CBS Philly: Swarthmore Hoops Setting the Centennial Pace

A fantastic season continues for the Swarthmore College men’s basketball team.

Following wins over Washington College and Gettysburg last week, the Garnet improved to 17-2 on the season. They lead the Centennial Conference with a 11-1 league mark and are currently ranked seventh in the nation in Division III, the best ranking in program history.

“We really believe in this group,” Swarthmore head coach Landry Kosmalski told KYW Newsradio. “But to their credit, they’ve surprised me and I think it really just has to do with senior leadership. We’ve got three senior captains and they just, every day, they are taking care of everything in terms of our energy, in terms of of talk, in terms of our effort. We’ve got a smaller team than in the past, 13 guys total, but it’s a really tight team and with their leadership, we’re pretty consistent in the things that are important every day.”

“It’s been great,” says Zach Yonda '18, an economics major from Berwyn, Pa. “I’m loving every second of it as a senior. Trying to not take any moment for granted.

“We have a really strong culture,” he adds. “All 13 of the guys on our team really enjoy playing for each other. And we don’t play for ourselves, we play for each other. So I think when you’re not doing things for yourself and you’re doing things for other people, you can rise above adversity and take the team to another level and take our play to another level.”

“It’s been a great challenge and we are going to get everyone’s best shot,” Kosmalski says. “And we just embrace it. Any adversity, like a game like [Thursday night] where we struggled at times, we think just makes us stronger. So we welcome the best shot because not everyone gets everyone’s best shot. We get it every night and we really feel it just makes us better, makes us stronger.”


Interview with head coach Landry Kosmalski following the win over Washington College:

Interview with Zack Yonda '18 following the win over Washington College: