Rutgers-Camden Athletics

Scarlet Raptor men selected as NJAC dark horse in pre-season coaches poll

11/6/2025 2:02:00 PM

CAMDEN, N.J. (Nov. 6, 2025) – The Rutgers University-Camden men's basketball team returns six lettermen and adds an influx of new talent on its 2025-26 roster, and coaches in the New Jersey Athletic Conference have noticed.
 
The Scarlet Raptors were tabbed as the NJAC's "dark horse" team in a pre-season poll of the conference's 10 coaches, released today. Coming off a season in which they finished 9-15 overall and 4-14 in the NJAC, the Scarlet Raptors were picked for eighth place in the poll but earned respect as the dark horse team.
 
NJAC coaches picked Montclair State University as the conference favorite with The College of New Jersey tabbed for second place. Both of those teams received four first-place votes. Stockton University was picked for third and Rowan University received the other two first-place votes and was tabbed for fourth place by the conference coaches.
 
Rounding out the top six picks were Kean University and Ramapo College, respectively, while New Jersey City University was selected for seventh place.
 
Following Rutgers-Camden, the coaches picked Rutgers University-Newark for ninth place and William Paterson University for 10th place.
 
Seventh-year Rutgers-Camden Head Coach Stuart Pradia returns two of the best players in the NJAC in senior forward Cameron Downs and senior guard Eric Benjamin. Downs led the team in scoring (17.1 ppg), rebounding (7.2 rpg) and assists (46) last season on his way to earning NJAC Second Team recognition and four honors as Rutgers-Camden's Raptor of the Week. A three-time All-NJAC player who also was the conference's Rookie of the Year as a freshman, Downs heads into his senior season with 1,206 career points, the seventh-highest total in program history.
 
Benjamin finished second on the 2024-25 Raptors in scoring (12.5 ppg) and shot 47-for-131 from three-point range. With 131 career treys, he is sixth on the program's career list.
 
Another key returner, sophomore guard Ryan Senft, averaged 3.9 points and dished off 35 assists last season, while also earning NJAC Rookie of the Week honors on Dec. 9. Returning after a year's absence is guard Keion Elliott, who was the NJAC Rookie of the Week on Dec. 18, 2023.
 
Rutgers-Camden opens its season Saturday with a 3 p.m. game at Alvernia University.