2025–26 Jacksonville State Gamecocks men's basketball team

2025–26 Jacksonville State Gamecocks men's basketball
ConferenceConference USA
Record5–6 (0–0 C-USA)
Head coach
Associate head coachDennan Morrow
Assistant coaches
  • Kevin Jones
  • Patrick Moynihan
  • Rusty Elmore
Home arenaPete Mathews Coliseum
2025–26 Conference USA men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
New Mexico State 1 0   1.000 7 3   .700
Middle Tennessee 1 0   1.000 7 4   .636
Liberty 0 0   8 3   .727
FIU 0 0   7 4   .636
Louisiana Tech 0 0   7 4   .636
Western Kentucky 0 0   7 4   .636
Missouri State 0 0   6 5   .545
Jacksonville State 0 0   5 6   .455
Delaware 0 0   4 7   .364
UTEP 0 0   4 7   .364
Kennesaw State 0 1   .000 8 4   .667
Sam Houston 0 1   .000 7 4   .636
† 2026 CUSA tournament winner
As of December 23, 2025

The 2025–26 Jacksonville State Gamecocks men's basketball team represents Jacksonville State University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Gamecocks, led by tenth-year head coach Ray Harper, play their home games at the Pete Mathews Coliseum in Jacksonville, Alabama as third-year members of Conference USA.

Previous season

The Gamecocks finished the 2024–25 season 23–13, 12–6 in C-USA play, to finish in a tie for second place.[1] They defeated FIU[2] and Middle Tennessee[3] before falling to top-seeded Liberty in the C-USA tournament championship game.[4] They received an at-large bid to the NIT,[5] where they would defeat Georgia Tech in the first round,[6] before being defeated by eventual tournament runner-up UC Irvine in the second round.[7]

Preseason

On October 9, 2025, Conference USA released their preseason poll. Jacksonville State was picked to finish seventh in the conference.[8]

Preseason rankings

C-USA Preseason Poll
Place Team Votes
1 Liberty 143 (11)
2 Kennesaw State 126 (1)
3 New Mexico State 113
4 Middle Tennessee 103
5 Louisiana Tech 82
6 Western Kentucky 79
7 Jacksonville State 67
8 UTEP 66
9 Sam Houston 56
10 FIU 36
11 Delaware 35
12 Missouri State 30
(#) first-place votes

Source:[8]

Preseason All C-USA Team

Preseason All C-USA Team
Player Year Position
Mostapha El Moutaouakkil Senior Guard

Source:[8]

Roster

2025–26 Jacksonville State Gamecocks men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 AC Bryant 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Alabama A&M Shreveport, Louisiana
G 1 Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) GS Tennessee State Nashville, Tennessee
G 2 Jacoby Hill 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Central High School Phenix City, Alabama
G 3 Jaye Nash 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Tulsa Memphis, Tennessee
F 4 Aidan Driggers (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Marion Military Institute Oneonta, Alabama
G/F 5 Bencao Vungo 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr East Carolina Chitato, Angola
G 7 Toby Nnadozie 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Coppin State Baltimore, Maryland
G 8 Jordan Vick 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Fr Word of God Christian Academy Rocky Mount, North Carolina
G 11 Jamar Franklin 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Georgia Southern Rockledge, Florida
F 13 Emondrek Erkins-Ford 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Eastern Florida State College Chicago, Illinois
G 14 Connor Loy 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Adair County High School Columbia, Kentucky
F 21 Aitor Anabitarte 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) GS St. Francis (IL) Lasarte-Oria, Spain
G 23 Mostapha El Moutaouakkil 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Louisiana Rabat, Morocco
F 42 Thomas Tut 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr Southeastern Louisiana Juba, South Sudan
F 99 Iaroslav Niagu 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Jr Charlotte Krasnodar, Russia
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: December 6, 2025

