2024–25 Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball team

The 2024–25 Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball team represents Canisius University during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Golden Griffins, led by first-year head coach Jim Christian, play their home games at the Koessler Athletic Center in Buffalo, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).

2024–25 Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball
Conference	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Record	2–23 (2–12 MAAC)
Head coach	Jim Christian (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Bill Wuczynski Herschel Jenkins Kevin Zabo
Home arena	Koessler Athletic Center
Seasons ← 2023–24 2025–26 →

2024–25 MAAC men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Quinnipiac	12	–	3		.800			16	–	10		.615
Marist	11	–	3		.786			18	–	5		.783
Merrimack	11	–	4		.733			14	–	12		.538
Mount St. Mary's	8	–	6		.571			15	–	10		.600
Manhattan	8	–	6		.571			13	–	10		.565
Iona	8	–	7		.533			11	–	15		.423
Sacred Heart	7	–	7		.500			11	–	14		.440
Siena	7	–	8		.467			12	–	14		.462
Rider	6	–	9		.400			10	–	16		.385
Niagara	5	–	9		.357			10	–	15		.400
Fairfield	5	–	10		.333			9	–	17		.346
Saint Peter's	4	–	10		.286			9	–	13		.409
Canisius	2	–	12		.143			2	–	23		.080
† 2025 MAAC tournament winner As of February 16, 2025

Previous season

The Golden Griffins finished the 2023–24 season 14–18, 8–12 in MAAC play, to finish in ninth place.^[1] They defeated Mount St. Mary's^[2] before falling to top-seeded Quinnipiac in the quarterfinals of the MAAC tournament.^[3]

On March 16, 2024, the school announced that they would be parting ways with head coach Reggie Witherspoon, ending his eight-year tenure at the helm.^[4] On March 8, former Boston College head coach and Kent State assistant Jim Christian was named Witherspoon's successor.^[5]

