After exploring the NCAA transfer portal, La Salle guard Daeshon Shepherd is back. Dunking.

When La Salle’s Daeshon Shepherd entered the transfer portal after the end of last season, it gave the guard a second to breathe.

“Having the time to step away, not being around the team and not being around the coaches for the time in the portal, I really had time to think [about] what I really wanted out of this, and what I considered home,” Shepherd said.

Shepherd entered the portal after a breakout junior season for the Explorers. He emerged as the third offensive option behind junior guard Khalil Brantley and senior guard Jhamir Brickus, averaging 10.6 points on 32.5 minutes per game. Shepherd recorded eight games of 15 points or more, including a career-high 23 points in a Feb. 21 win against St. Bonaventure.

Brantley and Brickus also entered the transfer portal, with both finding new programs. Brantley landed at Oklahoma State, while Brickus joined Big 5 rival Villanova.

Shepherd, who played high school basketball at Archbishop Wood, says he was looking for a change of scenery.

“I just wanted to see if there was any other opportunity out there for me,” Shepherd said. “I’ve been in Philly my whole life, I was trying to get used to being somewhere else.”

It’s not the first time he had the thought, either. La Salle coach Fran Dunphy said Shepherd had spent a little time looking for other landing spots after the 2022-23 season as well.

» READ MORE: On both the men’s and women’s side, La Salle basketball enters the season with a clean slate

“[Shepherd] did the same thing last year where he tested the market, which is OK by me,” Dunphy said. “He’s chosen to come back, and certainly we’ve welcomed him back.”

Whether for lack of opportunity elsewhere or a change of heart, Shepherd decided in April to withdraw from the portal and return to La Salle for his final season of eligibility.

“I sat there, talked to my friends, my family,” Shepherd said. “I decided that finishing here for my last year would be something that I want.”

La Salle lost four of its top five scorers, including Brantley and Brickus, to the portal in the offseason. Of the team’s two most frequently used starting lineups, accounting for 25 of its games, only Shepherd and sophomore guard-forward Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi returned.

With the turnover La Salle faced in the offseason, Shepherd became the veteran on the roster.

Offseason transfer additions Corey McKeithan (Rider) and Jahlil White (Temple) are veterans, both having appeared in more than 85 career games, but Shepherd is the longest-tenured Explorer, with 78 games at La Salle after Monday’s 65-52 season-opening win against American. In that game, Shepard finished third behind McKeithan and White with a 10-point performance.

This has thrust Shepherd, almost unwittingly, into a leadership role. In a season with eight new players — five transfers and three freshmen — he has been responsible for acclimating them to the program.

“They’ll come to me and ask what’s expected,” Shepherd said. “I tell the new guys what’s expected from [Dunphy] and what he wants, not even just with basketball. … There’s high expectations for us.”

Stepping into that role of vocal, on-the-floor leader has been a challenge for Shepherd. It’s not one that fits his usual demeanor, but he’s working on embracing it. He’s getting some help from his former teammate of three seasons, Brickus.

“He was pretty quiet coming in,” Brickus said. “As he got through, there was more talking … clapping and cheering teammates [on].”

Brickus said that he, Brantley, Shepherd, and redshirt junior guard Andrés Marrero maintain a “pretty active” group chat, even with Brickus and Brantley at different schools. Brickus said he often calls Shepherd to remind him to play with aggression.

“There’s no breaks at all,” Brickus said. “I know the type of guy he is, and me not being there, I’m not going to be able to tell him that every day. I just tell him over FaceTime, ‘you’ve got to stay aggressive.’ That team is his, so as long as he’s aggressive and gets to his spots, he’ll be good.”

In returning to La Salle for a fourth year, Shepherd became a rare figure in the current age of college basketball — a fourth-year player at a non-power school. Factor in a coaching change at La Salle from current Villanova assistant Ashley Howard to Dunphy, and a four-year career becomes even more improbable.

“In college basketball, today especially, you rarely see guys stay for four years,” said Howard, who recruited Shepherd to La Salle. “I think it’s a great opportunity for him in his senior year to really have a solid ending to a legacy that he created there. The fact that he’s there four years, developed, stayed even after a coaching change, and now has developed under [Dunphy] ... He’s developed into a great player and I’m excited to see how he does in his senior year.”

The Explorers were selected to finish 15th out of 15 teams in this season’s Atlantic 10 preseason poll. It’s a fair expectation, as La Salle has not produced better than a .500 conference record since 2012-13. The doubters bother the team, although the few veterans know better than to pay attention.

“The guys that have been here, we know that we’ve been ranked last,” Shepherd said. “We know when it’s expected. The new guys know that’s not something they want to be; no one wants to be ranked last, and the season hasn’t even started yet. We’re all just having that mindset of showing people how good La Salle basketball really is.”

If they want to prove themselves, the Explorers must do so with a relatively limited arsenal. The team brought in White and McKeithan as veteran transfers who can compensate for some of the lost offensive production. La Salle also picked up Penn State transfer forward Demetrius Lilley and former four-star prospect forward Mac Etienne from DePaul. With the unproven nature of its roster, many questions linger for La Salle — although the Explorers answered a few of them on Monday night.

Dunphy wasn’t willing to say that the team is taking things “game by game,” instead opting for “possession by possession.”

“We’re just trying to get a good shot at the basket on offense,” Dunphy said. “We’re trying to play really solid defense, and we’re anxious to get started.

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