# 2023–24 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team represented Northern Illinois University in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Huskies were led by third-year head coach Rashon Burno. They played their home games at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Illinois as members of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 11–20, 5–13 in MAC play to finish in 11th place. They failed to qualify for the MAC tournament

## Previous season

The Huskies finished the 2022–23 season 13–19 and 9–9 in the MAC to finish a tie for sixth place. As the seventh seed in the MAC tournament they lost to Kent State in the first round.

## Offseason
### Departures

Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason |
| Taku Youngblood | 1 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Freshman | Yokohama, Japan | Entered Transfer Portal |
| Kaleb Thornton | 3 | G | 6'0" | 175 | Junior | Bolingbrook, Illinois | Transferred to Akron |
| Darweshi Hunter | 24 | G | 6'5" | 200 | Freshman | Cincinnati, Ohio | Transferred to Miami (OH) |
| Drew Wiemers | 25 | F | 6'4" | 200 | Senior | Coal Valley, Illinois | |
| Armandas Plintauskas | 41 | G | 6'4" | 185 | Freshman | Kėdainiai, Lithuania | Transferred to Merrimack |
| Anthony Crump | 50 | G | 6'8" | 215 | Senior | Inkster, Michigan | Transferred to Western Michigan |

### Incoming transfers

Incoming Transfers :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Philmon Gebrewhit | 5 | G | 6'8" | 185 | Senior | Boston, Massachusetts | Transferred from DePaul |
| Ethan Butler | 15 | G | 6'7" | 205 | Sophomore | Toronto, Ontario | Transferred from Oregon |
| Quaran McPherson | 24 | G | 6'4" | 197 | Sophomore | Queens, NY | Transferred from Nebraska |

### Recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Will Lovings-Watts G | Jefferson, Indiana | Putnam Science | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Nasir Muhammad G | Brooklyn, NY | Xaverian | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Apr 18, 2023 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Leo Amari G | Sherman Oaks, California | Viewpoint | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Luka Gogic F | Belgrade, Serbia | IMG Academy | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | |
| 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. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 1, 2023* 7:00 p.m. | Illinois Wesleyan | W 81–64 | – | 16 – Konan Niederhauser | 9 – Amos | 3 – Tied | Convocation Center (387) DeKalb, IL |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2023* 7:30 p.m., FS1 | at No. 5 Marquette | L 70–92 | 0–1 | 14 – Coit | 11 – Konan Niederhauser | 3 – Tied | Fiserv Forum (16,352) Milwaukee, WI |
| November 11, 2023* 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Appalachian State MAC-SBC Challenge | W 91–78 | 1–1 | 27 – Coit | 6 – Nutter | 6 – Coit | Convocation Center (1,071) DeKalb, IL |
| November 13, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Illinois Tech | W 107–55 | 2–1 | 19 – Lovings-Watts | 7 – Konan Niederhauser | 5 – Coit | Convocation Center (596) DeKalb, IL |
| November 17, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Georgia State Capitol Challenge | W 70–64 | 3–1 | 22 – Nutter | 9 – Ibarguen | 5 – Coit | GSU Convocation Center (1,337) Atlanta, GA |
| November 18, 2023* 1:00 p.m. | vs. Little Rock Capitol Challenge | W 98–93 | 4–1 | 21 – Amos | 8 – Coit | 6 – Coit | GSU Convocation Center (1,188) Atlanta, GA |
| November 25, 2023* 8:00 p.m., FS2 | at DePaul | W 89–79 | 5–1 | 34 – Coit | 8 – Amos | 4 – Gebrewhit | Wintrust Arena (2,745) Chicago, IL |
| November 27, 2023* 7:00 p.m., BTN+ | at Northwestern | L 67–89 | 5–2 | 26 – Amos | 7 – Amos | 6 – Nutter | Welsh–Ryan Arena (4,564) Evanston, IL |
| December 5, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Indiana State | L 67–90 | 5–3 | 13 – Coit | 6 – Amos | 2 – Coit | Convocation Center (1,242) DeKalb, IL |
| December 9, 2023* 1:00 p.m. | at Monmouth | L 71–74 | 5–4 | 21 – Tied | 11 – Amos | 4 – Coit | OceanFirst Bank Center (1,722) West Long Branch, NJ |
| December 18, 2023* 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | Calumet College | W 92–48 | 6–4 | 23 – Lovings-Watts | 10 – Tied | 3 – Coit | Convocation Center (747) DeKalb, IL |
| December 21, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Northern Iowa | L 63–76 | 6–5 | 17 – Coit | 8 – Konan Niederhauser | 3 – Coit | Convocation Center (803) DeKalb, IL |
| December 29, 2023* 6:00 p.m., BTN+ | at Iowa | L 74–103 | 6–6 | 23 – Coit | 5 – Tied | 3 – Tied | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (11,846) Iowa City, IA |
| MAC regular season |||||||||
| January 2, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Akron | L 51–73 | 6–7 (0–1) | 21 – Coit | 7 – Ibarguen | 2 – Ibarguen | Convocation Center (917) DeKalb, IL |
| January 6, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Ohio | L 66–78 | 6–8 (0–2) | 22 – Amos | 7 – Amos | 3 – Tied | Convocation Center (3,802) Athens, OH |
| January 9, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Western Michigan | L 90–95 $^{OT}$ | 6–9 (0–3) | 32 – Coit | 13 – Ibarguen | 10 – Coit | University Arena (1,339) Kalamazoo, MI |
| January 13, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Bowling Green | L 72–83 | 6–10 (0–4) | 27 – Coit | 8 – Amos | 3 – Gebrewhit | Convocation Center (1,041) DeKalb, IL |
| January 16, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Kent State | L 76–83 | 6–11 (0–5) | 20 – Amos | 5 – Butler | 4 – Coit | Convocation Center (809) DeKalb, IL |
| January 23, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Toledo | L 73–89 | 6–12 (0–6) | 23 – Coit | 6 – Nutter | 3 – Coit | Convocation Center (1,534) DeKalb, IL |
| January 27, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Ball State | L 71–81 | 6–13 (0–7) | 25 – Coit | 8 – Amos | 3 – Tied | Worthen Arena (4,010) Muncie, IN |
| January 30, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Central Michigan | L 77–84 $^{2OT}$ | 6–14 (0–8) | 25 – Amos | 11 – Ibarguen | 3 – Russell | McGuirk Arena (1,520) Mount Pleasant, MI |
| February 3, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Eastern Michigan | W 76–66 | 7–14 (1–8) | 19 – Amos | 7 – Tied | 5 – Nutter | Convocation Center (1,537) DeKalb, IL |
| February 6, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Miami (OH) | W 62–59 | 8–14 (2–8) | 22 – Nutter | 12 – Amos | 2 – Tied | Millett Hall (2,242) Oxford, OH |
| February 10, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at South Alabama MAC-SBC Challenge | L 66–75 | 8–15 | 16 – Amos | 10 – Nutter | 4 – Tied | Mitchell Center (1,539) Mobile, AL |
| February 13, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Buffalo | W 72–68 | 9–15 (3–8) | 25 – Amos | 12 – Nutter | 2 – Tied | Convocation Center (1,425) DeKalb, IL |
| February 17, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Kent State | L 47–85 | 9–16 (3–9) | 17 – Butler | 5 – Butler | 3 – Coit | MAC Center (2,894) Kent, OH |
| February 20, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Ball State | L 63–70 | 9–17 (3–10) | 28 – Coit | 10 – Tied | 2 – Tied | Convocation Center (1,317) DeKalb, IL |
| February 24, 2024 3:30 p.m., ESPN+ | Ohio | L 59–80 | 9–18 (3–11) | 27 – Coit | 6 – Tied | 2 – Tied | Convocation Center (2,886) DeKalb, IL |
| February 27, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Toledo | W 75–72 | 10–18 (4–11) | 27 – Coit | 10 – Lovings-Watts | 5 – Tied | Savage Arena (4,692) Toledo, OH |
| March 2, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Akron | L 73–80 | 10–19 (4–12) | 35 – Coit | 7 – Tied | 3 – Tied | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,331) Akron, OH |
| March 5, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Central Michigan | L 63–69 | 10–20 (4–13) | 27 – Konan Niederhauser | 8 – Konan Niederhauser | 4 – Coit | Convocation Center (1,399) DeKalb, IL |
| March 8, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Buffalo | W 78–68 | 11–20 (5–13) | 37 – Coit | 11 – Tied | 6 – Coit | Alumni Arena (2,416) Buffalo, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||
Source