2023–24 Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball team represented Eastern Illinois University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by third-year head coach Marty Simmons, played their home games at the newly renamed Groniger Arena[a] located in Charleston, Illinois, as members of the Ohio Valley Conference.

2023–24 Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball
ConferenceOhio Valley Conference
Record14–18 (8–10 OVC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Marlon London
  • Kylen Butler
  • Rich McBride
  • Bob Lockart
  • Jalen Hutton
Home arenaGroniger Arena
Seasons
2024–25 →
2023–24 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Little Rock 14 4   .778 21 13   .618
UT Martin 14 4   .778 21 11   .656
Morehead State 14 4   .778 26 9   .743
Western Illinois 13 5   .722 21 12   .636
Tennessee State 10 8   .556 18 15   .545
SIU Edwardsville 9 9   .500 17 16   .515
Eastern Illinois 8 10   .444 14 18   .438
Southern Indiana* 5 13   .278 8 24   .250
Tennessee Tech 5 13   .278 10 21   .323
Southeast Missouri State 4 14   .222 9 22   .290
Lindenwood* 3 15   .167 9 22   .290
* ineligible for the 2024 NCAA tournament due to transition period
2024 OVC tournament winner

Previous season

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The Panthers finished the 2022–23 9–22, 5–13 in OVC play, to finish in last place.[2] They failed to qualify for the OVC tournament.[3]

Roster

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2023–24 Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Corey Sawyer Jr. 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Jr Cloud County Community College Orlando, FL
G 3 Nakyel Shelton 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr South Suburban College Chicago, IL
G 4 Isaiah Griffin 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Sunrise Christian Academy Orange, NJ
F 5 Sincere Malone 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So We Are United Prep Chicago, IL
G/F 10 Kyndall Davis 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Panola College Chicago, IL
G 11 Jordan "Tiger" Booker 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Tarleton State Chicago, IL
G 12 Carson Prost 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Rend Lake College Mount Vernon, IL
F 17 Lazar Grbovic 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS So Moberly Area Community College Belgrade, Serbia
G 20 Caleb Donaldson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr St. Cloud State Rockton, IL
F 22 Luke Light 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Paradise Honors High School Surprise, AZ
F 23 Rodolfo Bolis 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr NBA Academy Latin America Espírito Santo, Brazil
G 24 Jaylin Gibson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Mount St. Mary's Evanston, IL
G 25 Dan Luers 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Defiance College Lebanon, OH
F 34 Jermaine Hamlin 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Illinois Lincoln, IL
F 40 Kooper Jacobi 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS So Toledo Sellersburg, IN
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

