The Kent State men’s basketball teams opens the season Monday night at Louisiana as part of the MAC/Sun Belt Challenge, as it’s opening day for Division I College Basketball around the country.
The Flashes return a mix of returners and talented newcomers in 2024-2025. The Flashes have high hopes and expectations as always, picked third in the MAC preseason poll. Kent State looks to get back to their fourth straight MAC Championship game, a feat that’s only been done five previous times in league history. KSU also goes for their 28th straight non-losing season.
If they are going to do it, it will be mostly because of a return to a defensive mindset, and a renewed emphasis on physicality.
Von Cameron Davis returns to lead a senior class of six, that should make the Flashes hungry, mature and play with a sense of urgency.
The Flashes battle a Ragin’ Cajuns team that is 25-3 at the Cajun Dome the last two years.
The Ragin’ Cajuns feature seven new players this season, and their top returning player Hosana Kitenge, a preseason Sun Belt first teamer was lost for the season due to an injury in mid-October.
Despite the roster turnover and injury to Kitenge, several talented newcomers have been brought in and Kent State Head Coach Rob Senderoff knows it will be a challenge in a tough place to win.
“They have a coach who’s been there a while just like I’ve been here a while and generally speaking if you’ve been at a school a while it’s because your team and your program have had success so Coach Marlin I have tremendous respect for him and how he runs his program,” Senderoff said. “They’re going to be very athletic. They’re going to compete defensively and I think the teams are very similar, that’s why we were matched up with them. We’re preseason picked third in our league they were preseason picked fourth in their league, and they have an excellent conference.”
“It’s going to be a challenging game. We’re going to play a lot of guys and it’s gonna take us a little bit of time to get sort of like what everyone’s role so to speak is. But really right now everyone’s role is to go in and play as hard as you can for as long as you can and help our team be successful.”
Kent State has several newcomers expected to make their debut, include three who project to be in the starting lineup. Point Guard Cian Medley is a transfer from Saint Louis, and Marquis Barnett (Presbyterian) and Morgan Safford (Miami) figure to be instant impact players. Off the bench, Jamal Sumlin and Anthony Morales expect to contribute as well. Returners Cli’Ron Hornbeak and Mike Bekelja figure to be in the mix as well. Win or lose Monday Senderoff and his staff realize it’s a long season and the grind to greatness is just beginning.
“Monday night at 9pm central time we’ll either be 1-0 or 0-1 and we’re going to come back Tuesday, that’s the election day so we’re not gonna practice Tuesday and by Wednesday we have to figure out how to get better, I mean that’s the bottom line, we have to get better on Wednesday, get better on Thursday and then on the 8th we play at home, its a non-division 1, so certainly a team we expect to beat but you gotta come ready to play in every game as we know. And then we get a chance to go down to Auburn, a top 10 or top 12 team in the country the following week.”
The game will be on ESPN+ and on the Kent State radio network with a tip time of 8pm eastern time.
NOTES: Flashes lead all time series with Louisiana 1-0 after a 76-67 win in 2011 at the MAC Center…Kent State was 0-2 last year in MAC/Sun Belt Challenge , will host Sun Belt team February 8 in return game that will be TBD…Flashes are one of eight teams in country to not have a losing season this century…with 138 league wins, Senderoff is sixth in MAC history