2024–25 Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball team

2024–25 Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	9–9 (3–3 MAC)
Head coach	Stan Heath (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Bob Simon (4th season) Shawn Trice (4th season) Drew Denisco (4th season)
Home arena	George Gervin GameAbove Center

2024–25 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Akron	7	–	0		1.000			14	–	5		.737
Miami (OH)	6	–	1		.857			14	–	5		.737
Ohio	5	–	2		.714			11	–	8		.579
Toledo	5	–	2		.714			11	–	8		.579
Eastern Michigan	4	–	3		.571			10	–	9		.526
Kent State	3	–	4		.429			12	–	7		.632
Ball State	3	–	4		.429			9	–	10		.474
Central Michigan	3	–	4		.429			9	–	10		.474
Bowling Green	2	–	5		.286			7	–	12		.368
Western Michigan	2	–	5		.286			5	–	14		.263
Buffalo	1	–	6		.143			6	–	13		.316
Northern Illinois	1	–	6		.143			5	–	14		.263
† 2025 MAC tournament winner As of January 25, 2025

The 2024–25 Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball team represents Eastern Michigan University during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by fourth-year head coach Stan Heath, play their home games at the George Gervin GameAbove Center in Ypsilanti, Michigan as members of the Mid-American Conference.

Previous season

The Eagles finished the 2023–24 season 13–18, 6–12 in MAC play to finish in tenth place.[1] They failed to qualify for the MAC tournament, as only the top eight teams qualify.[2]

Offseason

Departures

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Kevin-David Rice	0	G	6'4"	Junior	Flint, Michigan	Graduated
Connor Serven	2	F	6'9"	RS Junior	Prairie City, Illinois	Transferred to Virginia Tech
John McGriff	3	G	6'0"	RS Junior	Glenn Dale, Maryland	Entered transfer portal
Legend Geeter	4	F	6'8"	RS Sophomore	River Rouge, Michigan	Transferred to Detroit Mercy
Tyson Acuff	5	G	6'4"	Junior	Detroit, Michigan	Transferred to Rutgers
Julius Ellerbe	6	G	6'7"	RS Junior	Fort Washington, Maryland	Transferred to Coppin State
Andrew Wells	12	G	6'3"	Junior	East Lansing, Michigan	Graduated
Derik Pranger	15	F	6'9"	RS Freshman	Parker, Colorado	Transferred to UCCS
Cyril Martynov	21	C	7'0"	Sophomore	Barrie, Ontario	Transferred to Eastern Kentucky
Javantae Randle	35	F	6'11"	RS Sophomore	Detroit, Michigan	Entered transfer portal
Orlando Lovejoy	55	G	6'2"	Sophomore	Detroit, Michigan	Transferred to Detroit Mercy

Incoming transfers

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Da'Sean Nelson	2	F	6'8"	205	Senior	Toledo, Ohio	DePaul
Jalen Terry	3	G	6'0"	158	Senior	Flint, Michigan	DePaul
Julian Lewis	5	G	6'6"	200	RS Junior	Ypsilanti, Michigan	Miami (OH)
Trey Pettigrew	9	G	6'4"	195	RS Sophomore	Chicago, Illinois	Nevada
Christian Henry	30	G	6'3"	—	Junior	Chicago, Illinois	Panola College
John Shanu II	33	C	6'11"	245	RS Junior	Houston, Texas	UT Rio Grande Valley
Cooper Smith	45	G	6'1"	180	Senior	Mio, Michigan	Michigan

Recruiting class

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Mario Brunetto F	La Spezia, Italy	Classical Gymnasium	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: N/A
Mbaye N'Diaye G	Thiès, Senegal	SEED Academy	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: N/A
Dillon Tingler G	Hurricane, West Virginia	Huntington Expression Prep	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: N/A
Godslove Nwabude F	Anambra State, Nigeria	Mt. Zion Prep	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2024 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Preseason

