BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU men's basketball is set to open its 2024-25 campaign hosting UAB in a charity exhibition on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 2 p.m. CT in Diddle Arena. Head coach Hank Plona enters his first season at the helm for WKU after serving as an assistant on The Hill in 2023-24 and helping the Hilltoppers to a highly successful 2023-24 season that saw the program earn its 44th conference title all-time and earn an automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Tournament for the 24th time in program history.
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Game Info
WKU (0-0) vs. UAB (0-0)
Sunday, Oct. 27 | 2 p.m. CT
E.A. Diddle Arena | Bowling Green, Ky.
Hilltopper Sports Radio Network: 100.7-FM (WKLX)/Varsity Network (Randy Lee, Hal Schmitt)
Tickets: WKUTickets.com | 1-800-5-BIG RED
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Net proceeds from ticket sales for Sunday's game will be donated to The Harold & Juanita Koon Teen Center at The Boys & Girls Club of Bowling Green. Visit bgcbg.org for more information on the organization or to donate.
"I am excited to be able to work together with the Koon Teen Center at The Boys and Girls Club of Bowling Green to raise support and awareness for mental health, specifically in teens here in Bowling Green," Plona said. "Mental health initiatives are so important for all, but especially in young people, and I am happy that we have been able to work with a longtime rival in UAB to raise support and awareness for this cause. Thank you to Coach Kennedy and the UAB basketball program for joining us for this great cause, and we look forward to an outstanding turnout on Sunday."
WKU previously posted a split in competition against UAB in the Blazers' last season as members of Conference USA in 2022-23. Both teams competed as members of the Sun Belt Conference from 1982-1991, then again as CUSA members from 2014-2023.
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UAB enters 2024-25 following an American Athletic Conference Championship in 2024. The Blazers earned an automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Tournament with the AAC title and were seeded No. 12 before falling to No. 5 SDSU in the first round. UAB was selected as the preseason favorite in the AAC, receiving nine first-place votes and a total of 141 points following a vote by the conference's head coaches.
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Tickets for the charity event will be included in season ticket holder packages. Parking for Sunday's event will be open and free for fans.
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Season InfoÂ
Prior to joining the Hilltopper Basketball coaching staff, Plona spent eight seasons as head coach at Indian Hills CC in Iowa. During his eight-year tenure, Plona coached the Warriors to a 225-35 (.865%) record while qualifying for the NJCAA National Tournament in seven of those seasons.
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Josh Newman joins the Hilltopper Basketball staff as an assistant for the 2024-25 season following a stint at University of the Pacific. Newman brings a total of 26 years of coaching experience to The Hill. While at Pacific, Newman served as an assistant for the Tigers in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons before being elevated to associate head coach in November of 2023. Newman was promoted to interim head coach prior to the 2024 West Coast Conference Tournament.
Prior to joining the staff at Pacific, Newman served as head coach at Division II Texas Permian Basin for three seasons and spent 12 seasons as head coach at Arkansas-Fort Smith. While at UAFS, Newman was instrumental in transitioning the program from the junior college level to NCAA Division II. During his nine seasons at the Division II level with UAFS, Newman guided the Lions to a 168-96 overall record while winning five Heartland Conference Championships and one Heartland Conference Tournament Championship.Â
Eric Murphy enters his first year as an assistant for the Hilltopper Basketball program. Murphy joins Plona's staff after serving as head coach at Florida Southwestern State College for six seasons. During his tenure, Murphy posted a 143-34 overall record (.829 winning percentage) while winning three Suncoast Conference Championships along with two NJCAA National Tournament bids. Murphy also served as an assistant at Northern Colorado, Wabash Valley College and Vincennes University prior to his tenure with Florida Southwestern.
Martin Cross and Tim MacAllister remain on the Hill as assistants with the program. Cross is entering a tenth season with the WKU men's basketball staff and third as an assistant coach. MacAllister enters his second season on the Hill and his sixth total as an assistant coach.Â
Darryl Jackson rejoins the Tops' staff as an assistant coach while also taking on a new role in operations. The Detroit native will continue to oversee the program's academics and player development throughout the season.Â
Wyatt Battaile enters the 2024-25 season after serving as a graduate assistant for the program in 2023-24. Taking on a new full-time role, Battaile was promoted to Director of Player Development and Video and will oversee daily operations as well as video needs for the program.
