HoriZone Roundtable

I learned virtually nothing from last year.

Predictions at this time of year are, admittedly, a complete waste of time, since there’s no telling how things will actually shake out. Then again, this is true even when preseason predictions come out at a much more reasonable timeframe.

But I’m going to give it another shot anyway, because what else am I doing right now? The features (exclusive to Patreon, of course) are written and coming out weekly, so I’ve got some time on my hands. Like last year, when I hit on some picks that were initially thought of as nuts (i.e. Detroit Mercy and Green Bay) while completely whiffing on others (Wright State, Robert Morris, Milwaukee), I expect to be wrong again.

As such, if you’re expending more energy than you need to get mad about this, well, then I recommend enjoying the lovely summer weather in your area. This isn’t that deep. It never was.

Few teams in the conference had a better off-season than Green Bay, specifically because of who the Phoenix retained. Marcus Hall returns after mulling over his options, and he’ll clearly play the biggest role on the Green Bay roster. Also returning are LeBron Thomas, Mac Wrecke, Keewan VanKauwenberg and big man Maruan Cicic. Highlighting the incoming roster is a familiar face in Horizon League circles, Jaxson Edwards, who spent last season at IU Indy. The expectation is that he’ll take what he learned from playing in Ben Howlett’s system and provide the Phoenix with a huge boost. Coach Doug Gottlieb also dipped into the Division II ranks, bringing in Stewart Erhart II, who should be expected to run the point. The Phoenix also has coming in an army of juco transfers, specifically Ahmere Carson, Ice Burnett, Clarence Payia and Ne’Quan Brown.

If there was any lesson to be learned from the 2025-26 season it was that Wright State should be underestimated at your peril. The Raiders won both the regular season and conference tournament crowns en route to an NCAA Tournament bid. And while two key players from that campaign, TJ Burch and Michael Cooper, have moved on, Horizon League Freshman of the Year Kellen Pickett is back, as are Andrea Holden and Dominic Pangonis. Coach Clint Sargent also tossed his line into the transfer portal, and snagged CJ O’Hara, who knows the league well as part of the Green Bay roster last season, and Chadlyn Traylor, who made the most of his limited minutes at the point for College of Charleston. Both should likely have significant roles, as should Sam Johnson, a D2 transfer from Cedarville, and Nikola Djapa, the Serbian big man from Colorado State. Sargent will once again likely look at his freshman class, particularly PJ Douglas, who was a redshirt last season.

APR ban, APR schman. Detroit Mercy may not be eligible to play in the postseason, but the Titans still have one of the best rosters in the conference. Tyler Spratt and Lance Stone return for their sophomore campaigns, and you can be sure that both will continue to develop into two of the league’s best players. Also returning are London Maiden, who should see more time in the frontcourt, and Ayden Carter, whose campaign was cut short due to injury. As he has during his prior two seasons, coach Mark Montgomery will likely look to his incoming freshman for key contributions as well, with four of them coming in. But he’ll have some additional options that he picked up in the transfer portal, with Spring Arbor’s Dante Favor, Wayne State’s Jordan Briggs and Augusta’s Elias Pálsson in the mix.

Last year, it was hard to determine what to make of Northern Kentucky, as the Norse faced the uncertainty of adjusting to a largely-new roster from the season before, something that coach Darrin Horn hadn’t really faced before. And while a seventh-place finish in the regular season may not look much, this is the Horizon League, and appearances can be deceiving. NKU finished with 20 wins once again and, unlike 2024-25, the Norse were mostly unaffected by transfers this off-season. Six players return, including starting point guard Ethan Elliott and Donovan Rakotonanahary, who was a key piece off the bench. Horn also added some firepower from the portal, including SMU’s BJ Davis-Ray, Niagara’s Will Shortt and East Texas A&M’s Noah Pagotto.

In the previous two seasons, Robert Morris experienced a near-total roster turnover, and yet thanks to some key acquisitions by coach Andy Toole, remained one of the top teams in the conference. Darius Livingston played a huge role in the rotation last season, and fellow freshmen Eddie Cooke III and Samuel Obenjo saw their minutes increase as the year wore on. All three will be back, as well as Ta’Zir Smith, a critical piece of the RMU backcourt. It wouldn’t be a Colonials roster without a few transfers, and Toole’s got them, specifically UMBC’s Ace Valentine, Nicholls State’s Talik Dunkley, Merrimack’s KC Ugwuakazi and KJ Garris, who played at Cal State Fullerton, a school that provided RMU with another key piece (Kaleb Brown) last season.

