2023–24 Kennesaw State Owls men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Kennesaw State Owls men's basketball team represented Kennesaw State University in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Owls, led by first-year head coach Antoine Pettway, played their home games at the KSU Convocation Center in Kennesaw, Georgia as members of the ASUN Conference. They finished the season 15–15, 6–10 in ASUN play, to finish in ninth place. As the No. 9 seed in the ASUN tournament, they lost to Jacksonville in the first round.

2023–24 Kennesaw State Owls men's basketball
Conference	ASUN Conference
Record	15–16 (6–10 ASUN)
Head coach	Antoine Pettway (1st season)
Associate head coach	Willie Watson
Assistant coaches	Robert Kirby Donovan Kates
Home arena	KSU Convocation Center
Seasons ← 2022–23 2024–25 →

2023–24 ASUN men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Eastern Kentucky	12	–	4		.750			17	–	14		.548
Stetson †	11	–	5		.688			22	–	13		.629
Lipscomb	11	–	5		.688			20	–	12		.625
Austin Peay	10	–	6		.625			19	–	16		.543
North Florida	9	–	7		.563			16	–	16		.500
North Alabama	8	–	8		.500			15	–	17		.469
Florida Gulf Coast	8	–	8		.500			14	–	18		.438
Queens*	7	–	9		.438			14	–	19		.424
Kennesaw State	6	–	10		.375			15	–	16		.484
Jacksonville	5	–	11		.313			16	–	17		.485
Central Arkansas	5	–	11		.313			9	–	23		.281
Bellarmine*	4	–	12		.250			8	–	23		.258
* ineligible for the 2024 NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II
† 2024 ASUN tournament winner

Previous season

The Owls finished the 2022–23 season 26–9, 15–3 in ASUN play, to tie for first place in conference standings. They defeated Queens, Lipscomb and Liberty to win the ASUN tournament.^[1] As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 14 seed in the Midwest region.^[2] They lost in the first round to Xavier.^[3][4]

Preseason

Preseason ASUN Conference poll

The Owls were picked to finish in fourth place in the conference's preseason poll.^[5] Senior guard Terrell Burden was named to the preseason All-ASUN First Team.

Coaches poll
Predicted finish	Team (1st-place votes)
1	Eastern Kentucky – 140 (8)
2	Florida Gulf Coast – 106
3	Stetson – 105
4	Kennesaw State – 103 (1)
5	Lipscomb – 99
6	Bellarmine – 81
7	North Alabama – 74 (1)
8	Austin Peay – 71 (1)
9	Jacksonville – 51
10	Queens – 47
11	North Florida – 36 (1)
12	Central Arkansas – 23

Roster

2023–24 Kennesaw State Owls men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 0 Demond Robinson 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Murray State Montgomery, AL G 1 Terrell Burden 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Campbell HS Smyrna, GA G 2 RJ Johnson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Grissom HS Huntsville, AL F 3 Jamal King 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr West Virginia Uniontown, AL F 4 Cole LaRue 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 236 lb (107 kg) Sr McGill–Toolen HS Mobile, AL G 5 Simeon Cottle 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So Tri-Cities HS College Park, GA F 10 Frankquon Sherman 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Grovetown HS Lincolnton, GA G 11 Delaney Heard 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 209 lb (95 kg) Sr Alabama Canton, GA G 20 Chase Clemons 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Etowah HS Woodstock, GA G 21 Armani Harris 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Newton HS Brooklyn, NY G 22 Marcus Whitlock 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Newton HS Monticello, GA G 23 Quincy Ademokoya 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Temple Bloomington, IL G 24 Jusaun Holt 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 184 lb (83 kg) Jr Georgia Tacoma, WA F 25 Rongie Gordon 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr UAB Montgomery, AL G 30 Matt Brown (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr The Walker School Stockbridge, GA G 31 Charles Stone (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Columbus HS Columbus, GA G 33 Eric Holland (W) 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 155 lb (70 kg) So Rome HS Rome, GA	Head coach Antoine Pettway (Alabama) Assistant coach(es) Willie Watson (Alabama) Robert Kirby (UTRGV) Donovan Kates (Manhattan) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: November 6, 2023

