NIT Final Four Preview, Part V: The Players

Note: This is Part V of our seven-part NIT Final Four preview. Parts I, II, III, and VII are also written blogposts. Parts IV and VI are episodes of our podcast, Free Hoops.

• Part I: The Programs
• Part II: The Schools
• Part III: The Coaches
• Part IV: Free Hoops! (expert commentary)
• Part V: The Players
• Part VI: Free Hoops! (head coach interviews)
• Part VII: Final Thoughts Before It All Goes Down

**

We’ve talked about the programs, the schools, and the coaches. Now, for the guys who’ll decide this national championship. Assists, as always, to kenpom and EvanMiya. Assists as well to Rocco Miller, Hank Dickenson, Jack Gold, and Dave from TalkinBlers for their insights, all of which you can hear on Free Hoops.

North Texas

The Mean Green roll with an experienced eight-man rotation which hasn’t differed much throughout the year.

• Moulaye Sissoko: The man in the middle. The 2023 NIT was his breakout. Also saw some action in the 2022 NIT as a sophomore at Dayton.
• Jasper Floyd: The distributor. He’s a senior, but this was his first year in Denton.
• Atin Wright: Another first-year senior, and one of the primary scoring options. Tonight’s a rematch for him, as he played against UC Irvine between 2021 and 2023, when he was at CSUN.
• Grant Newell: A first-year junior here. Newell’s got some length and has been known to scrounge on the offensive glass. That’s a compliment.
• Rondel Walker: Second year at UNT, fifth year playing college ball. Probably the Mean Green’s best defender, which might make him the meanest of the green.
• Brenen Lorient: Athletic junior in his first year at UNT. Some of the things he does are eye-popping.
• Latrell Jossell: Fifth year in college, first in Denton. Strong facilitator off the bench, but can be a mismatch defensively. Kind of the opposite of Walker.
• Johnathan Massie: Senior. First season at UNT. Gives Ross Hodge a longer lineup.

One other to know? Senior Matthew Stone saw a decent amount of action two years ago on the 2023 team.

UC Irvine

Eleven Anteaters have seen action this NIT. Most have played for UC Irvine their whole college career.

• Bent Leuchten: The big German. Just keeps blossoming. Well-rounded player in his senior year.
• Devin Tillis: UCI’s best offensive asset. An efficient finisher, and another senior.
• Jurian Dixon: A scrappy freshman from San Diego whose on-ball defense has drawn strong reviews. Lots of tools, which is helpful right now but especially exciting in a program known for its development.
• Justin Hohn: The starting point guard. He’s taken on a bigger role his fifth year, which—combined with a cold shooting streak in non-conference—has somewhat obscured his talent in high-level scouting reports.
• Myles Che: A sophomore who (relevantly) played last year at Chattanooga, Che’s got some great scoring attributes and is willing to chase buckets. Plays with a lot of swagger.
• Torian Lee: An undersized freshman who’s flashed great shooting potential, Lee rounds out the core rotation for Russ Turner.
• Ofure Ujadughele: The kind of guy who obviously got a start on senior night. Strong defender in his fifth year who uses his stouter frame to his advantage.
• Kyle Evans: Leuchten’s backup, a junior who transferred in from Colorado State and should be a good player with another year of experience in this offensive scheme.
• Ben Egbo, Elijah Chol, and Berk Can Akin: A freshman, sophomore, and freshman respectively. All used only situationally.

Making these Anteaters more impressive, they’ve played the whole season shorthanded. Most notably, starter and fifth-year leader Andre Henry was declared out for the year in December.

Chattanooga

For the most part, the Mocs have played nine guys this tournament. It’s an eclectic mix.

• Trey Bonham: Easy to underappreciate, the point guard started his career under Dan Earl at VMI. He transferred to Florida for a year but reunited with Earl at UTC. Great shot.
• Garrison Keeslar: A senior transfer from Division II Walsh College, Keeslar does a lot of work off the ball.
• Bash Wieland: Another senior wing. A Cincinnati native who’s blossomed as a scorer after transferring in from Bellarmine.
• Honor Huff: Small. Great, great shooter. Very fun to watch play basketball. Plays with a lot of happiness. Bonham’s best friend dating back to the 2021–22 season, when Huff was a freshman at VMI during Bonham’s sophomore year.
• Collin Mulholland: A long, red-headed redshirt freshman who moved into the starting lineup for the opening game of the NIT. Having a great offensive tournament.
• Sean Cusano: A sophomore who’s mostly been relieving Wieland and Keesler.
• Jack Kostel: Another D-II transfer, Kostel’s listed as a senior. Another Moc who can shoot.
• Makai Richards: One of two big men who’s been spelling Mulholland. Chattanooga rolled with him in the starting lineup in the SoCon Tournament. Junior.
• Latif Diouf: The other backup big right now. A Dutch freshman who came out of a California high school.
• Parker Robison, Ryan Lopez, Liam Vitters, Houston Holland: A quartet of mostly freshman (Lopez is a sophomore) who’ve made up the end of the bench.

We haven’t seen Frank Champion in this tournament, and we won’t, which is a shame. Champion was one of the SoCon’s best players this year but went down with injury right before the conference tournament.

Loyola Chicago

The Ramblers have played ten players in this tournament, but they’ve mostly got an eight-man rotation. Long guards. Put otherwise: Wings who can play guard.

• Kymany Houinsou: A junior who’s at times played a very long point guard, Houinsou’s been dealing with a stress fracture since December. He’s missed the last two games after back-to-back games in the A-10 Tournament left him beat up. I haven’t seen if he’ll play in Indianapolis.
• Miles Rubin: A sophomore big man, Rubin does a lot of different things well. Skilled shot-blocker.
• Sheldon Edwards: Loyola’s best shooter. A senior this year.
• Jayden Dawson: Now in his junior year, Dawson’s the guy Loyola turns to when it needs someone to take the shot. Scored 35 in the second round while taking 27 shots from the floor.
• Des Watson: Watson’s a senior, and he doesn’t leave the floor very much. The Ramblers lean on him heavily.
• Jalen Quinn: A junior, Quinn’s started the last two games in place of Houinsou at the point.
• Jalen DeLoach: DeLoach returns from last year’s NIT Final Four, where he played for Georgia. He also played in the 2021 NIT as a freshman at VCU. He mostly spells Rubin, but he is a presence in the defensive paint.
• Francis Nwaokorie: A senior, Nwaokorie’s a good rebounder but hasn’t always clicked this year offensively. It’s there—he did it at UC San Diego—but it hasn’t been the smoothest season.
• Daniil Glazkov: A freshman from Russia, Glazkov’s also been a part of Houinsou’s relief effort. He’s shown some great signs defensively.
• Seifeldin Hendawy: An Egyptian freshman, Hendawy came to Loyola through NBA Academy Africa. He made a brief appearance in Loyola’s second round game against San Francisco.

Loyola’s another team missing a starter. Justin Moore went down in December with a season-ending knee injury.

**