Men's Basketball Season Preview
10/31/2024
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Brown men’s basketball team will open its season on Monday, Nov. 4 at 7:00 p.m. at Siena. The Bears earned six consecutive victories to end the 2023-24 regular season and reached the Ivy League Championship Game after defeating top-seeded RV Princeton in the semifinals.
“We are super excited for what lies ahead, excited about a new journey with the group we have here,” Men’s Basketball Coaching Chair Mike Martin ‘04 said at Ivy League Media Day. “Obviously, a lot of familiar faces but then a lot of new faces and familiar faces that are going to be in new roles for this group.”
Ivy Madness Coming to Providence
Brown will host the 2025 Ivy League Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments (March 14-16), the top-four finishers in the Ivy League qualify for the postseason event.
2023-24 Recap
Brown ended the 2023-24 season with a 13-18 overall record and an 8-6 mark in Ivy League play. Eight wins was tied for the most Ivy League victories under Martin.
The Bears stormed into the Ivy League Tournament last season after winning their final six regular season contests. Brown went on to earn a 90-81 victory over top-seeded RV Princeton in the semifinals before falling to Yale, 62-61, in the Ivy League Championship Game.
During the 2023-24 season, Brown led the Ivy League with 37.2 rebounds per game and 11.8 offensive rebounds per game. The Bears’ 2.6 rebounding margin ranked second in the Ivy League and their 11.8 offensive rebounds per game ranked 64th nationally.
Veteran Faces for the Bears
Brown returns 12 players from the 2023-24 roster, including three players that made 30 or more appearances. Aaron Cooley, Kino Lilly Jr., and Nana Owusu-Anane each made 30 or more appearances last season.
Lyndel Erold and Alexander Lesburt Jr. each made 21 appearances last season while Lesburt Jr. earned nine starts and Erold earned eight starting nods.
Once Erold and Lesburt Jr. were inserted into the starting lineup at Princeton (Feb. 16), Brown played to a 6-1 record to close out the 2023-24 regular season. The lone loss was at Princeton, a game Brown led for more than half of regulation.
Landon Lewis made 25 appearances last season, the junior brought in five or more rebounds on three separate occasions.
New Faces on College Hill
Brown welcomed four newcomers ahead of the 2024-25 season: Jerrell Barron Jr., Wyatt DeGraaf, Jeremiah Jenkins, and David Rochester. Read about the 2024-25 newcomers here.
New Faces on the Bench
Men’s Basketball Head Coaching Chair Mike Martin ‘04 announced the addition of Matt Lottich and DeVon Price to the staff ahead of the 2024-25 season. Lottich joins the program as Associate Head Coach and Price arrives on College Hill as the Operations Coordinator.
Most recently serving as Special Assistant to the Head Coach at Missouri in 2023-24, Lottich served as the portal recruiting coordinator and helped secure the fifth-ranked high school recruiting class in the nation per 247 sports.
Prior to his season at Missouri, Lottich spent seven seasons as the coach at Valparaiso and helped the Beacons win the 2017 Horizon League and earn a berth to the NIT. He compiled 108 victories and sits as the third-winningest coach in program history.
A 2004 Stanford graduate, Lottich led the team in scoring as a senior and earned FIrst Team All Pac-10 honors in addition to being a Wooden Award Finalist. The Cardinal made the NCAA Tournament appearances all four years and reached the Elite 8 in 2001. Following his collegiate career, Lottich spent 10 years playing professionally in the United States and abroad with stops in Germany, Japan, and New Zealand.
Price joins the Brown staff after spending four seasons as an assistant coach at Denison University. White at Denison, he served as the defensive and recruiting coordinator for the Big Red. Price helped Denison reach the 15-win milestone in both 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns, marking the third-most wins in program history.
Price played collegiately for the University of Rio Grande (NAIA) and graduated in 2018. He served as team captain in 2017-18 and led the team in assists and steals as both a junior and senior.
Lilly Jr. Chasing History
Kino Lilly Jr. returns for his senior season after earning back-to-back First Team All-Ivy honors, the senior topped the Ivy League with 18.8 points per game last season. Lilly Jr. will look to become the fourth player in program history to earn First Team All-Ivy honors three years in a row and the first since Jason Forte (2003-2005).
Lilly Jr. sits third all-time in program history with 240 three-pointers made, the senior is 17 made triples behind program leader JR Hobbie, who has 257 three-pointers made.
Lilly Jr. also sits fifth all-time in career points with 1,406, he is 262 points away from being the second-leading scorer in program history.
Ivy League Preseason Poll
Brown was picked third in the Ivy League preseason poll, released on Oct. 8. In the poll, the Bears earned 92 total votes and were the lone team besides the Ivy League favorite Princeton to receive a first-place vote.
This is the second consecutive season the Bears have been picked in the top-four of the Ivy League preseason poll, Brown was picked fourth ahead of the 2023-24 season.
This is the highest preseason projection for the Bears under Head Men’s Basketball Coaching Chair Mike Martin ‘04.
The Schedule
The Brown men’s basketball schedule features a 27-gane slate with 14 non-conference contests and trips to Kansas and Kentucky in late December.
“We are looking forward to what should be a really challenging non-conference schedule in preparation for another competitive Ivy League season,” Martin said. “It's always a priority for us to play our fellow Rhode Island institutions and this year is no different as we will take on URI, Bryant, and Johnson & Wales.”
Brown will host the College Hill Classic from Nov. 15-17 and will play games against New Hampshire (Nov. 15), Holy Cross (Nov. 16), and Sacred Heart (Nov. 17).
“We are also very excited to host the College Hill Classic in mid-November,” Martin added. “Our program is going to experience Allen Fieldhouse and Rupp Arena within the span of 10 days of each other, playing against two of the sport’s true blue blood programs. We are grateful for every opportunity that awaits.”
Ivy League play will begin on the road at Yale (Jan. 11) and regular season play will end against Yale (March 8).
2024-25 Captains
Kino Lilly Jr., Sam Klores, Aaron Cooley, and Nana Owusu-Anane were elected captains ahead of the 2024-25 season, the four members of the leadership group were voted by their teammates.
“This year’s team will have great leadership as is evident by the amount of veterans who were elected captain for this season by their teammates,” Head Men’s Basketball Coaching Chair Mike Martin ‘04 said. “We have a challenging season ahead and we’ll lean on our captains during both times of adversity and prosperity to ensure that we remain focused on our goal of being Ivy League champions and playing in the NCAA Tournament.”
Owusu-Anane was named a captain of the Bears for the third consecutive season as Lilly Jr., Klores, and Cooley all earn the captaincy for the first time in their career.
