# 2024–25 Ohio Bobcats men's basketball team

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 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 Departures :
| Name | Alma Mater | Previous position | New position |
| Casey Crawford | Ohio University | Graduate Assistant | Director of Basketball Operations (Stony Brook) |

#### Coaching Additions

Coaching Additions :
| Name | Alma Mater | Previous position | New position |
| Keith Williams | University of Charleston | Player (Charleston) | Graduate Assistant |

### Departures

Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason |
| Miles Brown | 2 | G | 6'1" | 180 | Grad. student | Rochester, NY | Graduated, exhausted eligibility |
| Gabe Wiznitzer | 11 | C | 6'11" | 240 | Senior | Walhalla, SC | Graduated |
| Jaylin Hunter | 12 | G | 6'0" | 195 | Senior | Manchester, CT | Graduated, exhausted eligibility |
| Quinn Corna* | 15 | G | 6'3" | 170 | Sophomore | Columbus, OH | Transferred to Ohio Wesleyan |
| IJ Ezuma | 21 | F | 6'8" | 240 | RS Sophomore | Raleigh, NC | Transferred to South Plains College |
| Ike Cornish | 24 | G/F | 6'6" | 190 | RS Sophomore | Baltimore, MD | Transferred to Nicholls State |
* Walk-on in 2023–24

### Incoming transfers

Incoming transfers :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason |
| Jackson Paveletzke | 13 | PG | 6'3" | 175 | Sophomore | Kimberly, WI | Transferred from Iowa State. Will have two years of eligibility remaining. |
| Victor Searles | 35 | C | 6'9" | 240 | Senior | Hilliard, OH | Transferred from Ashland. Will have one year of eligibility remaining. |

### Recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Ayden Evans PF | Radcliff, KY | Elizabethtown | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Jul 15, 2023 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Jessie Burris SG | Delaware, OH | Rutherford B. Hayes | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Jul 9, 2023 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 78 ||||||
| Elijah Elliot SG | Wichita, KS | Sunrise Christian Academy | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Apr 30, 2024 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ||||||
| Kiir Kuany PF | Huntington, WV | Huntington Prep | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Jun 5, 2024 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ||||||
| Chase Boals* PF | New Albany, OH | New Albany | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| 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. ||||||
*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 poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (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 teams :
| Team | Player | Position | Year |
| 1st | AJ Clayton | F | Sr. |
| 2nd | AJ Brown | G | R-So. |
| 2nd | Shereef Mitchell | G | Grad. |
Source

## Roster
### Support staff

Source:

