2024–25 SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball team

The 2024–25 SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball team represents Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cougars, led by sixth-year head coach Brian Barone, plays their home games at the First Community Arena in Edwardsville, Illinois as members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).

2024–25 SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Head coach	Brian Barone (6th season)
Assistant coaches	Colin Schneider (Associate Head Coach) Angres Thorpe Ryan Hellenthal Mike Waldo (Special Assistant to the Head Coach) Jay Bradley(Director of Player Development)
Home arena	First Community Arena

2024–25 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Eastern Illinois	0	–	0		–			0	–	0		–
Lindenwood*	0	–	0		–			0	–	0		–
Little Rock	0	–	0		–			0	–	0		–
Morehead State	0	–	0		–			0	–	0		–
SIU Edwardsville	0	–	0		–			0	–	0		–
Southeast Missouri State	0	–	0		–			0	–	0		–
Southern Indiana*	0	–	0		–			0	–	0		–
Tennessee State	0	–	0		–			0	–	0		–
Tennessee Tech	0	–	0		–			0	–	0		–
UT Martin	0	–	0		–			0	–	0		–
Western Illinois	0	–	0		–			0	–	0		–
* ineligible for the 2025 NCAA tournament due to transition period
† 2025 OVC tournament winner

Previous season

The Cougars finished the 2023-24 season 17–16, 9–9 in OVC play to finish in sixth place. As the No. 6 seed in the OVC tournament, they defeated Southern Indiana in the first round before losing to UT Martin.

SIUE guard Damarco Minor was honored as a member of the All-OVC First Team.

Season forecast

Six players return from the 2023–24 squad. They are joined by one freshman, four transfers from junior colleges, two transfers from other Division I programs, and two graduate students from non-Division I schools.

In a vote of Ohio Valley Conference head men's basketball coaches and communication directors, SIUE was picked to finish 3rd in the 11 team Ohio Valley Conference.

2024-25 OVC Men’s Basketball Predicted Order of Finish

1. Little Rock (20 first-place votes) - 200 points

2. Western Illinois - 172

3. SIUE (2) - 151

4. Tennessee State - 134

5. Morehead State - 131

6. Eastern Illinois - 87

7. Southeast Missouri - 86

8. Southern Indiana - 79

9. Lindenwood - 67

10. UT Martin - 52

11. Tennessee Tech - 51

Roster

Source

2023–24 SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 0 Ring Malith 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Barton CC/Rocky Bayou Christian HS Twic, South Sudan G 1 Jordan Pickett 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Belleville East HS Belleville, IL G 2 Desmond Polk 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) GS Link Year Prep/La Lumiere School Milwaukee, WI G 3 Ray'Sean Taylor 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) GS Collinsville HS Collinsville, IL F 4 Darrion Baker 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Fr Akron/Hillcrest HS Chicago, IL G 5 Declan Dillon 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) GS Winona State/Peoria Noitre Dame Peoria, IL G 10 Jordan Hamilton 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Southern Idaho Memphis, TN G 11 Brian Taylor II 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Milwaukee/De Smet HS St. Louis, MO F 21 Myles Thompson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Barton CC/Hutchinson HS Hutchinson, KS G 23 Cham Okey 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Phoenix Prep/Austin HS Minneapolis, MN F 24 Kyle Thomas 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr Bradley/Benet Academy Bolingbrook, IL F 33 Jo Valrie 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) GS Piont Park Houston, TX C 34 Arnas Sakenis 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Jr Andrew HS Tinley Park, IL G 40 Eddiean Tirado 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Indian Hills CC/Calusa Prep Miami, FL	Head coach Brian Barone (Marquette) Assistant coach(es) Colin Schneider (Green Bay) Ryan Hellenthal (UIC) Angres Thorpe (Saint Leo College) Darreon Reddick (Tennessee State) Mike Waldo (SIUE) Jay Bradley (Barclay College) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 28 October 22024

