# 2024–25 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball season

The 2024–25 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball season was 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 began in December 2024, and concluded on February 28, 2025. The 2025 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament took place from March 4–10, 2025, at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Florida.

## 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.

#### 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.

#### Louisiana

Head coach Bob Marlin was fired on December 19, 2024, after 15 seasons with the Ragin' Cajuns. Assistant coach Derrick Zimmerman was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

#### 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.

#### 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 | 110–77 (.588) | 66–43 (.606) | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Arkansas State | Bryan Hodgson | Alabama (Asst.) | 2 | 42–27 (.609) | 24–12 (.667) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Coastal Carolina | Justin Gray | Western Carolina | 1 | 10–21 (.323) | 3–15 (.167) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Georgia Southern | Charlie Henry | Alabama (Asst.) | 2 | 25–39 (.391) | 6–20 (.231) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Georgia State | Jonas Hayes | Xavier (Assoc.) | 3 | 28–57 (.329) | 19–35 (.352) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| James Madison | Preston Spradlin | Morehead State | 1 | 20–11 (.645) | 13–5 (.722) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Louisiana | Bob Marlin | Sam Houston | 15 | 269–198 (.576) | 151–103 (.594) | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Louisiana | Derrick Zimmerman (interim) | Louisiana (Asst.) | 4 | 8–11 (.421) | 7–10 (.412) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Louisiana–Monroe | Keith Richard | LSU (Asst.) | 15 | 170–296 (.365) | 94–180 (.343) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marshall | Cornelius Jackson | Marshall (Assoc.) | 1 | 19–12 (.613) | 12–6 (.667) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Old Dominion | Mike Jones | Maryland (Asst.) | 1 | 14–19 (.424) | .444 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Alabama | Richie Riley | Nicholls State | 7 | 131–93 (.585) | 70–55 (.560) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Southern Miss | Jay Ladner | Southeastern Louisiana | 6 | 76–111 (.406) | 38–69 (.355) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Texas State | Terrence Johnson | Texas State (Asst.) | 5 | 86–67 (.562) | 46–38 (.548) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Troy | Scott Cross | TCU (Asst.) | 6 | 103–86 (.545) | 56–50 (.528) | 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.
| 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 |

#### Sun Belt preseason player of the year

* Kobe Julian – Arkansas State

#### Preseason All-Sun Belt team

2024-25 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Teams :
| First Team | Second Team | Third Team |
| 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 | 2nd |
| Arkansas State | Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship | |
| Coastal Carolina | Alabama A&M Bulldog Bash | |
| Georgia Southern | Rock Hill Classic | 3rd |
| Georgia State | Jacksonville Classic | – |
| James Madison | Boardwalk Battle | 3rd |
| Louisiana | Paradise Jam | 8th |
| Old Dominion | Cayman Islands Classic | 8th |
| South Alabama | Jaguar Classic | 3rd |
| Texas State | Myrtle Beach Invitational | 5th |

### Player of the week

| Week | Player(s) of the Week | School |
| Nov 11 | Jackson Fields | Troy |
| Nov 18 | Nate Martin | Marshall |
| Nov 25 | Bryce Lindsey | James Madison |
| Dec 2 | Myles Corey | South Alabama |
| Dec 9 | Denijay Harris | Southern Miss |
| Dec 16 | Taryn Todd | Arkansas State |
| Dec 23 | Robert Davis Jr. | Old Dominion |
| Dec 30 | Tyrel Morgan | Texas State |
| Jan 6 | Tayton Conerway | Troy |
| Jan 13 | Sean Durugordon | Old Dominion |
| Jan 20 | Tylan Pope | Texas State |
| Jan 27 | Jalen Speer | Marshall |
| Feb 3 | Mark Freeman | James Madison |
| Feb 10 | Myles Tate | Appalachian State |
| Feb 17 | Cesare Edwards | Georgia State |
| Feb 24 | Barry Dunning Jr. | South Alabama |
| Mar 3 | Izaiyah Nelson | Arkansas State |

