As all mid-major conferences do in the current college basketball landscape, the Horizon League had its fair share of turnover. A repeat champion is certainly in play, but the league is deep with a handful of teams that could win the new-look conference tournament and represent the league in the Big Dance.
Robert Morris gave Alabama a competitive game in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, and Oakland upset Kentucky just two seasons ago. The league is no stranger to success in March, so which program will try to make Cinderella’s slipper fit and cut down the nets in Indianapolis?
Predicted league standings
In his fourth year at Milwaukee, head coach Bart Lundy is in position to break through and make his first March Madness appearance. He put together an experienced backcourt through the portal that should be among the league’s best. Redshirt senior Amar Augillard earned preseason All-League first team honors, joining the Panthers after averaging 13.3 points at Fresno State last season. His running mate, Seth Hubbard, earned preseason All-League second team honors. Hubbard played two seasons at Western Michigan, averaging 14.1 points in 2023-24. He spent last season at Toledo and averaged 8.4 points. Lundy’s squad was near the bottom of the conference in 3-point shooting last season but should be much improved from deep with the backcourt portal additions.
Joining the new-look backcourt on the preseason All-League teams is returning forward Faizon Fields, who earned second-team honors. He averaged 6.7 points and 4.9 rebounds last season for the Panthers and will anchor the frontcourt. Milwaukee led the league in both offensive and total rebounds in 2024-25 and will look to continue that success. Danilo Jovanovich will also return in the frontcourt, and Lundy landed three transfers to bolster the unit: Sekou Konneh from DePaul; Tate Mackenzie from JUCO Howard College; and Chandler Jackson from JUCO Parkland College. Being an elite rebounding team helped Milwaukee finish within a game of the regular-season league crown last year, and dominating the glass again will help them take the next step.
With a potential All-League backcourt, a solid frontcourt to hold down the paint and a coach hungry for his first taste of the Big Dance, the Panthers are poised to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013-14.
The Golden Grizzlies will be led by Tuburu Naivalurua in his third season with the program. He averaged 13.9 points and 7.1 rebounds last season, and was named the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year. JUCO Snow College transfer Isaac Garrett has athletic upside, with the ability to rebound, score at the rim and block shots. He has shown flashes of playmaking abilities too. He will be a fun fit next to Naivalurua. Jacksonville State transfer Michael Houge, who may miss some time to start the season, averaged 7.4 rebounds last season. Texas State transfer Nate Deer was a late addition for head coach Greg Kampe, but he adds depth with size in the frontcourt. It may not be the tallest frontcourt in the league, but it will be one of the most physical and athletic, and outrebounding Kampe’s crew will be a tall task.
Brody Robinson is the key new face in the backcourt, transferring from UT-Arlington. He started 29 games for the Mavericks in 2024-25, shooting 40% from three. He had two double-doubles, both with points and assists, and a 10 rebound game despite standing just 5-foot-11. Transfers Ziare Wells (16.6 ppg at Division II Lenoir Rhyne) and Brett White II (21.0 ppg at NAIA Rochester Christian) will add a scoring punch to the backcourt, and returner Warren Marshall IV could see action after redshirting last season.
The nation’s longest tenured head coach has a plethora of guards, a frontcourt that should be extremely productive on the glass and arguably the league’s best player in year 42 at Oakland. The Golden Grizzlies have as good of a shot as anyone to get to the Big Dance, and nobody needs to be reminded what they can do if they get there.
Andy Toole chose to remain head coach at Robert Morris after last season’s NCAA Tournament berth. The majority of his team, however, did not. Toole landed an in-conference transfer commitment from DeSean Goode to headline the roster overhaul. Goode played his freshman season at IU Indy and was on the Horizon League All-Freshman Team. He earned preseason All-League second team honors and is a breakout candidate for the Colonials. He will be joined in the frontcourt by Nikolaos Chitikoudis who spent the past two seasons at North Carolina A&T. The 6-foot-9 big man averaged 10.8 points and a CAA-leading 9.3 rebounds in 2024-25. Toole also added 7-foot-1 Ubong Okon from Alabama State and Josh Hill from Arkansas State for depth up front.
Ryan Prather Jr. is the lone returner from the championship rotation. He scored in double figures 11 times in the championship season and will be an important piece again this season. Joining him in the backcourt will be a handful of transfers. Potential all-conference honoree Jeremiah Littlejohn averaged 18.2 points at JUCO Western Oklahoma State and looks to add a scoring punch to a team needing to replace nearly all of its offensive production. Division II transfers Albert Vargas and Cam Wilds should also have opportunities to contribute in the backcourt. Vargas averaged 17.5 points and 5.7 assists last season, and Wilds averaged 21.2 points. Offering a unique big-guard frame with Division I experience, 6-foot-7 Kaleb Brown joins the program after averaging 6.6 points and 3.9 assists at Cal State Fullerton last season.