## 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* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at James Madison MAC–SBC Challenge | L 78–88 | 0–1 | 17 – Hadaway | 5 – Tied | 4 – Clayton | Atlantic Union Bank Center (5,973) Harrisonburg, VA |
| November 9, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UNC-Asheville | W 82–76 | 1–1 | 19 – Clayton | 6 – Hadaway | 5 – Tied | Convocation Center (5,438) Athens, OH |
| November 12, 2024* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Illinois State | L 75–85 | 1–2 | 20 – Brown | 5 – Clayton | 2 – Tied | CEFCU Arena (3,923) Normal, IL |
| November 15, 2024* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Memphis | L 70–94 | 1–3 | 20 – Sheldon | 7 – Paveletzke | 5 – Paveletzke | FedExForum (11,270) Memphis, TN |
| November 21, 2024* 12:00 p.m., ESPNU | | vs. Middle Tennessee Myrtle Beach Invitational quarterfinals | L 81–83 $^{OT}$ | 1–4 | 19 – Brown | 11 – Clayton | 11 – Paveletzke | HTC Center (704) Conway, SC |
| November 22, 2024* 11:30 a.m., ESPNU | | vs. Portland Myrtle Beach Invitational consolation 2nd round | W 85–73 | 2–4 | 34 – Clayton | 12 – Clayton | 10 – Paveletzke | HTC Center (708) Conway, SC |
| November 24, 2024* 8:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | vs. Texas State Myrtle Beach Invitational 5th place game | L 65–74 | 2–5 | 18 – Clayton | 5 – Tied | 3 – James | HTC Center (1,431) Conway, SC |
| November 30, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Robert Morris | W 84–68 | 3–5 | 16 – Clayton | 7 – Tied | 4 – Sheldon | Convocation Center Athens, OH |
| December 7, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Morehead State | W 88–76 | 4–5 | 23 – Paveletzke | 8 – Paveletzke | 4 – Hadaway | Convocation Center (3,128) Athens, OH |
| December 14, 2024* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Marshall | L 70–79 | 4–6 | 22 – Brown | 8 – Searls | 12 – Paveletzke | Cam Henderson Center (4,278) Huntington, WV |
| December 18, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Austin Peay | W 78–58 | 5–6 | 22 – Clayton | 5 – McCubbin | 5 – Haney | Convocation Center (3,065) Athens, OH |
| December 30, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Muskingum | W 103–52 | 6–6 | 13 – Clayton | 10 – Elliott | 6 – Paveletzke | Convocation Center (3,615) Athens, OH |
| MAC regular season |||||||||
| January 4, 2025 7:00 p.m., TBA | | at Central Michigan | W 57–55 | 7–6 (1–0) | 14 – Brown | 7 – Clayton | 5 – Paveletzke | McGuirk Arena (1,269) Mount Pleasant, MI |
| January 7, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Buffalo | W 88–79 | 8–6 (2–0) | 27 – Clayton | 16 – Hadaway | 6 – Mitchell | Alumni Arena (968) Amherst, NY |
| January 11, 2025 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Northern Illinois | W 108–70 | 9–6 (3–0) | 31 – Clayton | 11 – Hadaway | 5 – Tied | Convocation Center (4011) Athens, OH |
| January 14, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Ball State | W 86–71 | 10–6 (4–0) | 15 – Tied | 5 – Tied | 6 – Paveletzke | Convocation Center (4,624) Athens, OH |
| January 17, 2025 6:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Akron | L 80–92 | 10–7 (4–1) | 27 – Mitchell | 7 – Hadaway | 2 – Tied | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,830) Akron, OH |
| January 21, 2025 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Eastern Michigan | L 87–94 | 10–8 (4–2) | 28 – Paveletzke | 6 – Paveletzke | 5 – Sheldon | George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,439) Ypsilanti, MI |
| January 24, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Kent State | W 61–59 | 11–8 (5–2) | 15 – Tied | 7 – Searls | 3 – Sheldon | Convocation Center (5,134) Athens, OH |
| January 28, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | Toledo | L 83–86 | 11–9 (5–3) | 22 – Tied | 8 – Tied | 6 – Paveletzke | Convocation Center (4,442) Athens, OH |
| February 1, 2025 3:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Miami (OH) | L 69–73 | 11–10 (5–4) | 20 – Mitchell | 10 – Searls | 3 – Paveletzke | Millett Hall (7,889) Oxford, OH |
| February 4, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Western Michigan | W 94–69 | 12–10 (6–4) | 18 – Clayton | 9 – Paveletzke | 8 – Paveletzke | Convocation Center (4,058) Athens, OH |
| February 8, 2025* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Appalachian State MAC–SBC Challenge | L 59–72 | 12–11 | §18 – Brown | 7 – Clayton | 3 – Paveletzke | Convocation Center (6,305) Athens, OH |
| February 11, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Bowling Green | W 86–81 | 13–11 (7–4) | 17 – Mitchell | 5 – Tied | 4 – Tied | Stroh Center (1,912) Bowling Green, OH |
| February 14, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Kent State | L 75–76 | 13–12 (7–5) | 25 – Mitchell | 6 – Tied | 5 – Tied | MAC Center (2,113) Kent, OH |
| February 18, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Central Michigan | W 84–82 | 14–12 (8–5) | 22 – Paveletzke | 8 – Mitchell | 6 – Mitchell | Convocation Center (4,387) Athens, OH |
| February 22, 2025 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | Akron | W 84–67 | 15–12 (9–5) | 21 – Paveletzke | 8 – Clayton | 4 – Elliot | Convocation Center (6,740) Athens, OH |
| February 25, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Western Michigan | L 73–82 | 15–13 (9–6) | 21 – Mitchell | 6 – Brown | 5 – Paveletzke | University Arena (1,849) Kalamazoo, MI |
| March 1, 2025 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Miami (OH) | W 75–66 | 16–13 (10–6) | 20 – Clayton | 7 – Searles | 5 – Paveletzke | Convocation Center (7,891) Athens, OH |
| March 4, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Eastern Michigan | L 79–83 | 16–14 (10–7) | 20 – Paveletzke | 6 – Clayton | 5 – Paveletzke | Convocation Center (4,450) Athens, OH |
| March 7, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Toledo | L 82–96 | 16–15 (10–8) | 20 – James | 8 – Elliott | 4 – Elliott | Savage Arena (5,397) Toledo, OH |
| MAC tournament |||||||||
| March 13, 2024† TBA, ESPN+ | (5) | vs. (4) Toledo Quarterfinals | L 85–90 | 16–16 | 28 – Paveletzke | 8 – Hadaway | 3 – Paveletzke | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Cleveland, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. |||||||||
Source:

