2024–25 Ohio Bobcats men's basketball team

2024–25 Ohio Bobcats men's basketball
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	8–6 (2–0 MAC)
Head coach	Jeff Boals (6th season)
Assistant coaches	Lamar Thornton (6th season) Kyle Barlow (6th season) Lee Martin (5th season)
Home arena	Convocation Center

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

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Miami (OH)	2	–	0		1.000			10	–	4		.714
Akron	2	–	0		1.000			9	–	5		.643
Ohio	2	–	0		1.000			8	–	6		.571
Toledo	2	–	0		1.000			8	–	6		.571
Kent State	1	–	1		.500			10	–	4		.714
Ball State	1	–	1		.500			7	–	7		.500
Eastern Michigan	1	–	1		.500			7	–	7		.500
Bowling Green	1	–	1		.500			6	–	8		.429
Central Michigan	0	–	2		.000			6	–	8		.429
Buffalo	0	–	2		.000			5	–	9		.357
Northern Illinois	0	–	2		.000			4	–	10		.286
Western Michigan	0	–	2		.000			3	–	11		.214
† 2025 MAC tournament winner As of January 7, 2025

The 2024–25 Ohio University Bobcats men's basketball team represents Ohio University for the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bobcats are led by fifth-year head coach Jeff Boals, who is a 1995 graduate of Ohio University.^[1][2] They play their home games at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio, as a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC).^[3][4]

Previous season

Main article: 2023–24 Ohio Bobcats men's basketball team

The Bobcats finished the 2023–24 season 6–7 in non-conference play and started 1–3 in conference play. They rallied to win 12 of their final 14 conference games to finish the regular season 19–12 with a 13–5 in MAC play, to finish tied for 2nd place. They defeated Western Michigan in the first round of the MAC tournament and lost to Akron in the second round.^[5][6][7]

Offseason

For the second straight season the Bobcats avoided significant losses to the transfer portal as the only scholarship player to transfer was Ike Cornish who averaged 11 minutes per game the prior year. The team lost point guard Jaylin Hunter, who started all 33 games, guard Miles Brown, who started 17, and center Gabe Wiznitzer who averaged 14 minutes to graduation.^[8]

Coaching Staff Changes

Coaching Departures

Coaching Departures

Name	Alma Mater	Previous position	New position
Casey Crawford	Ohio University	Graduate Assistant	Director of Basketball Operations (Stony Brook)[9]

Coaching Additions

Coaching Additions

Name	Alma Mater	Previous position	New position
Keith Williams	University of Charleston	Player (Charleston)	Graduate Assistant[10]

Departures

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason
Miles Brown	2	G	6'1"	180	Grad. student	Rochester, NY	Graduated, exhausted eligibility
Gabe Wiznitzer	11	C	6'11"	240	Senior	Walhalla, SC	Graduated
Jaylin Hunter	12	G	6'0"	195	Senior	Manchester, CT	Graduated, exhausted eligibility
Quinn Corna*	15	G	6'3"	170	Sophomore	Columbus, OH	Transferred to Ohio Wesleyan
IJ Ezuma	21	F	6'8"	240	RS Sophomore	Raleigh, NC	Transferred to South Plains College
Ike Cornish	24	G/F	6'6"	190	RS Sophomore	Baltimore, MD	Transferred to Nicholls State[11]

* Walk-on in 2023–24
^[12][13][14]

Incoming transfers

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason
Jackson Paveletzke	13	PG	6'3"	175	Sophomore	Kimberly, WI	Transferred from Iowa State. Will have two years of eligibility remaining.[15]
Victor Searles	35	C	6'9"	240	Senior	Hilliard, OH	Transferred from Ashland. Will have one year of eligibility remaining.[16]

^[12][14]

Recruiting class

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Ayden Evans PF	Radcliff, KY	Elizabethtown	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jul 15, 2023
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN grade: 80
Jessie Burris SG	Delaware, OH	Rutherford B. Hayes	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jul 9, 2023
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 78
Elijah Elliot SG	Wichita, KS	Sunrise Christian Academy	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Apr 30, 2024
	Star ratings: Rivals:   247Sports:
Kiir Kuany PF	Huntington, WV	Huntington Prep	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jun 5, 2024
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports:
Chase Boals* PF	New Albany, OH	New Albany	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	240 lb (110 kg)
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: 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.

