2024–25 Liberty Flames basketball team

2024–25 Liberty Flames basketball
2024–25 Liberty Flames basketball
CUSA regular season & tournament champions ; Paradise Jam champions
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Conference USA
Record	28–7 (13–5 CUSA)
Head coach	Ritchie McKay (10th, 12th overall season);
Associate head coach	Derek Johnston
Assistant coaches	Joe Pierre III; Larry Mangino; Zach Farquhar; Stephen Burggraf;
Home arena	Liberty Arena
	Seasons ← 2023–24 2025–26 →

The 2024–25 Liberty Flames basketball team represented Liberty University in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Flames were led by Ritchie McKay in the tenth season of his current stint as head coach (12th overall). They played their home games at Liberty Arena in Lynchburg, Virginia as second-year members of Conference USA.

ConferenceConference USA

Record28–7 (13–5 CUSA)

Headcoach

Ritchie McKay (10th, 12th overall season)

Associate headcoachDerek Johnston

Quick facts Liberty Flames basketball, CUSA regular season & tournament champions Paradise Jam champions ...

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More information Conf., Overall ...

2024–25 Conference USA men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Liberty †	13	–	5	.722	28	–	7	.800
Jacksonville State	12	–	6	.667	23	–	13	.639
Middle Tennessee	12	–	6	.667	22	–	12	.647
Kennesaw State	10	–	8	.556	19	–	14	.576
New Mexico State	10	–	8	.556	17	–	15	.531
Louisiana Tech	9	–	9	.500	20	–	12	.625
Western Kentucky	8	–	10	.444	17	–	15	.531
UTEP	7	–	11	.389	18	–	15	.545
Sam Houston	6	–	12	.333	13	–	19	.406
FIU	3	–	15	.167	10	–	23	.303

† 2025 CUSA tournament winner

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Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Brody Peebles	1	G	6'2"	170	Junior	Hartselle, AL	Transferred to Belmont
Jaylen Davis	12	G	6'6"	180	Freshman	Richmond, KY	Transferred
Kyle Rode	22	F	6'7"	220	Senior	Lexington, KY	Graduated
Joseph Venzant	23	G	6'3"	200	Junior	Midland, TX	Transferred to Abilene Christian^[1]
Shiloh Robinson	33	F	6'7"	235	Senior	Kearney, NE	Graduated
Ben Southerland	34	F	6'7"	210	Freshman	Cincinnati, OH	Transferred to Wright State^[2]

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous college
Taelon Peter	2	G	6'4"		Senior	Russellville, AR	Arkansas Tech
Isaiah Ihnen	7	F	6'10"	220	Junior	Böblingen, Germany	Minnesota^[3]
Owen Aquino	8	F	6'8"	200	Junior	Madrid, Spain	Eastern Florida State College
Josh Smith	12	F	6'9"	215	Senior	Monrovia, IN	Stetson^[3]
Jayvon Maughmer	32	F	6'6"	210	GS Senior	Chillicothe, OH	Cedarville

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Brett Decker PG	Elizabethtown, KY	Central Hardin High School	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Oct 23, 2022
Brett Decker PG	Recruit ratings: 247Sports:
Will Gibson PF	Louisville, KY	DeSales High School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	N/A	Oct 23, 2022
Will Gibson PF	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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.

College recruiting information (2025)
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Zander Carter PG	Ashland, KY	Paul G. Blazer High School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	N/A	Jun 19, 2023
Zander Carter PG	Recruit ratings: 247Sports:
Andrew Grimes PF	Clayton, NC	Clayton High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	N/A	Sep 4, 2023
Andrew Grimes PF	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
TJ Drain PF	Windermere, FL	Windermere High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	N/A	Aug 31, 2024
TJ Drain PF	Recruit ratings: 247Sports:
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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: "2025 Team Ranking". Rivals.

College recruiting information (2026)
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Eli Herbert PG	Grain Valley, MO	Grain Valley High School	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	Sep 4, 2024
Eli Herbert PG	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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: "2025 Team Ranking". Rivals.