With a nearly entirely different team, Robert Morris will likely lean on its frontcourt which has shown the ability to produce in Division I. However, if Toole wants to make a run at another league title, his backcourt will have to be productive as well with plenty of potential contributors on the roster.
Purdue Fort Wayne Mastadons
The first team on the list that has not made the NCAA Tournament, the Mastodons could be a sleeper in the Horizon League and take the dance floor for the first time in March. Head coach Jon Coffman’s team had a handful of losses, like most mid-majors do each offseason, but reloaded and retained some key pieces from last season. Corey Hadnot II is returning after averaging nine points, starting just two of the team’s 32 games. He could be in line to take a big jump, and that potential earned him a spot on the preseason All-League second team. In what should be a strong backcourt, he’ll play alongside DeAndre Craig Jr., who averaged 13.5 points at Denver, and Mikale Stevenson, who averaged 10.9 points and 3.8 assists at Grambling State.
In the frontcourt, Eric Mulder departed for Iowa State, but the Coffman’s bigs should recover nicely. Maximus Nelson started all 32 games last season and will return. Deangelo Elisee also returns after appearing in 31 games with eight starts, most notably a three-block game against Penn State. Joining the frontcourt through the portal from in-conference foe Milwaukee is Darius Duffy, who led the Panthers in blocks, playing in all 32 games, starting 16 in 2024-25.
Coffman added experienced guards to a backcourt with a breakout candidate and returned key pieces in the frontcourt. The Mastodons may not be a favorite to win the league, but the roster construction should give them a chance to be frisky in 2025-26.
Youngstown State Penguins
America would fall in love with a penguin roaming the sidelines of an NCAA Tournament game, so could this finally be the year Youngstown State goes dancing? Head coach Ethan Faulkner’s team was a win away from the Big Dance last season, but there is not much left of the Horizon League runner-up team. Four players return, two of which did not log a minute a season ago. Cris Carroll is the key returning piece and is member of the preseason All-League second team. He averaged 9.2 points and five rebounds last season, and the Penguins will need him to take another step forward as the leader of this team. Jason Nelson also returns, coming off a season where he started 13 games and averaged eight points and 2.7 assists.
After losing the 7-foot-5 Gabe Dynes to USC in the transfer portal, there is a gaping hole in the frontcourt. While that kind of size is rare to come by, this year’s team has just one player listed at seven foot, so some small-ball lineups will be in order for the Penguins. Vlad Salaridze will join the program for his sixth season after a productive year at UT-Martin, Charlotte transfer Rich Rolf returns to his home state ready to contribute, and Tyler Robinett will make the jump to Division I from NAIA College of Idaho.
The Penguins got significantly smaller with the loss of Dynes, but a jump from Carroll could help the program contend for its first NCAA Tournament appearance.
As has been the trend with the teams near the top of the projected standings, the Norse are represented on the preseason all-league teams by a returner looking to evolve into a go-to guy. Dan Gherezgher averaged 7.5 points in his first season with the program, highlighted by a 26-point game to snap a then 13-game win streak for Cleveland State. Senior forward LJ Wells also returns after starting 16 games last season, in which he averaged 7.3 points and 5.3 rebounds. He will provide a stable presence in the frontcourt on a revamped roster.
In the portal, head coach Darrin Horn added Addison Archer from JUCO Ranger College and Kael Robinson from Division-II Montana State Billings to strengthen the frontcourt. A pair of guards from non-Division I schools also joined the program via the portal: Shawn Nelson from Division-II Barton College and Tae Dozier from NAIA Georgetown College. The lone Division-I portal addition is Donovan Oday, who averaged 12.8 points at Cal State Fullerton a season ago.
The Norse have some stability in the backcourt with a returning breakout candidate in Gherezgher and Oday, who have succeeded in Division-I action. If the duo can carry a large load, they could be an interesting team to watch in the quest for the league’s auto bid.
With year one of the Rob Summers era about to tip off, what the team looks like is nearly impossible to predict. Of the 15 players on the roster, 13 are transfers and the lone non-transfers are a true freshman and an international prospect. Of the transfers, a handful bring Division-I experience. Guards Foster Wonders (from Green Bay), Ice Emery and Kamari Jones (from Western Carolina) and Jaidon Lipscomb (from Florida International) each bring different skillsets that present the opportunity for an electric backcourt.
