CHARLESTON – Just days away from the 2025-2026 college basketball season, Head Coach Saah Nimley and the Charleston Southern Men's Basketball program are excited for opening night in Blacksburg, Virginia. The Bucs' first three games of their non-conference slate will begin with a November 3rd match-up against the Virginia Tech Hokies. Three days later, CSU will return to the Buc Dome for their home opener against Division II, Toccoa Falls College. On November 10th, a battle within the Lowcountry will take place as The Citadel hosts the Buccaneers in McAlister Field House.

A brief preview of all three opponents can be found below:
 

Game #1

Opponent: at Virginia Tech

Date: November 3rd

Time: 7:00 PM Eastern

TV: ACC Network Extra

• Finishing almost exactly in the middle of the ACC-pack last season (10th place), Virginia Tech has been highlighted by many media outlets as a potential dark horse to finish highly in the Atlantic Coast Conference this hoops season. The Hokies are led by Coach Mike Young who is entering the 23rd season of Division 1 head coaching career.

• In an era of less player retention, Tech returns their leading scorer and rebounder from their 2024-2025 roster, Tobi Lawal. Lawal is a 6'8" forward who posted 12.4 points per game on a 56% (55.9) shooting clip during his junior campaign. The long-limbed slasher also pulled in 7.0 boards per game last season which ranked 12th in the ACC.

• Two other newly added Hokies, Jailen Bedford and Amani Hansberry joined Lawal at ACC Media Day earlier this October. Bedford, a graduate transfer from UNLV was the Runnin' Rebels' third leading scorer last season, eclipsing double-figures with 10.2 points per contest. Bedford is certainly hoping to bring the momentum he built at the end of last season to Blacksburg as he recorded back-to-back 13-point performances in the Mountain West tournament last March.

• Hansberry joins Virginia Tech after spending last season in the neighboring Virginia with the West Virginia Mountaineers. A stout 6'8", 240-pound forward, Hansberry has been loosely titled by select media outlets as "The Bad Man" for this year's Hokie team due to his strong frame and lacking hesitation to use his physical advantage. Hansberry started in 24 contests for WVU last season, almost cracking the double-figure threshold with 9.8 points per game. Hansberry is a native of Silver Spring, Maryland, and ironically, the food in this specific part of the Old Line state must be good as Charleston Southern's resident 240-pounder, Reis Jones grew up 35 miles up the road in Fort Washington.

• An intriguing prospect on Coach Mike Young's roster is Greek freshman, Neoklis Avdalas. A 6'9" guard, Avdalas is heralded by 24/7 Sports as the second best international newcomer to college basketball this season. Not only has Avdalas been highly-complimented by media outlets, but his own head coach, Mike Young, claims he is "sheer basketball talent-wise, the best player I've ever coached." Avdalas is claimed by his new teammates in Blacksburg to have limited weaknesses, and after playing two years of professional basketball in Greece's top-tier league (HEBA A1) as well as the 2025 NBA Combine, it's easy to believe he is bringing an abnormal level of experience to the court as a freshman.

• The November 3rd contest will be the 8th all-time battle between CSU and VT, and although the Hokies are 7-0 in the series history, the last meeting in 2022 was only a five-point defeat for the Blue & Gold Buccaneers.

• Of all the 2025-2026 Buccaneer basketball players, one may have a few extra family members in attendance. Brycen Blaine grew up in the Richmond, Virginia area which is roughly three hours from the campus of Virginia Tech.

• When asked what his Bucs have to do to complete a victorious performance in Blacksburg, Coach Nimley highlighted his team's ability to overcome adversity as what may tip the scale in either direction.

"When it's opening night, there is going to be a lot of energy in that building… can you survive those first 4 to 6 minutes? If we can stick together and control our effort, communication, and execution, I feel good that we can give ourselves a chance to be in that game and have a shot to win," said Nimley.

Game #2

Opponent: vs Toccoa Falls College

Date: November 6th

Time: 7:00 PM Eastern

TV: ESPN+

• Toccoa Falls enters 2025-2026 off of a 13-12 season under Head Coach Micah Ryals. A losing (3-8) away game record during last season for TFC is a trend the Bucs plan to continue as Charleston Southern opens the Buc Dome doors for the first time of the new hoops season on November 6th. Toccoa Falls' maestro, Coach Ryals, is a graduate of TFC and was awarded the 2023 NCCAA National Coach of the Year award. 

