By: Mark Wasik
Men's Basketball Season Tickets
Online Schedule
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KENNESAW, Ga. – After a season in which it traveled the most miles in school history, Kennesaw State men's basketball will face several exciting regional matchups in the 2025-26 season, including a neutral contest at Alabama along with home games against South Florida and Georgia State as the Owls' non-conference slate was officially announced on Thursday.
"While last year's schedule was a great challenge for us with repeated trips to California and our Canadian trip, we're excited about this year's schedule that will be just as challenging while giving us the chance to play more home games in front of our fans as well as in the region with two trips to Florida in November," said head coach Antoine Pettway. "Obviously I'm looking forward to our matchup with my former school in Alabama which should be a great atmosphere on a neutral court and we hope Owl fans will make a great showing at that game. I know the South Florida contest will be a very meaningful game for both teams as we play in honor of Coach Abdur-Rahim, and we're happy to have renewed our series with our rival down I-75 in Georgia State."
A home exhibition contest against West Georgia on October 26 will be followed by the official start of the season in November against Paine College on Nov. 3 in VyStar Arena. That will be followed by a road contest at Florida A&M on Nov. 8 and another home contest against Point University (Nov. 12).
November 16 will see the highly anticipated matchup of the Owls and South Florida, after the contest was initially announced during the Ceremony of Life for Amir Abdur-Rahim in October of 2024. The former head coach for both schools is also being inducted posthumously into the Athletic Hall of Fame at Kennesaw State just five days after the contest (Nov. 21).
KSU will then make a return trip to the Sunshine State the following week, as it will compete in the 2025 Coconut Hoops Gulf Coast Showcase on Nov. 24-26, hosted by the Owls' former Atlantic Sun rival FGCU in Fort Myers. It will be a battle of the Owls in the opening game of the three-day event, as KSU will face Rice on Nov. 24, before taking on Oral Roberts on Nov. 25 and closing out against FGCU on Nov. 26.
The Owls will be back in Kennesaw for a three-game homestand, with games against Jackson State (Dec. 2), Georgia State (Dec. 5) and Southern Wesleyan (Dec. 8). KSU will then open Conference USA play on the road at Middle Tennessee in a game recently moved back a day to Dec. 17. The non-conference slate will conclude with a neutral site contest against Alabama in the Rocket City Classic on Dec. 21. That game will be held in the VBC Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala., the site of this season's Conference USA Tournament. It will also mark the first time that Pettway will lead his Owls against his alma mater, as he was a standout point guard on the Crimson Tide and led them to the Elite Eight before spending 15 years on the staff as an assistant coach.
The Owls will return to Conference USA play following the Christmas break, with a pair of road games at Liberty (Jan. 2) and new league member Delaware (Jan. 4). The CUSA home opener will be on Jan. 7 against the other new school to the conference, Missouri State. All 12 teams will qualify for this season's CUSA Tournament, held on March 10-14.
The Owls surpassed all expectations last year, going 19-14 after being picked to finish in last place in the preseason conference polls. KSU will return three starters from that squad that posted a fourth-place regular season finish as well as an appearance in the CUSA semifinals. Highlighting the returnees is senior guard Simeon Cottle, a second-team All-CUSA pick and the top returning scorer in the conference (18.0 ppg).
Season tickets for 2024-25 are now available HERE.
