2024-25 Conference USA Basketball Preview
After writing an in-depth review of the A-10, AAC, ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, MVC, MWC, SEC, WAC and WCC, it's time to evaluate the C-USA! Rankings and analysis per team are below.
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Introduction
As a fun way to prepare for this upcoming college basketball season, I’ll review the nation’s top conferences before doing deep dives on the less-heralded conferences as we move closer to the start of the season!
All of my college basketball-related content can be found here. Let the rankings begin!
Rankings
1. Sam Houston
The Bearkats are the reigning regular season champions and are ready to defend their title. They lose top scorer Davon Barnes (Ole Miss) to the SEC while seeing Souleymane Doumbia and Owen McGlashan graduate. However, they improved their depth by adding four quality rotational pieces.
Josiah Hammons (Incarnate Word) will be the second guard alongside veteran Marcus Boykin, who is ready to get promoted to the full-time point guard. They also bring in second and third-highest scorers in Lamar Wilkerson and Damon Nicholas, Jr., who both are reliable shooters and provide extra ball handling and decision-making duties.
Coach Mudge completes his talented group of guards and wings with two tough interior presences in Kalifa Sakho (Utah State) while bringing in a promising freshman in Cheikh Ndiaye, alongside returning floor-stretcher Cameron Huefner, who’s set to see his three-point volume increase. This group has lots of depth, while the Bearkats’ defensive principles are instilled in the group. That makes them, yet again, the clear favorites to win the regular season.
2. New Mexico State
After a 13-19 record, the Aggies prepare themselves for a breakout season. Coach Hooten saw a majority of his group leave while retaining less than 50% of his minutes. The easy-scoring Christian Cook is back for his senior year, which has been a big relief for the coaching staff.
To complement their star guard, New Mexico State brought in Dionte Bostick (Cal State Northridge) while improving their wing and rebounding depth with Peter Filipovity, a graduate senior from Maine. The sharpshooter Jaden Harris will see his 3PT volume increase, while Robert Carpenter is another returning shooter who will feist off of Cook’s rim pressure.
Their rotation at the center is what the Aggies struggled with, and they spent most of their transfer portal activities improving that: Emmanuel Tshimanga (UC San Diego), Nate Tshimanga (Utah Valley), and Edward Nnamoko (Georgia State) all bring in toughness, rebounding, and play-finishing. With the amount of guard talent on this roster, it’s clear that depth will bring the Aggies far in the season. I project them to win at least eleven games while comfortably finishing in the top three.
3. Western Kentucky
Coach Plona was one of the best JUCO coaches of the last decade. After spending his first year in Bowling Green, KY, as an assistant, he got promoted and was named the head coach for the 2024-25 season. He retained the most minutes in the conference at 70.9% and has the rough task of replacing close to 30 points per game after Dontaei Allen (Wyoming), Rodney Howard, and Brandon Newman, who both graduated.
The Hilltoppers show they mean business by bringing in two dominant interior presences in Blaise Keita (Nebraska) and Leeroy Odiahi (Old Dominion), who will add more depth to the five that’s already at a good place with Babacar Faye.
On top of that, the returning players get rewarded with more usage, as Don McHenry and Terrion Murdix will be the guard tandem that carries the team’s scoring load. Tyrone Marshall, Jr. will provide wing depth together with Enoch Kalambay. Coach Plona has enough depth at his disposal to improve from his 8-win season last year while defending their conference tournament title.
4. Louisiana Tech
Isaiah Crawford won C-USA Player of the Year and got a contract with the Sacramento Kings. He was the face of the franchise, and losing him will hurt Coach Hester’s chances to repeat a top-two finish from last year. However, returning their second commander-in-chief, Daniel Batcho will keep the Bulldogs yet again a force to be reckoned with.
Sean Newman, Jr. is also back. The floor general will again showcase his passing qualities, and Louisiana Tech did a fantastic job by adding Amaree Abram who is one of the best scorers at the mid-major level. Their big three will win games for them. However, the worrying part for Coach Hester is that the lack of retention outside of their two most vital names will hurt them throughout the season.
Al Green (San Diego City College) is a JUCO standout with the runway to be productive. The same goes for Kaden Cooper (Oklahoma) who’s one of the up-and-coming plus-sized guards for the mid-major level. Sean Elkinton will be the backup for Batcho after he had a good year at the Divison II level. However, this group lacks depth in their wings, with their guard tandem and Batcho having to carry the majority of the load on any given night.
They will be a top-four team regardless, but compared to the aforementioned teams, the lack is where I expect the Bulldogs to struggle in the latter stages of conference play.
5. UTEP
The Miners got to the C-USA conference tournament championship game. That will keep former Southland Coach of the Year, Joe Golding hungry to keep his success going. However, by losing both Tae Hardy and Calvin Solomon to graduation, UTEP loses two strong experienced pieces.
They compensated for their loss with Devon Barnes, a standout junior guard who comes over from Tarleton State. He’ll run point while seeing the majority of ball touches. On top of that, Coach Golding bets for upside with two JUCO transfers in DaCannon Wickware (Lee College) who’ll add wing depth, while Ahamad Bynum (Trinity Valley CC) will add scoring depth to the bench.
