NEW PHILADELPHIA — With seven lettermen returning from a team that won 14 games and finished third in the rugged Ohio Cardinal Conference last season, the New Philadelphia boys’ basketball team has the potential to be one of the most powerful Division III squads in the Eastern District this winter.
“There’s optimism,” said fourth-year New Philadelphia head coach Zach Ross, who has compiled a 50-25 coaching record with the Quakers. “It’s a lot of guys that came back from an average year, so the whole goal of this team is to raise the standard, and they’ve done a good job with it so far.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Quakers possess everything to have a banner season, including size, experience, senior leadership and excellent shooting ability. New Philadelphia returns the bulk of its team that averaged 65 points-per-game last season and defeated its opponents by an average of eight points-per-contest.
The throng of returning Quaker letterwinners is led by 5-foot, 8-inch senior guard Reid Wells, who earned Division III All-Ohio honors last season while averaging just under 10 points-per-game.
But the talent certainly doesn’t stop there as the Quakers’ other tall and talented lettermen include 6-2 senior Quinn Miller, 6-6 senior Aidan Mushrush, 6-2 senior Isaac Roman-Willey, 5-10 junior TR Harriman, 6-2 junior Lincoln Murphy and 6-0 junior Parker Rieger.
New Philadelphia's Quinn Miller, right, is one of seven returning lettermen for the Quakers this season.“I’m just really proud of my seniors,” said Ross of their leadership. “This is my fourth year, and this is the first group I’ve been with since they were freshmen. They’re phenomenal kids, and I really want to celebrate them as much as we can because they’ve done a great job and are the true leaders of our program.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOther Quakers on the varsity roster battling for floor time include 5-11 junior Isaac Wagner and 6-0 senior Thor Talamona.
With so many veterans returning, it’s going to be competitive for some younger players to break into the varsity rotation, but Ross feels he has three underclassmen who will do just that.
“Right now, we’re about 10 deep,” said the Quakers’ head coach. “We have two sophomores in (6-4) Harper Mushrush and (6-5) Jackson Martini and you can also add in (6-0 junior) Austin Pringle to that mix. They are three guys that fit in really well and buy into our culture and are about the right things. They have a relentless passion together.”
New Philadelphia's Aidan Mushrush, left, brings the size at 6-foot-6.Ross loves the work ethic of his entire Quaker team, which is constantly striving to hone the fine points of its game.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“We’ve had great practices, and they’re great kids,” Ross said. “They’re fun to coach, and they care about the right things.”
Ross knows the expectations are high for his New Philadelphia team, but he just wants them to continue to work hard and improve, and if they do that, things will take care of themselves.
“Everybody wants to put an actual tangible goal on it (the season), and I’ve kind of challenged our guys that I don’t want to do that,” Ross said. “We just want to represent our culture, and I think we want to raise the standard in New Philly. If we do that, the wins will come, and hopefully, we cut the nets. But at the end of the day, I don’t want to have a definitive goal, we just want to better the culture and better the program.”
Ross knows the OCC will be strong again. Defending conference champ Lexington lost to eventual state qualifier Sandusky in the district final last season and is eyeing another big season. Lexington, Mansfield Senior and New Philadelphia are all potentially powerful teams, and new league entrant Dover brings a rich history to the mix as well.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“It’s always a really good league,” Ross said. “It’s up in the air about (defending champ) Lexington and which kids are going to be playing or graduating early for football, but regardless of that, I think our biggest opponent is ourselves, because I think we have enough talent that we can beat anybody on our schedule.”
The Quakers will play several new opponents in the non-league portion of their slate.
Lake and West Muskingum replace Claymont and John Glenn on the Quakers’ schedule. New Philadelphia’s other non-league games include River View, Zanesville, Northwest, Indian Valley, Marietta and Alliance.
2025-26 New Philadelphia boys basketball schedule
Dec. 2 River View
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDec. 5 at Mansfield Madison Comprehensive
Dec. 12 at Mansfield Senior
Dec. 13 at Lake HOF Classic
Dec. 16 at West Holmes
Dec. 19 Wooster
Dec. 23 at Dover
Dec. 27 at West Muskingum Cage Classic
Dec. 30 Zanesville
Jan. 2 Ashland
Jan. 9 at Lexington
Jan. 13 at Northwest
Jan. 16 Mansfield Senior
Jan. 20 West Holmes
Jan. 23 Mansfield Madison Comprehensive
Jan. 24 at Indian Valley
Jan. 27 at Wooster
Jan. 30 at Ashland
Feb. 3 Marietta
Feb. 6 Lexington
Feb. 13 Dover
Feb. 17 Alliance
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: New Philadelphia Quakers boys basketball 2025-26 preview
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