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 3, 2025*
6:00 pm, ESPN+
Oakwood W 117–63  1–0
 27  El Moutaouakkil   10  Tied   4  Tied  Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,985)
Jacksonville, AL
November 10, 2025*
11:00 am, ESPN+
Reinhardt W 114–39  2–0
 20  El Moutaouakkil   16  Vungo   4  Nash  Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,927)
Jacksonville, AL
November 14, 2025*
6:00 pm, ESPN+
Coastal Carolina W 74–67  3–0
 33  El Moutaouakkil   6  Tied   5  Nash  Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,023)
Jacksonville, AL
November 19, 2025*
6:00 pm, ESPN+
South Alabama L 65−71  3−1
 24  Bryant   8  Bryant   12  Nash  Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,366)
Jacksonville, AL
November 24, 2025*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Arkansas State
Arkansas State Thanksgiving MTE
L 63−74  3−2
 16  El Moutaouakkil   6  Tied   2  Tied  First National Bank Arena (3,071)
Jonesboro, AR
November 26, 2025*
2:00 pm
vs. North Dakota State
Arkansas State Thanksgiving MTE
L 43–56  3–3
 9  Tied   8  El Moutaouakkil   2  Tied  First National Bank Arena (203)
Jonesboro, AR
December 1, 2025*
6:00 pm, ESPN+
North Alabama L 66–73  3–4
 19  El Moutaouakkil   8  Bryant   8  Nash  Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,634)
Jacksonville, AL
December 7, 2025*
4:00 pm, ESPN+
Auburn Montgomery W 66–39  4–4
 19  El Moutaouakkil   10  El Moutaouakkil   3  Tied  Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,124)
Jacksonville, AL
December 13, 2025*
6:00 pm, ESPN+
at Georgia State L 73–77  4–5
 18  El Moutaouakkil   8  Tied   6  Nash  GSU Convocation Center (1,698)
Atlanta, GA
December 17, 2025*
6:00 pm, ESPN+
Eastern Kentucky L 59–62  4–6
 16  El Moutaouakkil   7  El Moutaouakkil   4  Niagu  Pete Mathews Coliseum 
Jacksonville, AL
December 20, 2025*
3:00 pm, ESPN+
at East Tennessee State W 81–75  5–6
 29  Bryant   8  Erkins-Ford   3  Tied  Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,270)
Johnson City, TN
Conference USA regular season
December 29, 2025
6:00 pm, ESPN+
Western Kentucky       Pete Mathews Coliseum 
Jacksonville, AL
January 2, 2026
6:00 pm, ESPN+
at Delaware       Bob Carpenter Center 
Newark, DE
January 4, 2026
1:00 pm, ESPN+
at Liberty       Liberty Arena 
Lynchburg, VA
January 7, 2026
6:00 pm, ESPN+
FIU       Pete Mathews Coliseum 
Jacksonville, AL
January 10, 2026
4:00 pm, ESPN+
at Kennesaw State       VyStar Arena 
Kennesaw, GA
January 14, 2026
6:00 pm, ESPN+
Sam Houston       Pete Mathews Coliseum 
Jacksonville, AL
January 17, 2026
4:00 pm, ESPN+
Louisiana Tech       Pete Mathews Coliseum 
Jacksonville, AL
January 24, 2026
4:00 pm, ESPN+
Middle Tennessee       Pete Mathews Coliseum 
Jacksonville, AL
January 28, 2026
6:00 pm, ESPN+
at FIU       Ocean Bank Convocation Center 
Miami, FL
January 31, 2026
2:00 pm, ESPN+
at Missouri State       Great Southern Bank Arena 
Springfield, MO
February 5, 2026
8:00 pm, CBSSN
at Western Kentucky       E. A. Diddle Arena 
Bowling Green, KY
February 7, 2026
4:00 pm, ESPN+
Kennesaw State       Pete Mathews Coliseum 
Jacksonville, AL
February 11, 2026
6:00 pm, ESPN+
UTEP       Pete Mathews Coliseum 
Jacksonville, AL
February 14, 2026
4:00 pm, ESPN+
New Mexico State       Pete Mathews Coliseum 
Jacksonville, AL
February 18, 2026
6:30 pm, ESPN+
at Louisiana Tech       Thomas Assembly Center 
Ruston, LA
February 21, 2026
2:30 pm, ESPN+
at Sam Houston       Bernard Johnson Coliseum 
Huntsville, TX
February 26, 2026
6:00 pm, CBSSN
Delaware       Pete Mathews Coliseum 
Jacksonville, AL
February 28, 2026
5:00 pm, ESPNU
Liberty       Pete Mathews Coliseum 
Jacksonville, AL
March 5, 2026
8:00 pm, ESPN+
at New Mexico State       Pan American Center 
Las Cruces, NM
March 7, 2026
3:00 pm, ESPN+
at UTEP       Don Haskins Center 
El Paso, TX
Conference USA tournament
March 11–14, 2026
vs.        Propst Arena 
Huntsville, AL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central.

Sources:[9][10]

References

  1. ^ "2024-25 Men's Basketball Standings". Conference USA. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  2. ^ "Jacksonville State's men down FIU to advance to Conference USA tournament semifinals". al.com. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  3. ^ "MTSU's tournament run ends in Conference USA men's basketball semifinals". MTSU Sidelines. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  4. ^ "Liberty prevails to punch March Madness ticket". Las Cruces Sun-News. Retrieved December 5, 2025.
  5. ^ "What to know about the 2025 NIT: Bracket, schedule and how to watch the games". NBC Bay Area. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  6. ^ "Six Big Takeaways From Georgia Tech's Disappointing NIT Tournament Loss to Jacksonville State". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  7. ^ "Hohn puts up 22 in UC Irvine's 66-61 win over Jacksonville State in NIT". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c "2025-26 CUSA Preseason All-Conference Team and Poll Announced". Conference USA. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  9. ^ "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule". Jacksonville State University Athletics. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  10. ^ "Jacksonville State Gamecocks 2025-26 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved December 6, 2025.