## Statistics
### Team Statistics

    Through March 13, 2025
| Record | Ohio | OPP |
| 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

| | | | Minutes | Minutes | Scoring | Scoring | Total FGs | Total FGs | Total FGs | 3-point FGs | 3-point FGs | 3-point FGs | Free-Throws | Free-Throws | Free-Throws | Rebounds | Rebounds | Rebounds | Rebounds | | | | | |
| Player | GP | GS | Tot | Avg | Pts | Avg | FG | FGA | Pct | 3FG | 3FA | Pct | FT | FTA | Pct | Off | Def | Tot | Avg | A | PF | TO | Stl | Blk |
| Jackson Paveletzke | 32 | 32 | 1034 | 32.3 | 443 | 13.8 | 162 | 315 | 0.514 | 20 | 62 | 0.323 | 99 | 129 | 0.767 | 21 | 110 | 131 | 4.1 | 152 | 43 | 86 | 27 | 1 |
| AJ Clayton | 29 | 29 | 823 | 28.4 | 407 | 14.0 | 141 | 294 | 0.480 | 66 | 176 | 0.375 | 59 | 75 | 0.787 | 34 | 119 | 153 | 5.3 | 30 | 52 | 33 | 17 | 44 |
| AJ Brown | 29 | 29 | 774 | 26.7 | 382 | 13.2 | 123 | 261 | 0.471 | 54 | 139 | 0.388 | 82 | 100 | 0.820 | 31 | 62 | 93 | 3.2 | 32 | 70 | 36 | 37 | 2 |
| Shereef Mitchell | 25 | 18 | 712 | 28.5 | 329 | 13.2 | 112 | 254 | 0.441 | 33 | 82 | 0.402 | 72 | 87 | 0.828 | 13 | 68 | 81 | 3.2 | 62 | 75 | 41 | 44 | 3 |
| Elmore James | 30 | 17 | 767 | 25.6 | 245 | 8.2 | 82 | 210 | 0.390 | 38 | 102 | 0.373 | 43 | 51 | 0.843 | 22 | 57 | 79 | 2.6 | 26 | 61 | 31 | 24 | 5 |
| Vic Searls | 32 | 4 | 589 | 18.4 | 226 | 7.1 | 93 | 152 | 0.612 | 4 | 16 | 0.250 | 36 | 53 | 0.679 | 35 | 90 | 125 | 3.9 | 25 | 70 | 44 | 14 | 11 |
| Aidan Hadaway | 18 | 17 | 485 | 26.9 | 183 | 10.2 | 68 | 136 | 0.500 | 16 | 48 | 0.333 | 31 | 43 | 0.721 | 30 | 75 | 105 | 5.8 | 28 | 52 | 17 | 19 | 14 |
| Elijah Elliott | 30 | 14 | 494 | 16.5 | 152 | 5.1 | 54 | 123 | 0.439 | 11 | 28 | 0.393 | 33 | 54 | 0.611 | 13 | 83 | 96 | 3.2 | 43 | 47 | 25 | 12 | 7 |
| Ajay Sheldon | 32 | 0 | 620 | 19.4 | 151 | 4.7 | 52 | 141 | 0.369 | 29 | 102 | 0.284 | 18 | 25 | 0.720 | 3 | 46 | 49 | 1.5 | 42 | 69 | 13 | 34 | 3 |
| Ayden Evans | 16 | 0 | 97 | 6.1 | 19 | 1.2 | 7 | 15 | 0.467 | 0 | 3 | 0.000 | 5 | 11 | 0.455 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 0.9 | 1 | 16 | 9 | 1 | 5 |
| Ben Nicol | 7 | 0 | 29 | 4.1 | 10 | 1.4 | 3 | 9 | 0.333 | 2 | 7 | 0.286 | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Ben Estis | 7 | 0 | 27 | 3.9 | 7 | 1.0 | 2 | 5 | 0.400 | 2 | 4 | 0.500 | 1 | 2 | 0.500 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 32 | - | 6451 | - | 2554 | 79.8 | 899 | 1915 | 0.469 | 275 | 769 | 0.358 | 481 | 632 | 0.761 | 205 | 723 | 928 | 29.0 | 450 | 559 | 348 | 231 | 95 |
| Opponents | 32 | - | 6451 | - | 2449 | 76.5 | 872 | 1909 | 0.457 | 232 | 625 | 0.371 | 473 | 672 | 0.704 | 323 | 823 | 1146 | 35.8 | 416 | 587 | 412 | 214 | 98 |
Source

## Awards and honors
### Weekly Awards

Weekly Award Honors :
| Honors | Player | Position | Date Awarded |
| 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 |