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 7, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Oakwood	W 93–46	1–0	KSU Convocation Center (2,733) Kennesaw, GA
November 10, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ACCNX/ESPN+		at Florida State	L 67–94	1–1	Donald L. Tucker Civic Center (6,165) Tallahassee, FL
November 15, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Keiser	W 101–55	2–1	KSU Convocation Center (1,788) Kennesaw, GA
November 19, 2023* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		vs. Georgia Southern Pirate Classic	W 96–92	3–1	Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum (3,673) Greenville, NC
November 20, 2023* 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		vs. Northeastern Pirate Classic	W 79–77	4–1	Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum (212) Greenville, NC
November 21, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		vs. East Carolina Pirate Classic	L 84–85	4–2	Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum (3,311) Greenville, NC
November 26, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at FIU	L 84–91	4–3	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (755) Miami, FL
December 2, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Georgia State	W 88–77	5–3	KSU Convocation Center (3,805) Kennesaw, GA
December 5, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		UNC Asheville	W 79–76 OT	6–3	KSU Convocation Center (1,230) Kennesaw, GA
December 9, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at USC Upstate	W 84–77	7–3	G. B. Hodge Center (472) Spartanburg, SC
December 16, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Presbyterian	W 94–84	8–3	Templeton Physical Education Center (514) Clinton, SC
December 19, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Brescia	W 91–59	9–3	KSU Convocation Center (1,327) Kennesaw, GA
December 23, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at UNC Asheville	L 70–79	9–4	Kimmel Arena (1,579) Asheville, NC
December 29, 2023* 6:00 p.m., BTN Plus		at Indiana	L 87–100	9–5	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (16,689) Bloomington, IN
ASUN Conference regular season
January 6, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		Queens	W 80–77	10–5 (1–0)	KSU Convocation Center (1,921) Kennesaw, GA
January 10, 2024 7:10 p.m., ESPN+		Stetson	W 88–70	11–5 (2–0)	KSU Convocation Center (1,729) Kennesaw, GA
January 12, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Florida Gulf Coast	W 78–75	12–5 (3–0)	KSU Convocation Center (1,769) Kennesaw, GA
January 18, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at North Florida	L 75–84	12–6 (3–1)	UNF Arena (1,377) Jacksonville, FL
January 20, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Jacksonville	W 83–79	13–6 (4–1)	Swisher Gymnasium (1,081) Jacksonville, FL
January 24, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		North Alabama	L 84–90	13–7 (4–2)	KSU Convocation Center (1,422) Kennesaw, GA
January 27, 2024 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Central Arkansas	L 87–92	13–8 (4–3)	Farris Center (989) Conway, AR
February 1, 2024 7:30 p.m., ESPN+		Bellarmine	L 95–96 OT	13–9 (4–4)	KSU Convocation Center (1,630) Kennesaw, GA
February 3, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		Eastern Kentucky	L 76–86	13–10 (4–5)	KSU Convcation Center (2,357) Kennesaw, GA
February 8, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Austin Peay	L 69–85	13–11 (4–6)	Dunn Center (2,032) Clarksville, TN
February 10, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Lipscomb	L 95–101	13–12 (4–7)	Allen Arena (2,134) Nashville, TN
February 14, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Jacksonville	W 66–61	14–12 (5–7)	KSU Convocation Center (1,158) Kennesaw, GA
February 16, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		North Florida	L 81–82	14–13 (5–8)	KSU Convocation Center (1,841) Kennesaw, GA
February 22, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Florida Gulf Coast	W 74–67	15–13 (6–8)	Alico Arena (2,123) Fort Myers, FL
February 24, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Stetson	L 72–84	15–14 (6–9)	Edmunds Center (580) DeLand, FL
March 1, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Queens	L 82–91	15–15 (6–10)	Curry Arena (344) Charlotte, NC
ASUN tournament
March 4, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	(9)	vs. (10) Jacksonville First round	L 86–92	15–16	Baptist Health Arena (150) Richmond, KY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Sources:^[6][7]

References

1. Roberson, Doug (March 6, 2023). "Kennesaw State makes history with first trip to NCAA Tournament". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN 1539-7459. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
2. "March Madness: Kennesaw State earns No. 14 seed in NCAA tournament". WSB-TV Channel 2 - Atlanta. March 13, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
3. Phillips, Jamarlo (March 17, 2023). "Kennesaw State loses to Xavier in March Madness". Atlanta News First. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
4. Vivlamore, Chris (March 17, 2023). "Kennesaw State's dream comes to an abrupt end with NCAA Tournament loss to Xavier". The Brunswick News. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
5. "Preseason All-ASUN Team Announced; Blanton & Cozart Earn Superlative Honors". asunsports.org. October 16, 2023. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
6. "2022-24 Men's Basketball Schedule". Kennesaw State University Athletics. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
7. "2023-24 Kennesaw State Owls Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved November 6, 2022.