# 2024–25 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team

The 2024–25 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team represents the University of Northern Colorado during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears, led by fifth-year head coach Steve Smiley, play their home games at the Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, Colorado as members of the Big Sky Conference.

## Previous season

The Bears finished the 2023–24 season 19–14, 12–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for second place. They were upset by #8 seed Idaho State in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament. They received an invitation to the CBI, receiving the #8 seed, where they would be defeated by Cleveland State in the first round.

## Offseason
### Departures

Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Saint Thomas | 0 | F | 6'7" | 200 | Junior | Omaha, Nebraska | Transferred to USC |
| Mekhi Cameron | 1 | G | 6'4" | 195 | Junior | Atlanta, Georgia | Transferred to Tennessee Tech |
| Dejour Reaves | 2 | G | 6'0" | 170 | Freshman | Syracuse, New York | Transferred to Iona |
| Connor Creech | 12 | G | 6'6" | 200 | Junior | Hastings, Nebraska | Graduated |
| Juju Ramirez | 15 | F | 6'9" | 220 | Sophomore | Lawrence, Kansas | Transferred to Saint Anselm |
| Riley Abercrombie | 22 | F | 6'9" | 220 | Graduate Student | Wollongong, Australia | Graduated |
| Jalen Page | 25 | G | 6'5" | 215 | Junior | Boulder, Colorado | Transferred to Regis |
| Theo Hughes | 32 | C | 7'0" | 260 | Senior | Brentwood, England | Graduated |

#### Reference
### Incoming transfers

Incoming Transfers :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Taeshaud Jackson | 2 | G | 6'6" | 215 | Junior | Denver, Colorado | Virginia Military |
| Quinn Denker | 5 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Senior | San Jose, California | Idaho |
| William Humer | 21 | F | 6'10" | 235 | Junior | Sollentuna, Sweden | San Jose State |
| Isaiah Hawthorne | 23 | F | 6'8" | --- | Graduate Student | Tracy, California | San Francisco |
| Luca Colceag | 32 | F | 6'9" | 200 | Junior | Bucharest, Romania | Eastern Florida State College |

### Recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Hunter Caldwell C | Parker, Colorado | Lutheran High School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Mar 29, 2024 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Viktor Lukic-Gavric G | Stockholm, Sweden | Get Better Academy | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | N/A | Apr 18, 2024 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Walker Asp F | Colorado Springs, Colorado | Palmer High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | May 5, 2024 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Ariik Mawien G | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | Link Academy | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | May 17, 2024 |
| 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: "2024 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 4, 2024* 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Colorado College | W 75–55 | 1–0 | 21 – Reynolds | 10 – Rillie | 5 – Rillie | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,120) Greeley, CO |
| November 8, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Colorado | L 88–90 $^{2OT}$ | 1–1 | 19 – Hawthorne | 8 – Rillie | 7 – Rillie | CU Events Center (6,152) Boulder, CO |
| November 12, 2024* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Colorado Christian | W 113–56 | 2–1 | 24 – Hawthorne | 7 – McCreary | 6 – Reynolds | Bank of Colorado Arena (995) Greeley, CO |
| November 14, 2024* 8:00 pm, SLN | | vs. South Dakota State | W 78–69 | 3–1 | 21 – Hawthorne | 8 – Rillie | 5 – Rillie | Summit Arena (4,887) Rapid City, SD |
| November 18, 2024* 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Washington State | L 69–83 | 3–2 | 16 – Reynolds | 10 – Hawthorne | 4 – Rillie | Beasley Coliseum (3,066) Pullman, WA |
| November 20, 2024* 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at California Baptist | W 79–68 | 4–2 | 18 – Reynolds | 12 – Hawthorne | 8 – Rillie | Fowler Events Center (2,737) Riverside, CA |
| November 23, 2024* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Prairie View A&M | W 114–98 | 5–2 | 31 – Reynolds | 7 – Rillie | 7 – Tied | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,102) Greeley, CO |
| November 26, 2024* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Northern New Mexico | W 92–50 | 6–2 | 27 – Hawthorne | 5 – Wisne | 5 – Reynolds | Bank of Colorado Arena (901) Greeley, CO |
| November 29, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Texas Tech | L 64–89 | 6–3 | 16 – Denker | 4 – Tied | 4 – Reynolds | United Supermarkets Arena (13,274) Lubbock, TX |
| December 4, 2024* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | St. Thomas Big Sky-Summit Challenge | L 75–87 | 6–4 | 20 – Hawthorne | 8 – Reynolds | 4 – Rillie | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,020) Greeley, CO |
| December 7, 2024* 6:00 pm | | at North Dakota State Big Sky-Summit Challenge | L 70–82 | 6–5 | 19 – Hawthorne | 10 – Hawthorne | 3 – Denker | Scheels Center (1,242) Fargo, ND |
| December 16, 2024* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Air Force | W 81–76 | 7–5 | 23 – Reynolds | 11 – Reynolds | 7 – Rillie | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,183) Greeley, CO |
| December 21, 2024* 1:00 pm, Altitude/MidcoS | | at Denver | W 82–75 | 8–5 | 22 – Wisne | 5 – Tied | 5 – Tied | Hamilton Gymnasium (1,148) Denver, CO |
| Big Sky regular season |||||||||
| January 2, 2025 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Weber State | W 89–72 | 9–5 (1–0) | 17 – Hawthorne | 7 – Reynolds | 5 – Tied | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,006) Greeley, CO |
| January 4, 2025 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Idaho State | W 93–92 $^{OT}$ | 10–5 (2–0) | 27 – Reynolds | 7 – Rillie | 8 – Tied | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,055) Greeley, CO |
| January 9, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Montana State | W 83–82 | 11–5 (3–0) | 21 – McCreary | 9 – Hawthorne | 7 – Rillie | Worthington Arena (2,367) Bozeman, MT |
| January 11, 2025 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Montana | W 81–57 | 12–5 (4–0) | 19 – Wisne | 15 – Reynolds | 7 – Rillie | Dahlberg Arena (3,184) Missoula, MT |
| January 16, 2025 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Portland State | W 72–69 | 13–5 (5–0) | 23 – Hawthorne | 7 – Hawthorne | 4 – Tied | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,208) Greeley, CO |
| January 18, 2025 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Sacramento State | W 68–64 | 14–5 (6–0) | 17 – Hawthorne | 7 – Reynolds | 3 – Tied | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,521) Greeley, CO |
| January 23, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Idaho | L 76–77 | 14–6 (6–1) | 22 – Reynolds | 7 – Wisne | 3 – Tied | ICCU Arena (1,716) Moscow, ID |
| January 25, 2025 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Eastern Washington | W 67–62 | 15–6 (7–1) | 32 – Hawthorne | 7 – Hawthorne | 4 – Reynolds | Reese Court (1,600) Cheney, WA |
| February 1, 2025 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Northern Arizona | W 87–69 | 16–6 (8–1) | 23 – Reynolds | 9 – Reynolds | 6 – Rillie | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,653) Greeley, CO |
| February 3, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Idaho State | W 86–72 | 17–6 (9–1) | 19 – Tied | 12 – Reynolds | 8 – Rillie | Reed Gym (1,481) Pocatello, ID |
| February 6, 2025 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Montana | L 78–86 | 17–7 (9–2) | 21 – Denker | 7 – Hawthorne | 6 – Reynolds | Bank of Colorado Arena (2,001) Greeley, CO |
| February 8, 2025 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Montana State | W 73–66 | 18–7 (10–2) | 17 – Denker | 11 – Wisne | 8 – Rillie | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,672) Greeley, CO |
| February 13, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Sacramento State | W 77–61 | 19–7 (11–2) | 24 – Hawthorne | 8 – Hawthorne | 4 – Reynolds | Hornets Nest (532) Sacramento, CA |
| February 15, 2025 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Portland State | L 71–82 | 19–8 (11–3) | 19 – Tied | 8 – Hawthorne | 4 – Rillie | Viking Pavilion (777) Portland, OR |
| February 20, 2025 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Eastern Washington | W 95–76 | 20–8 (12–3) | 23 – Rillie | 10 – Rillie | 5 – Rillie | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,356) Greeley, CO |
| February 22, 2025 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Idaho | W 92–74 | 21–8 (13–3) | 25 – Hawthorne | 6 – Wisne | 5 – Reynolds | Bank of Colorado Arena (2,004) Greeley, CO |
| March 1, 2025 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Northern Arizona | W 83–73 | 22–8 (14–3) | 20 – Tied | 7 – Rillie | 4 – McCreary | Findlay Toyota Court (1,389) Flagstaff, AZ |
| March 3, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Weber State | W 68–63 | 23–8 (15–3) | 24 – Rillie | 8 – Rillie | 3 – Tied | Dee Events Center (2,633) Ogden, UT |
| Big Sky tournament |||||||||
| March 9, 2025 5:30 pm, ESPN+ | (1) | vs. (9) Weber State Quarterfinals | W 76–52 | 24–8 | 29 – Hawthorne | 9 – Rillie | 6 – Rillie | Idaho Central Arena Boise, ID |
| March 11, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPNU | (1) | vs. (5) Montana State Semifinals | W 72–45 | 25–8 | 13 – Rillie | 9 – McCreary | 4 – Denker | Idaho Central Arena Boise, ID |
| March 12, 2025 9:30 pm, ESPN2 | (1) | vs. (2) Montana Championship | L 83–91 | 25–9 | 24 – Rillie | 4 – Rillie | 6 – Rillie | Idaho Central Arena Boise, ID |
| NIT |||||||||
| March 19, 2025 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at (1) UC Irvine First round | | | | | | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain. |||||||||
Sources: