2024–25 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball season

2024–25 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball season
2024–25 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Basketball
Duration	November 4, 2024 – March 2025
Number of teams	14
TV partner(s)	ESPN
2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Tournament
Basketball seasons
	← 2023–24 2025–26 →

The 2024–25 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball season is the season for Sun Belt Conference men's basketball teams that will begin with practices in October 2024, followed by the start of the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play will begin in December 2024, and conclude in March 2025. The 2025 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament will take place at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Florida.

2024–25 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Arkansas State	0	–	0	–	2	–	1	.667
Georgia Southern	0	–	0	–	2	–	1	.667
James Madison	0	–	0	–	2	–	1	.667
Marshall	0	–	0	–	2	–	1	.667
Southern Miss	0	–	0	–	2	–	1	.667
Texas State	0	–	0	–	2	–	1	.667
Troy	0	–	0	–	2	–	1	.667
Louisiana–Monroe	0	–	0	–	2	–	3	.400
Appalachian State	0	–	0	–	1	–	2	.333
Coastal Carolina	0	–	0	–	1	–	2	.333
Georgia State	0	–	0	–	1	–	2	.333
Louisiana	0	–	0	–	1	–	2	.333
South Alabama	0	–	0	–	1	–	2	.333
Old Dominion	0	–	0	–	0	–	3	.000

† 2025 Sun Belt tournament winner As of November 14, 2024

Head coaches

Coaching changes

Coastal Carolina

On December 6, 2023, head coach Cliff Ellis retired with assistant coach Benny Moss named interim head coach for the rest of the season. On March 12, 2024, Western Carolina head coach Justin Gray was named new head coach.^[1]^[2]

James Madison

On March 25, 2024, Mark Byington left to become head coach of Vanderbilt. On March 29, 2024, Morehead State head coach Preston Spradlin was named new head coach of the Dukes.^[3] ^[4]

Marshall

On March 25, 2024, head coach Dan D'Antoni and Marshall parted ways. Later that day, associate head coach Cornelius Jackson was named his successor.^[5]

Old Dominion

Jeff Jones resigned following a heart attack he had on December 20, 2023, and special assistant coach Kieran Donahue was named interim head coach for the rest of the season. Jones retired on February 26, 2024. Former Old Dominion player and Maryland assistant coach Mike Jones was named new head coach on March 1, 2024.

Coaches

Team	Head coach	Previous job	Years at school	Overall record	Sun Belt record	Sun Belt titles	Sun Belt Tournament titles	NCAA Tournaments
Appalachian State	Dustin Kerns	Presbyterian	6	98–67 (.594)	55–35 (.611)	1	1	1
Arkansas State	Bryan Hodgson	Alabama (Asst.)	2	20–16 (.556)	11–7 (.611)	0	0	0
Coastal Carolina	Justin Gray	Western Carolina	1	1–0 (1.000)	0–0 (–)	0	0	0
Georgia Southern	Charlie Henry	Alabama (Asst.)	2	9–23 (.281)	8–10 (.444)	0	0	0
Georgia State	Jonas Hayes	Xavier (Assoc.)	3	25–38 (.397)	11–25 (.306)	0	0	0
James Madison	Preston Spradlin	Morehead State	1	1–0 (1.000)	0–0 (–)	0	0	0
Louisiana	Bob Marlin	Sam Houston	15	265–188 (.585)	150–103 (.593)	1	1	1
Louisiana–Monroe	Keith Richard	LSU (Asst.)	15	163–271 (.376)	91–165 (.355)	0	0	0
Marshall	Cornelius Jackson	Marshall (Assoc.)	1	1–0 (1.000)	0–0 (–)	0	0	0
Old Dominion	Mike Jones	Maryland (Asst.)	1	0–1 (.000)	0–0 (–)	0	0	0
South Alabama	Richie Riley	Nicholls State	7	110–83 (.570)	57–50 (.533)	0	0	0
Southern Miss	Jay Ladner	Southeastern Louisiana	6	65–88 (.425)	33–57 (.367)	0	0	0
Texas State	Terrence Johnson	Texas State (Asst.)	5	69–51 (.575)	37–29 (.561)	2	0	0
Troy	Scott Cross	TCU (Asst.)	6	81–76 (.516)	43–45 (.489)	0	0	0

Preseason

Preseason Coaches Poll

On October 14, 2024, the conference announced a preseason conference poll as voted by the league's 14 head coaches.^[6]

Rank	Team
1.	Arkansas State(12)
2.	James Madison (1)
3.	Troy (1)
4.	Louisiana
5.	Southern Miss
6.	Appalachian State
7.	Texas State
8.	Georgia Southern Old Dominion
10.	Marshall
11.	South Alabama
12.	Georgia State
13.	Coastal Carolina
14.	Louisiana–Monore

