2024–25 Central Michigan Chippewas men's basketball team

The 2024–25 Central Michigan Chippewas men's basketball team represent Central Michigan University during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Chippewas, led by fourth-year head coach Tony Barbee, play their home games at McGuirk Arena in Mount Pleasant, Michigan as members of the Mid-American Conference.

2024–25 Central Michigan Chippewas men's basketball
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	3–2 (0–0 MAC)
Head coach	Tony Barbee (4th season)
Associate head coach	Chris McMillian (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Scott Cherry (2nd season) Hassan Nizam (2nd season)
Home arena	McGuirk Arena

2024–25 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Toledo	0	–	0		–			5	–	1		.833
Kent State	0	–	0		–			3	–	1		.750
Central Michigan	0	–	0		–			3	–	2		.600
Eastern Michigan	0	–	0		–			3	–	2		.600
Buffalo	0	–	0		–			3	–	3		.500
Akron	0	–	0		–			2	–	2		.500
Miami (OH)	0	–	0		–			2	–	2		.500
Bowling Green	0	–	0		–			2	–	3		.400
Northern Illinois	0	–	0		–			2	–	3		.400
Ohio	0	–	0		–			2	–	4		.333
Western Michigan	0	–	0		–			2	–	4		.333
Ball State	0	–	0		–			1	–	4		.200
† 2025 MAC tournament winner As of November 22, 2024

Previous season

The Chippewas finished the 2023–24 season 18–13, 12–6 in MAC play, to finish in fourth place. They were defeated by Bowling Green in the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament.

Offseason

Departures

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Brian Taylor	0	G	6'6"	220	Graduate student	Detroit, Michigan	Graduated
Bryce Eaton	1	G	6'0"	170	Freshman	Detroit, Michigan	Transferred to Saint Peter's
Derrick Butler	3	G	6'2"	195	Junior	Charlotte, North Carolina	Transferred to Bowling Green
Jemal Davis	4	F	6'8"	205	Junior	St. Thomas, USVI	Transferred to UNC Asheville
Josiah Sanders	5	F	6'5"	235	RS Freshman	Phoenix, Arizona	Entered the transfer portal
KJ Oduor	11	C	6'9"	225	Sophomore	Kisumu, Kenya	Transferred to Wayne State
Aidan Rubio	13	G/F	6'6"	200	Sophomore	Flint, Michigan	Transferred to UNC Asheville
Markus Harding	15	F	6'10"	255	Junior	Toronto, Ontario	Transferred to Indiana State
Noah Adamczyk	24	G	6'0"	180	Freshman	Bloomfield Hills, Michigan	Transferred to Northeastern Junior College
Paul McMillan IV	34	G	6'2"	175	Sophomore	Cincinnati, Ohio	Transferred to Canisius
Max Majerle	44	G	6'4"	200	Sophomore	Scottsdale, Arizona	Transferred to Pima Community College

Incoming transfers

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Jakobi Heady	0	G/F	6'6"	200	Senior	Sauk Village, Illinois	Bethune–Cookman
Kyler VanderJagt	4	G	6'4"	205	Junior	Grand Rapids, Michigan	Belmont
Quentin Heady	5	F	6'6"	200	Sophomore	Sauk Village, Illinois	South Suburban College
Damarion Bonds	7	G	6'6"	180	Junior	Pontiac, Michigan	Henry Ford College
Trey Phillips	11	G	6'6"	180	Sophomore	Scottsdale, Arizona	Southern Nazarene
Bryan Ndjonga	13	F	6'9"	200	Sophomore	Yaoundé, Cameroon	Cal State Northridge
Ugnius Jarusevicius	21	F	6'10"	220	Junior	Alytus, Lithuania	Cal State Bakersfield
Armani Mighty	26	C	6'10"	240	Junior	Toronto, Ontario	Boston College

Recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Mohammad Habhab F	Dearborn, Michigan	Fordson High School	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	205 lb (93 kg)
	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: N/A
Ryan Hatcher G	Detroit, Michigan	University of Detroit Jesuit High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	155 lb (70 kg)
	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: N/A
Gus Salem G	Los Angeles, California	Wilbraham & Monson Academy	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)
	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. Central Michigan was picked to finish eighth in the MAC regular season.