2024–25 Liberty Flames basketball team

Previous season

Offseason

Departures

Incoming transfers

2024 recruiting class

2025 recruiting class

2026 recruiting class

Roster

Schedule and results

References

Related Articles

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 4, 2024* 5:00 p.m., Gray Media		vs. Valparaiso Total Athlete Tip-Off	W 83–63	1–0	16 – Tied	11 – Aquino	8 – Cleveland	Wooden Family Fieldhouse (1,200) Xenia, OH
November 9, 2024* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Seattle C-USA/WAC Alliance	W 66–64	2–0	15 – Metheny	9 – Aquino	5 – Porter	Redhawk Center (999) Seattle, WA
November 12, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Carolina	W 81–45	3–0	18 – Decker Jr.	6 – Tied	6 – Porter	Liberty Arena (3,546) Lynchburg, VA
November 16, 2024* 6:00 p.m., YouTube		vs. Florida Atlantic Field of 68 Tip-Off	L 74–77 ^OT	3–1	19 – Metheny	8 – Tied	7 – Cleveland	TD Arena (331) Charleston, SC
November 17, 2024* 4:00 p.m., YouTube		at Charleston Field of 68 Tip-Off	W 68–47	4–1	20 – Cleveland	9 – Maughmer	5 – Tied	TD Arena (4,858) Charleston, SC
November 22, 2024* 5:30 p.m., ESPN+		vs. Louisiana Paradise Jam Quarterfinal	W 89–69	5–1	20 – Metheny	7 – Cleveland	8 – Cleveland	Elridge Wilburn Blake Sports and Fitness Center (2,125) Saint Thomas, USVI
November 24, 2024* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		vs. Kansas State Paradise Jam Semifinal	W 67–65	6–1	17 – Porter	9 – Cleveland	8 – Cleveland	Elridge Wilburn Blake Sports and Fitness Center (2,225) Saint Thomas, USVI
November 25, 2024* 8:00 pm, ESPN+		vs. McNeese Paradise Jam Final	W 62–58	7–1	16 – Porter	6 – Tied	5 – Porter	Elridge Wilburn Blake Sports and Fitness Center (1,986) Saint Thomas, USVI
November 29, 2024* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Central Penn	W 93–36	8–1	25 – Ihnen	8 – Ihnen	5 – McKay	Liberty Arena (2,713) Lynchburg, VA
December 7, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Mississippi Valley State	W 89–52	9–1	22 – Metheny	8 – Aquino	4 – Aquino	Liberty Arena (3,169) Lynchburg, VA
December 14, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		North Carolina A&T	W 83–74	10–1	28 – Aquino	10 – Aquino	7 – Tied	Liberty Arena (2,685) Lynchburg, VA
December 17, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		St. Andrews	W 124–50	11–1	30 – Peter	12 – Blair III	9 – Porter	Liberty Arena (2,125) Lynchburg, VA
December 21, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		UT Arlington C-USA/WAC Alliance	W 79–56	12–1	25 – Metheny	10 – Cleveland	8 – Porter	Liberty Arena (2,649) Lynchburg, VA
Conference USA regular season
January 2, 2025 7:00 p.m., CBSSN		Western Kentucky	L 70–71	12–2 (0–1)	18 – Cleveland	10 – Aquino	6 – Aquino	Liberty Arena (3,115) Lynchburg, VA
January 4, 2025 6:00 p.m., CBSSN		Middle Tennessee	W 73–63	13–2 (1–1)	19 – Metheny	13 – Aquino	6 – Cleveland	Liberty Arena (2,690) Lynchburg, VA
January 9, 2025 9:00 p.m., CBSSN		at Sam Houston	W 76–68	14–2 (2–1)	17 – Porter	12 – Aquino	5 – Porter	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (924) Huntsville, TX
