The 2024–25 Ohio University Bobcats men's basketball team represented Ohio University for the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bobcats were led by fifth-year head coach Jeff Boals, a 1995 graduate of Ohio University. They played their home games at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio, as a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC).
After returning most of the team the finished tied for second in the MAC the prior season, the Bobcats were picked to win the conference but finished with a 16–16 record. They posted a disappointing 6–6 record entering 2025 prior to the start of league play. They finished tied for fourth in the MAC with a 10–6 conference record and lost their January matchup in the MAC-SBC challenge. With a first round loss to Toledo, they failed to reach the MAC tournament semifinals for the first time since 2020 when the tournament was cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic.
Previous season
The Bobcats finished the 2023–24 season 6–7 in non-conference play and started 1–3 in conference play. They rallied to win 12 of their final 14 conference games to finish the regular season 19–12 with a 13–5 in MAC play, to finish tied for 2nd place. They defeated Western Michigan in the first round of the MAC tournament and lost to Akron in the second round.
Offseason For the second straight season the Bobcats avoided significant losses to the transfer portal as the only scholarship player that played the prior season to transfer was Ike Cornish who averaged 11 minutes per game the prior year. The team lost point guard Jaylin Hunter, who started all 33 games, guard Miles Brown, who started 17, and center Gabe Wiznitzer who averaged 14 minutes to graduation.
Coaching Staff Changes
Coaching Departures Coaching DeparturesNameAlma MaterPrevious positionNew positionCasey CrawfordOhio UniversityGraduate AssistantDirector of Basketball Operations (Stony Brook)
Coaching Additions Coaching AdditionsNameAlma MaterPrevious positionNew positionKeith WilliamsUniversity of CharlestonPlayer (Charleston)Graduate Assistant
Departures DeparturesNameNumberPos.HeightWeightYearHometownReasonMiles Brown2G6'1"180Grad. studentRochester, NYGraduated, exhausted eligibilityGabe Wiznitzer11C6'11"240SeniorWalhalla, SCGraduatedJaylin Hunter12G6'0"195SeniorManchester, CTGraduated, exhausted eligibilityQuinn Corna*15G6'3"170SophomoreColumbus, OHTransferred to Ohio WesleyanIJ Ezuma21F6'8"240RS SophomoreRaleigh, NCTransferred to South Plains CollegeIke Cornish24G/F6'6"190RS SophomoreBaltimore, MDTransferred to Nicholls State Walk-on in 2023–24
Incoming transfers Incoming transfersNameNumberPos.HeightWeightYearHometownReasonJackson Paveletzke13PG6'3"175SophomoreKimberly, WITransferred from Iowa State. Will have two years of eligibility remaining.Victor Searls35C6'9"240SeniorHilliard, OHTransferred from Ashland. Will have one year of eligibility remaining.
Recruiting class
Walk-on
Source:
Preseason On October 22, 2024 the MAC released the preseason coaches poll. Ohio was picked to finish first in the MAC regular season and received 11 of the 12 votes for first place. Ohio received 8 votes to win the MAC Tournament.
Preseason rankings MAC preseason pollPredicted finishTeamVotes (1st place) 1 Ohio 121 (11) 2 Akron 106 (1) 3 Kent State 99 4 Toledo 95 5 Bowling Green 73 6 Miami 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 teamsTeamPlayerPositionYear1stAJ ClaytonFSr.2ndAJ BrownGR-So.2ndShereef MitchellGGrad. Source
Roster
Support staff
2024-25 Ohio Bobcats support staff Jake Ness – Director of Basketball Operations Mike Cifliku – Video Coordinator Keith Williams - Graduate Assistant Meredith Camacho - Head Manager Sara Legarsky – Senior Director of Athletics Communications Tyler Congrove – Associate Athletic Trainer (Men's Basketball, Soccer, Men's Golf, Women's Golf) Jessica Arquette – Ohio Athletics Sports Dietitian Kaitlyn Michener – Nutritionist Hannah Rastatter – NutritionistSource:
Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=""|Non-conference regular season
!colspan=9 style=""|
!colspan=9 style=""|
Source:
Statistics Team Statistics Final 2024–25 Statistics
Scoring 2554 2449 Scoring Average 79.81 76.53 Field goals – Att 899–1915 872–1909 3-pt. Field goals – Att 275–769 232–625 Free throws – Att 481–632 473–672 Rebounds 1062 1146 Assists 450 416 Turnovers 348 412 Steals 231 214 Blocked Shots 95 98 Source
Player statistics MinutesScoringTotal FGs3-point FGsFree-ThrowsReboundsPlayerGPGSTotAvgPtsAvgFGFGAPct3FG3FAPctFTFTAPctOffDefTotAvgAPFTOStlBlkJackson Paveletzke3232103432.344313.81623150.51420620.323991290.767211101314.11524386271AJ Clayton292982328.440714.01412940.480661760.37559750.787341191535.33052331744AJ Brown292977426.738213.21232610.471541390.388821000.8203162933.2327036372Shereef Mitchell251871228.532913.21122540.44133820.40272870.8281368813.2627541443Elmore James301776725.62458.2822100.390381020.37343510.8432257792.6266131245Vic Searls32458918.42267.1931520.6124160.25036530.67935901253.92570441411Aidan Hadaway181748526.918310.2681360.50016480.33331430.72130751055.82852171914Elijah Elliott301449416.51525.1541230.43911280.39333540.6111383963.2434725127Ajay Sheldon32062019.41514.7521410.369291020.28418250.720346491.5426913343Ayden Evans160976.1191.27150.467030.0005110.455212140.9116915Ben Nicol70294.1101.4390.333270.286221.0000000.073120Ben Estis70273.971.0250.400240.500120.5001120.321200Total32-6451-255479.889919150.4692757690.3584816320.76120572392829.045055934823195Opponents32-6451-244976.587219090.4572326250.3714736720.704323823114635.841658741221498 Legend GP Games played GS Games started Avg Average per game FG Field-goals made FGA Field-goal attempts Off Offensive rebounds Def Defensive rebounds A Assists TO Turnovers Blk Blocks Stl Steals High Team high Source
Awards and honors Weekly Awards Weekly Award Honors MAC player of the week AJ Clayton F November 24 MAC player of the week AJ Clayton F January 13 Lou Henson National Player of the Week AJ Clayton F January 13
All-MAC Awards Postseason All-MAC teamsAll-MAC 3rd TeamAJ ClaytonFSr.All-MAC Honorable MentionShereef MitchellGGSAll-MAC Defensive TeamShereef MitchellGGSAll-MAC Freshman TeamElijah ElliotGFr. Source
References