2025–26 Radford Highlanders men's basketball team

2025–26 Radford Highlanders men's basketball
ConferenceBig South Conference
Record16–16 (9–7 Big South)
Head coach
Associate head coachMarcus Jenkins
Assistant coaches
  • Jordan Surenkamp
  • Josh Adel
  • Conor Dow
  • David Watkins
Home arenaDedmon Center
2025–26 Big South men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
High Point † 15 – 1   .938 31 – 5   .861
Winthrop 13 – 3   .813 23 – 11   .676
Radford 9 – 7   .563 16 – 16   .500
UNC Asheville 8 – 8   .500 15 – 17   .469
Longwood 8 – 8   .500 16 – 16   .500
Presbyterian 7 – 9   .438 15 – 18   .455
Charleston Southern 6 – 10   .375 15 – 17   .469
USC Upstate 5 – 11   .313 13 – 19   .406
Gardner–Webb 1 – 15   .063 4 – 29   .121
† 2026 Big South tournament winner

The 2025–26 Radford Highlanders men's basketball team represented Radford University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Highlanders, led by first-year head coach Zach Chu, played their home games at the Dedmon Center in Radford, Virginia as members of the Big South Conference.

Previous season

The Highlanders finished the 2024–25 season 20–13, 9–7 in Big South play, to finish in fourth place.[1] They defeated Presbyterian in the quarterfinals of the Big South tournament,[2] before falling to top-seeded and eventual tournament champions High Point in the semifinals.[3]

On March 11, 2025, it was announced that head coach Darris Nichols would be leaving the program after four seasons, in order to take the head coaching position at La Salle.[4] Five days later, on March 16, the school announced that they would be hiring SMU chief strategist Zach Chu as the team's new head coach.[5]

Preseason

On October 15, 2025, the Big South Conference released their preseason coaches poll. Radford was picked to finish fourth in the conference.[6]

Preseason rankings

Big South Preseason Poll
Place Team Points
1 High Point 80 (8)
2 UNC Asheville 68 (1)
3 Longwood 53
4 Radford 52
5 Winthrop 51
6 Presbyterian 37
7 Charleston Southern 27
8 Gardner–Webb 19
9 USC Upstate 18
(#) first-place votes

Source:[6]

Preseason All-Big South Teams

Preseason All-Big South First Team
Player Year Position
Jaylon Johnson Senior Guard

Source:[7]

Roster

2025–26 Radford Highlanders men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Zion Walker 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So The Burlington School Burlington, North Carolina
G 3 Jaylon Johnson 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Tennessee Tech Houston, Texas
G 4 Brennan Rigsby Jr. 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) GS Minnesota De Beque, Colorado
G 5 Mari Jordan 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS So Tulane Atlanta, Georgia
F 5 Louie Jordan 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr UMBC Leicester, England
F 7 Frederik Erichsen 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
—
 Fr Ratiopharm Ulm Copenhagen, Denmark
G 10 Del Jones 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 187 lb (85 kg) So Clemson Landover, Maryland
G 11 Dennis Parker Jr. 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr NC State Richmond, Virginia
C 12 Gabriel Ferreira 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
—
 Fr NBA Academy Latin America Paulista, Brazil
G 13 Bradley Land 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
—
 RS Jr Colorado Christian Dallas, Texas
F 21 Tyson Brown 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) GS Georgia Southern Virginia Beach, Virginia
G 24 Lukas Walls 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 203 lb (92 kg) Jr Samford Knoxville, Tennessee
G 30 Warren Keel Jr. 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
—
 Fr Putnam Science Academy Lynn, Massachusetts
G 31 Diogo Alves 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
—
 Fr Tualatin High School Tualatin, Oregon
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: October 21, 2025

