#HLMBB Notebook – 2024-25 Season Preview
Rachel White
#HLMBB Notebook
INDIANAPOLIS (November 1, 2024) – The 2024-25 tips off next week for our 11 #HLMBB teams.
#HLMBB DIG DEEPER
- Milwaukee advanced to 2024 Barbasol #HLMBB Championship Game and finished last season with 20 wins overall. Key returners for the Panthers include Erik Pratt, Kentrell Pullian and Faizon Fields while newcomer AJ McKee earned Preseason All-League Second Team honors along with Pratt.
- Jon Coffman enters his 11th season leading the Mastodons. Purdue Fort Wayne was 23-13 last season and returns Preseason All-League honorees Rasheed Bello, Jalen Jackson, and Quinton Morton-Robertson.
- Northern Kentucky has advanced to at least the League semifinals in all five seasons under Darrin Horn with two NCAA Tournament appearances in the last five years. Preseason All-League selections Trey Robinson and Sam Vinson are back for the Norse this season.
- Oakland collected both the regular season and tournament titles last season before defeating Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament. Head coach Greg Kampe enters his 41st season leading the Golden Grizzlies and is the longest-tenured men’s basketball coach in the country, totalling 699 career wins heading into the 2024-25 campaign.
- Wright State’s Brandon Noel, Preseason Player of the Year, earned All-League Second Team honors in 2023-24, averaging 14.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per contest while shooting 53.5 percent from the field. The Raiders are led by first-year head coach Clint Sargent.
- Ethan Faulkner takes the helm at Youngstown State this season. The Penguins were 22-10 last season.
- Cleveland State advanced to the #HLMBB semifinals last season, totaling 21 overall wins.
- Doug Gottlieb enters his first season leading Green Bay after the Phoenix totaled 18 wins last season.
- Andy Toole is in his 15th season leading the Colonials, with key returners Justice Williams and Alvaro Folgueiras.
- IU Indianapolis is led by new head coach Paul Corsaro while Mark Montgomery takes the helm at Detroit Mercy.
- The regular season starts on Monday, Nov. 4 with Horizon League play scheduled to begin on Wednesday, Dec. 4.
- The 2025 Barbasol Horizon League Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships are scheduled to culminate at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis March 10-11 with the mantra #MarchStartsHere.
- A total of eight Horizon League matchups will air on ESPN linear networks including five during the regular season. Additionally, Oakland’s non-League contest against Michigan State at Little Caesars Arena will also air on ESPN2.
#HLMBB ON THE HORIZON
- Monday, Nov. 4
- IU Indianapolis vs. IU Columbus, 11 a.m. ET (ESPN+)
- Northern Kentucky at Florida State, 7 p.m. ET (ACCNX)
- Oakland vs. Defiance, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
- Detroit Mercy vs. Cleary, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
- Purdue Fort Wayne vs. Blufton, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
- RMU at West Virginia, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
- Wright State at Kentucky, 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
- Milwaukee vs. Lakeland, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
- Youngstown State vs. Westminster, 7:35 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
- Cleveland State at Michigan, 8 p.m. ET (BTN)
- Green Bay at Oklahoma State, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
- Wednesday, Nov. 6
- Wright State vs. Ohio Christian, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
- Oakland at Boise State, 7 p.m. ET (MWN)
- Cleveland State vs. Baldwin Wallace, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
- Thursday, Nov. 7
- RMU at Delaware, 6:30 p.m. ET (Flo)
- Milwaukee at Northern Iowa, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
- Detroit Mercy at Loyola Chicago, 8 p.m. ET (Marquee)
- Friday, Nov. 8
- IU Indianapolis at Xavier, 6 p.m. ET (FS1)
- Green Bay vs. St. Thomas, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
- Purdue Fort Wayne at UCF, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
- Northern Kentucky at Purdue, 7 p.m. ET (B1G+)
- Saturday, Nov. 9
- Wright State at Miami Ohio, 1 p.m. ET
- Cleveland State at Kansas State, 4 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
- Youngstown State at Chicago State, 8 p.m. ET(NEC FR)
- Sunday, Nov. 10
- Detroit Mercy vs. Niagara, 1 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
- RMU vs. Chatham, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
- Monday, Nov. 11
- Youngstown State at Ohio State, 6 p.m. ET (BTN)