Simeon Cottle celebrating during Conference USA Tournament win over New Mexico State. Photo credit: KSU Athletics.
Kennesaw State men’s basketball is tasked with living up to high expectations this season.
In Year 2 under coach Antoine Pettway, the Owls came up just short of playing for the Conference USA championship when they fell 81-79 to eventual champion Liberty in a heartbreaker.
The 2024-25 team finished with a 19-14 overall record, the program’s second-highest win total since transitioning to the NCAA Division I level in 2006.
Despite the loss of star guard Adrian Wooley, who transferred to Louisville after asserting himself as one of CUSA’s best players as a freshman, expectations remain high for KSU in Pettway’s third season at the helm.
The Owls were picked to finish second in the CUSA preseason poll, earning a single first-place vote, while senior guard Simeon Cottle was named Preseason CUSA Player of the Year and sophomore Braedan Lue earned preseason all-conference honors.
“We want to put wins up on the board, but it goes beyond that with me,” Pettway said. “We’re going to go out there and try to win every game – we want to win as many games as we can. Last year, second best season in school history, second winning season here. We want to continue that success, but I think we want to make sure we’re developing these dudes into great young men on and off the court.”
Expected to fill in at point guard for Wooley is redshirt sophomore RJ Johnson, who spent last season on the bench after tearing his labrum in practice.
“His freshman year, [Johnson] came in, he wasn’t at his best, he wasn’t the right size, he wasn’t as athletic,” Pettway said. “Now you’re getting a chance to see RJ’s explosiveness, you get a chance to see all the plays he can make off the dribble. It’s good to have him back out there because he’s just a dynamic playmaker. I’m excited to see what he can do this season.”
Johnson appeared in 30 games as a freshman, starting three and putting up 6.8 points per game on 45.6 % shooting from the field.
In the Owls’ exhibition against West Georgia, Johnson looked more than comfortable in the starting point guard role, scoring 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting and adding six assists.
Expected to start in the backcourt alongside Johnson is Cottle, the only remaining scholarship player from the Owls’ 2022-23 NCAA Tournament team.
This season’s preseason player of the year averaged a career-high 18.0 points per game in 2024-25, but struggled with efficiency at times, shooting 38.4% from the floor and 31.9% from three.
Sophomore forward Ramone Seals is expected to see a significantly increased role after making 18 appearances last season, all of which came off the bench.
“I’m for sure [looking forward to having an increased role],” Seals said. “But I’m just taking it day-by-day. It’s not about me, it’s about us as a team, so it’s attacking every day and trying to get wins.”
Lue, who has battled a hip injury through the late offseason, is expected to split time at the power forward and center position this year after making strides in his development as a freshman last season, averaging 10.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
“I’m expecting a huge jump for [Lue],” Pettway said. “What he’s done last year as far as rebounding, blocking shots – if he can just grow on that, continue to get better. He’s been working, I held him out all preseason because he had a little hip injury, but it’s minor.”
Junior Frankquon Sherman, who’s played significant minutes in each of the last two seasons and freshman Trey Simpson are both expected to play large roles at forward this season alongside Lue.
Incoming transfer Perry Smith Jr. and freshman Amir Taylor are expected to add depth at center and forward, each playing productive minutes in last week’s exhibition.
Entering their freshman seasons expected to come off the bench are guards Darius Washington III and Kaden Rickard, perhaps forced into more action than expected following a season-ending non-basketball injury to Wake Forest transfer Davin Cosby in the offseason.
New Mexico State fifth-year transfer Jaden Harris, Cherokee County product Brendan Tousignaut and redshirting freshman Nigel Thomas round out the KSU’s newcomers.
Jamil Miller also makes a return after seeing a steady decrease in playing time in his freshman year, and will be expected to see minutes at forward.
The Owls’ non-conference schedule features a matchup against South Florida in the “Love Wins Classic,” which will serve as a tribute to the late Amir Abdur-Rahim who coached at both schools and died unexpectedly shortly before the beginning of the 2024-25 season, a trip to Huntsville to take on national powerhouse Alabama on Dec. 21 and multi-team event hosted by Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers, Florida over Thanksgiving weekend.
KSU’s season is set to get underway at the newly-named VyStar Arena on Nov. 3 at 7p.m.
