2024–25 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team

2024–25 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball
2024–25 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	2–1 (0–0 MAC)
Head coach	Rashon Burno (4th season);
Associate head coach	Drew Gladstone
Assistant coaches	Drew Kelly; Jacob Kurtz; Antoni Wyche; Cyrus Tate;
Home arena	Convocation Center
	Seasons ← 2023–24 2025–26 →

The 2024–25 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team represent Northern Illinois University during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Huskies, led by fourth-year head coach Rashon Burno, play their home games at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Illinois as members of the Mid-American Conference.

2024–25 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Eastern Michigan	0	–	0	–	2	–	1	.667
Kent State	0	–	0	–	2	–	1	.667
Miami (OH)	0	–	0	–	2	–	1	.667
Northern Illinois	0	–	0	–	2	–	1	.667
Toledo	0	–	0	–	2	–	1	.667
Buffalo	0	–	0	–	2	–	2	.500
Central Michigan	0	–	0	–	2	–	2	.500
Akron	0	–	0	–	1	–	2	.333
Ball State	0	–	0	–	1	–	2	.333
Bowling Green	0	–	0	–	1	–	2	.333
Ohio	0	–	0	–	1	–	2	.333
Western Michigan	0	–	0	–	1	–	2	.333

† 2025 MAC tournament winner As of November 14, 2024

Previous season

The Huskies finished the 2023–24 season 11–20, 5–13 in MAC play to finish in 11th place.^[1] They failed to qualify for the MAC tournament, as only the top eight teams qualify.^[2]

Offseason

Departures

Departures
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Keshawn Williams	0	G	6'4"	175	Senior	Chicago Heights, Illinois	Transferred to Colorado State^[3]
Will Lovings-Watts	1	G	6'5"	200	Freshman	Jeffersonville, Indiana	Transferred to James Madison
Zarique Nutter	2	G	6'7"	200	Junior	Newark, New Jersey	Transferred to Georgia State
Philmon Gebrewhit	5	G	6'7"	190	Senior	Boston, Massachusetts	Graduated
Zion Russell	10	G	6'2"	185	RS Sophomore	Upper Marlboro, Maryland	Transferred to Niagara
David Coit	11	G	5'11"	175	Junior	Columbus, New Jersey	Transferred to Kansas^[4]
Xavier Amos	13	F	6'8"	215	Sophomore	Chicago, Illinois	Transferred to Wisconsin
Yanic Konan Niederhauser	14	F	6'11"	255	Sophomore	Fräschels, Switzerland	Transferred to Penn State
Luka Gogic	21	F	6'6"	190	Freshman	Belgrade, Serbia
Harvin Ibarguen	23	F	6'9"	235	Senior	Cali, Colombia	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Incoming transfers
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Dominic Gooden	0	G	6'1"	180	Junior	Cleveland, Ohio	Hillsborough CC
Quentin Jones	1	G	6'5"	180	Sophomore	Chicago, Illinois	Cal Poly
Tsvet Sotirov	2	F	6'9"	210	RS Freshman	Rolling Meadows, Illinois	Saint Louis
Joe Munden Jr.	3	G	6'4"	199	Graduate student	Harlem, New York	Fairleigh Dickinson
Kailon Nicholls	5	G	6'0"	160	Sophomore	Toronto, Ontario	Duquesne
Peyton Ackerman	12	G	5'10"	150	RS Sophomore	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	Grayson College
James Dent Jr.	14	G	6'5"	170	Senior	Springfield, Illinois	Western Illinois
Mo Sall	23	G	6'5"	185	Junior	Downers Grove, Illinois	DePaul

Recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight
Jayden Mott F	Midwest City, Oklahoma	Edmond Santa Fe High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)
Jayden Mott F	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: N/A
David Mack G	Los Angeles, California	St. Pius X - St. Matthias Academy	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	160 lb (73 kg)
David Mack G	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: N/A
Terry Copeland Jr. F	Orange, New Jersey	Legacy Early College	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	225 lb (102 kg)
Terry Copeland Jr. F	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: 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.

Preseason

On October 22, 2024 the MAC released the preseason coaches poll. Northern Illinois was picked to finish eleventh in the MAC regular season.^[5]

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 (OH)	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^[5]

Preseason All-MAC

No Huskies were named to the first or second Preseason All-MAC teams.^[5]

Roster

2024–25 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Dominic Gooden	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jr	Hillsborough Community College	Cleveland, Ohio
G	1	Quentin Jones	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	So	Cal Poly	Chicago, Illinois
F	2	Tsvet Sotirov	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	RS Fr	Saint Louis	Rolling Meadows, Illinois
G	3	Joe Munden Jr.	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	199 lb (90 kg)	GS	Fairleigh Dickinson	Harlem, New York
F	4	Oluwasegun Durosinmi	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	243 lb (110 kg)	Sr	St. Bonaventure	Lagos, Nigeria
G	5	Kailon Nicholls	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	So	Duquesne	Toronto, Ontario
G	7	Nasir Muhammad	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	186 lb (84 kg)	So	Xaverian High School	Brooklyn, New York
F	11	Jayden Mott	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Fr	Edmond Santa Fe High School	Midwest City, Oklahoma
G	12	Peyton Ackerman	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	RS So	Grayson College	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
G	14	James Dent Jr.	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Sr	Western Illinois	Springfield, Illinois
F	15	Ethan Butler	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Oregon	Toronto, Ontario
G	20	Leo Amari IV	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	So	Viewpoint School	Sherman Oaks, California
G	21	David Mack	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Fr	St. Pius X - St. Matthias Academy	Los Angeles, California
G	22	Steven Tipton	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	Jr	Brookfield Central High School	Brookfield, Wisconsin
G	23	Mo Sall	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	DePaul	Downers Grove, Illinois
G	24	Quaran McPherson	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	197 lb (89 kg)	Jr	Nebraska	South Jamaica, New York
F	25	Terry Copeland Jr.	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Fr	Legacy Early College	Orange, New Jersey

Head coach

Rashon Burno (DePaul)

Assistant coach(es)

Drew Gladstone (DePaul)
Drew Kelly (Villanova)
Jacob Kurtz (Florida)
Antoni Wyche (Notre Dame)
Cyrus Tate (Iowa)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: November 13, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 4, 2024* 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Georgia Southern MAC-SBC Challenge	L 65–80	0–1	24 – Dent Jr.	6 – Tied	3 – Tied	Hanner Fieldhouse (2,520) Statesboro, GA
November 7, 2024* 6:00 pm, ESPN+	Holy Cross (IN)	W 105–37	1–1	14 – Tied	7 – Dent Jr.	4 – Tied	Convocation Center (921) DeKalb, IL
November 12, 2024* 6:00 pm, ESPN+	Monmouth	W 79–66	2–1	22 – Jones	8 – Dent Jr.	3 – Muhammad	Convocation Center (1,033) DeKalb, IL
November 16, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Bradley						Carver Arena Peoria, IL
November 20, 2024* 6:00 pm, ESPN+	Elon						Convocation Center DeKalb, IL
November 23, 2024* 4:00 pm, FS2	at DePaul DePaul Classic						Wintrust Arena Chicago, IL
November 27, 2024* 3:00 pm, ESPN+	at Valparaiso DePaul Classic						Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN
November 29, 2024* 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Eastern Illinois DePaul Classic						Groniger Arena Charleston, IL
December 3, 2024* 6:00 pm, ESPN+	Benedictine						Convocation Center DeKalb, IL
December 7, 2024* 5:00 pm, ESPN+	at Northern Iowa						McLeod Center Cedar Falls, IA
December 18, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Illinois State						CEFCU Arena Normal, IL
December 30, 2024* 6:00 pm, ESPN+	East–West						Convocation Center DeKalb, IL
MAC regular season
January 4, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN+	at Eastern Michigan						George Gervin GameAbove Center Ypsilanti, MI
January 7, 2025 6:00 pm, ESPN+	Kent State						Convocation Center DeKalb, IL
January 11, 2025 12:00 pm, ESPN+	at Ohio						Convocation Center Athens, OH
January 14, 2025 6:00 pm, ESPN+	Miami (OH)						Convocation Center DeKalb, IL
January 18, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Central Michigan						Convocation Center DeKalb, IL
January 21, 2025 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Western Michigan						University Arena Kalamazoo, MI
January 25, 2025 3:30 pm, ESPN+	Ball State						Convocation Center DeKalb, IL
January 28, 2025 6:00 pm, ESPN+	Akron						Convocation Center DeKalb, IL
February 1, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN+	at Toledo						Savage Arena Toledo, OH
February 4, 2025 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Bowling Green						Stroh Center Bowling Green, OH
February 11, 2025 6:00 pm, ESPN+	Buffalo						Convocation Center DeKalb, IL
February 15, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN+	at Ball State						Worthen Arena Muncie, IN
February 18, 2025 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Akron						James A. Rhodes Arena Akron, OH
February 22, 2025 3:30 pm, ESPN+	Eastern Michigan						Convocation Center DeKalb, IL
February 25, 2025 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Miami (OH)						Millett Hall Oxford, OH
March 1, 2025 3:30 pm, ESPN+	Western Michigan						Convocation Center DeKalb, IL
March 4, 2025 6:00 pm, ESPN+	Bowling Green						Convocation Center DeKalb, IL
March 7, 2025 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Central Michigan						McGuirk Arena Mount Pleasant, MI
MAC tournament
March 13–15, 2025 ESPN+/CBSSN/ESPN2	vs.						Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Cleveland, OH
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.

Sources:^[6]^[7]

References

^ "2023-24 Men's Basketball Standings". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
^ "2024 MAC men's basketball tournament scores, schedule, bracket, TV, livestream info". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
^ Lytle, Kevin (April 30, 2024). "Veteran guard Keshawn Williams to transfer to Colorado State men's basketball team". Fort Collins Coloradoan. Archived from the original on September 21, 2024. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
^ Bedore, Gary (August 9, 2024). "Former Northern Illinois point guard David Coit to transfer to KU basketball this season". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c "MAC Announces 2024-25 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll & Teams". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
^ "2024-25 Men's Basketball Schedule". NIU Athletics. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
^ "Northern Illinois Huskies 2024-25 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved November 13, 2024.

[1] "2023-24 Men's Basketball Standings". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved November 13, 2024.

[2] "2024 MAC men's basketball tournament scores, schedule, bracket, TV, livestream info". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved November 13, 2024.

[3] Lytle, Kevin (April 30, 2024). "Veteran guard Keshawn Williams to transfer to Colorado State men's basketball team". Fort Collins Coloradoan. Archived from the original on September 21, 2024. Retrieved November 13, 2024.

[4] Bedore, Gary (August 9, 2024). "Former Northern Illinois point guard David Coit to transfer to KU basketball this season". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved November 13, 2024.

[poll-5] "MAC Announces 2024-25 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll & Teams". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved November 13, 2024.

[6] "2024-25 Men's Basketball Schedule". NIU Athletics. Retrieved November 13, 2024.

[7] "Northern Illinois Huskies 2024-25 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved November 13, 2024.

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