On October 22, 2024 the MAC released the preseason coaches poll. Eastern Michigan was picked to finish ninth in the MAC regular season.[3]

Preseason rankings

MAC preseason poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Ohio	121 (11)
2	Akron	106 (1)
3	Kent State	99
4	Toledo	95
5	Bowling Green	73
6	Miami (OH)	72
7	Ball State	67
8	Central Michigan	55
9	Eastern Michigan	36
10	Western Michigan	33
11	Northern Illinois	24
12	Buffalo	11

MAC Tournament Champions: Ohio (8), Kent State (3), Toledo (1)

Source[3]

Preseason All-MAC

No Eagles were named to the first or second Preseason All-MAC teams.[3]

Roster

2024–25 Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 1 Jalin Billingsley 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Georgetown Cleveland, Ohio F 2 Da'Sean Nelson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr DePaul Toledo, Ohio G 3 Jalen Terry 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 158 lb (72 kg) Sr DePaul Flint, Michigan G 5 Julian Lewis 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Jr Miami (OH) Ypsilanti, Michigan F 7 Mario Brunetto 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) — Fr Classical Gymnasium La Spezia, Italy G 8 Mbaye N'Diaye 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — Fr SEED Academy Thiès, Senegal G 9 Trey Pettigrew 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS So Nevada Chicago, Illinois G 10 Dillon Tingler 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — Fr Huntington Expression Prep Hurricane, West Virginia F 13 Godslove Nwabude 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) — Fr Mt. Zion Prep Anambra State, Nigeria G 14 Micah Schnyders 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 186 lb (84 kg) RS Sr Wheaton College Yorkville, Illinois F 22 Yusuf Jihad 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 221 lb (100 kg) Sr Oakland Farmington Hills, Michigan G 30 Christian Henry 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — Jr Panola College Chicago, Illinois C 33 John Shanu II 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) RS Jr UT Rio Grande Valley Houston, Texas G 44 Arne Osojnik 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Dream City Christian School Ljubljana, Slovenia G 45 Cooper Smith 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Michigan Mio, Michigan	Head coach Stan Heath (Eastern Michigan) Assistant coach(es) Bob Simon (Eastern Michigan) Shawn Trice (Penn) Drew Denisco (Wittenberg) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: November 15, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 30, 2024* 6:30 pm		Central State	W 85–63	–	21 – Henry	4 – Tied	4 – Terry	George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,397) Ypsilanti, MI
Non-conference regular season
November 4, 2024* 8:00 pm, ESPN+		at Texas State MAC-SBC Challenge	L 44–64	0–1	17 – Henry	7 – Tied	5 – Terry	Strahan Arena (1,292) San Marcos, TX
November 8, 2024* 12:00 pm, ESPN+		Siena Heights	W 83–58	1–1	32 – Billingsley	10 – Billingsley	5 – Tingler	George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,450) Ypsilanti, MI
November 14, 2024* 6:30 pm, ESPN+		at IU Indy	W 74–71	2–1	28 – Terry	9 – Terry	4 – Henry	The Jungle (752) Indianapolis, IN
November 16, 2024* 3:00 pm, ESPN+		at Cleveland State	L 63–71	2–2	25 – Terry	5 – Billingsley	6 – Henry	Wolstein Center (1,386) Cleveland, OH
November 21, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Oakland	W 68–64	3–2	16 – Osojnik	7 – Nelson	5 – Terry	OU Credit Union O'rena (1,941) Auburn Hills, MI
November 25, 2024* 8:00 pm, ESPN+		at Houston Christian Houston Christian MTE	W 74–73	4–2	19 – Nelson	6 – Terry	3 – Tied	Sharp Gymnasium (654) Houston, TX
November 26, 2024* 4:30 pm		vs. Northern Arizona Houston Christian MTE	W 72–68	5–2	20 – Nelson	9 – Billingsley	5 – Terry	Sharp Gymnasium (344) Houston, TX
