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

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The 2024–25 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season will be the season for Mid-American Conference men's basketball teams. It will begin with practices in October 2024, followed by the start of the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play will begin in January 2024 and conclude in March 2024. The 2025 MAC tournament will be held at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio for the 26th consecutive season.[1] This will be the conference's last season with 12 members as it will see its first change in membership since 2005 with the addition of UMass.[2]

LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Teams12
League championsAkron
Quick facts League, Sport ...
2024–25 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Teams12
Regular season
League championsAkron
  Runners-upMiami
Season MVPNate Johnson
Tournament
Mid-American men's basketball seasons
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More information Conf., Overall ...
2024–25 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
Akron †17–1 .94428–7  .800
Miami (OH)14–4 .77825–9  .735
Kent State11–7 .61124–12  .667
Toledo10–8 .55618–15  .545
Ohio10–8 .55616–16  .500
Western Michigan9–9 .50012–20  .375
Eastern Michigan9–9 .50016–16  .500
Bowling Green8–10 .44414–18  .438
Ball State7–11 .38914–17  .452
Central Michigan7–11 .38914–17  .452
Buffalo4–14 .2229–22  .290
Northern Illinois2–16 .1116–25  .194
† 2025 MAC tournament winner
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Akron won the regular season championship with a 17–1 conference record.[3] Nate Johnson of Akron was player of the year.[4] Akron defeated Bowling Green and Toledo in the MAC tournament and then Miami in the final[5][6][7][8]

Head coaches

Coaching changes

There have been no coaching changes since the end of the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season.

Coaches

More information Team, Head coach ...
Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record School record MAC record MAC titles MAC Tournament titles NCAA tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA Championships
Akron John Groce Illinois 8 220–212 (.509) 140–80 (.636) 80–48 (.625) 1 2 2 0 0
Ball State Michael Lewis UCLA (Asst.) 3 35–28 (.556) 35–28 (.556) 18–18 (.500) 0 0 0 0 0
Bowling Green Todd Simon Southern Utah 2 147–128 (.535) 20–14 (.588) 10–8 (.556) 0 0 0 0 0
Buffalo George Halcovage Villanova (Assoc. HC) 2 4–27 (.129) 4–27 (.129) 2–16 (.111) 0 0 0 0 0
Central Michigan Tony Barbee Kentucky (Asst.) 4 166–185 (.473) 35–58 (.376) 23–31 (.426) 0 0 0 0 0
Eastern Michigan Stan Heath Lakeland Magic 4 240–269 (.472) 31–62 (.333) 16–40 (.286) 0 0 0 0 0
Kent State Rob Senderoff Kent State (Asst.) 14 264–164 (.617) 264–164 (.617) 138–94 (.595) 1 2 2 0 0
Miami Travis Steele Xavier 3 97–87 (.527) 27–37 (.422) 15–21 (.417) 0 0 0 0 0
Northern Illinois Rashon Burno Arizona State (Asst.) 4 33–60 (.355) 33–60 (.355) 20–36 (.357) 0 0 0 0 0
Ohio Jeff Boals Stony Brook 6 152–102 (.598) 98–60 (.620) 54–35 (.607) 0 1 1 0 0
Toledo Tod Kowalczyk Green Bay 15 414–293 (.586) 278–181 (.606) 156–93 (.627) 5 0 0 0 0
Western Michigan Dwayne Stephens Michigan State (Assoc. HC) 3 20–43 (.317) 20–43 (.317) 13–23 (.361) 0 0 0 0 0
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Notes:

  • Appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
  • Years at school includes 2024–25 season.
  • MAC records are from time at current school only.
  • All records are through the beginning of the season.

