HoriZone Roundtable

A familiar face will take a shot at spearheading a Titan turnaround Since winning the Horizon League conference tournament title in 2012 and battling second-seeded...

Though the HoriZone Roundtable staff voted Cleveland State's Destiny Leo as its preseason Player of the Year, the Horizon League also selects several other...

At this point, you should have already dived into our preseason poll and picks for the all-Horizon League teams. Here, leaning into my privilege...

Leo selected Player of the Year for second straight season Despite an ACL tear that prevented Cleveland State superstar Destiny Leo from defending her 2022-23...

Brandon Noel, one of three All-League performers from 2024 returning to Horizon League Men's Basketball, is the HoriZone Roundtable pick for Player of the Year. The 6-foot-8 junior forward averaged 14.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game for Wright State last season, and our voters see a high ceiling for him with the departures of All-League picks Trey Calvin and Tanner Holden. The other two 2024 All-League picks coming back for another season, Purdue Fort Wayne's Rasheed Bello and Jalen Jackson, join Noel on the first team. The duo is a big part of why PFW is our pick to win the league in 2025. DQ Cole of Oakland and Sam Vinson of Northern Kentucky round out our first team. Milwaukee wings AJ McKee and Erik Pratt lead off our second team, with both figuring to put up strong numbers for a Panther team we have picked for second in the Horizon League. Youngstown State's Nico Gallette joins McKee as a Horizon League newcomer on the second team. Our staff projects Trey Robinson to build on his late-season success and become an All-League performer without Marques Warrick at Northern Kentucky. And finally, Purdue Fort Wayne picks up a third All-League pick in Quinton Morton-Robertson. Familiarity won out at the end of the All-League picks, with several familiar faces narrowly beating out newcomers for spots on the team. Faizon Fields and Kentrell Pullian give Milwaukee a league-leading four All-League picks. Youngstown State's Gabe Dynes and Wright State's Alex Huibregtse give each school a second All-League player, while Justice Williams rounds out our picks and gives RMU it's first projected All-League performer.

From Ali-Frazier to The Lord of the Rings, plenty of legendary battles are trilogies. The recent clashes between Cleveland State and Green Bay at...

Change was the theme of the offseason for the Horizon League, with 12 of its 15 All-League selections and five of its 11 men's basketball head coaches from 2024 departing. With that said, continuity is the theme of the preseason. Purdue Fort Wayne is the HoriZone Roundtable pick to win the Horizon League this year, returning four of its five starters from last year and two of the league's three 2024 All-League selections in Rasheed Bello and Jalen Jackson. PFW and the rest of the Top 5 also return their head coaches. Milwaukee lost All-Everything guard B.J. Freeman, but did return several key pieces that had the Panthers competing to the final minutes against NCAA Tournament Cinderella in the Horizon League Championship game while adding several key transfers to earn the second spot in our poll. Northern Kentucky loses legend Marques Warrick, but brings back 2023 All-League pick Sam Vinson along with 2024 Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year Trey Robinson, which was more than enough to convince our voters the Norse will stay competitive on the defensive side of the ball. Oakland is also projected to remain competitive despite a complete overhaul of the roster that got it within a shot of the Sweet Sixteen. Defense and faith that Daniyal Robinson will put up a competitive team have Cleveland State projected for fifth place. The Vikings narrowly beat out Wright State and Youngstown State, who have both regularly finished higher than our sixth place projection in recent years but are going through the uncertainty of new head coaches. Questions about Green Bay's coaching, Robert Morris' ability to put up a team that can compete in the league, IU-Indianapolis' lineup almost entirely made of Division II transfers, and Detroit Mercy's talent level compared to a team that won just 1 game lead to those four being at the bottom of our projections for this season.