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

Roster
Last update: November 28, 2023

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2023*
7:00 pm, B1G+
at No. 25 Illinois L 52–80  0–1
State Farm Center (15,014)
Champaign, IL
November 8, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Monmouth (IL) W 91–45  1–1
Lantz Arena (1,455)
Charleston, IL
November 11, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Loyola–Chicago L 65–89  1–2
Joseph J. Gentile Arena (3,311)
Chicago, IL
November 15, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Illinois State L 61–69  1–3
CEFCU Arena (3,061)
Normal, IL
November 18, 2023*
2:30 pm, ESPN+
vs. Coppin State
Miami Classic
W 48–46  2–3
Millett Hall (357)
Oxford, OH
November 19, 2023*
12:00 pm, ESPN+
at Miami (OH)
Miami Classic
L 64–76  2–4
Millett Hall (1,063)
Oxford, OH
November 25, 2023*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Eureka W 85–39  3–4
Groniger Arena[a] 
Charleston, IL
November 28, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at No. 5 Kansas L 63–71  3–5
Allen Fieldhouse (16,300)
Lawrence, KS
December 2, 2023*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
UHSP W 112–50  4–5
Groniger Arena (1,085)
Charleston, IL
December 7, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
IUPUI W 75–58  5–5
Groniger Arena (1,338)
Charleston, IL
December 10, 2023*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Central Arkansas L 70–73  5–6
Groniger Arena (1,060)
Charleston, IL
December 17, 2023*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Blackburn W 87–66  6–6
Groniger Arena (960)
Charleston, IL
December 21, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Iowa State L 48–80  6–7
Hilton Coliseum (12,841)
Ames, IA
OVC regular season
December 29, 2023
7:30 pm, ESPN+
at SIU Edwardsville L 58–67  6–8
(0–1)
First Community Arena (1,627)
Edwardsville, IL
January 4, 2024
8:00 pm, ESPN+
at UT Martin W 79–72  7–8
(1–1)
Skyhawk Arena (1,368)
Martin, TN
January 6, 2024
3:00 pm, ESPN+
at Little Rock W 90–88  8–8
(2–1)
Jack Stephens Center (987)
Little Rock, AR
January 11, 2024
7:30 pm, ESPN+
Morehead State L 52–78  8–9
(2–2)
Groniger Arena (1,108)
Charleston, IL
January 13, 2024
3:30 pm, ESPN+
Western Illinois L 60–63  8–10
(2–3)
Groniger Arena (1,338)
Charleston, IL
January 20, 2024
3:30 pm, ESPN+
at Lindenwood W 78–68  9–10
(3–3)
Hyland Performance Arena (1,261)
St. Charles, MO
January 25, 2024
7:30 pm, ESPN+
Tennessee Tech W 68–59  10–10
(4–3)
Groniger Arena (1,439)
Charleston, IL
January 27, 2024
3:30 pm, ESPN+
Tennessee State L 60–64  10–11
(4–4)
Groniger Arena (1,533)
Charleston, IL
February 1, 2024
7:30 pm, ESPN+
UT Martin L 59–76  10–12
(4–5)
Groniger Arena (1,217)
Charleston, IL
February 3, 2024
3:30 pm, ESPN+
Little Rock L 47–71  10–13
(4–6)
Groniger Arena (1,192)
Charleston, IL
February 8, 2024
7:30 pm, ESPN+
at Southern Indiana W 81–71  11–13
(5–6)
Screaming Eagles Arena (1,877)
Evansville, IN
February 10, 2024
2:00 pm, ESPN+
at Morehead State L 57–69  11–14
(5–7)
Ellis Johnson Arena (2,578)
Morehead, KY
February 15, 2024
7:30 pm, ESPN+
Southeast Missouri State W 75–57  12–14
(6–7)
Groniger Arena (1,369)
Charleston, IL
February 17, 2024
3:30 pm, ESPN+
Lindenwood W 72–57  13–14
(7–7)
Groniger Arena (1,611)
Charleston, IL
February 22, 2024
7:30 pm, ESPN+
at Tennessee State L 73–78  13–15
(7–8)
Gentry Complex (1,072)
Nashville, TN
February 24, 2024
3:00 pm, ESPN+
at Tennessee Tech L 67–75  13–16
(7–9)
Eblen Center (1,544)
Cookeville, TN
February 27, 2024
7:30 pm, ESPN+
SIU Edwardsville W 84–79  14–16
(8–9)
Groniger Arena (1,628)
Charleston, IL
February 29, 2024
7:30 pm, ESPN+
at Western Illinois L 66–70  14–17
(8–10)
Western Hall (1,047)
Macomb, IL
OVC tournament
March 6, 2024
9:00 pm, ESPN+
(7) vs. (6) SIU Edwardsville
First round
L 57–68  14–18
Ford Center 
Evansville, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central.

Sources:[4][5]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b On November 25, it was announced that the arena, known as Lantz Arena, would be renamed to Groniger Arena, "following a seven-figure gift by long-time benefactor Jerry Groniger".[1]

References

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  1. ^ "Lantz Complex". Eastern Illinois University Athletics. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  2. ^ "2022-23 Men's Basketball Standings". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  3. ^ "Malone With A Double-Double In EIU's Final Game". Eastern Illinois University Athletics. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  4. ^ "2023-24 Men's Basketball Schedule". Eastern Illinois University Athletics. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  5. ^ "Eastern Illinois Panthers 2023-24 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved November 28, 2023.