The injury bug really did a number on Milwaukee last year. Things already went south before the season even started with the injury to John Lovelace, Jr. and went downhill from there. That the Panthers finished in eighth place, given the MASH unit of a rotation, is something of a minor miracle. Lovelace returns, as does Danilo Jovanovich and Simeon Murchison, who were also limited with injuries. Both Lovelace and Jovanovich will be major pieces, as well returnees Chandler Jackson and Isaiah Dorceus, who picked up the load as their teammates fell. Coach Bart Lundy also adds some size with juco transfer Nate Malosa and St. Joe’s transfer Al Amadou. Also, Tre Norman arrives from across town at Marquette, as does Wisconsin native Jake Hansen, who was a redshirt at Oklahoma. Lundy found production in his freshman last season, and it’s likely that will happen again, with Amare Hereford leading the rookie class.

Yes, Oakland’s never finished worse than sixth in the Horizon League in its entire history, so all signs point to this particular prediction being wrong. At the same time, the Golden Grizzlies lost a ton of pieces in the off-season due to graduation and the portal, leaving just the Mashhour brothers, Nassim (who’s coming off a knee injury) and Hamoudy (who redshirt), Warren Marshall IV, and redshirt William Kassi as the lone holdovers. That’s never deterred coach Greg Kampe, who once again dove into the transfer portal and expects that D2 transfer Ryder Bradley, Campbell’s Chris Fields, Jr., Northern Iowa’s RJ Taylor, Western Michigan’s Brady Swartz, and New Hampshire’s Balel Al Shakery to fill the large holes left by all the departures.

The constant inflow and outflow of transfers for Youngstown State has had some hits and misses over the years. Last year, for instance, appeared to be a miss, finishing in ninth place after what seemed to be a promising start to the campaign. The Penguins will start all over again, with only Jaiden Haynes returning for his sophomore campaign. But in true YSU tradition, the incoming transfers are certainly not lacking for talent, as ex-Oklahoma guard Jeff Nwankwo and Kelvin Amoako, the much sought-after center from UIndy, headline the list. Also in the mix will be juco transfers Jermain Coleman, who returns to the Horizon League after a brief stint with Purdue Fort Wayne earlier in his career, and Jamar Livingston, who also began his collegiate career in D1 at Western Carolina.

When Matt Majkrzak took over at head coach of Northern Illinois, a familiar pattern emerged. He began refilling the Huskies roster with Division II transfers, something the IU Indy’s Ben Howlett and his predecessor, Paul Corsaro, did before him. However, the initial transfers, at least Cal Klesmit and Bennett Basich, had something a bit different about them, as both were Green Bay signees, though Klesmit would opt out after the hiring of Sundance Wicks and Basich transferred after a redshirt season. And Majkrzak hasn’t limited himself to the D2 ranks, either. He’s gone and snapped up some notable D1 players as well, most significantly former Horizon League Freshman of the Year David Douglas, Jr. and South Dakota point guard Uzziah Buntyn. Since the Huskies didn’t have anywhere to go but up after their final dismal campaign in the MAC, their first season back in the HL may surprise some people.

The weird thing about Rob Summers’ first roster at the helm of Cleveland State was its dearth of big men, primarily given Summers’ reputation for developing players in the frontcourt. And when two of his best “big men” (they were both only 6-7) Josiah Harris and Dayan Nessah went down near the end of the season, the wheels fell off for the Vikings, resulting in a disappointing 10^th-place finish. Summers aimed to resolve his issue up front in the off-season, and has virtually swung in the opposite direction, with six new faces standing over 6-7, led by 6-10 Derek Voorst, who played at Indiana State, Kent State transfers DeAndre Jones and Rayvon Griffith, juco transfer Gavin Headings and prep school player Braden McCruter. The sixth, Alex Bruskotter, stays in the Horizon League after his tenure with Wright State, where he notably torched Cleveland State for 25 points in a game. That’s not to say that Summers ignored the backcourt, as he’s brought in Central State’s Micah Bays, UT Arlington’s Jordan Lowery and South Carolina State’s Owen Bronston, Jr. into the mix as well.