Source - [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

Preseason

The MAC Men’s & Women’s Basketball Tip-Off was held on Tuesday, October 22, 2024. Each team had their head coach and a student athlete from both the men's and women's basketball team for interviews.[21]

MAC Men's Basketball Preview Coaches & Student-Athletes

  • Akron: Head Coach John Groce & Nate Johnson (R-Junior, Guard)
  • Ball State: Head Coach Michael Lewis & Payton Sparks (Senior, Center)
  • Bowling Green: Head Coach Todd Simon & Trey Thomas (Senior, Guard)
  • Buffalo: Head Coach George Halcovage III & Noah Batchelor (Junior, Forward)
  • Central Michigan: Head Coach Tony Barbee & Anthony Pritchard (Senior, Guard)
  • Eastern Michigan: Head Coach Stan Heath & Jalin Billingsley (Senior, Forward)
  • Kent State: Head Coach Rob Senderoff & VonCameron Davis (R-Senior, Forward)
  • Miami: Head Coach Travis Steele & Eian Elmer (Sophomore, Wing)
  • Northern Illinois: Head Coach Rashon Burno & Quentin Jones (Sophomore, Guard)
  • Ohio: Head Coach Jeff Boals & AJ Clayton (Senior, Forward)
  • Toledo: Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk & Javan Simmons (Sophomore, Forward)
  • Western Michigan: Head Coach Dwayne Stephens & JaVaughn Hannah (Junior, Guard)

Preseason men's basketball coaches poll

More information Place, Team ...
Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
Place Team Points First place votes
1.Ohio12111
2.Akron1061
3.Kent State99--
4.Toledo95--
5.Bowling Green73--
6.Miami72--
7.Ball State67--
8.Central Michigan55--
9.Eastern Michigan36--
10.Western Michigan33--
11.Northern Illinois24--
12.Buffalo11--
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MAC Tournament Champions:Ohio (8), Kent State (3), Toledo (1)

Source[22]

MAC Preseason All-Conference

More information Honor, Recipient ...
Honor Recipient
Preseason All-MAC First Team Peyton Sparks, Center, Akron, Sr.
Anthony Pritchard, Guard, Central Michigan, Sr.
VonCameron Davis, Forward, Kent State, R-Sr.
AJ Clayton, Forward, Ohio, Sr.
Javon Simmons, Forward, Toledo, Jr.
Preseason All-MAC Second Team Isaiah Gray, Guard, Akron, Sr.
Jalen Sullinger, Guard, Kent State, Sr.
Shereef Mitchell, Guard, Ohio, Grad.
AJ Brown, Guard, Ohio, R-So..
Isaiah Adams, Guard, Toledo, 5th
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Source[22]

Regular season

Rankings

Main article: 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
More information Pre, Wk 2 ...
 PreWk
2		Wk
3		Wk
4		Wk
5		Wk
6		Wk
7		Wk
8		Wk
9		Wk
10		Wk
11		Wk
12		Wk
13		Wk
14		Wk
15		Wk
16		Wk
17		Wk
18		Wk
19		Final
Akron AP RV RV
C
Ball State AP
C
Bowling Green AP
C
Buffalo AP
C
Central Michigan AP
C
Eastern Michigan AP
C
Kent State AP
C
Miami AP
C
Northern Illinois AP
C
Ohio AP
C
Toledo AP
C
Western Michigan AP
C
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Legend
    Improvement in ranking
  Drop in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
  No change in ranking from previous week
RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
т Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

Conference matrix

More information Akron, Ball State ...
  Akron Ball State Bowling Green Buffalo Central Michigan Eastern Michigan Kent State Miami (OH) Northern Illinois Ohio Toledo Western Michigan
vs. Akron —0–20–10–20–20–10–20–10–21–10–20–1
vs. Ball State 2–0—1–10–21–10–10–12–01–11–02–01–0
vs. Bowling Green 1–01–1—0–21–01–12–01–00–21–01–11–1
vs. Buffalo 2–02–02–0—1–11–01–02–00–11–01–11–1
vs. Central Michigan 2–01–10–11–1—1–11–01–01–12–01–00–2
vs. Eastern Michigan 1–01–01–10–11–1—2–01–10–20–21–11–0
vs. Kent State 2–01–00–20–10–10–2—2–00–11–10–21–1
vs. Miami (OH) 1–00–20–10–20–11–10–2—0–21–10–11–1
vs. Northern Illinois 2–01–12–01–01–12–01–02–0—1–01–02–0
vs. Ohio 1–10–10–10–10–22–01–11–10–1—2–01–1
vs. Toledo 2–00–21–11–10–11–12–01–00–10–2—0–1
vs. Western Michigan 1–00–11–11–12–00–11–11–10–21–11–0—
Total17–17–118–104–147–119–911–714–42–1610–810–89–9
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All-MAC awards

Mid-American men's basketball weekly awards

[23]

More information Week, Player(s) of the Week ...
Week Player(s) of the Week School
Nov 11[24] Tyson Dunn Buffalo
Nov 18[25] Sonny Wilson Toledo
Nov 25[26] AJ Clayton
Nate Johnson		 Ohio
Akron
Dec 2[27] Jermahri Hill
Da’Sean Nelson		 Ball State
Eastern Michigan
Dec 9[28] Derrick Butler
Peter Suder		 Bowling Green
Miami
Dec 16[29] Juanse Gorosito Ball State
Dec 23[30] Da’Sean Nelson (2) Eastern Michigan
Dec 30[31] Javontae Campbell Bowling Green
Jan 6[32] Da’Sean Nelson (3) Eastern Michigan
Jan 13[33] AJ Clayton (2) Ohio
Jan 20[34] Amani Lyles Akron
Jan 27[35] Tavari Johnson Akron
Feb 3[36] Payton Sparks Ball State
Feb 10[37] Sam Lewis Toledo
Feb 17[38] Jalen Terry Eastern Michigan
Feb 24[39] Jalen Terry (2) Eastern Michigan
Mar 3[40] Javontae Campbell (2)
Chansey Willis Jr.		 Bowling Green
Western Michigan
Mar 10[41] Jalen Sullinger
Javan Simmons		 Kent State
Toledo
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Postseason awards

More information Award, Recipient(s) ...
2025 Mid-American Men's Basketball Individual Awards[42]
Award Recipient(s)
Player of the Year Nate Johnson, Akron
Coach of the Year John Groce
Defensive Player of the Year Nate Johnson., Akron
Freshman of the Year Brant Byers, Miami
Sixth Man Award Shammah Scott., Akron
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All-MAC Honors

More information First Team, Second Team ...
2025 Mid-American Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams[43]
First Team Second Team Third Team Honorable Mention All-Defensive Freshman Team
Nate Johnson, Akron
Tavari Johnson, Akron
Ugnius Jarusevicius, Central Michigan
VonCameron Davis, Kent State
Peter Suder, Miami
 Da’Sean Nelson, Eastern Michigan
Jalen Terry, Eastern Michigan
Jalen Sullinger, Kent State
Sam Lewis, Toledo
Chansey Willis Jr., Western Michigan
 Javontae Campbell, Bowling Green
Anthony Pritchard, Central Michigan
Kam Craft, Miami
AJ Clayton, Ohio
Jackson Paveletzke, Ohio
Sonny Wilson, Toledo
 Isaiah Gray, Akron
Jermahri Hill, Ball State
Payton Sparks, Ball State
Shereef Mitchell, Ohio
Javan Simmons, Toledo
 Nate Johnson, Akron
Javontae Campbell, Bowling Green
Anthony Pritchard, Central Michigan
Cli’ron Hornbeak, Kent State
Shereef Mitchell, Ohio
 Sharron Young, Akron
Jamai Felt, Bowling Green
Ben Michaels, Buffalo
Brant Byers, Miami
Elijah Elliot, Ohio
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Postseason

Mid–American Tournament

Main article: 2025 MAC men's basketball tournament

Akron defeated Bowling Green, Toledo, Miami to win the MAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament[44][6][45][46] Nate Johnson was the MVP.

NCAA tournament

Main article: 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

As a 13 seed, Akron lost their first round matchup in the NCAA tournament to Arizona.[47]

National Invitation tournament

Main article: 2025 National Invitation Tournament

Kent State defeated St. Bonaventure and Stanford in the first two rounds.[48][49] They then lost to Loyola-Chicago.

See also

2024–25 Mid-American Conference women's basketball season

References

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