https://www.gocsucougars.com/news/2026/8...edule.aspx

With the schedule officially announced, there’s something concrete to talk about. With the conference slate already announced, here’s the non con.

Exhibitions
Saint Xavier on Oct. 21
Roosevelt University on Oct. 28.

Nov 2 @ Texas
Nov 5 @ Incarnate Word
Nov 9 HOME vs South Carolina State
Nov 11 @ California Baptist
Nov 13 @ San Diego
Nov 15 @ Loyola Marymount
Nov 22 @ Marquette
Nov 28 @ Bradley
Nov 30 @ Evansville
Dec 2 @ Murray State
Dec 5 HOME vs Illinois State
Dec 12 @ Valparaiso
Dec 19 @ South Dakota
Dec 22 @ Missouri
Dec 29 @ Northwestern

I like the schedule. As far as extensive travel, it’s just the opening trip to Texas and a swing on the West Coast. Most of the rest is in the Midwest and nearby. With 6 games either in Chicago or within a couple hours, that’s about as good as low majors get. Another nice group of games is within easy reach, like Mizzou, Evansville, and Murray.

After November 15, the team won’t travel extensively at all, and should be able to enter the conference circuit not exhausted like some teams. I’d give Landon Bussie and A for scheduling. He got the buy games, has trips at the right time, had a few home games, and a nice mix of low, mid and high majors. And there are some winnable games in there as well.

While the roster hasn’t been announced yet, having Maleek Robinson’s photo on the schedule is good sign and at least fills in one important piece for us while we wait.

I am burning some midnight oil and doing a little research on as many of the new players as I can in case anyone wants some background before they see them on court. Sometimes having something to connect a name to helps people know who is who.

Honestly, it’s doubtful I will do much with D2 transfers as their stats simply aren’t as relevant at this level. I don’t want to say meaningless, but I’m getting to them last let’s say.

The first player is already one I like. He’s from the Southside and played at John Logan for 2 years and at CSU Northridge last season. The Matadors were 3rd in the Big West.

Davius Loury played in 33 games and made 22 starts in his first season with CSUN ... averaged 4.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 16.9 minutes per game ... made 30 shots from three-point range, good for third-best on the team ... scored in doubles figures in seven straight games ... finished with 12 points and six rebounds in a win at Delaware (12/13/25) ... recorded 17 points, five rebounds and three steals vs. La Sierra (12/19/25) ... hit six threes and went 7-of-11 overall from the floor for a season-high 20 points vs. Sacramento State (12/22/25) ... posted 11 points and six rebounds at Stanford (12/27/25).

Amari Carraway is from Fresno and played at Eastern Arizona before last season at Charleston Southern.

2025-2026 at Charleston Southern: Played in 24 games and started in 14 of them on the season ... Scored 161 total points including a season-high 36 against Warren Wilson College (Dec. 4) … Against Warren Wilson, Carraway not only broke his career-high in the scoring column, he broke the Charleston Southern program record for Most Made Three-Pointers in a Single Game (11) … Reached double-figures in five different contests … Shot 32.7% from the field (48 of 147) and 32.8% from three-point range (45 of 137) ... Recorded 26 assists, 34 rebounds, and 9 steals his junior campaign.

Jaylen Pazon is from New Orleans and played the last 2 seasons at VMI.

2025-26 (Sophomore)
- Played in 20 games and earned one start, averaging 13.6 mins./game
- Averaged 6.7 points/game, sixth best on the team
- Went 50-118 from the field (.424)
- Hit 27 of 38 free throws (.711)
- Totaled 44 rebounds on the year, averaging 2.2 rpg
- Logged 13 assists and seven steals for the year
- Earned first career double-double vs. VUL Nov. 12, achieving career highs in both points (20) and rebounds (10)
- Career-high 20 points against VUL Nov. 12
- Scored 14 points at Richmond Nov. 19

Mike Price is another Chicago native, but played his high school hoops in California. He took a redshirt year and played a season at Bakersfield.

2025-26 (FRESHMAN): Appeared in all 31 games for the Roadrunners in his collegiate debut season, making five starts in the backcourt... Emerged as one of Bakersfield’s top perimeter shooters, knocking down 31 three-pointers on the year... Scored a season-high 24 points versus UC Davis on Jan. 31, shooting 9-of-14 from the field and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc... Added 15 points against Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 22 and again at Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 7... Reached double figures in scoring nine times during the season, including 14 points versus UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 15 and 14 more at UC Riverside on Feb. 19... Averaged 6.5 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in 18.2 minutes per game while shooting 36.4% from the field and 32.3% from three-point range.

Malik Olafioye. Scored 2,200 points in high school in Michigan. Played his freshmen year at Kansas City, and the last 2 at Eastern.

2025-26 (SOPHOMORE): Played in 20 games during the 2025-26 season making two starts... missed most of last month of the year due to injury... had starts at No. 8 Kentucky and against Eastern Kentucky... scored a career high 14 points against Lindenwood in OVC opener... had nine point games in season opener against Valparaiso and against Blackburn College... averaged 3.9 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game for the season... pulled down a season high eight rebounds against Tiffin... passed out a season high five assists against Nicholls... had three steals in home win over Western Illinois...

2024-25 (RS-FRESHMAN): Played in 23 of 31 games during the season missing games in late January and early February due to injury... made 12 starts with first career start at Big Ten member Northwestern... had four points with five assists and just one turnover as EIU lost in overtime at Northwestern... had back-to-back double figure scoring games with ten points at Southeast Missouri in OVC opener and 11 points in home win over Blackburn College... averaged 3.8 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists per games for the season... pulled down a season high five rebounds at Valparaiso... passed out a season high six assists with no turnovers in home win over Calumet College of Saint Joseph (Ind.)... had 18 steals and 5 blocks for the year...

