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2025–26 Ohio Bobcats men's basketball team

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The 2025–26 Ohio University Bobcats men's basketball team represented Ohio University for the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bobcats were led by seventh-year head coach Jeff Boals, who was 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.[3][4]

ConferenceMid-American Conference
Record15–17 (9–9 MAC)
Headcoach
Assistant coaches
  • Lamar Thornton (7th season)
  • Kyle Barlow (7th season)
  • Lee Martin (6th season)
  • Casey Crawford (1st season)
Quick facts Ohio Bobcats men's basketball, Conference ...
2025–26 Ohio Bobcats men's basketball
ConferenceMid-American Conference
Record15–17 (9–9 MAC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Lamar Thornton (7th season)
  • Kyle Barlow (7th season)
  • Lee Martin (6th season)
  • Casey Crawford (1st season)
Home arenaConvocation Center
Seasons
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More information Conf., Overall ...
2025–26 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
Miami (OH)18–0 1.00032–2  .941
Akron †17–1 .94429–6  .829
Kent State14–4 .77824–10  .706
Toledo11–7 .61119–15  .559
Bowling Green9–9 .50018–14  .563
Ohio9–9 .50015–17  .469
Buffalo7–11 .38917–15  .531
UMass7–11 .38917–16  .515
Ball State7–11 .38912–19  .387
Central Michigan6–12 .33310–21  .323
Western Michigan4–14 .22210–21  .323
Northern Illinois4–14 .2229–21  .300
Eastern Michigan4–14 .22210–21  .323
† 2026 MAC tournament winner
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They finished the 2025–26 season 15–17, 9–9 in MAC play, to finish tied for 5th place.[5] The Bobcats struggled to a 1–6 record to open the season. They qualified for the MAC tournament as the 6th seed where they lost in the quarterfinals to Kent State[6] This was Ohio's first losing season in Boals' tenure at Ohio and the first since the 2018–19 season.

Previous season

Main article: 2024–25 Ohio Bobcats men's basketball team

The Bobcats were picked to win the conference but finished with a 16–16 record. They posted a disappointing 6–6 record entering 2025 prior to the start of league play. They finished tied for fourth in the MAC with a 10–8 conference record and lost their January matchup in the MAC-SBC challenge.[7] With a first round loss to Toledo, they failed to reach the MAC tournament semifinals for the first time since 2020 when the tournament was cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic.[8][9]

Offseason

Departures

More information Name, Number ...
Departures
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason
Elmore James[10] 1 G 6'3" 205 Junior Cleveland, Ohio Transferred to Ball State[11]
AJ Brown[12] 3 G 6'4" 210 RS Sophomore Orlando, Florida Transferred to Florida[13]
Shereef Mitchell 4 G 6'1" 175 Grad. Student Omaha, Nebraska Graduated, Exhausted Eligibility
Ben Nicol[14] 7 F 6'7" 208 RS-Freshman Charleston, West Virginia Transferred to Charleston (WV)
Ben Estis*[15] 14 G 6'1" 185 RS Sophomore Southlake, Texas Transferred to Trinity (TX)
AJ Clayton 23 F 6'8" 225 Senior Roseville, Ohio Graduated, Exhausted Eligibility
Vic Searls 35 F 6'9" 240 Grad. Student Hilliard, Ohio Graduated, Exhausted Eligibility
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* Walk-on in 2024–25
[16][17][18]

Incoming transfers

More information Name, Number ...
Incoming Transfers
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason
Javan Simmons 1 F 6'7" 235 Sophomore Gahanna, OH Transferred from Toledo. Will have two years of eligibility remaining.[19]
Dior Conners 3 G 6'3" 183 Junior Columbus, OH Transferred from Appalachian State. Will have one year of eligibility remaining.[20]
Carter Reese 11 G 6'3" 200 Sophomore Westerville, OH Transferred from Ohio Northern. Will have three years of eligibility remaining.
Jalen Breath 22 F 6'8" 225 Junior Oklahoma City, OK Transferred from UNC Greensboro. Will have one year of eligibility remaining.[21]
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[16][18]

Recruiting class

More information Name, Hometown ...
College recruiting
Name Hometown School Height Weight Commit date
Jordan Fisher
SF		 Reynoldsburg, OH Reynoldsburg 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg)  
Recruit ratings: No ratings found
JJ Kelly
ATH		 Chambersburg, PA Chambersburg Area 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg)  
Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Zay Mosley
SF		 Orlando, FL Oak Ridge 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg)  
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.
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[22][23][24]

Preseason

On October 21, 2025 the MAC released the preseason coaches poll. Ohio was picked to finish fourth in the MAC regular season. Ohio received zero first place votes but did receive one vote to win the MAC Tournament.[25]

