# 2023–24 Sam Houston Bearkats men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Sam Houston Bearkats men's basketball team represented Sam Houston State University in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bearkats, led by first-year head coach Chris Mudge, played their home games at the Bernard Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville, Texas as first-year members of the Conference USA.

## Previous season

The Bearkats finished the 2022–23 season 26–8, 14–4 in WAC play to finish in second place. They defeated California Baptist in the quarterfinals of the WAC tournament before losing to Grand Canyon in the semifinals. They received an at-large bid to the National Invitation Tournament. There they defeated Santa Clara before losing to eventual champion North Texas in the second round.
On March 24, 2023, head coach Jason Hooten left the school to take the head coaching position at New Mexico State. On April 3, the school named assistant coach Chris Mudge the team's new head coach.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Ronald Mitchell Jr. | 0 | G | 6'3" | 180 | Junior | Philadelphia, PA | Transferred to Langston |
| Kaosi Ezeagu | 1 | F | 6'10" | 255 | Junior | Brampton, ON | Transferred to New Mexico State |
| Qua Grant | 2 | G | 6'1" | 190 | Senior | DeSoto, TX | Graduated |
| Jacoby Bishop | 5 | G | 6'2" | 195 | Sophomore | New Waverly, TX | Walk-on; not on team roster |
| Javion May | 11 | G | 6'2" | 190 | Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduated |
| Tristan Ikpe | 12 | F | 6'6" | 210 | Senior | Deer Park, TX | Graduated |
| Donte Powers | 24 | G | 6'2" | 170 | Senior | Starkville, MS | Graduated |
| Giovanni Emejuru | 33 | F/C | 6'10" | 270 | RS Freshman | Leicester, England | Transferred to Siena |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Owen McGlashan | 0 | F/G | 6'7" | 210 | GS Senior | Marlton, NJ | Saint Anselm |
| Davon Barnes | 2 | F | 6'5" | 215 | Junior | Memphis, TN | Texas Southern |
| Marcus Boykin | 5 | G | 6'1" | 185 | Junior | Clinton, NC | Barton College |
| Kingsley Ijeoma | 14 | F | 6'8" | 200 | Sophomore | Houston, TX | Kilgore College |
| Lewis Rowe | 21 | F/C | 6'10" | | Junior | Adelaide, Australia | New Mexico JC |
| Souleymane Doumbia | 31 | C | 6'11" | 235 | Senior | Abidjan, Ivory Coast | TCU |

### 2023 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| C. J. Beaumont PF | Palm Beach Gardens, FL | Palm Beach Prep | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | May 16, 2023 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| 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: "2023 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 17, 2023. ||||||