### Records against other conferences

Power 6 Conferences :
| Conference | Record |
| ACC | 0–3 |
| Big East | 0–0 |
| Big Ten | 0–2 |
| Big 12 | 0–5 |
| Pac–12 | 0–0 |
| SEC | 0–8 |
| Combined | 0–18 |
| Other NCAA Division I Conferences | Record |
| America East | 0–0 |
| American | 6–10 |
| ASUN | 7–1 |
| Atlantic 10 | 0–5 |
| Big Sky | 0–0 |
| Big South | 3–4 |
| Big West | 0–1 |
| CAA | 5–7 |
| Conference USA | 3–8 |
| Horizon | 2–1 |
| Independents/Non-Division I | 2–0 |
| Ivy | 1–0 |
| MAAC | 0–1 |
| MAC | 14–13 |
| MEAC | 0–1 |
| Missouri Valley | 2–2 |
| Mountain West | 0–0 |
| Northeast | 0–0 |
| OVC | 3–1 |
| Patriot | 1–0 |
| Southern | 2–1 |
| Southland | 2–0 |
| SWAC | 7–7 |
| Summit | 0–1 |
| West Coast | 0–0 |
| WAC | 2–5 |
| Combined | 62–69 |

## Post season
### Sun Belt tournament

| First round Tuesday, March 4 ESPN+ | First round Tuesday, March 4 ESPN+ | First round Tuesday, March 4 ESPN+ | Second round Wednesday, March 5 ESPN+ | Second round Wednesday, March 5 ESPN+ | Second round Wednesday, March 5 ESPN+ | Third round Thursday, March 6 ESPN+ | Third round Thursday, March 6 ESPN+ | Third round Thursday, March 6 ESPN+ | Fourth round Friday, March 7 ESPN+ | Fourth round Friday, March 7 ESPN+ | Fourth round Friday, March 7 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Saturday, March 8 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Saturday, March 8 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Saturday, March 8 ESPN+ | | Semifinals Sunday, March 9 ESPN+ | Semifinals Sunday, March 9 ESPN+ | Semifinals Sunday, March 9 ESPN+ | | | Championship Monday, March 10 ESPN2 | Championship Monday, March 10 ESPN2 | Championship Monday, March 10 ESPN2 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | South Alabama | 71 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 | Arkansas State | 77 | | 4 | | | Arkansas State | 74 | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 5 | Marshall | 79 | 5 | Marshall | 74 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 8 | Georgia State | 80 | 8 | Georgia State | 76 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 9 | Georgia Southern | 78 | 9 | Georgia Southern | 71 | | | | | | | | | 4 | Arkansas State | 81 | | | |
| 12 | Southern Miss | 66 | 12 | Southern Miss | 64 | | | | | | | | 3 | Troy | 94 |
| 13 | Coastal Carolina | 63 | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Troy | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | | | | | | | James Madison | 60 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Troy | 75 | | | | | | | 3 | Troy | 79 |
| | | | | | | | | | 6 | Appalachian State | 56 | 10 | Old Dominion | 59 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 7 | Texas State | 61 | 10 | Old Dominion | 61 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 10 | Old Dominion | 67 | 10 | Old Dominion | 64 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Louisiana | 73* | 11 | Louisiana | 49 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 14 | Louisiana–Monroe | 69 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Source:
* – Denotes overtime period
* The tournament was held at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Florida, from March 4–10, 2025.

### NCAA tournament

| Seed | Region | School | First Four | 1st round | 2nd round | Sweet 16 | Elite Eight | Final Four | Championship |
| 14 | Midwest | Troy | Bye | Kentucky – (Milwaukee, WI) | | | | | |
| | | W–L (%): | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) Total: 0–0 (–) |

### National Invitation Tournament

| Seed | Bracket | School | 1st round |
| 3 | Dallas | Arkansas State | Saint Louis – (Jonesboro, Arkansas) |
| | W–L (%): | 0–1 (.000) | 0–1 (.000) Total: 0–1 (.000) |

## Honors and awards
### Sun Belt Awards

2024-25 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Individual Awards :
| Award | Recipient(s) |
| Player of the Year | Tayton Conerway – Troy |
| Coach of the Year | Richie Riley – South Alabama |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Obinna Anochili-Killen - Marshall |
| Newcomer of the Year | Mark Freeman – James Madison |
| Freshman of the Year | Bryce Lindsay – James Madison |
| Sixth Man Award | Bryce Lindsay – James Madison |
2024-25 Sun Belt Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams :
| First Team | Second Team | Third Team |
| Tayton Conerway - Troy Barry Dunning Jr. – South Alabama Mark Freeman – James Madison Myles Tate – Appalachian State Taryn Todd – Arkansas State | Obinna Anochili-Killen – Marshall Cesare Edwards – Georgia State Denijay Harris – Southern Miss C.J. Huntley – Appalachian State Tylan Pope — Texas State | Myles Corey – South Alabama Sean Durugordon – Old Dominion Adante' Holiman – Georgia Southern Bryce Lindsay – James Madison Izaiyah Nelson – Arkansas State |