Schedule and results

Source=

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 27, 2024 3:00 PM		Missouri Baptist	W 87-56		23 – R.Taylor	10 – R. Malith	6 – R. Taylor	First Community Arena  Edwardsville, IL
Non-conference regular season
November 4, 2024 7:30 PM		Westminster College						First Community Arena  Edwardsville, IL
November 6, 2024 7:00 PM, B1G		Indiana						Assembly Hall  Bloomington, IN
November 8, 2024 7:00 PM, Peacock		Illinois						State Farm Center  Champaign, IL
November 12, 2024 6:00 PM		Indiana State						Hulman Center  Terre Haute, IN
November 15, 2024 4:00 PM		Western Michigan Bronco Classic						University Arena  Kalamazoo, MI
November 16, 2024 2:00 PM		vs. Canisius Bronco Classic						University Arena  Kalamazoo, MI
November 19, 2024 6:00 PM		Green Bay						Kress Events Center  Green Bay, WI
November 23, 2024 6:00 PM, ESPN+		St. Ambrose						First Community Arena  Edwardsville, IL
November 29, 2024 6:00 PM, ESPN+		North Florida						First Community Arena  Edwardsville, IL
December 8, 2024 1:00 PM, ESPN+		Ball State						First Community Arena  Edwardsville, IL
December 15, 2024 1:00 PM, ESPN+		Eureka College						First Community Arena  Edwardsville, IL
Ohio Valley Conference regular season
December 19, 2024 7:00 PM, ESPN+		Little Rock						Jack Stephens Center  Little Rock, AR
December 21, 2014 3:45 PM, ESPN+		Southeast Missouri State						Show Me Center  Cape Girardeau, MO
January 2, 2025 7:30 PM, ESPN+		Western Illinois						First Community Arena  Edwardsville, IL
January 4, 2025 3:30 PM, ESPN+		Lindenwood						First Community Arena  Edwardsville, IL
January 7, 2025 7:30 PM, ESPN+		Eastern Illinois						Groniger Arena  Charleston, IL
January 11, 2025 3:30 PM, ESPN+		Tennessee Tech						Gentry Complex  Nashville, TN
January 16, 2025 8:00 PM, ESPN+		Tennessee State						Gentry Complex  Nashville, TN
January 18, 2025 3:30 PM, ESPN+		UT Martin						Skyhawk Arena  Martin, TN
January 23, 2025 7:30 PM, ESPN+		Southern Indiana						First Community Arena  Edwardsville, IL
January 25, 2025 3:30 PM, ESPN+		Morehead State						First Community Arena  Edwardsville, IL
January 30, 2025 7:30 PM, ESPN+		Lindenwood						Hyland Performance Arena  St. Charles, MO
February 1, 2025 3:30 PM, ESPN+		Western Illinois						Western Hall  Macomb, IL
February 4, 2025  ESPN+		Eastern Illinois						First Community Arena  Edwardsville, IL
February 6, 2025 7:30 PM, ESPN+		Tennessee Tech						Eblen Center  Cookeville, TN
February 13, 2025 7:30 PM, ESPN+		UT Martin						First Community Arena  Edwardsville, IL
February 15, 2025 3:30 PM, ESPN+		Tennessee State						First Community Arena  Edwardsville, IL
February 20, 2025 6:30 PM, ESPN+		Morehead State						Ellis Johnson Arena  Morehead, KY
February 22, 2025 7:30 PM, ESPN+		Southern Indiana						Screaming Eagles Arena  Evansville, IN
February 27, 2025 7:30 PM, ESPN+		Southeast Missouri State						First Community Arena  Edwardsville, IL
March 1, 2025 3:30 PM, ESPN+		Little Rock						First Community Arena  Edwardsville, IL
OVC Tournament
March 5-8, 2025  ESPN+/ESPN		vs.						Ford Center  Evansville, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time Source.