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!
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