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WKU also adds two new graduate assistants for the season in Henoc Bienne and Devontae Lane. Bienne joins Plona's staff after serving as a graduate assistant at Indian Hills CC and Iowa State. Lane joins the Hill after a successful basketball career with Indian Hills CC and Central Michigan University.
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Among the Hilltoppers' returners is senior guard Don McHenry who enters his second season with WKU coming off an All-CUSA First-Team selection in 2023-24. A native of Milwaukee, McHenry joined the Tops' roster and started all 34 games for WKU in 2023-24.
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McHenry charted as the Hilltoppers' leading scorer a season ago, posting 15.1 points per game while averaging a team-high 27.8 minutes per outing and finishing as the fourth-leading scorer in CUSA. McHenry was twice named CUSA Player of the Week in 2023-24 and finished the year earning NABC D1 All-District First-Team honors. McHenry secured CUSA Tournament MVP honors after finishing with a team-best 25 points off 9-for-16 shooting and 5-of-6 from the stripe in the CUSA tournament title game facing UTEP. The Indian Hills CC transfer also charted the third-best FG% (.461%) and second-best FT% (.859%) in CUSA while posting double-digit point totals in 28 outings and 20-or-more points in eight games.
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McHenry enters his third consecutive season playing with Plona having spent a year at Indian Hills CC in 2022-23. The Hilltopper guard was selected as one of five players named to the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook Preseason All-Conference USA Team for 2024-25.
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Enoch Kalambay also joined the Tops' roster in 2023-24 after two years under Plona at Indian Hills from 2021-23. Kalambay returns to WKU for the 2024-25 season after appearing in 34 games in his first season on The Hill, starting in eight contests, averaging 18.4 minutes per game while averaging 6.2 points and 1.2 assists per outing.Â
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Kalambay finished the season with a .497% field goal percentage and 4.6 rebounds per game, both good for fourth-best on the team. The Quebec, Canada native posted a season-high 12 points along with 8 rebounds in the CUSA Quarterfinal victory over New Mexico State on March 14, and finished 5-of-7 from the field while scoring 11 points in the team's win over Abilene Christian on Dec. 30.
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Tyrone Marshall Jr. prepares to enter his third season with WKU in 2024-25. In 2023-24, the veteran Hilltopper appeared in all 34 games for WKU in 2023-24, starting in 33 contests. Marshall averaged the third-most minutes (24.5), points (8.8) and assists (2.2) on the team while leading the team in blocks (36) and steals (50), and earned All-Conference USA Honorable Mention for 2023-24.Â
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Marshall scored in double figures 13 times on the year a season ago. The Nashville native charted a season-high 21 points in the Tops' NCAA Tournament First Round matchup with No. 2-seeded Marquette. Marshall connected on 6-of-8 from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point range in the first half, ending the period with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks. Marshall charted 20 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals and 1 assist on the road at Wright State on Dec. 12 and went 8-of-12 from the field and 2-of-3 from the arc while notching 20 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and a steal in a home win over Abeline Christian on Dec. 30. Marshall posted a 12-point, 10 rebound double-double on the road at FIU on March 2 before helping the Hilltoppers to three straight wins in the 2024 CUSA Tournament.
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Teagan Moore enters his sophomore campaign with the Tops after appearing in 28 of WKU's 34 games for the 2023-24 season and starting in one contest as a freshman. Moore was named CUSA Freshman of the Week on two occasions and ended the year earning CUSA All-Freshman Team honors.Â
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Moore averaged 6.2 points and 2.3 rebounds per game while logging an average of 13.8 minutes per outing in 2023-24. The freshman posted double-digit point totals in four of WKU's final six regular-season games, including a season-high 22 points against LA Tech in the team's final home game of 2023-24.
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Jalen Jackson returns to The Hill for a second season in 2024-25 after joining the Tops' roster as a graduate transfer in 2023-24. Jackson appeared in 10 games for the Hilltoppers, making two starts facing UNC Asheville on Nov. 26 and Cal Baptist on Dec. 19. Jackson finished with a team-high 14 points off 6-for-10 shooting facing UNC Asheville.Â
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A San Antonio native, Jackson averaged 2.5 assists per game to go with 4.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. Jackson grabbed a total of 14 steals on the year before suffering a season-ending injury in December. Prior to joining the Tops' roster, Jackson spent two seasons at Texas A&M Corpus-Christi and was named the Southland Tournament MVP in 2023 after averaging 15.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the conference tournament. Jackson scored a career-high 22 points against Southeast Missouri State, helping the Islanders to their first-ever NCAA Tournament win in program history. Jackson played two seasons at North Texas from 2019-21 and was part of the team that won the 2021 CUSA Championship, going on to defeat Purdue in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.Â
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Jackson was ranked as the No. 17 recruit in Texas and the No. 19 point guard in the nation according to 247 Sports.com coming out of Wagner HS. He was 26-5A District MVP, TABC All-State, TABC All-Region, the San Antonio Express News Player of the Year and finished as the all-time leading scorer in Wagner program history.