Another grand tradition in prediction circles (which will probably continue) is to miss the mark on Purdue Fort Wayne. Last year was no exception, as the Mastodons outperformed the Way Too Early Prediction to finish sixth, paced by All-Horizon League first teamer Corey Hadnot II. He’s transferred to Houston, and coach Jon Coffman is left to determine how to once again move forward in the backcourt. Fortunately, he did retain DeAndre Craig for another year, and Chris Morgan. EJ Mosley and Quentin Morgan will also return for their sophomore campaigns and likely see more playing time, with the latter having to give Purdue Fort Wayne some help up front with the departure of Darius Duffy and DeAngelo Elisse to graduation. From non-D1 ranks, Edir Ortiz will join Quentin Morgan in the frontcourt rotation, and Tamaje Izuagbe will add some additional firepower. Manhattan’s Anthony Isaac will also be counted on the clean up the glass. And don’t worry, Coffman’s added some three-point shooters as well, with Florida International’s Ashton Williamson topping the list.

Year 2 of the Ben Howlett era at IU Indy will look different than the first, by and large. And that’s primarily because nearly all the players from the first year have graduated or transferred, leaving Kameron Tinsley and Reece Hagy as the lone holdovers on scholarship. Howlett did snag a couple of non-D1 pieces once again, with Antoine Arnett from California (PA) and Peyton Heiss from Mt. Vernon Nazarene. But unlike last year, in which the Jags built primarily from the non-D1 ranks, Howlett has turned to the D1 transfer portal as well, with Idaho State’s Gus Etchison, Appalachian State’s Jason Clarke, Jr. and Longwood’s Precious Idiaru coming on board. MJ Stackhouse, who originally signed with Milwaukee but ultimately went the juco route, will also be in the mix. Someone had to be picked last, and here we are once again. Like the previous two picks, IU Indy can outperform and given that the Jags will want to show out in their new home, James T. Morris Arena, they may very well do just that.

If someone had told me years ago that part of the reporting I’d do on the HoriZone Roundtable was going to involve information requests and sifting through legal documents, I would have told them that they were crazy. And yet, somehow, all of that has crept through.

Before we dive into the latest, remember that our summer features are being published exclusively for our Patrons. Sign up for as little as $1/month and, as I mentioned in the last Starting Five, if we get 100 Patrons, the Google Ads on the main site will go away!

With all of that out of the way, let’s get back into it!

Five-for-Five Is Here (But Not For Everyone)

The NCAA has been telegraphing that it would adopt a five-for-five eligibility model for months now. Basically, student-athletes would have five years to complete their eligibility, which could allow them to play up to five years in college. To account for prep schools, the NCAA would start the eligibility clock when players started college or at 19, whichever came first, with exceptions for military service, missions and pregnancies.

As long expected, the NCAA Division I Cabinet unanimously approved this age-based eligibility model and publicized guidance for student-athletes moving forward. For those slated to complete their four years of eligibility in 2027, they would be afforded another year, and starting with the Class of 2027, the five-for-five model would be in effect.

The NCAA also did not extend this fifth year to any student-athlete from the Class of 2022 that already played four years. So, as expected, out came the lawyers, with the opening salvo being dropped in the Common Pleas Court of Hamilton County in Ohio.

In this particular filing, you’ll seem some familiar names among Horizon League circles: Ice Emery, Ziare Wells and Cris Carroll. All three initially entered their names into the transfer portal before ultimately being denied, and this was the next natural step. A judge already denied the request for a temporary restraining order here, but the request for an injunction is still ongoing.

Also expected to be a part of the legal wranglings, though not this one, is Brody Robinson, whose initial plea to get an extra year was denied back in April.

In reality, there’s no indication if this will affect any Horizon League rosters directly, as teams are already well into their summer workouts. There’s a chance that if any of the estimated 55 players get that extra year at least one of them will fill an HL roster spot, albeit a slim one.

Meet the New Boss, Wright State

In April, Wright State announced that Joylynn Brown was stepping down from her role as athletic director, a move that was met with surprise and confusion, given that Brown’s long and deep connect with the university. At the time, the idea was that Wright State would hire a replacement prior to the start of fall sports.

Well, Wright State certainly met that goal, even before the end of June, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Like current Horizon League commissioner Jill Bodensteiner, Chandler’s journey through collegiate athletics started on the legal side. With a JD from Toledo, he began his career in compliance and legal, eventually representing Arizona State’s athletic program in the University Office of General Counsel. He moved from there in 2021 to his most recent role as deputy athletic director at Bradley, where he’s been in charge of the department’s internal operations and external partnerships, specifically Bradley Sports Properties, Learfield Amplify, and Under Armour.

The variety of experience Chandler has, primarily within the past five years at Bradley, is likely what appealed most to Wright State as the school looks to bolster its revenues while also trying to navigate through the current murkiness of the athletics landscape. Expect an official announcement to happen soon, if it hasn’t already before we hit the Publish button here.

