2025–26 Howard Bison men's basketball team

2025–26 Howard Bison men's basketball
2025–26 Howard Bison men's basketball
MEAC regular season and tournament champions
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Record	24–11 (11–3 MEAC)
Head coach	Kenny Blakeney (7th season);
Associate head coach	Rod Balanis; Nate James
Assistant coaches	Tramel Raggs; Thomas Weaver;
Home arena	Burr Gymnasium

2025–26 MEAC men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Howard †	11	–	3	.786	24	–	11	.686
Morgan State	10	–	4	.714	14	–	16	.467
North Carolina Central	8	–	6	.571	14	–	18	.438
Norfolk State	8	–	6	.571	15	–	17	.469
South Carolina State	7	–	7	.500	10	–	22	.313
Maryland Eastern Shore	5	–	9	.357	9	–	23	.281
Coppin State*	5	–	9	.357	7	–	24	.226
Delaware State	2	–	12	.143	8	–	23	.258

† 2026 MEAC tournament winner * Ineligible for both the 2026 NCAA Tournament and MEAC tournament due to APR penalties.

The 2025–26 Howard Bison men's basketball team represented Howard University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bison, led by seventh-year head coach Kenny Blakeney, played their home games at Burr Gymnasium in Washington, D.C. as members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).

Previous season

The Bison finished the 2024–25 season 12–20, 7–7 in MEAC play, to finish in a tie for fourth place.^[1] They were defeated by Morgan State^[2] in the quarterfinals of the MEAC tournament.

Preseason

On October 8, 2025, the MEAC released their preseason polls. Howard was picked to finish second in the conference, while receiving four first-place votes.^[3]

Preseason rankings

MEAC Preseason Poll
Place	Team	Votes
1	Norfolk State	118 (12)
2	Howard	97 (4)
3	South Carolina State	90
4	Morgan State	73
T–5	Delaware State	70
T–5	North Carolina Central	70
7	Maryland Eastern Shore	31
8	Coppin State	27
(#) first-place votes

Source:^[3]

Preseason All-MEAC Teams

Preseason All-MEAC Team
Team	Player	Year	Position
First	Bryce Harris	Graduate Senior	Guard
Second	Cam Gillus	Junior
Third	Cedric Taylor III	Junior

Source:^[3]

Roster

2025–26 Howard Bison men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Isaiah Brown	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	RS Fr	Don Bosco Prep	Ramsey, NJ
F	1	Stefan Isailovic	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	Fr	KK Partizan U18	Belgrade, Serbia
G	2	Cam Gillus	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jr	Lehigh	Falls Church, VA
G	3	BJ Powell	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—	Fr	Combine Academy	Charlotte, NC
G	4	Alex Cotton	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	North Texas	Carrollton, TX
G	5	Shane Frazier	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	Fr	Brentwood School	Los Angeles, CA
F	7	Julian Johnson	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	—	Fr	Providence Day School	Charlotte, NC
G	9	River Smith	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	—	Fr	Englewood HS	Englewood, NJ
G	10	Jeremiah Johnson	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Fr	Bullis School	Potomac, MD
G	11	Ose Okojie	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	191 lb (87 kg)	Jr	United Scholastic Academy	Brampton, ON
G	12	Cedric Taylor III	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Morehouse College	Atlanta, GA
C	13	Danas Kazakevicius	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	—	Fr	Telekom Baskets Bonn	Vilnius, Lithuania
F	21	Calvin Robins Jr.	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	Kenwood Academy	Chicago, IL
G	23	Ed Holland III	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	RS Sr	Penn	Philadelphia, PA
F	32	Travelle Bryson	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	Vincennes	Anderson, SC
G	34	Bryce Harris	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	GS	Putnam Science Academy	Brentwood, NY

Head coach

Kenny Blakeney (Duke)

Assistant coach(es)

Rod Balanis (Georgia Tech)
Nate James (Duke)
Tramel Raggs (Missouri)
Thomas Weaver (Howard)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: December 9, 2025

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 28, 2025* 7:00 p.m.		American	W 77–63		Burr Gymnasium Washington, D.C.
Regular season
November 3, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Missouri	L 67–88	0–1	Burr Gymnasium (2,312) Washington, D.C.
November 6, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		District of Columbia	W 103–71	1–1	Burr Gymnasium (1,162) Washington, D.C.
November 9, 2025* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Grambling State	L 70–73	1–2	Burr Gymnasium (1,653) Washington, D.C.
November 13, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Alcorn State	W 72–64	2–2	Burr Gymnasium (1,891) Washington, D.C.
November 19, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Stetson	L 60–64	2–3	Edmunds Center (630) DeLand, FL
November 22, 2025* 4:00 p.m., ACCNX		vs. Niagara The Brotherhood Run	W 80–70	3–3	Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC
November 23, 2025* 4:00 p.m., ACCN		at No. 5 Duke The Brotherhood Run	L 56–93	3–4	Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC
November 26, 2025* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		St. Mary's (MD)	W 115–61	4–4	Burr Gymnasium (396) Washington, D.C.
November 29, 2025* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Mount St. Mary's	L 75–79	4–5	Knott Arena (1,407) Emmitsburg, MD
December 6, 2025* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Bowie State	W 85–69	5–5	Burr Gymnasium (871) Washington, D.C.
December 9, 2025* 7:00 p.m., HBCU GO		vs. North Carolina A&T	W 73–69	6–5	Cameron Indoor Stadium (780) Durham, NC
December 13, 2025* 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		vs. Hampton Battle of the Real HU	W 61–57	7–5	CareFirst Arena Washington, D.C.
December 16, 2025* 11:00 a.m., FloSports		at Drexel	W 74–66	8–5	Daskalakis Athletic Center (1,954) Philadelphia, PA
December 20, 2025* 2:00 p.m., FloSports		at UNC Wilmington	W 67–66	9–5	Trask Coliseum (5,220) Wilmington, NC
December 30, 2025* 4:00 p.m., BTN		at Northwestern	L 60–80	9–6	Welsh–Ryan Arena (4,992) Evanston, IL
January 3, 2026 4:00 p.m.		at South Carolina State	L 57–58	9–7 (0–1)	SHM Memorial Center (425) Orangeburg, SC
January 10, 2026 4:30 p.m.		at Maryland Eastern Shore	L 57–59	9–8 (0–2)	Hytche Athletic Center (1,000) Princess Anne, MD
January 12, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Delaware State	W 84–58	10–8 (1–2)	Burr Gymnasium (2,184) Washington, D.C.
January 17, 2026 4:30 p.m., ESPN+		at North Carolina Central	W 83–69	11–8 (2–2)	McDougald–McLendon Arena (2,318) Durham, NC
January 19, 2026* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Morehouse MLK Day Classic	W 78–69	12–8	Burr Gymnasium (2,696) Washington, D.C.
January 24, 2026 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Morgan State	L 77–78	12–9 (2–3)	Burr Gymnasium Washington, D.C.
January 31, 2026 4:00 p.m., ESPNU		Norfolk State	W 88–60	13–9 (3–3)	Burr Gymnasium (1,848) Washington, D.C.
February 2, 2026 6:00 p.m.		at Coppin State Rescheduled from Jan. 26	W 72–53	14–9 (4–3)	Physical Education Complex (412) Baltimore, MD
February 7, 2026 4:00 p.m.		South Carolina State	W 85–57	15–9 (5–3)	Burr Gymnasium (1,228) Washington, D.C.
February 9, 2026* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Yale	L 81–87 ^OT	15–10	Burr Gymnasium (2,381) Washington, D.C.
February 14, 2026 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Maryland Eastern Shore	W 79–53	16–10 (6–3)	Burr Gymnasium (1,257) Washington, D.C.
February 16, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Delaware State	W 91–59	17–10 (7–3)	Memorial Hall (663) Dover, DE
February 21, 2026 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		North Carolina Central	W 100–67	18–10 (8–3)	Burr Gymnasium Washington, D.C.
February 28, 2026 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Morgan State	W 84–59	19–10 (9–3)	Hill Field House (3,237) Baltimore, MD
March 2, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Coppin State	W 90–70	20–10 (10–3)	Burr Gymnasium (1,281) Washington, D.C.
March 5, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Norfolk State	W 84–76	21–10 (11–3)	Echols Hall (4,165) Norfolk, VA
MEAC tournament
March 13, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	(1)	vs. (5) South Carolina State Semifinals	W 78–61	22–10	Norfolk Scope Norfolk, VA
March 13, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN2	(1)	vs. (3) North Carolina Central Championship	W 70–63	23–10	Norfolk Scope Norfolk, VA
NCAA tournament
March 17, 2026 6:40 p.m., truTV	(16 MW)	vs. (16 MW) UMBC First Four	W 86–83	24–10	UD Arena (11,756) Dayton, OH
March 19, 2026 7:30 p.m., CBS	(16 MW)	vs. (1 MW) No. 3 Michigan First round	L 80–101	24–11	KeyBank Center Buffalo, NY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Eastern.

Sources:^[4]^[5]

References

^ "2024-25 Men's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
^ "Men's Hoops Drops Heartbreaker to Morgan State". Howard University Athletics. March 13, 2025. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
^ ^a ^b ^c "S. C. State's Jayden Johnson Named 2025-26 MEAC Men's Basketball Preseason Player of the Year". meacsports.com. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. October 8, 2025. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
^ "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule". Howard University Athletics. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
^ "Howard Bison Schedule 2025-2026". ESPN. Retrieved December 9, 2025.

[1] "2024-25 Men's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Retrieved December 9, 2025.

[2] "Men's Hoops Drops Heartbreaker to Morgan State". Howard University Athletics. March 13, 2025. Retrieved December 9, 2025.

[poll-3] "S. C. State's Jayden Johnson Named 2025-26 MEAC Men's Basketball Preseason Player of the Year". meacsports.com. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. October 8, 2025. Retrieved December 16, 2025.

[4] "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule". Howard University Athletics. Retrieved December 9, 2025.

[5] "Howard Bison Schedule 2025-2026". ESPN. Retrieved December 9, 2025.

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[5]

Howard Bison men's basketball
Venues	Burr Gymnasium (1963–present)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons Records unavailable pre-1952 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26