Preseason awards

Sun Belt preseason player of the year

Kobe Julian – Arkansas State ^[6]

Preseason All-Sun Belt team

First Team	Second Team	Third Team
2024-25 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Teams^[6]
Mark Freeman – James Madison Kobe Julian – Arkansas State Hosana Kitenge - Louisiana Nate Martin – Marshall Myles Rigsby – Troy	Obinna Anochili-Killen – Marshall Tayton Conerway – Troy C.J. Huntley – Appalachian State Toneari Lane – Georgia State Taryn Todd – Arkansas State	Xavier Brown – Appalachian State Andre Curbelo – Southern Miss Tyrel Morgan – Texas State Izaiyah Nelson – Arkansas State Myles Tate – Appalachian State

Regular season

Early season tournaments

Team	Tournament	Finish
Appalachian State	Live Oak Bank Holiday Classic
Arkansas State	Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship
Coastal Carolina	MTE Men's Basketball Tournament
Georgia Southern	Rock Hill Classic
Georgia State	Jacksonville Classic
James Madison	Boardwalk Battle
Louisiana	Paradise Jam
Old Dominion	Cayman Islands Classic
South Alabama	Jaguar Classic
Texas State	Myrtle Beach Invitational

Player of the week

Week	Player(s) of the Week	School
Nov 11^[7]	Jackson Fields	Troy
Nov 18

Records against other conferences


Power 6 Conferences
Conference	Record
ACC	0–0
Big East	0–0
Big Ten	0–1
Big 12	0–2
Pac–12	0–0
SEC	0–3
Combined	0–6

Other NCAA Division I Conferences	Record
America East	0–0
American	0–4
ASUN	0–0
Atlantic 10	0–0
Big Sky	0–0
Big South	0–1
Big West	0–0
CAA	0–1
Conference USA	0–0
Horizon	0–0
Independents/Non-Division I	2–0
Ivy	0–0
MAAC	0–0
MAC	9–4
MEAC	0–1
Missouri Valley	0–0
Mountain West	0–0
Northeast	0–0
OVC	0–2
Patriot	0–0
Southern	0–0
Southland	2–0
SWAC	0–0
Summit	0–0
West Coast	0–0
WAC	0–0
Combined	13–13

Post season

Sun Belt tournament

The tournament will be held at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Florida, in March 2025.

NCAA tournament

Seed	Region	School	First Four	1st round	2nd round	Sweet 16	Elite Eight	Final Four	Championship

		W–L (%):	0–0 (–)	0–0 (–)	0–0 (–)	0–0 (–)	0–0 (–)	0–0 (–)	0–0 (–) Total: 0–0 (–)

References

^ "Cliff Ellis Announces Retirement, Ending 49-Year Coaching Career". Coastal Carolina University Athletics. December 6, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
^ "Coastal to Introduce Men's Basketball Coach Justin Gray at Press Conference Thursday". goccusports.com. March 12, 2024. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
^ "James Madison Welcomes Preston Spradlin as Men's Basketball Head Coach". James Madison University Athletics. March 29, 2024. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
^ "Vanderbilt Names Mark Byington Head Basketball Coach". VUCommodores.com. March 25, 2024. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
^ Morehouse, Keith (March 25, 2024). "MU parting ways with Coach Dan D'Antoni". WSAZ-TV. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Arkansas State Tops 2024-25 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Preseason Poll". Sun Belt Conference. October 14, 2023. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
^ "Troy's Jackson Fields Tabbed Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week". November 12, 2024. Retrieved November 13, 2024.

[1] "Cliff Ellis Announces Retirement, Ending 49-Year Coaching Career". Coastal Carolina University Athletics. December 6, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2024.

[2] "Coastal to Introduce Men's Basketball Coach Justin Gray at Press Conference Thursday". goccusports.com. March 12, 2024. Retrieved September 12, 2024.

[3] "James Madison Welcomes Preston Spradlin as Men's Basketball Head Coach". James Madison University Athletics. March 29, 2024. Retrieved 2024-03-31.

[4] "Vanderbilt Names Mark Byington Head Basketball Coach". VUCommodores.com. March 25, 2024. Retrieved September 12, 2024.

[5] Morehouse, Keith (March 25, 2024). "MU parting ways with Coach Dan D'Antoni". WSAZ-TV. Retrieved September 12, 2024.

[Preseason-6] "Arkansas State Tops 2024-25 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Preseason Poll". Sun Belt Conference. October 14, 2023. Retrieved November 13, 2024.

[7] "Troy's Jackson Fields Tabbed Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week". November 12, 2024. Retrieved November 13, 2024.

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