Preseason rankings

More information Predicted finish, Team ...
MAC preseason poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place) 1st place
1.Akron14311
2.Miami1332
3.Kent State122--
4.Ohio108--
5.UMass98--
6.Toledo95--
7.Bowling Green73--
8.Ball State62--
9.Eastern Michigan52--
10.Western Michigan46--
11.Buffalo37--
12.Central Michigan31--
13.Northern Illinois14--
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MAC Tournament Champions: Akron (8), Miami (2), Kent State (1), Ohio (1), UMass (1)

Source[26]

Preseason All-MAC

More information Team, Player ...
Preseason All-MAC teams
Team Player Position Year
1st Jackson Paveletzke G Sr.
2nd Javon Simmons G R-Jr.
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Source[26]

Roster

More information Players, Coaches ...
2025–26 Ohio Bobcats men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
G 0 Ajay Sheldon 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)190 lb (86 kg) SrDublin Coffman Dublin, OH  
F 1 Javon Simmons 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)235 lb (107 kg) RS JrGahanna Lincoln
Toledo		 Gahanna, OH  
G 3 Dior Conners 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)183 lb (83 kg) SrPickerington North
Appalachian State		 Columbus, OH  
G 4 JJ Kelly 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)195 lb (88 kg) FrChambersburg Area Chambersburg, PA  
F 5 Ayden Evans 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)205 lb (93 kg) SoElizabethtown Radcliff, KY  
G 6 Elijah Elliot 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)180 lb (82 kg) SoOak Ridge Orlando, FL  
F 8 Zay Mosley 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)210 lb (95 kg) FrOak Ridge Pemberton, NJ  
F 10 Aidan Hadaway 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)220 lb (100 kg) SrLafayette Lafayette, GA  
G 11 Carter Reese (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)200 lb (91 kg) JrWesterville North
Ohio Northern		 Westerville, OH  
G 13 Jackson Paveletzke 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)175 lb (79 kg) SrKimberly
Iowa State		 Kimberly, WI  
F 15 Chase Boals (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)253 lb (115 kg) RS FrNew Albany New Albany, OH  
F 17 Kiir Kuany 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)195 lb (88 kg) RS FrHuntington Prep Melbourne, Australia  
G 21 Jessie Burris 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)190 lb (86 kg) RS FrDelaware Hayes Delaware, OH  
F 22 Jalen Breath 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)225 lb (102 kg) RS SrBooker T. Washington
UNC Greensboro		 Oklahoma City, OK  
F 24 Jordan Fisher 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)185 lb (84 kg) FrReynoldsburg Pickerington, OH  
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: October 28, 2025

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Support staff

2025-26 Ohio Bobcats support staff
  • Jake Ness – Director of Basketball Operations
  • Keith Williams - Graduate Assistant
  • Sara Legarsky – Senior Director of Athletics Communications
  • Derek Lutz – Staff Athletic Trainer
  • Jessica Arquette – Ohio Athletics Sports Dietitian

Source:[27]

Schedule and results

More information Date time, TV, Rank# ...
Date
time, TV		 Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
October 20, 2025*
8:10 p.m.		 vs. Wright State
CareSource Invitational-Dayton		 L 57–63  –
  14 – Paveletzke  11 – Hadaway  3 – Hadaway  UD Arena 
Dayton, OH
October 26, 2025*
2:00 p.m., B1G+		 at Ohio State L 74–103  –
  14 – Tied  7 – Breath  7 – Paveletzke  Value City Arena (8,909)
Columbus, OH
Regular season
November 3, 2025*
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Arkansas State
MAC-SBC Challenge		 L 85–89  0–1
  28 – Hadaway  6 – Hadaway  3 – Hadaway  Convocation Center (5,545)
Athens, OH
November 6, 2025*
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Illinois State W 72–68  1–1
  19 – Paveletzke  8 – Hadaway  6 – Paveletzke  Convocation Center (3,831)
Athens, OH
November 11, 2025*
10:00 p.m., ESPN+		 at Saint Mary's L 60–90  1–2
  19 – Paveletzke  6 – Tied  6 – Sheldon  University Credit Union Pavilion (3,012)
Moraga, CA
November 15, 2025*
12:00 p.m, The CW		 at No. 12 Louisville L 81–106  1–3
  28 – Paveletzke  9 – Simmons  4 – Paveletzke  KFC Yum! Center (14,899)
Louisville, KY
November 19, 2025*
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Bethune–Cookman
Sunshine Slam campus game		 L 73–76  1–4
  28 – Paveletzke  11 – Hadaway  5 – Paveletzke  Convocation Center (3,664)
Athens, OH
November 24, 2025*
6:00 p.m., CBSSN		 vs. George Mason
Sunshine Slam Beach Bracket semifinals		 L 69–92  1–5
  16 – Hadaway  6 – Breath  5 – Paveletzke  Ocean Center 
Daytona Beach, FL
November 25, 2025*
5:00 p.m., CBSSN		 vs. Loyola Marymount
Sunshine Slam Beach Bracket consolation game		 L 58–70  1–6
  12 – Hadaway  8 – Elliott  2 – Tied  Ocean Center 
Daytona Beach, FL
December 3, 2025*
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Maine W 79–57  2–6
  17 – Simmons  11 – Hadaway  4 – Breath  Convocation Center (3,553)
Athens, OH
December 6, 2025*
4:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Marshall W 88–81  3–6
  22 – Paveletzke  11 – Hadaway  5 – Simmons  Convocation Center (3,723)
Athens, OH
December 13, 2025*
5:00 p.m., PTB Live		 vs. St. Bonaventure
Cleveland Hoops Showdown		 W 88–83 OT 4–6
  25 – Paveletzke  7 – Hadaway  3 – Tied  Rocket Arena (6,165)
Cleveland, OH
December 16, 2025*
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Ohio Wesleyan W 89–56  5–6
  19 – Hadaway  8 – Elliot  9 – Paveletzke  Convocation Center (2,664)
Athens, OH
December 20, 2025
4:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Bowling Green L 58–68  5–7
(0–1)		  19 – Paveletzke  10 – Hadaway  1 – Tied  Convocation Center (3,035)
Athens, OH
December 22, 2025*
12:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Miami-Hamilton W 102–59  6–7
  17 – Fisher  6 – Elliott  7 – Elliott  Convocation Center (2,402)
Athens, OH
MAC regular season
December 30, 2025
3:00 p.m., ESPN+		 at Central Michigan W 80–64  7–7
(1–1)		  23 – Paveletzke  11 – Hadaway  0 – Paveletzke  McGuirk Arena (1,358)
Mount Pleasant, MI
January 3, 2026
2:00 p.m., ESPN+		 at Eastern Michigan W 68–67  8–7
(2–1)		  15 – Simmons  8 – Hadaway  3 – Hadaway  George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,622)
Ypsilanti, MI
January 6, 2026
6:00 p.m., CBSSN		 UMass W 86–83  9–7
(3–1)		  20 – Simmons  6 – Hadaway  10 – Paveletzke  Convocation Center (2,699)
Athens, OH
January 10, 2026
2:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Buffalo W 91–80  10–7
(4–1)		  27 – Hadaway  10 – Hadaway  8 – Paveletzke  Convocation Center (3,872)
Athens, OH
January 13, 2026
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 at Toledo L 85–101  10–8
(4–2)		  21 – Simmons  6 – Simmons  6 – Paveletzke  Savage Arena (4,552)
Toledo, OH
January 16, 2026
8:30 p.m., CBSSN		 at Ball State L 71–76  10–9
(4–3)		  22 – Tied  7 – Hadaway  4 – Paveletzke  Worthen Arena (2,505)
Muncie, IN
January 20, 2026
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Northern Illinois W 80–77  11–9
(5–3)		  23 – Paveletzke  9 – Kelly  6 – Hadaway  Convocation Center (2,867)
Athens, OH
January 23, 2026
8:00 p.m., ESPNU		 Akron L 65–86  11–10
(5–4)		  16 – Tied  5 – Tied  4 – Paveletzke  Convocation Center (4,422)
Athens, OH
January 27, 2026
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 at Kent State L 57–72  11–11
(5–5)		  13 – Hadaway  8 – Paveletzke  3 – Paveletzke  MAC Center (1,571)
Kent, OH
January 31, 2026
2:00 p.m., ESPN+		 at Buffalo W 95–83  12–11
(6–5)		  24 – Simmons  13 – Simmons  11 – Paveletzke  Alumni Arena (2,005)
Amherst, NY
February 3, 2026
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Western Michigan W 91–71  13–11
(7–5)		  17 – Tied  8 – Hadaway  8 – Paveletzke  Convocation Center (3,113)
Athens, OH
February 7, 2026*
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 at Old Dominion
MAC-SBC Challenge		 L 72–78  13–12
  19 – Sheldon  13 – Hadaway  11 – Paveletzke  Chartway Arena (6,657)
Norfolk, VA
February 13, 2026
9:00 p.m., ESPN		 at No. 23 Miami (OH) L 74–90  13–13
(7–6)		  22 – Paveletzke  4 – Tied  3 – Tied  Millett Hall (10,640)
Oxford, OH
February 17, 2026
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Ball State W 69–57  14–13
(8–6)		  18 – Tied  8 – Hadaway  6 – Paveletzke  Convocation Center (4,164)
Athens, OH
February 21, 2026
3:00 p.m., ESPN+		 at Northern Illinois W 74–66  15–13
(9–6)		  23 – Simmons  11 – Hadaway  6 – Paveletzke  Convocation Center (1,245)
DeKalb, IL
February 28, 2026
4:00 p.m., ESPN+		 Toledo L 67–79  15–14
(9–7)		  20 – Simmons  12 – Tied  5 – Simmons  Convocation Center (6,404)
Athens, OH
March 3, 2026
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 at UMass L 82–94  15–15
(9–8)		  24 – Paveletzke  7 – Hadaway  7 – Paveletzke  Mullins Center (2,115)
Amherst, MA
March 6, 2026
9:00 p.m., ESPN2		 No. 19 Miami (OH) L 108–110 OT 15–16
(9–9)		  37 – Paveletzke  9 – Simmons  6 – Paveletzke  Convocation Center (10,740)
Athens, OH
MAC Tournament
March 12, 2026
6:30 p.m., ESPN+		 (6) vs. (3) Kent State
Quarterfinals		 L 75–86  15–17
  24 – Hadaway  7 – Tied  7 – Paveletzke  Rocket Arena (9,123)
Cleveland, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern Time.
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Source[28][29]