This will be a big year for the trio of Yazid Powell, Otis Frazier III, and Corey Camper, Jr. who were vital starters of a great Miners team last year. They will improve from their seven-win season while looking to make another run in the conference tournament.
6. Liberty
Coach McKay enters his 12th year in Lynchburg, VA and it will be another good one for them. Brody Peebles (Belmont), Joseph Venzant (Abilene Christian), and Ben Souterhland (Wright State) are tough losses, on top of seeing top scorer Kyle Rode graduate.
That is about 50% of their minutes, and the Flames decided to focus on adding size and offensive versatility through the transfer portal. After shooting over 40% from three last year, Kaden Metheny gets the full-time point guard gig alongside Colin Porter. He’s getting support from Taelon Peter (Arkansas Tech), while the six-footer has a lot of plus-sized wings around him to set up for good looks.
Owen Aquino (Eastern Florida State College) was a JUCO standout, while Josh Smith brings in another tough bulky wing/forward playset while coming over from Stetson. German-born Isaiah Ihnen (Minnesota) will be Coach McKay’s starting five while bringing over Big Ten experience. There’s enough depth on the wings but scarce guard play, which makes it a risk to put all pressure on Colin Porter and Kaden Metheny. Regardless, if everything clicks, Liberty might exceed expectations to make a push for the top four.
7. Middle Tennessee
The Blue Raiders lost three of their top-five scorers, of which two were double-digit producers. Elias King and Jalen Jordan graduate, while Jarden Coleman-Jones gets the big-time transfer to San Diego State. Coach McDevitt also lost two vital bench pieces in Josh Ogundele (Tennessee State), while Tyronn Mosley also graduated.
Coaching-wise, there are very few better than Nick McDevitt, who won C-USA Coach of the Year in 2022 while earning the same award in the Big South in 2017. However, even the best coaches need the personnel to make things work. And the transfers they brought in make sense but are likely not enough to cover up for the big losses they had in the summer.
Jestin Porter is back and he will again lead the pact, while Alec Oglesby (Stetson) will be another good guard piece. The tandem of big men in Christian Fussell (UT Martin) and Essam Mostafa (TCU) give the Blue Raiders tough interior presences for 40 minutes, while sophomore wing Jarred Hall (Tulsa) is this team’s X-factor of who I expect to earn a role later on in the season. Until then, it will be Justin Bufford who will be the designated wing shooter to keep the offensive rating afloat.
8. Jacksonville State
Coach Harper has been in the coaching business for over four decades. If there’s someone to rebuild the Gamecocks, it’s him. Their star, KyKy Kandy gets the big transfer to Florida Atlantic, while their second and third-highest scorers also leave the program. Juwan Perdue graduates, while Quincy Clark (UMass Lowell) moves to the America East.
They retain about 30% of their minutes. That, on top of losing your three best players, makes it an uphill battle to be competitive. Marcellus Brigham and Mason Nicholson are back and get rewarded with more usage. After that, it’s everyone able to earn their playing time and the ball touches. Marcus Fitzgerald, Jr. (Tennessee State) brings in senior experience, while plus-sized Koree Cotton (VMI) brings more guard play at 6-foot-6.
The name to keep an eye on will be Iaroslav Niagu (Charlotte), who’s a tough seven-footer who can space the floor while also providing rebounding inside the arc. I expect him to earn serious minutes off the bench while gaining some NBA interest for the 2026 and 2027 cycles.
9. FIU
The Panthers are a staple for young talent finding their way in college basketball while getting prepared for life as a pro. Coach Ballard and his staff deserve lots of credit for how well they scout the lower levels and maintain competitive groups each year. For this upcoming season, they retain more than 50% of their minutes, which does wonders for their continuity.
They brought in three JUCO transfers, being: Asim Jones (College of Southern Idaho), a talented ball handler and interior scorer, while adding two centers in Olajuwon Ibrahim (Southeastern CC) and Vianney Salatchoum (Panola College). All three will get a good chunk of minutes to showcase their talents while looking to earn another transfer.
From the returning group, Dashon Gittens and Jayden Brewer are the two scorers who will carry the majority of usage and ball touches. Jaidon Lipscomb is a good connective passer and standstill shooter, while Jonathan Aybar will look to stretch the floor more with the addition of other rim presences. The Panthers will win a few games, but unfortunately, it won’t be enough to earn a potential first-game bye for the conference tournament.
10. Kennesaw State
Welcome to the C-USA! Coach Pettway enters his second year after having a successful career as an assistant at Alabama for over a decade. The Owls are in a tough position where they kept about 30% of their minutes but lost four of the top-five scorers from last year.
To build up an ambitious program to aim for success in upcoming years, this will be a transition season with a total of six incoming freshmen, of whom Chase Clemmons will get runway to play spot minutes as a leading guard, while plus-sized wing Mekhi Turner will be a serviceable backup to play at the four slots.
The X-factor that might lead the Owls to battle for a top-8 spot is sophomore RJ Johnson. The creative 6-foot-4 scoring guard is great at generating paint touches and earning trips to the foul line. That’s a name I will personally be invested in when following this team’s progression throughout the season.
Finalizing Summary
To summarize the piece, here’s the list for my 2024-25 Conference USA Basketball Preview:
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