Dayan Nessah (from George Washington), Holden Pierre-Louis (from Temple) and Josiah Harris (from Akron) are early candidates to hold things down in the frontcourt with their Division-I experience. It will be interesting to see what Summers does with an entirely new roster early in the year.
There’s no way of telling what this team will look like on the court with no returners, but there’s some Division-I experience and a handful of non-Division-I transfers who are capable of making the jump. If nothing else, the Vikings will be a fun watch because nobody knows what to expect.
Wright State had its first losing season since 2014-15 in 2024-25, and the road to get back to the top of the Horizon League will be difficult. The three leading scorers from last season departed the program as a key reason. Logan Woods is the most experienced of the returning group. He started 25 of the 32 games last year, averaging 6.9 points on 46% shooting from three. Michael Imariagbe also played in all 32 games in 2024-25. He will look to be a stable frontcourt presence as the new roster tries to find its footing.
Merrimack transfer Bryan Etumnu headlines the portal additions for head coach Clint Sargent. He led the MAAC in blocks last season with 73, averaging 2.3 per game. Etumnu and Imariagbe provide some upside in the frontcourt. Sam Alamutu (from Vermont) and Dominic Pangonis (from Stephen F. Austin) both played rotational minutes last season and should play meaningful minutes in the backcourt.
The Raiders, like many teams in the league will need a jump from a returner but didn’t make as much noise in the portal. It feels unlikely that they’ll compete with the league’s top teams at this point.
In his first year at the helm in 2024-25, head coach Mark Montgomery added seven wins to the program’s total from 2023-24, bringing the number from one to eight. The roster for 2025-26 has just three transfers with six returners and five incoming freshmen looking to rebuild the culture of the program which hasn’t had a winning season since 2015-16. Preseason All-League first-team selection Orlando Lovejoy averaged 16.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists. He will return for his senior season and try to lead the movement of turning the program around. Returning as a breakout candidate, TJ Nadeau averaged 8.9 points and 3.5 rebounds in 2024-25 and is back for his sophomore season.
Leading the youth movement for the team, Keshawn Fisher joined the program coming off a season with Overtime Elite. The three-star recruit in the class of 2025 was an OTE Defensive Player of the Year finalist and offers significant upside for Montgomery.
Montgomery retained key pieces, added intriguing freshmen and filled a few holes with transfers this offseason. The program is still very much in the rebuild phase, but it could be a fun watch as it looks to turn the page.
After losing to Division-II Michigan Tech last December, Green Bay reached a low point early in the Doug Gottlieb tenure. However, after some competitive games with the league’s top teams, the Phoenix built some momentum down the stretch. Gottlieb added extensive experience to his staff and built a roster that has players varying from international prospects, to true freshman, to a 29-year-old sophomore. Marcus Hall should be the alpha for this group. He earned preseason All-League first-team honors after averaging 13.9 points in 2024-25. Preston Ruedinger, who Gottlieb has emphasized is the team’s vocal leader, is back for his final collegiate season after leading the team in minutes and assists last season.
Of the newcomers, Ramel Bethea will be the popular name because of his story. The 29-year-old averaged 12.7 points and 9.7 rebounds at JUCO MiraCosta College. LeBron Thomas may be the most impactful transfer on the roster, though Bethea might receive the most attention. In his 2024-25 season at JUCO Vincennes University, he averaged 14.3 points and 5.8 assists, earning NJCAA first-team All-America honors.
With added experience on staff and a uniquely-constructed roster, the Phoenix is poised to improve upon a woeful 2024-25 campaign.
With just one returner, IU Indy falls in the same boat as Cleveland State as teams that enter the season with no good way to predict what the on-court product will look like. Ben Howlett was hired as head coach in May after an extremely successful tenure at Division-II West Liberty University. In Howlett’s eight seasons at West Liberty, the program made eight NCAA Tournaments, won eight regular-season conference championships and averaged better than 27 wins per season. He looks to bring his sustained culture of winning to the Division-I ranks with IU Indy.
Following Howlett from West Liberty to Indianapolis are transfers JP Dragas, Finley Woodward, Kyler D’Augustino and Kameron Tinsley. Senior Ajay Holubar is the only player who has been a part of the program before this season. He appeared in just nine games last season.
Howlett is relying on non-Division I transfers and the standard of winning he established at West Liberty to carry over to Division I. Don’t expect the Jaguars to compete in the Horizon League, but if the transition goes well for Howlett, there is plenty of room for improvement.