Statistics

Team Statistics

Through March 12, 2026
More information Record, Ohio ...
Record Ohio OPP
Scoring24922515
Scoring Average77.8878.59
Field goals – Att884–1916879–1905
3-pt. Field goals – Att224–728238–656
Free throws – Att500–708519–713
Rebounds10761156
Assists432427
Turnovers348378
Steals196192
Blocked Shots11486
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Source[30]

Player statistics

More information Minutes, Scoring ...
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
Jackson Paveletzke 31 31 1137 36.7 536 17.3 172 367 0.469 31 98 0.316 161 200 0.805 15 79 94 3.0 163 46 70 27 0
Javan Simmons 31 31 840 27.1 469 15.1 163 304 0.536 6 30 0.200 137 200 0.685 81 95 176 5.7 50 89 52 19 24
Aidan Hadaway 32 32 1019 31.8 460 14.4 185 381 0.486 44 146 0.301 46 66 0.697 60 178 238 7.4 68 91 61 25 23
JJ Kelly 31 26 826 26.6 266 8.6 104 200 0.520 24 73 0.329 34 44 0.773 35 83 118 3.8 18 76 28 27 26
Ajay Sheldon 32 30 989 30.9 241 7.5 77 216 0.356 66 178 0.371 21 30 0.700 13 65 78 2.4 61 75 37 48 3
Dior Conners 31 3 358 11.5 129 4.2 39 122 0.320 25 91 0.275 26 33 0.788 9 29 38 1.2 22 41 18 16 1
Kiir Kuany 31 1 276 8.9 109 3.5 44 83 0.530 7 29 0.241 14 19 0.737 10 32 42 1.4 5 37 9 9 12
Jalen Breath 28 1 374 13.4 104 3.7 37 70 0.529 0 1 0.000 30 72 0.417 32 51 83 3.0 10 56 21 6 13
Jesse Burris 24 0 239 10.0 81 3.4 29 80 0.363 14 49 0.286 9 10 0.900 9 20 29 1.2 5 23 12 5 4
Elijah Elliott 13 5 280 21.5 53 4.1 17 57 0.298 5 22 0.227 14 22 0.636 4 41 45 3.5 26 24 15 9 3
Ayden Evans 11 0 91 8.3 25 2.3 10 22 0.455 1 6 0.167 4 6 0.667 4 8 12 1.1 3 11 3 3 5
Jordan Fisher 5 0 22 4.4 19 3.8 7 14 0.500 1 5 0.200 4 6 0.667 0 2 2 0.4 1 3 1 2 0
Total 32 - 6451 - 2492 77.9 884 1916 0.461 224 728 0.308 500 708 0.706 272 683 955 29.8 432 572 348 196 114
Opponents 32 - 6451 - 2515 78.6 879 1905 0.461 238 656 0.363 519 713 0.728 357 799 1156 36.1 427 616 378 192 86
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More information Legend ...
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
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Source[30]

Awards and honors

Weekly Awards

More information Honors, Player ...
Weekly Award Honors
Honors Player Position Date Awarded Source
MAC player of the week Jackson Paveletzke G January 12 [31]
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All-MAC Awards

More information Team, Player ...
Postseason All-MAC teams
Team Player Position Year
All-MAC 2nd Team Jackson Paveletzke G Sr.
All-MAC Honorable Mention Javan Simmons F R-Jr.
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Source[32]

References

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