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

Preseason All-MAC

Preseason All-MAC teams

Team	Player	Position	Year
First	Anthony Pritchard	Guard	Senior

Source

Roster

2024–25 Central Michigan Chippewas men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G/F 0 Jakobi Heady 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Bethune–Cookman Sauk Village, Illinois G 1 Shaedon Simpson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS Fr Combine Academy Toronto, Ontario G 2 Cayden Vasko 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Don Bosco Institute Lowell, Indiana F 3 Mohammad Habhab 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Fordson High School Dearborn, Michigan G 4 Kyler VanderJagt 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Belmont Grand Rapids, Michigan F 5 Quentin Heady 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So South Suburban College Sauk Village, Illinois G 7 Damarion Bonds 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Henry Ford College Pontiac, Michigan G 9 Ryan Hatcher 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Fr University of Detroit Jesuit High School Detroit, Michigan F 11 Trey Phillips 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Southern Nazarene Scottsdale, Arizona C 12 Hunter Harding 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) So Royal Crown Academy Toronto, Ontario F 13 Bryan Ndjonga 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Cal State Northridge Yaoundé, Cameroon F 21 Ugnius Jarusevicius 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Cal State Bakersfield Alytus, Lithuania G 22 Drew Barbee 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Fr Mount Pleasant High School Mount Pleasant, Michigan G 23 Gus Salem 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Wilbraham & Monson Academy Los Angeles, California C 26 Armani Mighty 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Boston College Toronto, Ontario G 30 Anthony Pritchard 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Tulsa Tulsa, Oklahoma	Head coach Tony Barbee (UMass) Assistant coach(es) Chris McMillian (Wyoming) Scott Cherry (North Carolina) Hassan Nizam (Capella) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: November 15, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 27, 2024* 2:00 pm		Hillsdale	W 90–63	–	18 – Tied	9 – J. Heady	4 – Harding	McGuirk Arena (485) Mount Pleasant, MI
Non-conference regular season
November 4, 2024* 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at South Alabama MAC-SBC Challenge	W 74–70	1–0	16 – VanderJagt	8 – J. Heady	6 – Pritchard	Mitchell Center (1,903) Mobile, AL
November 7, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Stony Brook Marquette Challenge	L 72–73	1–1	15 – J. Heady	8 – J. Heady	6 – Tied	McGuirk Arena (2,002) Mount Pleasant, MI
November 11, 2024* 9:00 pm, FS1		at No. 15 Marquette Marquette Challenge	L 62–70	1–2	19 – VanderJagt	14 – Jarusevicius	6 – Pritchard	Fiserv Forum (14,757) Milwaukee, WI
November 13, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at George Mason Marquette Challenge	W 70–69	2–2	21 – Pritchard	7 – J. Heady	6 – J. Heady	EagleBank Arena (2,248) Fairfax, VA
November 20, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Central State	W 86–52	3–2	18 – Pritchard	8 – Bonds	3 – Tied	McGuirk Arena (1,390) Mount Pleasant, MI
November 25, 2024* 8:00 pm, B1G+		at Minnesota						Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
December 1, 2024* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Purdue Northwest						McGuirk Arena  Mount Pleasant, MI
December 5, 2024* 7:00 pm		at Aquinas (MI)						Sturrus Sports & Recreation Center  Grand Rapids, MI
December 14, 2024* 3:00 pm, ESPN+		at Valparaiso						Athletics–Recreation Center  Valparaiso, IN
December 17, 2024* 7:30 pm, SECN+/ESPN+		vs. Mississippi State Magnolia Madness						Mississippi Coliseum  Jackson, MS
December 21, 2024* 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at Arizona						McKale Center  Tucson, AZ
December 30, 2024* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Cleary						McGuirk Arena  Mount Pleasant, MI
MAC regular season
January 4, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Ohio						McGuirk Arena  Mount Pleasant, MI
January 7, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Akron						James A. Rhodes Arena  Akron, OH
January 10, 2025 8:00 pm, CBSSN		at Toledo						Savage Arena  Toledo, OH
January 14, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Eastern Michigan						McGuirk Arena  Mount Pleasant, MI
January 18, 2025 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Northern Illinois						Convocation Center  DeKalb, IL
January 21, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Ball State						McGuirk Arena  Mount Pleasant, MI
January 25, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Western Michigan						McGuirk Arena  Mount Pleasant, MI
January 28, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Buffalo						Alumni Arena  Amherst, NY
February 1, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Bowling Green						McGuirk Arena  Mount Pleasant, MI
February 4, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Miami (OH)						McGuirk Arena  Mount Pleasant, MI
February 11, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Kent State						MAC Center  Kent, OH
February 15, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Akron						McGuirk Arena  Mount Pleasant, MI
February 18, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Ohio						Convocation Center  Athens, OH
February 22, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at Western Michigan						University Arena  Kalamazoo, MI
February 25, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Buffalo						McGuirk Arena  Mount Pleasant, MI
March 1, 2025 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Eastern Michigan						George Gervin GameAbove Center  Ypsilanti, MI
March 4, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Ball State						Worthen Arena  Muncie, IN
March 7, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Northern Illinois						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 Eastern.

Sources: