POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The Marist University men's basketball team opens the 2025-26 season on Monday night in Cincinnati, Ohio, when the Red Foxes taken on Xavier of the Big East Conference.
 
Tip-off is set for 7:15 p.m.
 

On the Air

• The game will be carried on the Red Fox Network and Varsity Network app with Dean Darling (play-by-play) and Steve Eggink (analyst) on the call.
• The pre-game show will start at 6:55.
• The game will be shown live on ESPN+ with John Sadak (play-by-play) and Steve Wolf (analyst) on the call.

 

Team Captain

• Junior point guard Jadin Collins-Roberts will serve as team captain this season.
• He is the first player to be officially named a captain in head coach John Dunne's eight-year tenure at Marist.

 

Openers

• In its Division I history, Marist is 18-26 in season openers, including a 4-3 record under head coach John Dunne. 
• Marist's Nov. 3 season opener ties its earliest in program history, topping its start of Nov. 4 last season (at Harvard).

 

Road/Home Splits

• Marist is opening the season on the road for the 16th time in the last 21 years.
• After opening with two road games, Marist will play six straight home games. This marks Marist's longest stretch of consecutive home games since the 1991-92 season, when the Red Foxes played seven straight in Poughkeepsie.

 

Preseason Picks

• Marist was picked fifth in the MAAC Preseason Poll.
• Elijah Lewis (Second Team) and Jadin Collins-Roberts (Third Team) gave Marist two Preseason All-MAAC selections for the second straight year.

 

Who's Back

• Marist has eight returning scholarship players from last season; senior forward Jaden Daughtry, senior forward Trace Salton, senior guard Elijah Lewis, senior guard Martin Kawa, junior guard Jadin Collins-Roberts, red-shirt sophomore center Jason Schofield, sophomore forward Parby Kabamba, and sophomore center Tarik Watson. The Red Foxes also welcome back walk-on sophomore guard Antoni Vlogianitis.
• Marist returns 60 percent of its scoring from last season.
• On the coaching staff, head coach John Dunne and associate head coach Dalip Bhatia are all in their eighth season on staff. Brandon Hall is in his fourth, and Dan Bozzelli is in his second.

 

Who's New

• Marist has five new players this year, with three transfers and two freshmen.
• The transfers are graduate guard Rhyjon Blackwell (USC-Aiken the last two years), sophomore guard Justin Menard (Iona last year), and red-shirt freshman guard Ricky McKenzie (Kennesaw State last year).
• Center Jordan Gabriel and forward Myles Parker join the team as freshmen.
• Curtis Wilson joins the staff as assistant coach. Wilson comes to Marist with over 30 years of coaching experience, including the last 14 at Boston University.

 

Last Year

• Marist went 20-10 overall and 13-7 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play (third place, MAAC quarterfinals) in the 2024-25 season, which was the program's fifth 20-win season in its 65-year history.
• The Red Foxes won 16 of their first 19 games last season.

 

Facts & Figures

• Marist has won 38 games the last two seasons (18 in 2023-24, 20 in 2024-25), with a pair of third-place MAAC finishes. The win total is the best two-year stretch for the program since 2006-08.
• Marist's 20-win season last year was its fifth in program history and first in 18 years, following 1970-71 (21), 1986-87 (20), 1995-96 (22), and 2006-07 (25).
• Last season, Marist went 8-1 in games decided by three points or less.
• Marist won 10 games last season when trailing at halftime (10-7 record).
• Marist has overcome a double-digit deficit to win 14 times in head coach John Dunne's tenure, including three times this season.
• Marist has won six straight overtime games dating back to the 2021-22 season.

 

About Xavier

• The Musketeers went 22-12 overall last season and 13-7 in Big East play.
• They prevailed in a First Four game against Texas before falling to Illinois in the first round.
• Xavier was picked to finish eighth in the Big East Preseason Poll, and has 11 transfers on this year's roster.
• Richard Pitino is in his first game as head coach after being named Mountain West Coach of the Year last year at New Mexico.

 

History

• This is Marist's first meeting with Xavier.
• This is the first time Marist has faced a Big East team since Nov. 16, 2013, when the Red Foxes traveled to Providence.
• Marist has one win against a Big East team in its history. This came against St. John's on Dec. 17, 2005.

 

What's Next

• Marist heads back to the road to face Ivy League foe Dartmouth on Sunday, Nov. 9, marking the third year in a row the teams will have met.
• Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.