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Entering a third season on The Hill, Khristian Lander returns to the Tops' roster in 2024-25 after appearing in 26 games for the Hilltoppers a year ago and starting in 11 total outings. The Evansville, Ind. native averaged 23.1 minutes per contest with 9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2 assists per game.Â
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Lander finished the season with a .406% mark from the field and .750% free-throw percentage. The graduate went .350% from beyond the arc for the year, good for fourth best on the team, and scored in double figures for all three of the team's CUSA tournament games and 11 total games on the season. Lander also finished with a total of 26 steals on the season.Â
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Lander was named CUSA Player of the Week on Jan. 1 after charting 19 points and a game-winning bucket facing Abilene Christian on Dec. 30. He posted a season-high 22 points against Campbellsville on Nov. 29.Â
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Prior to joining the roster at WKU, Lander spent two seasons at Indiana after committing to the Hoosiers program as a consensus five-star recruit. Lander was ranked as the No. 26 overall recruit in 2020 by Rivals and No. 27 by 247Sports and ESPN. He was an All-American Third-Team selection by MaxPreps, an Indiana Junior All-Star and a First-Team All-Southern Indiana Athletic Conference selection out of Evansville Reitz High School. Lander's father, Keith, was a three-year letterwinner for the Hilltopper Football program as a defensive back under head coach Jack Harbaugh.
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Babacar Faye transferred to WKU from Charleston in 2023-24 and appeared in all 34 games for the Hilltoppers, starting in 26 outings while averaging 18.7 minutes per game. The Hilltopper big averaged 7.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game while charting a .614% field-goal percentage.Â
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Faye accounted for a 12-point, 10 rebound double-double in the Tops' season opener against Kentucky Wesleyan in 2023-24. Faye scored a season-high 15 points while pulling down 10 rebounds facing Canisius on Nov. 25, and notched a 10-point, 10 rebound double-double facing UTEP on Feb. 15. A native of Senegal, Faye charted double-digit point totals in 10 games last season and accounted for 10+ rebounds in five outings.Â
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Jack Edelen returns for his sophomore season in 2024-25 after appearing in 27 games for the Hilltoppers in 2023-24 and averaging 8.9 minutes per contest. Edelen saw a season high in minutes in the CUSA Tournament semifinal game versus Middle Tennessee on March 15, gathering a pair of rebounds and one assist facing MTSU. The Louisville native logged 12 minutes and shot a perfect 2-for-2 from the field while accounting for 4 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists in the Tops' NCAA Tournament first-round matchup with Marquette on March 22.
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Jaylen Dorsey appeared in eight games for the Hilltoppers in 2023-24 and averaged 1.8 minutes per game while finishing with a .600% mark shooting from the field. Dorsey grabbed a career-best 3 rebounds while scoring 2 points facing Buffalo on Dec. 9. Entering his senior season, Dorsey returns to the Hilltopper Basketball roster for a third year in 2024-25.
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Tyler Olden enters his senior season at WKU in 2024-25 after appearing in 8 games for the Hilltoppers and averaging 1.9 minutes per game in 2023-24. Olden knocked down a three-pointer and gathered one rebound in the Tops' CUSA quarterfinal victory against New Mexico State on March 14, and connected from the arc in the team's win over MTSU on Feb. 3.Â
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Fallou Diagne enters a third season as a Hilltopper in 2024-25. The Senegal native appeared in five games for the Hilltoppers in 2023-24, averaging 1.2 minutes a game before missing time for the remainder of the season due to an injury. Diagne accounted for a season-high four points in 10 minutes of competition in the Tops' season-opener facing Kentucky Wesleyan on Nov. 6.