### 2024 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2024) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Erik Taylor CG | Orlando, FL | The Rock School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Jul 20, 2023 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| 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: "2023 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 17, 2023. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 29, 2023* 2:00 p.m. | | at North Texas Charity Exhibition | L 53–56 | | 13 – Ray | 11 – Doumbia | 1 – Tied | The Super Pit (5,000) Denton, TX |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Pacific | W 64–57 | 1–0 | 15 – Wilkerson | 7 – Tied | 4 – Ray | Alex G. Spanos Center Stockton, CA |
| November 9, 2023* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Utah Valley C-USA/WAC Alliance | L 73–79 $^{OT}$ | 1–1 | 20 – Wilkerson | 8 – Nicholas Jr. | 8 – Ray | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (1,187) Huntsville, TX |
| November 12, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Oklahoma State | L 70–85 | 1–2 | 16 – Barnes | 7 – Tied | 3 – Ray | Gallagher-Iba Arena (5,843) Stillwater, OK |
| November 17, 2023* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Ole Miss | L 67–70 | 1–3 | 22 – Barnes | 7 – Tied | 5 – Ray | Tad Smith Coliseum (4,445) Oxford, MS |
| November 20, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Troy Trojan Classic | W 88–86 $^{OT}$ | 2–3 | 25 – Wilkerson | 10 – Nicholas Jr. | 8 – Ray | Trojan Arena (2,321) Troy, AL |
| November 22, 2023* 1:30 p.m. | | vs. Grambling State Trojan Classic | W 86–68 | 3–3 | 21 – Barnes | 5 – Tied | 7 – Boykin | Trojan Arena (132) Troy, AL |
| November 25, 2023* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Paul Quinn | W 78–61 | 4–3 | 19 – Barnes | 9 – McGlashan | 6 – Boykin | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (567) Huntsville, TX |
| November 29, 2023* 8:00 p.m., P12N | | at Arizona State | L 61–78 | 4–4 | 15 – Nicholas Jr. | 11 – Scroggins | 6 – Ray | Desert Financial Arena (6,090) Tempe, AZ |
| December 3, 2023* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Lamar | W 90–70 | 5–4 | 24 – Wilkerson | 7 – Barnes | 7 – Ray | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (794) Huntsville, TX |
| December 9, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Missouri State | L 60–69 | 5–5 | 16 – Barnes | 11 – Nicholas Jr. | 4 – Nicholas Jr. | Great Southern Bank Arena (3,821) Springfield, MO |
| December 12, 2023* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Louisiana–Monroe | W 63–62 | 6–5 | 16 – Ray | 9 – Nicholas Jr. | 2 – Tied | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (599) Huntsville, TX |
| December 15, 2023* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Texas State | L 60–73 | 6–6 | 16 – Wilkerson | 7 – Doumbia | 2 – Tied | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (714) Huntsville, TX |
| December 20, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Grand Canyon C-USA/WAC Alliance | L 64–76 | 6–7 | 11 – Barnes | 8 – Doumbia | 3 – Ray | GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ |
| December 28, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Texas Tech | L 60–96 | 6–8 | 18 – Barnes | 6 – Scroggins | 5 – Ray | United Supermarkets Arena (12,271) Lubbock, TX |
| January 2, 2024* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Dallas | W 93–53 | 7–8 | 20 – Nicholas Jr. | 9 – McGlashan | 4 – Tied | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (616) Huntsville, TX |
| Conference USA regular season |||||||||
| January 6, 2024 4:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Louisiana Tech | W 81–77 | 8–8 (1–0) | 24 – Wilkerson | 9 – Nicholas Jr. | 5 – Wilkerson | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (1,183) Huntsville, TX |
| January 10, 2024 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Western Kentucky | W 78–74 | 9–8 (2–0) | 21 – Wilkerson | 7 – Ray | 7 – Ray | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (714) Huntsville, TX |
| January 13, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Middle Tennessee | W 60–51 | 10–8 (3–0) | 27 – Wilkerson | 13 – Nicholas Jr. | 1 – Tied | Murphy Center (3,227) Murfreesboro, TN |
| January 20, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Liberty | L 66–82 | 10–9 (3–1) | 23 – Wilkerson | 7 – Scroggins | 3 – Ray | Liberty Arena (4,005) Lynchburg, VA |
| January 25, 2024 6:30 p.m., CBSSN | | New Mexico State | W 79–67 | 11–9 (4–1) | 20 – Barnes | 9 – Doumbia | 5 – Tied | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (2,546) Huntsville, TX |
| January 27, 2024 4:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | UTEP | W 60–56 | 12–9 (5–1) | 16 – Wilkerson | 13 – Nicholas Jr. | 4 – Barnes | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (1,993) Huntsville, TX |
| February 1, 2024 8:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Western Kentucky | W 79–77 | 13–9 (6–1) | 21 – Barnes | 7 – Barnes | 5 – Tied | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,757) Bowling Green, KY |
| February 3, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at FIU | L 61–68 | 13–10 (6–2) | 11 – Barnes | 8 – Tied | 3 – Barnes | Ocean Bank Convocation Center (1,179) Miami, FL |
| February 8, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Jacksonville State | L 68–79 | 13–11 (6–3) | 15 – Huefner | 4 – Tied | 9 – Boykin | Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,121) Jacksonville, AL |
| February 15, 2024 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | FIU | W 70–56 | 14–11 (7–3) | 14 – Wilkerson | 8 – Doumbia | 6 – Ray | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (1,395) Huntsville, TX |
| February 17, 2024 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Liberty | W 83–73 | 15–11 (8–3) | 16 – Barnes | 6 – Tied | 4 – Ray | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (1,547) Huntsville, TX |
| February 22, 2024 8:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at New Mexico State | W 79–58 | 16–11 (9–3) | 25 – Wilkerson | 8 – Scroggins | 8 – Ray | Pan American Center (10,392) Las Cruces, NM |
| February 24, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UTEP | W 65–54 | 17–11 (10–3) | 14 – Huefner | 10 – Doumbia | 4 – Ray | Don Haskins Center (5,010) El Paso, TX |
| March 2, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Middle Tennessee | W 81–64 | 18–11 (11–3) | 23 – Barnes | 8 – Scroggins | 5 – Ray | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (2,423) Huntsville, TX |
| March 7, 2024 8:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Louisiana Tech | W 72–66 | 19–11 (12–3) | 14 – Ray | 6 – Tied | 8 – Ray | Thomas Assembly Center (3,092) Ruston, LA |
| March 9, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Jacksonville State | W 81–73 | 20–11 (13–3) | 22 – Doumbia | 11 – Doumbia | 3 – Tied | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (2,442) Huntsville, TX |
| Conference USA tournament |||||||||
| March 13, 2024 5:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (1) | vs. (9) FIU Quarterfinals | W 78–59 | 21–11 | 15 – Barnes | 13 – Scroggins | 4 – Ray | Von Braun Center (628) Huntsville, AL |
| March 15, 2024 11:30 a.m., CBSSN | (1) | vs. (5) UTEP Semifinals | L 63–65 | 21–12 | 14 – Tied | 6 – Tied | 3 – Ray | Von Braun Center Huntsville, AL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. |||||||||
Sources