River Forest, Ill. - The 2024-25 men's basketball season has officially come to a close. Head Coach Rashaan Surles rounded out his second season with the Cougars where he led the team to another Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference (NACC) appearance after being seeded fifth from their efforts of the regular season.
Season Recap
The season opened with an on the road battle against a high-intensity Greenville University team, where the Cougars fell 109-96. Just ten days later, the Cougars opened NACC play against Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) where they dominated the court and took not only their first win, but their first conference win of the season with a final score of 85-68.
With one week left in November, the Cougars traveled to Longview, Texas, where they played two games in the LeTourneau Classic against McMurry University and LeTourneau University. Both games were nail-biters that came down to the very end. Against McMurry, the Cougars won in overtime when Joel Watts (Homewood, Ill.) hit a buzzer-beating, nearly full court shot, to clinch a huge win where the score was 103-100. The following day against LeTourneau did not go as the Cougars hoped. Even though the game was within two-points for a majority of the game, the Cougars were unable to come out on top and fell 74-72.
Heading back home, the team competed in two non-conference games before facing a full schedule of NACC competition. In an exhibition match up against UW-Parkside, the Cougars struggled to get any momentum going, and fell 93-67, but just four days later, the Cougars redeemed themselves with an impactful win over Elmhurst University, 82-67. This was also the first win over Elmhurst for the program since 1980.
With the exception of the early season NACC match up against Illinois Tech, the Cougars then looked to charge full force into the rest of their conference schedule. The first three games included #9 ranked Wisconsin Lutheran College (WLC), Edgewood College, and St. Norbert College (SNC). In this series, the Cougars went 1-2, where they fell to WLC, 91-67, and SNC 71-48, but reigned victorious over Edgewood, 74-61.
The Cougars took a break from conference play for one more game against North Central College before heading home for Christmas break.
For one final game in 2024, the Cougars would take on their Concordia rivals within the NACC, Concordia University Wisconsin (CUW), where they fell in a high-scoring game, 114-95. Unknowingly, the following three games would be three consecutive games where the final scores were all within six points. Tough games against Aurora University, Benedictine University, and Lakeland University, would result in the Cougars coming out victorious over Aurora, 67-64, but ultimately falling to Benedictine and Lakeland, 75-69 and 77-76.
Halfway through January, the team had three more games against Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), WLC once again but now ranked #8, and Edgewood before travelling to Ann Arbor, Michigan to compete in the 72nd Annual Concordia Invitational Tournament (CIT). Against MSOE, the Cougars had a high-scoring night but wouldn't be enough to match the MSOE offense and they fell 111-92. Facing WLC for the second time of the season, the Cougars put up a great fight, but again, fell 92-78. Before heading on the road, the Cougars were able to grab a much needed win over Edgewood with the final score being 79-73.
After a quick drive to Ann Arbor, the Cougars were set to take on Concordia University Nebraska (CUNE) on day one of CIT. The Cougars battled but were able to pull off a win, and fell 90-71. With the loss, the Cougars were then lined up to compete against CUW, as they had also lost in their first matchup of CIT. The Cougars showed significant growth since the first time the two teams competed, but unfortunately, they were unable to pull ahead and fell by four, with the final score at 69-65.
Back in Illinois, the Cougars had just seven games left in the regular season, all of which were NACC matchups. In these seven games, the Cougars went 5-2. The two losses were from Division Street rivals Dominican University and SNC after seeing them for a second time. Both games were with 10 points where the final scores were 82-74, and 69-66, respectively. In the final five wins of the season, the Cougars defeated Marian University, 75-67, Rockford University, 83-82, Aurora, 74-69, Illinois Tech, 82-76, and MSOE, 71-63, giving the Cougars a conference record of 9-9 which was just enough to clinch the #5 seed in the conference tournament.
The Cougars were set to take on #4 CUW, which would be their third time facing each other, for the first round of the tournament. The Cougars were on the scoreboard first, but it did not take long for CUW to take over, and ultimately the Cougars fell 82-68, putting their season to an end.
The Cougars finished the season 11-15 overall, and 9-9 in conference.
Post-Season Honors
Jacob Collicott (Lafayette, Ind.)was the lone Cougar with post-season honors this season, where he was named to the All-NACC First Team, as well as was named NACC Defensive Player of the Year. Collicott led the team across the board where he averaged a career best 17.9 points per game to lead the team in scoring. He also averaged 33.5 minutes per game, another career-high for him. On the defensive side of things, Collicott led the team in rebounds, blocks, and steals, with 249, 87, and 26, on the season.
In the NACC, Collicott finished first in rebounds per game, where he averaged 10 a game, which was one full rebound ahead of the next closest competitor. Collicott also finished first in steals in the NACC with 87, and seventh in blocked shots with 26 total.
Impactful Returners
The Cougars will graduate significant players such as Collicott, Watts, Sean Beckman (Hoffman Estates, Ill.), and Liam Cameron (Ventura, Calif.), but even with the loss of the four impact players, the Cougars have a strong group returning.
Previous returners Darrian Williams (Garland, Texas) and Aaron Brown (Joliet, Ill.) were both in the top five overall leaders in individual statistics for the team this year. Williams was top three in minutes played with 689, shot 30% from behind the arch, 77% from the free throw line, averaged 10.1 points per game, 44 assists, and 43 steals on the year. Brown shot 48% from field goal range, averaged 8.3 points and played a total 443 minutes.
The Cougars had a handful of first years play impactful minutes, including Tallis Lowery (Fairview Heights, Ill.), Honore Yangoua (Williamstown, Ky.), AJ Willard (Germantown, Wis.), Ryker Johnson (Fond du Lac, Wis.), and Kenton Pryor (Hazel Crest, Ill.), all of which are likely to see their roles expand as they become leaders of the team in seasons to come.
Statistical Leaders
Season Highlights
CUC Men's Basketball 2024-25 Season Highlights
Although the season has concluded, the team will continue to put in work in the off season to come back strong next winter. Updates and coverage for all things men's basketball can be found at cucougars.com.
