KEENE, N.H. – The three-time defending Little East Conference champion Keene State College men's basketball team received national attention on Wednesday evening when they were ranked No. 10 in the 2024-2025 D3Hoops.com preseason Top 25 poll.
The Owls enter the campaign riding a decade of impressive success as a program, compiling an overall record of 192-79 (.708) and a 106-37 (.741) conference mark over the past 10 seasons. They have won 20 or more games in seven of the past nine full campaigns, including a program-record 28 in 2022-2023. KSC followed that up with 26 victories and a second consecutive NCAA Sweet 16 appearance a season ago. They have won six LEC championships since 2015 and have made nine NCAA tournament appearances in the Division III era (since 1997), including trips to the Sweet 16 in 2007, 2016, 2023, and 2024, and the Elite 8 in 2004 and 2017.
Last year, with an 84-68 trouncing of Western Connecticut State University, Keene State became the first three-peat champion since the conference expanded. The University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth won three straight prior to the expansion from 1993 through 1995. No team has ever won four straight conference championships, which the Owls will attempt to do this upcoming season under first-year head coach Steve Enright, who was hired in April after previously coaching at Bridgewater University in Virginia. The Eagles are a member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, a league that boasted two teams in the Final Four, and Enright coached the Rookie of the Year in that conference in 2023-2024 (Jordan Cooper).
KSC returns two-time All-American
Octavio Brito for his senior season, a career 40 percent three-point shooter who averages 17.8 points per game and has 1,567 points as an Owl in 88 career games (82 starts).
Mason Jean Baptiste,
Spencer Aronson, LEC Rookie of the Year
Wesley Odiase, and
Nate Siow also return and will be joined by a slew of newcomers, including five transfers.
Mitch Shettles, a junior previously at the United States Coast Guard Academy, shot nearly 46 percent from three-point range (70-153) for the Bears.
Ryan Blakey (College of Southern Maryland/Hampden-Sydney College),
Leo Chaikin (Southern Connecticut State University), Josh Williams (Flagler College), and
Kai Kostmayer (Anderson University) are also new faces joining the program.
In the poll, the Owls racked up 314 points, just 23 away from No. 7 Randolph-Macon College. Defending national champion Trine University occupied the top spot with 14 first place votes, while second-ranked University of Wisconsin-Platteville (who KSC defeated 93-75 in South Dakota last season) had nine. John Carroll University, Washington University (St. Louis), and Christopher Newport University rounded out the top five. Trinity College (Conn.) was the lone New England team ahead of KSC at No. 6.
The Owls have now appeared in the last 29 consecutive D3Hoops.com Top 25 polls dating back to November 27, 2022, reaching as high as No. 4.
"The preseason ranking reflects the results Keene State basketball and its supporters have enjoyed the past few seasons," said Enright. "We are focused on building day-by-day here and will take our approach one game at a time, starting with our opener on November 16."
KSC visits Western New England University for their season opener on that day, with their home opener on Saturday, November 30 against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 1:00 p.m.
This Saturday, the Owls will host an intrasquad scrimmage at Spaulding Gymnasium with tip-off at 4:00 p.m. Fans are invited to venture and watch KSC for the first time in the 2024-2025 season free of charge. All home regular season contests will be broadcast on the New Hampshire Army National Guard Owls Media Network (www.littleeast.tv/keene) and simulcast on YouTube (@KeeneStateOwls).
2024-2025 D3HOOPS.COM PRESEASON TOP 25 POLL (MEN'S BASKETBALL)
(first regular season poll slated for release on November 25)
Others receiving votes: TCNJ 62; Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 60; Loras 56; Case Western Reserve 55; UW-Stevens Point 37; Coe 37; Pomona-Pitzer 32; Illinois College 29; Swarthmore 29; Widener 25; Oswego 21; Hardin-Simmons 20; Gettysburg 19; Rowan 19; Bethany Lutheran 18; Drew 18; St. Joseph (Conn.) 13; UW-Whitewater 11; Whitworth 11; Utica 9; Redlands 9; WPI 9; Wooster 6; Carthage 4; Clark 4; Gustavus Adolphus 4; Catholic 4; Johns Hopkins 4; Stevens 3; Babson 3; Heidelberg 2; Stockton 2; UW-La Crosse 2; SUNY New Paltz 1.
The D3hoops.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly. Points are awarded on a 25-24-23-22-etc. basis.