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
October 29, 2025*
7:00 pm 		Bridgewater W 95–56 
Dedmon Center 
Radford, VA
Non-conference regular season
November 3, 2025*
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Western Illinois W 80–75  1–0
 Dedmon Center (1,767)
Radford, VA
November 7, 2025*
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		West Virginia Wesleyan W 99–61  2–0
 Dedmon Center (1,549)
Radford, VA
November 11, 2025*
7:00 pm, ACCN 		at No. 18 North Carolina L 74–89  2–1
 Dean Smith Center (16,613)
Chapel Hill, NC
November 15, 2025*
3:30 pm, PTB Live 		vs. Wright State
Greenbrier Tip-Off River Division 		L 59–92  2–2
 Colonial Hall (476)
White Sulphur Springs, WV
November 16, 2025*
2:30 pm, PTB Live 		vs. Cleveland State
Greenbrier Tip-Off River Division 		L 82–87  2–3
 Colonial Hall (459)
White Sulphur Springs, WV
November 18, 2025*
7:00 pm, SECN+ 		at South Carolina L 58–87  2–4
 Colonial Life Arena (11,623)
Columbia, SC
November 21, 2025*
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		UNC Wilmington L 73–81  2–5
 Dedmon Center (1,584)
Radford, VA
November 24, 2025*
8:00 pm, ACCNX 		at SMU L 72–89  2–6
 Moody Coliseum (4,421)
University Park, TX
November 29, 2025*
2:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Notre Dame (MD) W 102–75  3–6
 Dedmon Center (828)
Radford, VA
December 3, 2025*
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Southern Miss L 75–82  3–7
 Dedmon Center (1,788)
Radford, VA
December 7, 2025*
2:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Saint Francis W 89–56  4–7
 Dedmon Center (924)
Radford, VA
December 14, 2025*
2:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Coppin State W 107–77  5–7
 Dedmon Center (861)
Radford, VA
December 18, 2025*
7:00 pm 		at William & Mary L 83–96  5–8
 Kaplan Arena (2,790)
Williamsburg, VA
December 21, 2025*
2:30 pm, ESPN+ 		VMI W 97–90  6–8
 Dedmon Center (954)
Radford, VA
December 28, 2025*
2:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Shenandoah W 87–44  7–8
 Dedmon Center (966)
Radford, VA
Big South regular season
December 31, 2025
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at USC Upstate W 76–69  8–8
(1–0) 		G. B. Hodge Center 
Spartanburg, SC
January 7, 2026
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Presbyterian W 80–61  9–8
(2–0) 		Dedmon Center (878)
Radford, VA
January 10, 2026
2:30 pm, ESPN+ 		UNC Asheville L 72–91  9–9
(2–1) 		Dedmon Center (997)
Radford, VA
January 14, 2026
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Gardner–Webb W 89–80  10–9
(3–1) 		Paul Porter Arena (765)
Boiling Springs, NC
January 17, 2026
2:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Longwood W 85–83  11–9
(4–1) 		Dedmon Center (1.259)
Radford, VA
January 21, 2026
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Winthrop L 75–76  11–10
(4–2) 		Winthrop Coliseum (1,551)
Rock Hill, SC
January 24, 2026
2:30 pm, ESPN+ 		High Point L 83–93  11–11
(4–3) 		Dedmon Center (1,118)
Radford, VA
January 29, 2026
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Charleston Southern W 84–75  12–11
(5–3) 		Buccaneer Field House (812)
North Charleston, SC
January 31, 2026
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Presbyterian W 93–84  13–11
(6–3) 		Templeton Center (637)
Clinton, SC
February 4, 2026
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Winthrop L 78–80  13–12
(6–4) 		Dedmon Center (1,814)
Radford, VA
February 7, 2026
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at High Point L 77–86  13–13
(6–5) 		Qubein Center (7,202)
High Point, NC
February 14, 2026
2:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Charleston Southern W 90–80  14–13
(7–5) 		Dedmon Center (1,363)
Radford, VA
February 19, 2026
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Gardner–Webb W 82–70  15–13
(8–5) 		Dedmon Center (953)
Radford, VA
February 21, 2026
4:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at UNC Asheville L 73–74 OT 15–14
(8–6) 		Kimmel Arena (1,627)
Asheville, NC
February 26, 2026
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		USC Upstate W 71–59  16–14
(8–7) 		Dedmon Center (971)
Radford, VA
February 28, 2026
3:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Longwood L 74–90  16–15
(8–8) 		Joan Perry Brock Center (3,181)
Farmville, VA
Big South tournament
March 6, 2026
8:30 pm, ESPN+ 		(3) vs. (6) Presbyterian
Quarterfinals 		L 85–91 OT 16–16
 Freedom Hall Civic Center (1,418)
Johnson City, TN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern.

Sources:[8][9]

References

  1. ^ "2024-25 Men's Basketball Standings". Big South Conference. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  2. ^ "Moss and Radford win 74-69 in OT against Presbyterian in Big South quarterfinals". CBS Sports. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  3. ^ "High Point survives scare from Radford, reaches Big South Tournament final". College Sports Wire. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  4. ^ "La Salle names Radford coach Darris Nichols as Fran Dunphy's successor". CBS News. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  5. ^ "Radford names Zach Chu as head men's basketball coach". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  6. ^ a b "High Point Earns Top Spot in 2025-26 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll". Big South Conference. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  7. ^ "Big South Announces 2025-26 Men's Basketball Preseason Honors". Big South Conference. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  8. ^ "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule". Radford University Athletics. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  9. ^ "Radford Highlanders 2025-26 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
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