2024–25 Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball team

2024–25 Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	3–8 (0–1 OVC)
Head coach	Marty Simmons (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Kylen Butler Rich McBride Bob Lockart Nate Michael
Home arena	Groniger Arena

2024–25 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Morehead State	2	–	0		1.000			6	–	6		.500
Southeast Missouri State	2	–	0		1.000			6	–	6		.500
Little Rock	1	–	0		1.000			7	–	5		.583
Western Illinois	1	–	1		.500			7	–	6		.538
Southern Indiana*	1	–	1		.500			6	–	6		.500
Lindenwood*	1	–	1		.500			6	–	7		.462
Tennessee Tech	1	–	1		.500			5	–	7		.417
UT Martin	1	–	1		.500			5	–	8		.385
Eastern Illinois	0	–	1		.000			3	–	8		.273
SIU Edwardsville	0	–	2		.000			7	–	6		.538
Tennessee State	0	–	2		.000			4	–	9		.308
* ineligible for the 2025 NCAA tournament due to transition period
† 2025 OVC tournament winner As of December 21, 2024

The 2024–25 Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball team represents Eastern Illinois University during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by fourth-year head coach Marty Simmons, play their home games at Groniger Arena in Charleston, Illinois, as members of the Ohio Valley Conference.

Previous season

The Panthers finished the 2023–24 season 14–18, 8–10 in OVC play to finish in seventh place.[1] They were defeated by SIU Edwardsville in the first round of the OVC tournament.[2]

Roster

2024–25 Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 1 Corey Sawyer Jr. 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Sr Cloud County Community College Orlando, Florida G 2 Artese Stapleton 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) GS Kansas City Chicago, Illinois G 3 Nakyel Shelton 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr South Suburban College Chicago, Illinois G 4 Isaiah Griffin 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 155 lb (70 kg) So Sunrise Christian Academy Orange, New Jersey G 5 Zion Fruster 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr UVA Wise Douglasville, Georgia G 6 Kam O'Connor 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) RS So UNC Pembroke Lebanon, Ohio F 8 Blake Goodman 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Jr Fisk Detroit, Michigan G 9 Obadiah Curtis 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Jr Arkansas State Fresno, California F 10 Jackson Connor 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Jr John A. Logan College Marion, Illinois G 11 Malik Olafioye 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Fr Kansas City Ecorse, Michigan G 12 Carson Prost 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Rend Lake College Mount Vernon, Illinois F 17 Lazar Grbovic 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Jr Moberly Area Community College Belgrade, Serbia F 22 Sekou Kalle 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Evansville Sellersburg, Indiana F 23 Rodolfo Bolis 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Sr NBA Academy Latin America Espírito Santo, Brazil F 24 Terry McMorris 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Link Year Prep Oklahoma City, Oklahoma F 40 Kooper Jacobi 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) GS Toledo Sellersburg, Indiana	Head coach Marty Simmons (Evansville) Assistant coach(es) Kylen Butler (Indianapolis) Rich McBride (Illinois) Bob Lockart (Millikin) Nate Michael (McKendree) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: November 29, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 4, 2024* 7:00 pm, B1G+		at Illinois	L 67–112	0–1	State Farm Center (15,246) Champaign, IL
November 6, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Earlham	W 97–61	1–1	Groniger Arena (1,350) Charleston, IL
November 10, 2024* 11:00 am, B1G+		at No. 17 Indiana	L 55–90	1–2	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222) Bloomington, IN
November 15, 2024* 7:00 pm, Peacock		at Northwestern	L 58–67 ^OT	1–3	Welsh–Ryan Arena (5,969) Evanston, IL
November 19, 2024* 8:00 pm, FS2		at DePaul DePaul Classic	L 69–78	1–4	Wintrust Arena (2,829) Chicago, IL
November 24, 2024* 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at Valparaiso DePaul Classic	L 53–81	1–5	Athletics–Recreation Center (1,354) Valparaiso, IN
November 29, 2024* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Northern Illinois DePaul Classic	W 72–59	2–5	Groniger Arena (715) Charleston, IL
December 3, 2024* 5:30 pm, FS2		at Butler	L 58–73	2–6	Hinkle Fieldhouse (6,886) Indianapolis, IN
December 6, 2024* 12:00 pm, ESPN+		Calumet	W 87–57	3–6	Groniger Arena (2,839) Charleston, IL
December 14, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Eastern Kentucky	L 66–81	3–7	Seabury Center (457) Berea, KY
December 19, 2024 7:30 pm, ESPN+		at Southeast Missouri State	L 72–79	3–8 (0–1)	Show Me Center (840) Cape Girardeau, MO
December 21, 2024 3:00 pm, ESPN+		at Little Rock	Game postponed[3]		Jack Stephens Center  Little Rock, AR
December 28, 2024* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Blackburn			Groniger Arena  Charleston, IL
January 2, 2025 7:30 pm, ESPN+		Lindenwood			Groniger Arena  Charleston, IL
January 4, 2025 3:30 pm, ESPN+		Western Illinois			Groniger Arena  Charleston, IL
January 7, 2025 7:30 pm, ESPN+		SIU Edwardsville			Groniger Arena  Charleston, IL
January 9, 2025 7:30 pm, ESPN+		Tennessee Tech			Groniger Arena  Charleston, IL
January 16, 2025 7:30 pm, ESPN+		at UT Martin			Skyhawk Arena  Martin, TN
January 18, 2025 3:30 pm, ESPN+		at Tennessee State			Gentry Center  Nashville, TN
January 23, 2025 7:30 pm, ESPN+		Morehead State			Groniger Arena  Charleston, IL
January 25, 2025 3:30 pm, ESPN+		Southern Indiana			Groniger Arena  Charleston, IL
January 30, 2025 7:30 pm, ESPN+		at Western Illinois			Western Hall  Macomb, IL
February 1, 2025 3:30 pm, ESPN+		at Lindenwood			Robert F. Hyland Arena  St. Charles, MO
February 4, 2025 7:30 pm, ESPN+		at SIU Edwardsville			First Community Arena  Edwardsville, IL
February 8, 2025 3:00 pm, ESPN+		at Tennessee Tech			Hooper Eblen Center  Cookeville, TN
February 13, 2025 7:30 pm, ESPN+		Tennessee State			Groniger Arena  Charleston, IL
February 15, 2025 3:30 pm, ESPN+		UT Martin			Groniger Arena  Charleston, IL
February 20, 2025 7:30 pm, ESPN+		at Southern Indiana			Liberty Arena  Evansville, IN
February 22, 2025 2:30 pm, ESPN+		at Morehead State			Ellis Johnson Arena  Morehead, KY
February 27, 2025 7:30 pm, ESPN+		Little Rock			Groniger Arena  Charleston, IL
March 1, 2025 3:30 pm, ESPN+		Southeast Missouri State			Groniger Arena  Charleston, IL
OVC tournament
March 5–8, 2025  ESPN+		vs.			Ford Center  Evansville, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.

Sources:[4][5]

References

1. "2023-24 Men's Basketball Standings". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
2. "SIU Edwardsville tops Eastern Illinois 68-57 in 1st round of OVC tourney". USA Today. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
3. "Saturday's Men's Basketball Game with Eastern Illinois Postponed". Little Rock Athletics. Retrieved December 22, 2024.
4. "2024-25 Men's Basketball Schedule". Eastern Illinois University Athletics. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
5. "Eastern Illinois Panthers 2024-25 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved November 29, 2024.