November 30, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Detroit Mercy	L 89–98 ^OT	5–3	28 – Henry	5 – Tied	5 – Henry	George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,509) Ypsilanti, MI
December 3, 2024* 8:30 pm, ESPN+		at Loyola Chicago	L 54–76	5–4	21 – Henry	5 – Osojnik	2 – Tied	Joseph J. Gentile Arena (1,881) Chicago, IL
December 15, 2024* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Purdue Fort Wayne	L 76–99	5–5	28 – Terry	9 – Billingsley	5 – Henry	George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,239) Ypsilanti, MI
December 21, 2024* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Wright State	W 86–82	6–5	27 – Nelson	13 – Nelson	4 – Terry	George Gervin GameAbove Center (500) Ypsilanti, MI
December 28, 2024* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Davidson	L 64–86	6–6	16 – Nelson	4 – Tied	6 – Terry	John M. Belk Arena (3,066) Davidson, NC
MAC regular season
January 4, 2025 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Northern Illinois	W 75–71	7–6 (1–0)	32 – Nelson	9 – Nelson	9 – Henry	George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,535) Ypsilanti, MI
January 7, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Toledo	L 87–90	7–7 (1–1)	25 – Henry	7 – Tingler	5 – Henry	Savage Arena (4,246) Toledo, OH
January 11, 2025 3:30 pm, ESPN+		Akron	L 81–105	7–8 (1–2)	20 – Henry	4 – Terry	4 – Tied	George Gervin GameAbove Center (2,540) Ypsilanti, MI
January 14, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Central Michigan	L 63–82	7–9 (1–3)	15 – Nelson	9 – Nwabude	4 – Billingsley	McGuirk Arena (2,000) Mount Pleasant, MI
January 18, 2025 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Bowling Green	W 68–62	8–9 (2–3)	17 – Henry	11 – Osojnik	5 – Terry	Stroh Center (1,981) Bowling Green, OH
January 21, 2025 6:30 pm, ESPN+		Ohio	W 94–87	9–9 (3–3)	21 – Nelson	7 – Nelson	7 – Terry	George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,439) Ypsilanti, MI
January 25, 2025 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Buffalo						George Gervin GameAbove Center  Ypsilanti, MI
January 28, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Miami (OH)						Millett Hall  Oxford, OH
February 1, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at Western Michigan						University Arena  Kalamazoo, MI
February 4, 2025 6:30 pm, ESPN+		Kent State						George Gervin GameAbove Center  Ypsilanti, MI
February 11, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Ball State						Worthen Arena  Muncie, IN
February 15, 2025 3:30 pm, ESPN+		Toledo						George Gervin GameAbove Center  Ypsilanti, MI
February 18, 2025 6:30 pm, ESPN+		Miami (OH)						George Gervin GameAbove Center  Ypsilanti, MI
February 22, 2025 4:30 pm, ESPN+		at Northern Illinois						Convocation Center  DeKalb, IL
February 25, 2025 6:30 pm, ESPN+		Bowling Green						George Gervin GameAbove Center  Ypsilanti, MI
March 1, 2025 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Central Michigan						George Gervin GameAbove Center  Ypsilanti, MI
March 4, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Ohio						Convocation Center  Athens, OH
March 7, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Kent State						MAC Center  Kent, OH
MAC tournament
March 13–15, 2025  ESPN+/CBSSN/ESPN2		vs.						Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse  Cleveland, OH
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Sources:[4][5]

References

1. "2023-24 Men's Basketball Standings". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
2. "2024 MAC men's basketball tournament scores, schedule, bracket, TV, livestream info". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
3. "MAC Announces 2024-25 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll & Teams". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
4. "2024-25 Men's Basketball Schedule". Eastern Michigan University Athletics. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
5. "Eastern Michigan Eagles 2024-25 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved November 15, 2024.