*Walk-on

Source:^{[17][18][19][20][21][22]}

Preseason

On October 22, 2024 the MAC released the preseason coaches poll. Ohio was picked to finish first in the MAC regular season and received 11 of the 12 votes for first place. Ohio received 8 votes to win the MAC Tournament.^[23]

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	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^[23]

Preseason All-MAC

Preseason All-MAC teams

Team	Player	Position	Year
1st	AJ Clayton	F	Sr.
2nd	AJ Brown	G	R-So.
2nd	Shereef Mitchell	G	Grad.

Source^[23]

Roster

2023–24 Ohio Bobcats men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Ajay Sheldon 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Dublin Coffman Dublin, OH   G 1 Elmore James 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Brush Cleveland, OH   G 3 AJ Brown 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS So Orlando Christian Prep Orlando, FL   G 4 Shereef Mitchell 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) GS Sunrise Christian Academy Creighton Omaha, NE   F 5 Ayden Evans 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Elizabethtown Radcliff, KY   G 6 Elijah Elliot 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Oak Ridge Orlando, FL   F 7 Ben Nicol 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 208 lb (94 kg) RS Fr George Washington Charleston, WV   F 10 Aidan Hadaway 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Lafayette Lafayette, GA   F 11 Kiir Kuany 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Huntington Prep Melbourne, Australia   G 13 Jackson Paveletzke 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Kimberly Iowa State Kimberly, WI   G 14 Ben Estis (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS So Southlake Carroll Southlake, TX   F 15 Chase Boals (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 253 lb (115 kg) Fr New Albany New Albany, OH   G 21 Jessie Burris 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Hargrave Military Academy Delaware, OH   F 23 AJ Clayton 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr Philo Roseville, OH   F 35 Vic Searles 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) GS St. Charles Ashland Hilliard, OH	Head coach Jeff Boals (Ohio) Assistant coach(es) Lamar Thornton (Ohio Dominican) Kyle Barlow (Concordia–Ann Arbor) Lee Martin (Catawba) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: November 4, 2024

Support staff

2024-25 Ohio Bobcats support staff

Jake Ness – Director of Basketball Operations Mike Cifliku – Video Coordinator Keith Williams - Graduate Assistant Meredith Camacho - Head Manager Sara Legarsky – Senior Director of Athletics Communications Tyler Congrove – Associate Athletic Trainer (Men's Basketball, Soccer, Men's Golf, Women's Golf) Jessica Arquette – Ohio Athletics Sports Dietitian Kaitlyn Michener – Nutritionist Hannah Rastatter – Nutritionist