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Terrion Murdix signed with WKU as a grad transfer in 2023-24 and did not see time due to an injury. Prior to joining the Hilltopper Basketball roster, Murdix was a member of the 2022 and 2023 Southland Conference Tournament Champion Texas A&M Corpus Christi. In 2023, Murdix was named SLC Defensive Player of the Year and was named SLC Tournament MVP in 2022. Murdix returns to the Hilltopper Basketball roster in 2024-25 along with former Corpus Christi teammate Jalen Jackson.
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Among the Tops' newcomers for 2024-25 are Braxton Bayless and Leeroy Odiahi who both also formerly competed at Indian Hills CC under Plona. Bayless comes to The Hill as a transfer from Niagara where he appeared in 29 games as a senior and averaged 11.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 2023-24. Prior to his time with Niagara, Bayless played two seasons under Plona at Indian Hills. Bayless appeared in 32 games as a sophomore at Indian Hills, averaging 9.0 points per game, 4.1 assists per game and 3.3 rebounds and being named as a Second Team All-Region XI selection and Academic All-Region XI honoree.Â
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Odiahi comes to WKU after a season at Old Dominion where he played in 24 games and started nine as a junior. Prior to ODU, Odiahi played for Plona at Indian Hills CC where he was named to the 2023 Spring ICCAC All-Academic Second-Team, the 2022 Fall ICCAC All-Academic Second-Team and was a member of the NJCAA Academic Team of the Year. Odiahi also competed at the European Championships for Team Ireland.Â
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Blaise Keita joins the Hilltopper Basketball roster in 2024-25 as a transfer from Nebraska. Keita appeared in 21 games as a junior with the Cornhuskers, starting in five of those contests, and was named to the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll in Fall 2022 and Tom Osborne Citizenship Team in 2023 and 2024.Â
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Prior to his stint with the Cornhuskers, Keita played at Coffeyville CC. There, Keita was ranked as a four-star selection by Rivals and a top five JUCO player in the 2022 recruiting class by JUCO Recruiting and 247Sports. He appeared in 18 games as a sophomore, starting in 17 of those contests, averaging 12.8 points and 9.8 rebounds. Keita led Coffeyville to a 26-3 record and the school's first national title since 1962 as a freshman, averaging 10.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks.Â
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Keita played at Sunrise (Kan.) Christian on their postgrad team, played AAU with MoKan Elite, and represented his country at the international level, playing for the Mali U-19 team at the 2017 FIBA World Cup, averaging 10.2 points and 10.3 rebounds in six games.
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Kade Unseld enters his freshman season at WKU from Warren Central HS. Unseld was ranked as the No. 64 small forward and No. 4 player in Kentucky in the Class of 2024 according to 247Sports. Unseld led his team to a state championship in his junior year and was selected to the KHSAA Sweet 16 All-Tournament team. The Bowling Green native played AAU with MoKan Elite on the EYBL circuit.
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Entering his first season with WKU, Cade Stinnett comes to The Hill from Centre College. Stinnett appeared in 21 games at Centre in 2023-24, starting 20 as a sophomore, while averaging a team-high 16 points per game with 5.2 rebounds. A native of Bowling Green, Stinnett played at Greenwood HS where he scored 1,704 career points and charted the school single-game scoring record with 41 points. He was named a Kentucky-Indiana All-Star (2022), Kentucky-Ohio All-Star (2022), Mr. Basketball Candidate (2022), Courier-Journal All-State Team (2022), KABC Co-4th Region Player-of-the-Year (2022), 4th Region Coaches Association Player-of-the-Year (2022), All-4th Region First Team (2021, 2022), All-4th Region Second Team (2020), All 14th District (2020, 2021, 2022), and KHSAA Academic All-State.
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Julius Thedford enters his freshman campaign at WKU in 2024-25. Thedford played at Cordova HS in Memphis and was ranked as the No. 62 shooting guard and No. 5 player in Tennessee in the Class of 2024 according to 247Sports. Thedford led his team to a 29-4 record in his senior season, averaging 21 points and seven rebounds. Thedford averaged 23.8 points per contest as a junior at Whitehaven HS in Memphis and played AAU with MoKan Elite on the EYBL circuit.
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For information on tickets for the 2024-25 season, visit wkusports.com/tickets or call the WKU Ticket Office at 1-800-5-BIGRED. Follow the team on social media (@wkubasketball) and visit wkusports.com for the latest news and updates on all things Hilltopper Basketball.Â
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