Way Too Early #HLMBB Preseason Picks – 2026-27

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.

Rank	Team
1.	Green Bay
2.	Wright State
3.	Detroit Mercy
4.	Northern Kentucky
5.	Robert Morris
6.	Milwaukee
7.	Oakland
8.	Youngstown State
9.	Northern Illinois
10.	Cleveland State
11.	Purdue Fort Wayne
12.	IU Indy

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.