance through the 2022-23 season with St. Thomas More. This past summer, Menard announced his commitment to Iona.

2024 7’0” German newcomer Ben Defty is the only other Division I commit for the Chancellors so far, as he heads to Boston University for his next chapter. 

2024 6’5” wing Abdur-Rahman De Leon is committed to St. Michael’s to compete at the Division II level.

2024 6’ 4” guard Will Davies just committed to St. Anselm’s in the NE-10 as well. 

There is still plenty of uncommitted 2024 talent:

Dante Green and Shamiere Green always make their presence known, attacking the paint and creating offensive opportunities for themselves and teammates. They are a key part of what gives St. Thomas More one of the best backcourts in the NEPSAC. 

But that is far from where it ends, as flashes of success are also seen from guards Izaiah Pasha, James LaFrance, and Ayato Tokunaga, from wings AJ Rodriguez and Roy Igwe, as well as from bigs Jack Nieradko, and of course, 2025 London Jemison.

3 Questions Heading into the Season

Is London Jemison up to par with Tyler Betsey? 

With Betsey’s talents being so widely known, it will be important for his teammates to help take some of the pressure off of him. London Jemison has proven himself to be a high-major prospect, as he has received offers from Brown, UMass, Fairfield, Yale, Rice, Boston University, George Mason, St. Joseph’s, Rhode Island, Virginia, Temple, Providence, Xavier, Villanova, Syracuse, and more. 

We know Justin Menard is going to play a very big role this year, as he is the only other player who earned All-NEPSAC recognition, as well as a place on NERR’s New England Class of 2024 Rankings (15th).   

Can they buy in?

St. Thomas More has a storied history under Head Coach Jere Quinn. Part of why he is known for being one of New England’s best prep school coaches is for the fact that his teams have always consistently played hard and unselfishly. With the combination of dominant returners and strong newcomers, it will be something to keep an eye on in regards to how quickly they play up to Coach Quinn’s standards. We would bet on it happening sooner rather than later when looking back at Quinn’s past teams. And so far this year, they have done just that. 

How deep will the bench be in late February/Early March?

Coach Quinn has been known to play a deep bench. This is part of what makes it regularly difficult to scheme for games against STM. It will be interesting to see which players maintain a rotation spot. The Chancellor’s are eyeing deep runs in NEPSAC-AAA and the National Prep Championship. 

So far this season:

St. Thomas More has had an outstanding start to the year. At the time of this article’s writing, the Chancellors hold a perfect 8-0 record, with wins coming against national powerhouses such as Hargrave Military Academy and Massanutten Military Academy, as well as more regional powerhouses such as Vermont Academy just last night.

It will be exciting to track St. Thomas More throughout the course of this season in the elite NEPSAC Class-AAA…