January 11, 2025 8:00 p.m., ESPNU		at Louisiana Tech	L 74–79	14–3 (2–2)	33 – Peter	6 – Maughmer	4 – Cleveland	Thomas Assembly Center (2,373) Ruston, LA
January 16, 2025 9:00 p.m., CBSSN		UTEP	L 70–72	14–4 (2–3)	20 – Peter	9 – Cleveland	5 – Aquino	Liberty Arena (3,598) Lynchburg, VA
January 18, 2025 7:00 p.m., CBSSN		New Mexico State	W 68–60	15–4 (3–3)	14 – Porter	7 – Peter	3 – Tied	Liberty Arena (3,776) Lynchburg, VA
January 25, 2025 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at FIU	W 82–59	16–4 (4–3)	21 – Peter	4 – Tied	5 – Porter	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (1,176) Miami, FL
January 30, 2025 8:00 p.m., CBSSN		at Kennesaw State	W 76–68	17–4 (5–3)	17 – Metheney	5 – Metheney	6 – Cleveland	Convocation Center (3,151) Kennesaw, GA
February 1, 2025 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Jacksonville State	L 61–72	17–5 (5–4)	19 – Peter	9 – Peter	7 – Cleveland	Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,967) Jacksonville, AL
February 6, 2025 8:00 p.m., CBSSN		Louisiana Tech	W 77–53	18–5 (6–4)	16 – Peter	7 – Cleveland	5 – Cleveland	Liberty Arena (3,152) Lynchburg, VA
February 8, 2025 4:00 p.m., ESPNews		Sam Houston	W 64–61	19–5 (7–4)	26 – Metheny	7 – Metheny	3 – Tied	Liberty Arena (3,355) Lynchburg, VA
February 13, 2025 9:00 p.m., ESPN+		at New Mexico State	W 64–54	20–5 (8–4)	20 – Peter	8 – Tied	3 – Tied	Pan American Center (4,509) Las Cruces, NM
February 15, 2025 9:00 p.m., ESPN+		at UTEP	W 76–69	21–5 (9–4)	23 – Peter	10 – Tied	7 – Cleveland	Don Haskins Center (5,687) El Paso, TX
February 22, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		FIU	W 58–45	22–5 (10–4)	14 – Peter	6 – Peter	6 – Cleveland	Liberty Arena (4,000) Lynchburg, VA
February 27, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Jacksonville State	W 59–55	23–5 (11–4)	13 – Metheny	9 – Cleveland	5 – Porter	Liberty Arena (3,716) Lynchburg, VA
March 2, 2025 1:00 p.m., CBSSN		Kennesaw State	L 80–85	23–6 (11–5)	16 – Tied	9 – Cleveland	8 – Cleveland	Liberty Arena (3,184) Lynchburg, VA
March 6, 2025 7:30 p.m., CBSSN		at Middle Tennessee	W 86–81	24–6 (12–5)	33 – Peter	7 – Aquino	6 – Tied	Murphy Center (4,858) Murfreesboro, TN
March 8, 2025 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Western Kentucky	W 90–61	25–6 (13–5)	21 – Tied	15 – Maughmer	8 – Cleveland	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,247) Bowling Green, KY
Conference USA Tournament
March 12, 2025 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	(1)	vs. (8) UTEP Quarterfinals	W 81–60	26–6	19 – Cleveland	6 – Maughmer	6 – Tied	Von Braun Center Huntsville, AL
March 14, 2025 12:30 p.m., CBSSN	(1)	vs. (4) Kennesaw State Semifinals	W 81–79	27–6	24 – Metheny	6 – Tied	6 – Cleveland	Von Braun Center (2,434) Huntsville, AL
March 15, 2025 8:30 p.m., CBSSN	(1)	vs. (2) Jacksonville State Championship	W 59–55	28–6	13 – Metheny	9 – Cleveland	5 – Porter	Von Braun Center (2,146) Huntsville, AL
NCAA tournament
March 21, 2025* 10:10 p.m., TruTV	(12 E)	vs. (5 E) No. 25 Oregon First round	L 52–81	28–7	10 – Cleveland	6 – Cleveland	6 – Cleveland	Climate Pledge Arena (16,978) Seattle, WA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Eastern.