Gottlieb Extended

Doug Gottlieb initial contract when he was hired as Green Bay’s head coach was unique in that included language related to his radio gig, not to mention that the cartoonishly large buyout clause. His annual salary was also decidedly lower, taking his other job into account. Plenty of questions abounded at the time, especially given the rocking first year of his tenure.

Fast forward a year, a monster turnaround in Year 2 that included a trip to Indy and Gottlieb’s decision to step away from his radio gig, and the Phoenix are in a much different direction than many pundits expected when he got the gig originally. With the future in mind, Gottlieb’s contract has now been extended to 2031, as initially reported by Kyle Malzhan.

In the new deal, Gottlieb is getting a pay bump, which, if he serves out the entire contract and achieves certain bonuses, would increase to $430,000. That would put him in line with the salaries of the upper half of Horizon League coaches. Also, there’s some revised buyout language, where if he leaves to take a gig at a power conference school before 2030, he’d owe $1.2 million. And yes, there’s media-related language in this new deal, on a sliding scale if he leaves for another job in that area.

As for the buyout if he’s fired, that figure has been revised as well, down to $800,000 if he’s terminated before April 1, 2028, with that dollar figure decreasing through the life of this new contract.

The extension for Gottlieb comes on the heels of an extension for his boss, athletic director Josh Moon, who’s also inked a new deal to keep him at Green Bay until 2031. Add in an extension of women’s basketball coach Kayla Karius, and Green Bay’s future is on much firmer ground than its conference cohorts.

Champion Once Again

As we mentioned during our interview with former Cleveland State superstar Norris Cole, his current team, Peñarol in the Uruguayan Basketball League, was in the middle of a championship run, playing in the league finals against Aguada.

Well, add another championship trophy to Cole’s resume.

The Peñarol championship marks the fourth time in Cole’s career that his team has reached the pinnacle. In addition to the two NBA championships with the Miami Heat, Cole was also a part of the Israeli League-winning squad for Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2017-18.

Why Yes, There Is a Horizon League-World Cup Connection

The World Cup marches on, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that there’s at least one connection between the Horizon League and the tournament, much as I did in 2024, when Detroit Mercy’s Bul Kuol played for South Sudan’s men’s basketball team in the Paris Olympics.

There is, in fact, one player on a World Cup roster that has some HL experience, and that’s Jesse Randall, who’s a member of New Zealand’s national team. The Auckland native was the Horizon League’s Freshman of the Year in 2021, starting 16 games for Northern Kentucky. during that time, he scored 10 goals and five assists.

After the 2021 season, Randall left the Norse to join Wellington Olympic in the National League, the country’s top tier soccer league. Since then, he’s spent time in the National League and, briefly, the USL in the United States, most recently playing the last three years with Auckland FC. His World Cup debut came in the group play match-up with Iran.

After the World Cup ends, Randall is expected to move clubs again, this time heading to Scotland, where he’ll play for Dundee United once his contract with Auckland expires.

We’re a little late, but the MBB edition of the Starting Five has returned. If you’re reading this asking, “Is Kyle going to do the women’s one this summer?” the only answer I can give you is…I don’t know.

If you’re reading this, though, thank you once again for humoring me while I sift through some of the things that have cropped up since basketball season ended and the fever pitch of the transfer portal has subsided, by and large. As you no doubt know, the Transfer Tracker is still live and being updated as needed throughout the summer. And, of course, our summer features are being published exclusively for our Patrons (more on that a little later in this piece).

Still, there’s plenty to discuss beyond those to items. So, without any further ado, let’s get going!

Overway’s Out

One of the key pieces Doug Gottlieb snapped up in the transfer portal for Green Bay was the 6-20 Jalen Overway, an All-American at Division III Calvin. Like fellow D3 transfer Justin Allen, it was expected that Overway would play a significant role in the Phoenix rotation. In Overway’s case, the plan was to use him in the frontcourt to complement Marcus Hall.

That plan has officially gone out the window, as reported by Scott Venci.

Per Venci, Overway’s 2026-27 campaign is over before it even started, courtesy of an ACL tear in his left knee. Two years ago, the senior big man had a similar issue with the ACL in his right know. With surgery slated for later this month, the rehab schedule will put Overway out of the lineup for this season, though he could be able to practice in February, plus should be part of Green Bay’s plans in 2027-28, as he should get a medical waiver.

