# 2023–24 Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball team represented Eastern Michigan University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by third-year head coach Stan Heath, played their home games at the George Gervin GameAbove Center in Ypsilanti, Michigan as members of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 13–18, 6–12 in MAC play to finish in 10th place. They failed to qualify for the MAC tournament

## Previous season

The Eagles finished 8–23 with a 5–13 MAC record. They finished tied for ninth in the MAC and failed to qualify for the MAC tournament.

## Offseason
### Departures

Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason |
| Colin Golson | 1 | F | 6'6" | 230 | Sophomore | Detroit, Michigan | Transferred to Morehouse |
| Noah Farrakhan | 2 | G | 6'2" | 162 | Sophomore | Hillside | Transferred to West Virginia |
| Luka Savicevic | 3 | G | 6'3" | 150 | Sophomore | Skopje, North Macedonia | Transferred to Lafayette |
| Emoni Bates | 21 | F | 6'10" | 170 | Sophomore | Ypsilanti, Michigan | Declared for NBA draft |
| JZ Zaher | 30 | G | 5'11" | 164 | Freshman | Fenton, Michigan | Transferred to Bowling Green |
| Derek Ballard | 33 | F | 6'8" | 232 | Grad. Student | Southfield, Michigan | Exhausted Eligibility |

### Incoming transfers

Incoming Transfers :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Connor Serven | 2 | F | 6'8" | RS-Junior | Prairie City, Illinois | Illinois |
| John McGriff | 3 | G | 6'0" | RS-Junior | Glenn Dale, Maryland | Binghamton |
| Cyril Martynov | 21 | C | 7'0" | Sophomore | Barrie, Ontario | Georgia Tech |
| Julius Ellerbe | 6 | G | 6'7" | RS-Junior | Fort Washington, Maryland | East Central CC |

### Recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Arne Osojnik G | Ljubljana, Slovenia | Dream City Christian | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2023* 8:00 p.m., FS1 | at Butler | L 55–94 | 0–1 | 13 – Tied | 5 – Geeter | 4 – Ellerbe | Hinkle Fieldhouse (6,792) Indianapolis, IN |
| November 11, 2023* 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Georgia Southern MAC-SBC Challenge | W 70–60 | 1–1 | 18 – Osojnik | 7 – Billingsley | 4 – McGriff | George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,484) Ypsilanti, MI |
| November 14, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at No. 10 Florida Atlantic | L 57–100 | 1–2 | 20 – Acuff | 5 – Tied | 2 – Tied | Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena (3,161) Boca Raton, FL |
| November 18, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Cleveland State | W 69–62 | 2–2 | 31 – Acuff | 8 – Ellerbe | 2 – Tied | George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,730) Ypsilanti, MI |
| November 21, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Detroit Mercy | W 76–72 | 3–2 | 25 – Acuff | 6 – Serven | 7 – Ellerbe | Calihan Hall (1,003) Detroit, MI |
| November 25, 2023* 5:45 p.m., ESPN+ | at Central Arkansas Central Arkansas Classic | W 74–71 | 4–2 | 23 – Acuff | 9 – Ellerbe | 5 – Ellerbe | Farris Center (592) Conway, AR |
| November 26, 2023* 2:00 p.m. | vs. North Dakota Central Arkansas Classic | L 70–72 | 4–3 | 31 – Acuff | 5 – Martynov | 3 – Acuff | Farris Center (98) Conway, AR |
| December 1, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Lake Superior State | W 68–53 | 5–3 | 24 – Acuff | 8 – Jihad | 3 – Acuff | George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,647) Ypsilanti, MI |
| December 8, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Oakland | L 63–77 | 5–4 | 18 – Acuff | 9 – Ellerbe | 5 – Tied | George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,796) Ypsilanti, MI |
| December 16, 2023* 2:15 p.m., BTN | at Michigan | L 66–83 | 5–5 | 24 – Acuff | 6 – Ellerbe | 2 – Tied | Crisler Center (11,761) Ann Arbor, MI |
| December 21, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Hampton | W 72–69 | 6–5 | 29 – Acuff | 7 – Martynov | 4 – Lovejoy | George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,870) Ypsilanti, MI |
| December 30, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Northwood | W 67–64 | 7–5 | 17 – Lovejoy | 10 – Lovejoy | 4 – Lovejoy | George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,517) Ypsilanti, MI |
| MAC regular season |||||||||
| January 2, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Bowling Green | L 90–92 $^{OT}$ | 7–6 (0–1) | 31 – Acuff | 9 – Ellerbe | 4 – Acuff | Stroh Center (2,439) Bowling Green, OH |
| January 6, 2024 3:30 p.m., ESPN+ | Kent State | W 71–69 $^{OT}$ | 8–6 (1–1) | 16 – Lovejoy | 8 – Serven | 7 – Acuff | George Gervin GameAbove Center (3,058) Ypsilanti, MI |
| January 9, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Central Michigan | L 64–80 | 8–7 (1–2) | 16 – Lovejoy | 4 – Tied | 5 – Acuff | George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,639) Ypsilanti, MI |
| January 13, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Miami (OH) | L 54–71 | 8–8 (1–3) | 19 – Acuff | 8 – Ellerbe | 3 – Tied | Millett Hall (929) Oxford, OH |
| January 16, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Ball State | L 62–76 | 8–9 (1–4) | 21 – Acuff | 8 – Billingsley | 4 – Acuff | George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,546) Ypsilanti, MI |
| January 20, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Ohio | L 67–85 | 8–10 (1–5) | 30 – Acuff | 6 – Jihad | 1 – Tied | Convocation Center (5,547) Athens, OH |
| January 23, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Western Michigan | L 56–73 | 8–11 (1–6) | 14 – Acuff | 7 – Tied | 4 – Acuff | University Arena (2,208) Kalamazoo, MI |
| January 27, 2024 3:30 p.m., ESPN+ | Buffalo | W 75–65 | 9–11 (2–6) | 19 – Acuff | 7 – Acuff | 7 – Lovejoy | George Gervin GameAbove Center (2,095) Ypsilanti, MI |
| January 30, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Akron | L 46–77 | 9–12 (2–7) | 12 – Tied | 4 – Tied | 2 – Tied | George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,733) Ypsilanti, MI |
| February 3, 2024 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Northern Illinois | L 66–76 | 9–13 (2–8) | 19 – Lovejoy | 6 – Billingsley | 5 – Lovejoy | Convocation Center (1,537) DeKalb, IL |
| February 6, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Toledo | L 87–91 | 9–14 (2–9) | 24 – Acuff | 8 – Billingsley | 6 – Lovejoy | George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,542) Ypsilanti, MI |
| February 10, 2024* 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Louisiana–Monroe MAC-SBC Challenge | L 76–82 | 9–15 | 29 – Acuff | 9 – Billingsley | 6 – Lovejoy | Fant–Ewing Coliseum (1,102) Monroe, LA |
| February 17, 2024 3:30 p.m., ESPN+ | Bowling Green | W 69–60 | 10–15 (3–9) | 34 – Acuff | 10 – Acuff | 3 – Tied | George Gervin GameAbove Center (3,304) Ypsilanti, MI |
| February 20, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Buffalo | L 69–78 | 10–16 (3–10) | 26 – Acuff | 9 – Serven | 4 – Acuff | Alumni Arena (2,946) Buffalo, NY |
| February 24, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Ball State | W 58–56 | 11–16 (4–10) | 19 – Acuff | 8 – Serven | 3 – Tied | Worthen Arena (4,708) Muncie, IN |
| February 27, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Western Michigan | W 70–67 | 12–16 (5–10) | 22 – Osojnik | 8 – Billingsley | 4 – Acuff | George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,612) Ypsilanti, MI |
| March 2, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | Miami (OH) | L 37–52 | 12–17 (5–11) | 13 – Billingsley | 10 – Billingsley | 2 – Tied | George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,588) Ypsilanti, MI |
| March 5, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Akron | W 61–60 | 13–17 (6–11) | 14 – Billingsley | 8 – Tied | 3 – Lovejoy | James A. Rhodes Arena (1,923) Akron, OH |
| March 8, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Central Michigan | L 62–65 $^{OT}$ | 13–18 (6–12) | 15 – Osojnik | 7 – Tied | 8 – Lovejoy | McGuirk Arena (2,005) Mount Pleasant, MI |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||
Source

## Post Season Awards

* Tyson Acuff 3rd Team All-MAC
* Arne Osojnik All-MAC Freshman Team
* Yusuf Jihad (Academic All-MAC)
* Feb. 19, 2024 Tyson Acuff (MAC Player of the Week)