Bryan Akanmu is from France. Played last season at Wagner after 2 seasons at McCook CC in Nebraska.

Junior (2025-26): One of two Seahawks to appear in all 31 games, making 21 starts...Averaged 6.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game...Recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds against Le Moyne on Feb. 5.

Lyonel Hodges is from Lynwood, IL. Played 2 seasons at Kaskaskia and last season at D2 Claflin in South Carolina.

Played in 15 games, started 1.

Will Lovings-Watts. From Jeffersonville, IN. Transferred to D2 Union from James Madison. Last season at Union-

2025-26 (Junior)
GSC Player of the Week (12/9)
Appeared in 26 games with 15 starts for a total of 725 minutes
Tallied 393 points, 35 assists
Defensively, collected 147 rebounds, 30 steals and 18 blocks
Shot .453 from the field, .329 from the arc and went 115 for 149 on free throws (.772) (6th in the GSC)
Earned 2 double-doubles

Lohan Stephane Djiya is from Cameroon. Played previously at Oakland City University in Indiana.

Has a 7’3” wingspan and was the NAIA leader in blocked shots. Had 2 games with 10 blocks last season, and another with 8. 28 is a whole season of blocked shots for a lot of good shot blockers, so hopefully he can be counted on to play some critical minutes and help shut down some of the leagues top scorers who feast on some of the smaller NEC posts.

Foday Sheriff. Played high school hoops in Fargo, ND, went to Minnesota State Community and Technical CC, was NJCAA Division III National Player of the Year. Had a top performance of 40 points at the Juco.

In a year at William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa, he started all 32 games for the NAIA Statesmen and averaged over 16 ppg. Highest output was 30 points.

Was NAIA All American-

https://www.statesmenathletics.com/sport...0513mvt4bq

Kameron Foman is from South Carolina and played at D2 Benedict, but was previously at Alcorn State where Coach Bussie was before Chicago State.


There are some Freshman and Juco players who I will try to get to as I find time.

Hopefully some of the bios, stats, and information will be useful to some Cougar fans since we got a very late look at the roster this year.

As with last season, we’ve got a number of local players, so hopefully that will help inch that attendance up another notch again this year.

6’11” Ben Kalonji is another local kid from Jeffersonville. Hopefully he finds a good home at CSU.

His last stop was Clarendon College in Texas, after a couple previous stops. Looks like he got some good court time in 27 games there last season.

https://clarendonbulldogs.com/sports/mbk...i_ben_cdbu

Najee Graham comes from New Jersey via Trinity Valley CC where he played in 34 games last season on a 30-6 squad that made it to the NJCAA Semifinal game.

https://www.tvccsports.com/sports/mbkb/2...najee_13ki

The Price was right. Mike Price lead all scorers with 32 as Chicago State beat
Roosevelt 73-55 for their second exhibition win of the season.

A lot like last season, floor shooting wasn’t all that great. 37% overall. But also like last season, shooting from the line was outstanding, 22-25 for the Cougars, with Price going 11-11.

Olafioye had 9 points and 5 rebounds in 24 minutes.
Foman had 7 rebounds and 7 points in 17 minutes, while Loury had 7-rebounds and 8 points in his 22 minutes.

Lots of new players to get used to again, but seeing a player like Price take charge in this game is a good sign. The gaps may need filling in, but at least there is a strong go to guy who can shoot well, score, and hit free throws.

Looking at his season last year at Bako, he didn’t get many minutes or points early but came on strong as a consistent double digit scorer for the Roadrunners in Big West play. He looks to continue that here.

There were some things to like and some things not to like in the Texas game.

I like how many players he played. Could be an early season test, but its how Bussie coached last season as well. I suspect he’s going to run a lot of guys in and out, and that can work well keeping fouls down and legs fresh.

I like how the Cougars weren’t afraid of the paint and were willing (and able) to get to the rim a lot more than I expected against such a big team.


Neither shooting or rebounding were very good. But that can just go with playing a top 10 team, so it’s not enough to see either as a concern yet.

I’m not sure what to make of the defense. Texas is huge and talented, so I’m not sure what a stronger Cougar defensive show could have done. They could have denied some inside passes to the big men better. They gave up too many three pointers as well, but as well as Texas moved the ball most of the game, it came down to physicality a lot of times.

Free thrown shooting was only 50%, but they really didn’t shoot a whole lot.

There was a little sloppy ball handling, but 15 turnovers is reasonable for this game. 15 is bad but not obscene.

Nothing to get too excited about in this game, good or bad really. It’s a brand new team versus #7 in the country. All things considered, I think the Cougars looked like a pretty cohesive team most times.

Malek Robinson hasn’t impressed me in any of the games so far. I thought he’d be playing a prominent leadership role on this squad.

Lead by Mike Price’s 21 points, the Cougars shut down Incarnate Word in San Antonio. The Cougars took a 34-22 lead into the halftime locker room.

A 31-5 advantage in bench scoring kept the home team at bay through the second half as well.

UIW only managed 13% from the 3 point line, going just 3 for 22, while the Cougars defensive pressure held them to just 26% from the floor overall.

https://www.gocsucougars.com/news/2026/1...oints.aspx

My main takeaway from this game is the Cougars fouled way too much. Granted, drawing fouls seemed to be UIW’s primary offensive strategy since their floor shooting was so poor, but Chicago State can’t foul this much against a decent team and hope to win. UIW went to the line 35 times. That’s just too much.