With Overway out, this means that it’s likely that sophomore seven-footer Maruan Cicic may see some additional minutes, as well juco transfer Ne’Quan Brown, ETSU transfer Isaiah Sutherland and freshman Henry Gruetzmacher. It’s also entirely possible a last-minute roster addition could be in the offing as well.

LeBron’s Back

No, Cleveland readers. I’m not talking about that LeBron (although how things look, you never know). LeBron Thomas, the Green Bay guard, will be returning to the Phoenix for his senior year, as initially reported by WFRV’s Kyle Malzhan:

Thomas, who came to Green Bay by way of juco Vincennes University, spent last season as one of the key pieces in the Phoenix rotation, getting the start in six of those contests. He initially entered the transfer portal when it opened, but per Malzhan, he indicated that returning to Green Bay was an option for him.

Thomas’ return now provides the Phoenix with yet another returnee from last year, joining teammates Hall, Cicic, Mac Wrecke, and Keewan VanKauwenberg, along with walk-on Brady Fitzgerald. He’s also poised to remain an integral part of the backcourt rotation, complementing VanKauwenberg and newcomers Stuart Erhart II and Ahmere Carson.

So Long, Partner

As we all know, the director of basketball operations role is probably one of the most grueling stepping stones in college hoops. But for those who achieve, the sky’s the limit. Plenty of head coaches got their start in this position, and many more will in the future.

One of the people we’ve come across along the way within the DOBO ranks is Colin Shannon, who worked his way up from being student manager to that role, serving Greg Kampe at Oakland for years. He’s also been our point of contact for years. Any time we wanted to have Kampe come on the podcast or livestream, Colin was the guy we went to.

All good things come to an end, although selfishly, just for us. For Colin, his good things are still going. He’s been added to Brian Wardle’s staff at Bradley, where he’ll be the director of basketball administration and assistant general manager.

We have no doubt that Colin will do as well at his job in Peoria as he did at Oakland. And we can say without reservation that Wardle’s getting a good one. Still, we can’t help but be a little sad that one of the guys we’ve gotten accustomed to seeing on a Horizon League bench over the years will be gone.

Thanks for everything, Colin, and good luck to you!

Who Gets Their Non-Conference Schedule Out First?

Now, the answer we’d normally give when question in this header is asked is IU Indy. It certainly has been over the previous two years, with the Jags jumped out in front of every other Horizon League school to post their non-conference slate. And with the opening of the new James T. Morris Arena, the pressure’s probably on for IU Indy to make it three years in a row.

That streak might get threatened this time around, though, as reports on scheduled non-conference games are coming fast and furious. This is also a good time to plug D1 Docket, which has been putting yeoman’s work for years compiling schedules for every college basketball team for years now. It’s also a good time to plug Alex Rosinski, who’s been pulling non-conference scheduling information left and right.

And it’s the latter’s work that should make us think that the first non-conference schedule out the gate may be…Cleveland State.

The Vikings already have a return match with Kent State on tap for 2026-27, but they also have road trips to Bowling Green and Xavier already announced. And Friday, Rosinski posted even more match-ups for CSU. First, he posted a trio of buy games.

It appears that the Vikings will be facing their ex-coach Dennis Gates once again, this time to open up the season. Cleveland State’s travels won’t end with these five games. The Vikings will also be playing in an MTE.

With eight games already slated, along with what should be a 22-game conference schedule, CSU is only a couple games away from cinching up its entire non-conference slate and could very well eke the Jags out of the first-out-the-gate spot when it comes to schedule releases.

A Modest Proposal (Re: Google Ads)

You probably already saw this if you follow us on any social media platform (expect Facebook, but this is one of those days where that isn’t really a good idea). If you didn’t, I posted a video that addresses something that probably aggravates you about visiting our Web site: the ads generated by Google AdSense. Here’s the whole thing, if you missed it.

If you don’t want to sit through the entire minute-and-a-half of that, the deal is this: If we get 100 Patrons, we’ll get rid of the ads generated by Google. Simple as that.

There is one thing that I didn’t mention is this: If we get that many Patrons, we’ll also stop asking for donations. If you’ve visited the Donate page lately, you’ll notice that we removed the section where you can sponsor one of our writers. If you become a Patron for as little as $1/month, we’ll take down the entire page, too.

Also not mentioned is this: This deal has a time limit. And that deadline is the Friday before Preview Week. So, don’t delay. Take advantage of exclusive access to our summer features, as well as early access to Preview Week plus our Power Rankings during the season. Visit patreon.com/horizoneroundtable.

Thank you to those of you who are already Patrons, and we hope to see even more of you sign up this summer!