The Kent State men’s basketball team enters the 2024-25 campaign a hungry team, and with an emphasis on daily improvement, eyes another year of great basketball for the program.

“The guys are excited to play and excited to start the year off,” coach Rob Senderoff said. “These guys have been here year round, since June.”

Senderoff, who is entering his 14th year as the coach of the Flashes, has an impressive resume coaching KSU. He has been at the helm for eight 20+ win seasons and is the winningest coach in program history with 264 wins.

Last season, the Flashes came up a point short to the Akron Zips 62-61 in the Mid-American Conference title game, a game that would have earned them a spot in the NCAA tournament.

“There were a lot of disappointed people on the roster and within the program because we came so close,” Senderoff said. “It’s really difficult to get to that point, so I think our team is motivated.”

Kent State is eager to try and take back the MAC title this season, after using an impressive 28-7 season and 3-0 MAC tournament record to hoist the title in the 2022-23 season.

The team will also be without key players of that team and last year’s seniors — forward Chris Payton Jr. and guard Giovanni Santiago.

Payton Jr. averaged 12.6 points and 7.4 rebounds a night and Santiago averaged 9.1 points and 4.2 assists last season.

“There is a lot of work between now and next March, but if we get ourselves in that position again, then our team will be excited for that opportunity. But the focus here is just daily improvement,” Senderoff said.

Vets lead the new squad

As does every off-season, this one caused changes to the roster, and Kent State will go into the new season a new team from the previous year.

“We’re looking forward to the year — we have a lot of seniors where it’s their last year of college basketball, so these guys are excited,” Senderoff said.

Among the seniors and graduates on the team will be senior forward VonCameron Davis, senior guard Jalen Sullinger, graduate student forward Anthony Morales, and senior center Cli’Ron Hornbeak.

“These guys have all worked really hard — Von in his fifth year here and Cli’Ron in his fourth year,” Senderoff said. “Those would be two that I would mention because of their longevity here,” Senderoff said.

Senderoff sees the offseason work from his guys and pinpointed a few players that have stood out in the preseason with other veteran players, including graduate student guards Mike Bekelja, Morgan Safford and senior guard Marquis Barnett.

“Mike Bekelja is one of those guys that every single day gives maximum effort. Morgan Safford has had a really good preseason, and then some of the incoming guys and transfers like Cian Medley (sophomore guard from Saint Louis) — a really vocal point guard who brings great energy. Marquis Barnett, based upon statistics during our preseason practices, has been our leading scorer and our steals leader,” Senderoff said.

With all of its veteran leadership, the team has been able to gel together and create a close bond with each other.

“We have a good group of guys, and they seem to be really close off the court,” Senderoff said. “They seem to root for each other and want to see each other be successful. As long as that continues and we’re able to stay healthy and compete for one another, we have a chance to have a great season.”

Some offseason noise came when Davis and Sullinger entered the transfer portal. Sullinger ended up making the transfer to Furman University before deciding to return to Kent State.

“He wanted to be back here this year, and he’s proven every day in practice that he can add value to the team,” Senderoff said. “The transfer portal is a part of today’s basketball environment, and we’re fortunate that they’re here with us, as we are every player on the roster — everyone has choices.”

Sullinger has improved his scoring every year in his three previous seasons at Kent State and averaged 15.4 point per game last season. A similar story for Davis, who improved scoring every year while averaging 13.8 points a night and grabbing over five rebounds per game on average last season.

“One of the things is that those guys have been in the league a while. Von has continued to improve year in and year out, and Jalen certainly had a very standout season with regards to scoring last year,” Senderoff said. “When the preseason All-Conference stuff comes out, especially in leagues like ours, the quality returners get a lot of that recognition early on.”

Kent State also had the option of red-shirting Sullinger.

“That decision will be made in the first few weeks of the year, there hasn’t been anything decided yet,” Senderoff said.

The team’s identity 

Coming off a 17-17 season last year, Senderoff sees a lot of improvement in the team and looks to grow off its regular season from a year ago. 

He says that the depth of the team is its greatest strength.

“There’s a lot of versatility on this team — there were times last year where we had to deal with a lot of injuries and didn’t have great depth,” Senderoff said. “Our depth was not as good as it is this year. The hope would be that our ability to sustain a high level of play throughout games will happen due to the personality of the team.”

Another area that the team looks to strive in this season is on the defensive end.

Last season, the Flashes allowed 71.3 points a game on average to their opponents, the most since 2018–19. 

This year however, Senderoff will look to see that number drop, due to their physicality.

“Physicality is a key ingredient to being a really good defensive team,” he said. “When you look at our personnel, we have more size and physicality, so we have emphasized becoming a better defensive team and trying to push that.”

Senderoff also credits the team’s intense practices for proving their great depth.

“We’ve had a lot of competition, and practices have been really competitive,” he said. “From my standpoint, it gives us a lot of options in terms of how we play. It allows us to keep guys fresh for the long term. It’s a good situation to be in when I look down and every day is really competitive amongst our guys.”

Sights and predictions

The 2024-25 MAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll ranks Kent State in third place among 12 teams. The team is ranked behind defending champion Akron, ranked second, and the Ohio Bobcats in first.

Davis had honors on the First Team All-MAC preseason rankings, and Sullinger is on the Second Team All-MAC.

“If we were picked first, I wouldn’t have been shocked, and if we were picked eighth, I wouldn’t have been shocked because very few people know people on other teams’ rosters,” Senderoff said. “From my seat, I try not to worry and focus too much on that and focus on what we can control, which is our daily effort and preparation.”

From the preseason a year ago, the defending champion Flashes were ranked in second place behind the eventual champion Akron.

“From a player standpoint, you’re always feeling that you’re overlooked,” Senderoff said. “I would guess that every player and coach feels that way to a degree, but you have to go out there and prove it.”

When it comes to having a successful season, Senderoff continues to strive for daily improvement.

“We’re just hoping to maximize our ability as a group and hoping that every day, when we come on the court, we play selflessly, physically and competitive as a group,” Senderoff said. “If we do that and continue to improve each day, when March comes, we’ll be able to look at it and feel that we’ve had a really good season.”

Kent State will be tested early in non-conference play when facing Auburn Nov. 13 and Alabama Dec. 22 on the road, two teams that have been great programs in the Southeastern Conference for a long time.

The Flashes will begin MAC play Jan. 4 against Ball State at home and will play 18 of their final 19 games against the MAC.

It will all get started Monday on the road against the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns. Last year, the Ragin’ Cajuns went 19-14.

“There’s a lot that goes into it. Everyone has individual goals and everyone understands that to be a really good team, everyone has to sacrifice a little bit,” Senderoff said. “My hope is that come March, you’ll see a really tough and competitive team that every night is trying to do something to help their teammates look good and play well.”

Andrew Gold is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].