Source:^[24]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 4, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at James Madison MAC–SBC Challenge	L 78–88	0–1	17 – Hadaway	5 – Tied	4 – Clayton	Atlantic Union Bank Center (5,973) Harrisonburg, VA
November 9, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		UNC-Asheville	W 82–76	1–1	19 – Clayton	6 – Hadaway	5 – Tied	Convocation Center (5,438) Athens, OH
November 12, 2024* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Illinois State	L 75–85	1–2	20 – Brown	5 – Clayton	2 – Tied	CEFCU Arena (3923) Normal, IL
November 15, 2024* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Memphis	L 70–94	1–3	20 – Sheldon	7 – Paveletzke	5 – Paveletzke	FedExForum (11,270) Memphis, TN
November 21, 2024* 12:00 p.m., ESPNU		vs. Middle Tennessee Myrtle Beach Invitational quarterfinals	L 81–83 ^OT	1–4	19 – Brown	11 – Clayton	11 – Paveletzke	HTC Center (704) Conway, SC
November 22, 2024* 11:30 a.m., ESPNU		vs. Portland Myrtle Beach Invitational consolation 2nd round	W 85–73	2–4	34 – Clayton	12 – Clayton	10 – Paveletzke	HTC Center (708) Conway, SC
November 24, 2024* 8:00 p.m., ESPN2		vs. Texas State Myrtle Beach Invitational 5th place game	L 65–74	2–5	18 – Clayton	5 – Tied	3 – James	HTC Center (1,431) Conway, SC
November 30, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Robert Morris	W 84–68	3–5	16 – Clayton	7 – Tied	4 – Sheldon	Convocation Center  Athens, OH
December 7, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Morehead State	W 88–76	4–5	23 – Paveletzke	8 – Paveletzke	4 – Hadaway	Convocation Center (3,128) Athens, OH
December 14, 2024* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Marshall	L 70–79	4–6	22 – Brown	8 – Searls	12 – Paveletzke	Cam Henderson Center (4,278) Huntington, WV
December 18, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Austin Peay	W 78–58	5–6	22 – Clayton	5 – McCubbin	5 – Haney	Convocation Center (3,065) Athens, OH
December 30, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Muskingum	W 103–52	6–6	13 – Clayton	10 – Elliott	6 – Paveletzke	Convocation Center (3,615) Athens, OH
MAC regular season
January 4, 2025 7:00 p.m., TBA		at Central Michigan	W 57–55	7–6 (1–0)	14 – Brown	7 – Clayton	5 – Paveletzke	McGuirk Arena (1,269) Mount Pleasant, MI
January 7, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Buffalo	W 88–79	8–6 (2–0)	27 – Clayton	16 – Hadaway	6 – Mitchell	Alumni Arena (968) Amherst, NY
January 11, 2025 1:00 p.m., TBA		Northern Illinois						Convocation Center  Athens, OH
January 14, 2025 7:00 p.m., TBA		Ball State						Convocation Center  Athens, OH
January 17, 2025 6:00 p.m., CBSSN		at Akron						James A. Rhodes Arena  Akron, OH
January 21, 2025 6:30 p.m., TBA		at Eastern Michigan						George Gervin GameAbove Center  Ypsilanti, MI
January 24, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPNU		Kent State						Convocation Center  Athens, OH
January 28, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN2		Toledo						Convocation Center  Athens, OH
February 1, 2025 3:30 p.m., TBA		at Miami (OH)						Millett Hall  Oxford, OH
February 4, 2025 7:00 p.m., TBA		Western Michigan						Convocation Center  Athens, OH
February 8, 2025* 2:00 p.m., TBA		TBA MAC–SBC Challenge						Convocation Center  Athens, OH
February 11, 2025 7:00 p.m., TBA		at Bowling Green						Stroh Center  Bowling Green, OH
February 15, 2025 1:00 p.m., TBA		at Kent State						MAC Center  Kent, OH
February 18, 2025 7:00 p.m., TBA		Central Michigan						Convocation Center  Athens, OH
February 22, 2025 2:00 p.m., TBA		Akron						Convocation Center  Athens, OH
February 25, 2025 7:00 p.m., TBA		at Western Michigan						University Arena  Kalamazoo, MI
March 1, 2025 1:00 p.m., TBA		Miami (OH)						Convocation Center  Athens, OH
March 4, 2025 7:00 p.m., TBA		Eastern Michigan						Convocation Center  Athens, OH
March 7, 2025 7:00 p.m., TBA		at Toledo						Savage Arena  Toledo, OH
MAC tournament
March 13, 2024† TBA, TBA		vs. TBA Quarterfinals						Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse  Cleveland, OH
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

† If a top-eight finisher in MAC Source:^[25][26]

Statistics

Team Statistics

Through December 18, 2024

Record	Ohio	OPP
Scoring	856	854
Scoring Average	77.82	77.64
Field goals – Att	297–660	298–628
3-pt. Field goals – Att	97–282	87–200
Free throws – Att	165–213	171–254
Rebounds	363	393
Assists	156	149
Turnovers	126	155
Steals	84	77
Blocked Shots	35	32

Source^[27]