• TFC returns two of their top-five scorers from last season, Will Gray-Watson and Randall Robinson. Gray-Watson, a 5'11" senior guard from Norcross, Georgia led his squad last season with 14.5 points per game while adding nearly seven rebounds a night.

• CSU and The Falls have met eight total times with Charleston Southern taking home all eight victories. The last meeting was just two seasons ago in November of 2023. Playing just 17 minutes, A'lahn Sumler was the only current Buccaneer who competed in that last match-up.

• Toccoa Falls College may have the best mascot name of any opponent on the CSU non-conference schedule this season as TFC is the proud institution of the "Screaming Eagles".

• Although CSU Head Coach Saah Nimley is an Atlanta-native himself, the Screaming Eagles will out number the Bucs with Peach State prospects this season as seven of TFC's players hail from the greater Atlanta region.

• When asked what remains the same and changes regarding a team like Toccoa Falls versus a group like Virginia Tech, Nimley mentioned that the process for the next opponent remains completely the same as far as detailed preparation is concerned.

"We approach that match-up like it is the most important game of the year… we are going to do everything as if we are playing Virginia Tech," said Nimley.

Game #3

Opponent: at The Citadel

Date: November 10th

Time: 7:00 PM Eastern

TV: ESPN+

• The 2024-2025 season was not the success story The Citadel would've liked it to have been. The Bulldogs did not win a game in Southern Conference play and only collected five victories on the year. All five of those wins did occur in McAlister Field House, the Bulldogs home arena. Although they may do it on November 3rd when they host Erskine College, The Citadel and Head Coach Ed Conroy are eager to break their current 22-game losing streak.

• Coach Conroy has been at the helm of the Bulldog program since 2022-2023 and his first two years in the Holy City were a bit more fruitful than last season as he accumulated double-digit wins in 2022-23 (11) and 2023-24 (10).

• Two of the leading scorers from last year's Citadel roster, Christian Moore (8.7) and Sola Adebasi (8.6), return for 2025-2026. Moore, an underclassman from Los Angeles, ranked Top-25 in scoring during SoCon play last season (12.1 points per game). On top of scoring capability, Moore's 6'6", 225-pound frame is a separating factor among mid-major wings in the physicality department. Adebasi, a transfer from Florida State, started in all 25 games he competed in last season with the Bulldogs. A 6'7", Alpharetta, Georgia-native, Adebasi ranked 13th in the SoCon last season in rebounds per game during league play (3.8). From a non-statistic perspective, Coach Conroy noted Adebasi's "motor and physical tools" as areas he improves The Citadel frontcourt.

• When asked what newcomer on his roster may make an impact in the Bulldog rotation this year, Coach Conroy cited true freshman Marcos Gonzales as a new piece to the puzzle who could make that mark. Gonzales comes from a traditionally well-regarded basketball program at Brother Rice High School in Chicago. Coach Conroy noted Gonzales' leadership capabilities as a trait that separates him from other freshmen he's coached.

• Of the three teams included in this preview, The Citadel and CSU share the richest history. The two programs have been competing since the 1970s (first meeting in November of 1974), with The Citadel leading the all-time series by five victories (16-21). The last match-up between the two programs eventually became the last time Charleston Southern's longest tenured head basketball coach, Barclay Radebaugh, would lead CSU from the sideline. The schools only separated by 17 miles have only played three times in the last 15 years, with the oldest of those three occasions being an 88-69 victory for the Bucs in December of 2011.

• In the 2011 CSU victory against The Citadel, now Buccaneer head coach, Saah Nimley scored a team-third 15 points. Leading the Bucs in rebounding that night with a monstrous 17, was Kelvin Martin – the only player in school history with more career rebounds than last year's Big South Player of the Year, Taje' Kelly.

• One of the newest Citadel Bulldogs, Braxton Williams, spent the past two seasons at Valdosta State University in the Division II Gulf South Conference. Ironically, one of the newest Buccaneers on this year's roster, graduate transfer Trent Coleman spent last season in the same conference with Auburn University at Montgomery. AUM and Valdosta State squared off twice during GSC play. In those two battles, Williams scored a combined 28 points while now Buccaneer, Trent Coleman posted double-doubles in both games combining for 39 points and 24 boards.

• When asked about his team's third game this season against The Citadel, Coach Nimley gave context on what that match-up means to him and how he wants to instill a similar pride in the guys on his roster.

"It's a rivalry… when I played The Citadel my first two years here at CSU I remember how big of a game that was… my teammates and I knew the importance of that game to the city, so my job is to get these new guys to understand what that game means to the community and this institution," said Nimley.

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