Roster

2024–25 Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 0 Alonso Easterling 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Peninsula Catholic High School Fayetteville, NC G 1 Cam Palesse 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS So Valparaiso Waukesha, WI F 2 TJ Porter 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Georgia Highlands Atlanta, GA G 3 Anthony Benard 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Mercer Detroit, MI G 4 William Jr. Scott 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Triton College Akron, OH G 5 Nicco DiGiulio 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) RS Fr Williamsville South High School Williamsville, NY G 6 Tana Kopa 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr LIU Perth, Australia F 7 Dylan Godfrey 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So East Los Angeles College Newport Beach, CA G 8 Carter Jackson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Garfield Heights High School Cleveland, OH F 9 Evan van der Plas 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr BC Triple Threat U-19 Rosmalen, Netherlands F 11 Tyson Oghene 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Allegany College of Maryland Malmö, Sweden F 15 Maji David-Maji 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Jr SUNY Erie Kogi, Nigeria F 24 Jasman Sangha 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) GS Cal State Northridge Brampton, ON F 33 Gianni Thompson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr UMass Dorchester, MA G 34 Paul McMillan IV 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Central Michigan Cincinnati, OH	Head coach Jim Christian (Rhode Island) Assistant coach(es) Bill Wuczynski (UNLV) Herschel Jenkins (Staten Island) Kevin Zabo (Kent State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: November 10, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 4, 2024* 10:00 p.m., ESPN+		at No. 10 Arizona	L 64–93	0–1	McKale Center (13,597) Tucson, AZ
November 9, 2024* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		St. Bonaventure	L 78–87	0–2	Koessler Athletic Center (1,904) Buffalo, NY
November 13, 2024* 7:00 p.m., NEC Front Row		at Mercyhurst	L 52–62	0–3	Owen McCormick Court (987) Erie, PA
November 16, 2024* 3:00 p.m.		vs. SIU Edwardsville Bronco Classic	L 58–76	0–4	University Arena (186) Kalamazoo, MI
November 17, 2024* 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Western Michigan Bronco Classic	L 69–92	0–5	University Arena (1,406) Kalamazoo, MI
November 19, 2024* 7:00 p.m., B1G+		at Maryland	L 37–108	0–6	Xfinity Center (9,485) College Park, MD
November 23, 2024* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Brown	L 76–83	0–7	Koessler Athletic Center (953) Buffalo, NY
November 27, 2024* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Robert Morris	L 64–72	0–8	UPMC Events Center  Moon Township, PA
December 6, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Merrimack	L 52–60	0–9 (0–1)	Koessler Athletic Center (755) Buffalo, NY
December 8, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Siena	L 53–66	0–10 (0–2)	Koessler Athletic Center (816) Buffalo, NY
December 14, 2024* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Maine	L 79–84	0–11	Koessler Athletic Center (830) Buffalo, NY
December 18, 2024* 8:00 p.m., Marquee/ESPN+		at Loyola Chicago	L 60–72	0–12	Joseph J. Gentile Arena (1,965) Chicago, IL
December 21, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Bradley	L 59–92	0–13	Carver Arena (5,002) Peoria, IL
January 5, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Sacred Heart	L 82–99	0–14 (0–3)	William H. Pitt Center (682) Fairfield, CT
January 10, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Rider	W 85–67	1–14 (1–3)	Koessler Athletic Center (711) Buffalo, NY
January 12, 2025 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Saint Peter's	L 49–62	1–15 (1–4)	Koessler Athletic Center (457) Buffalo, NY
January 16, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Iona	L 61–82	1–16 (1–5)	Hynes Athletics Center (1,369) New Rochelle, NY
January 18, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Fairfield	W 78–67	2–16 (2–5)	Leo D. Mahoney Arena (2,020) Fairfield, CT
January 23, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Sacred Heart	L 84–93	2–17 (2–6)	Koessler Athletic Center (533) Buffalo, NY
January 25, 2025 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Marist	L 47–70	2–18 (2–7)	Koessler Athletic Center (837) Buffalo, NY
January 31, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Niagara Battle of the Bridge	L 63–64	2–19 (2–8)	Koessler Athletic Center (1,456) Buffalo, NY
February 6, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Quinnipiac	L 71–89	2–20 (2–9)	M&T Bank Arena (852) Hamden, CT
February 8, 2025 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Merrimack	L 51–69	2–21 (2–10)	Hammel Court (1,186) North Andover, MA
February 12, 2025 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		at Niagara Battle of the Bridge	L 60–71	2–22 (2–11)	Gallagher Center (1,058) Lewiston, NY
February 16, 2025 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Mount St. Mary's	L 66–73	2–23 (2–12)	Koessler Athletic Center (548) Buffalo, NY
February 21, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Marist			McCann Arena  Poughkeepsie, NY
February 23, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Siena			MVP Arena  Albany, NY
February 28, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Manhattan			Koessler Athletic Center  Buffalo, NY
March 2, 2025 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Iona			Koessler Athletic Center  Buffalo, NY
March 6, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Rider			Alumni Gymnasium  Lawrenceville, NJ
March 8, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Saint Peter's			Run Baby Run Arena  Jersey City, NJ
MAAC tournament
March 11–15, 2025  ESPN+		vs.			Boardwalk Hall  Atlantic City, NJ
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Sources:^[6][7]

References

1. "2023-24 Men's Basketball Standings". Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
2. "Men's Basketball Controls Mount St. Mary's in MAAC Tournament Victory". Canisius University Athletics. March 12, 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2025.
3. Kassan, James (March 13, 2024). "Paul Otieno's 'impressive' night helps lead men's basketball to all-around postseason victory against Canisius". The Quinnipiac Chronicle. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
4. Campbell, Brian (March 16, 2024). "Canisius announces Witherspoon will not return as men's basketball coach". Spectrum News 1 Buffalo. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
5. Wawrow, John (April 8, 2024). "Canisius hires former Boston College coach Jim Christian to take over men's basketball program". AP News. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
6. "2024-25 Men's Basketball Schedule". Canisius University Athletics. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
7. "Canisius Golden Griffins Schedule 2024-25". ESPN. Retrieved November 10, 2024.