Player statistics

			Minutes		Scoring		Total FGs			3-point FGs			Free-Throws			Rebounds
Player	GP	GS	Tot	Avg	Pts	Avg	FG	FGA	Pct	3FG	3FA	Pct	FT	FTA	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Avg	A	PF	TO	Stl	Blk
AJ Clayton	11	11	347	31.5	184	16.7	66	140	0.471	30	30	85.000	0.353	22	27.000	0.815	15	57	72.0	6.5	14	26	16	7
AJ Brown	11	11	295	26.8	135	12.3	44	94	0.468	17	17	45.000	0.378	30	33.000	0.909	9	21	30.0	2.7	9	29	14	13
Jackson Paveletzke	11	11	332	30.2	135	12.3	45	108	0.417	7	7	20.000	0.35	38	49.000	0.776	14	36	50.0	4.5	65	13	27	11
Aidan Hadaway	11	11	319	29.0	109	9.9	39	86	0.453	10	10	33.000	0.303	21	32.000	0.656	12	36	48.0	4.4	18	33	11	15
Elmore James	11	9	304	27.6	105	9.5	31	81	0.383	16	16	39.000	0.41	27	30.000	0.9	12	16	28.0	2.5	11	25	10	12
Ajay Sheldon	11	0	219	19.9	68	6.2	23	53	0.434	14	14	38.000	0.368	8	12.000	0.667	0	15	15.0	1.4	14	17	8	15
Vic Searls	11	0	193	17.5	67	6.1	28	51	0.549	2	2	9.000	0.222	9	13.000	0.692	8	35	43.0	3.9	7	31	21	5
Shereef Mitchell	4	2	88	22.0	30	7.5	12	20	0.600	1	1	5.000	0.2	5	8.000	0.625	2	10	12.0	3	10	12	6	4
Elijah Elliott	10	0	93	9.3	18	1.8	7	18	0.389	0	0	4.000	0	4	5.000	0.8	1	7	8.0	0.8	7	10	8	0
Ayden Evans	6	0	21	3.5	4	0.7	2	6	0.333	0	0	2.000	0	0	2.000	0	1	4	5.0	0.8	0	7	2	0
Ben Estis	3	0	6	2.0	1	0.3	0	2	0.000	0	0	1.000	0	1	2.000	0.5	1	0	1.0	0.3	0	0	0	0
Ben Nicol	3	0	6	2.0	0	0.0	0	1	0.000	0	0	1.000	0	0	0.000	0	0	0	0.0	0	1	3	0	2
Total	11	-	2225	-	856	77.8	297	660	0.450	97	97	1.000	0.344	165	0.002	0.775	99	264	24.0	33	156	206	126	84
Opponents	11	-	2225	-	854	77.6	298	628	0.475	87	200	0.435	171	254	0.673	108	285	393	35.7	149	201	155	77	32

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	Avg	Average per game
FG	Field-goals made	FGA	Field-goal attempts	Off	Offensive rebounds
Def	Defensive rebounds	A	Assists	TO	Turnovers
Blk	Blocks	Stl	Steals	High	Team high

Source^[27]

Awards and honors

Weekly Awards

Weekly Award Honors

Honors	Player	Position	Date Awarded	Source
MAC player of the week	AJ Clayton	F	November 24	[28]

References

1. "Jeff Boals". Ohio University Athletics. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
2. "Jeff Boals". Sports Reference. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
3. "Convocation Center". Ohio University. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
4. "MAC Men's College Basketball Standings – 2023–24". ESPN. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
5. Clark, Dave (March 9, 2024). "MAC basketball tournament bracket set; Miami RedHawks face Akron in first round". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
6. "Ohio 82, Western Michigan 55". ESPN. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
7. "Akron 65, Ohio 62". ESPN. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
8. "2023-24 Ohio Bobcats Roster and Stats". Sports Reference.
9. "Casey Crawford Joins Men's Basketball Staff as Director of Operations". Stony Brook Athletics. May 22, 2024. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
10. "Keith Williams". Ohio Bobcats. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
11. "2024-25 Men's Basketball Roster". Nicholls State Athletics. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
12. "2024-25 Men's Basketball Roster". Ohio Athletics. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
13. "2023-24 Men's Basketball Roster". Ohio Athletics. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
14. "TRANSFER PORTAL". Verbal Commits. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
15. Keegan, Robert III (April 17, 2024). "Men's Basketball: Ohio makes splash with addition of Jackson Paveletzke from Iowa State". The Post. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
16. "Ohio Men's Basketball Adds Transfer Searls to Roster". Ohio Athletics. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
17. "Ayden Evans". ESPN. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
18. "Jessie Burris". ESPN. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
19. Beach, Ashley (November 16, 2023). "Ohio Men's Basketball Adds Two During Early Signing Period". Ohio Athletics. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
20. "Evans headed to Ohio University". The Elizabethtown News Enterprise. November 17, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
21. DiRenna, Frank (November 9, 2023). "National Signing Day: Which class of 2024 central Ohio athletes are heading to next level?". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
22. Adams, Logan (November 9, 2023). "Men's Basketball: Ohio lands huge commitment from three-star guard, Elijah Elliott". The Post. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
23. "MAC Announces 2024-25 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll & Teams". getsomemaction.com. Mid-American Conference. October 23, 2024. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
24. "Men's Basketball Coaching Staff". ohiobobcats.com. Ohio University Athletics. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
25. "2024-25 Men's Basketball Schedule". Ohio University Athletics. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
26. "Ohio Bobcats Schedule 2024-25". ESPN. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
27. "2024-25 Ohio Bobcats Roster and Stats". Sports Reference.
28. "Clayton, Johnson Share Week 3 Men's Hoops Honors". getsomemaction.com. Mid-American Conference. November 24, 2024.