- First Year of Competition: 1985-86
- National Championships: 1 (2004 NCAA Division II)
- Head Coach: Lewis Preston (Just completed First Season)
- Assistant Coaches: Jimmy Lallathin and Marty McGillan
- A-Sun All-Conference Honorees: 4
- A-Sun All-Freshman Honorees: 4
- A-Sun Player of the Week Awards: 10
- A-Sun Newcomer of the Week Awards: 2
- A-Sun All-Academic Honors: 28
It’s the dawn of a new era for the Kennesaw State Owls men’s basketball program. Led by head coach Lewis Preston, the Black and Gold are poised to take the program to heights it has never seen before.
With solid roots that include winning the 2004 NCAA Division II National Championship, the Owls have already made waves at the Division I level. Since becoming eligible for postseason play beginning in 2009-10, the Owls have qualified for the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament twice, upsetting No. 1- seeded Lipscomb in the first round in 2010. The 2010-11 season brought them another appearance in the A-Sun Tournament, while they also throttled local rival Georgia Tech, 80-63, in front of a sell-out crowd at the KSU Convocation Center.
The 2011-12 season saw the Owls take on the best college basketball has to offer, visiting the likes of Wisconsin, Missouri and St. Mary’s, while playing a home-and-home with A-Sun rival Belmont, all teams who advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Feb. 10, 2012 was a special day at the KSU Convocation Center, when the Owls battle their in-state and conference foes, the Mercer Bears, on a night in which the KSU Fight Song was introduced to a record-crowd of 4,991 prior to the game.
Having tasted modest success since joining college basketball’s top level, the Owls are hungry to get to the next level, and this experienced group has a leader in Preston that has seen the mountain top of college basketball. An accomplished big man during his playing days, Preston helped the Florida Gators to the 2007 national championship as an assistant coach, and also served stints on coaching staffs at Penn State, Notre Dame and Coastal Carolina prior to coming to Kennesaw. Joining Preston is Lallathin, who cut his collegiate coaching teeth at Miami of Ohio as an assistant coach and Director of Operations.
With the return of three-time All-Atlantic Sun Conference honoree Markeith Cummings, 2011-12 A-Sun All-Freshman honoree Delbert Love, and the 2011-12 A-Sun leading rebounder in Aaron Anderson to go along with a talented crop of newcomers, the time is now, and the future looks ever so bright.
