By: Will Barfield
KENNESAW, Ga. — After reaching the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history and claiming its first Conference USA Tournament championship, Kennesaw State is aiming for another run at the title in 2026-27.
The Owls finished 21-14 last season, becoming the only team in the nation to beat three top-four seeds in its conference tournament. They knocked off Western Kentucky, Sam Houston State and Louisiana Tech in three days to claim the CUSA title. Head coach Antoine Pettway earned the 2026 Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year award and has guided three of the four winningest seasons in KSU's Division I history in his first three years at the helm.
Now, returning starters Trey Simpson and Amir Taylor, along with guard Kaden Rickard, will help lead a team blending championship experience with new talent. Six freshmen and five transfers join the Owls, giving Pettway a young roster with the conference experience to challenge again.
Experience
The Owls' experience extends beyond their returning players. Transfers CJ Beaumont (Sam Houston), Jacoby Hill (Jacksonville State) and Avery Thomas II (Louisiana Tech) arrive with a familiarity with CUSA competition. Together, this roster brings 4,269 minutes of conference action from the 2025-26 season, more than 1,100 minutes ahead of the next-closest league roster.
Simpson enters the season as the team's leading returning scorer and a Preseason All-CUSA selection. As a freshman starter in 2025-26, he averaged 9.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game over 34 appearances. This season, he will take on a larger role.
"This year I have a different role," Simpson said. "It really just makes me want to work harder, stay inside the gym every day, and try to get better. I feel like my game has grown a lot."
Fellow returning starter Amir Taylor also earned Preseason All-CUSA recognition. As a freshman, Taylor averaged 7.5 points per game while shooting 56% from the field and 41% from deep. Like Simpson, he is preparing to take on more responsibility in his second season.
"I'm real excited to be a leader," Taylor said. "I try to lead by example in practice with energy so everyone can get behind me. I want to take more pride in defense, and then my offense will always be there."
Kaden Rickard, another sophomore returner, will look to build on his success at the end of last season. Rickard averaged 5.8 points per game and tied his career high of 14 points in the NCAA Tournament first-round matchup versus Gonzaga.
"I showed up at the end of the season," he said. "I'm just looking to build on that, and do anything Coach Pettway needs me to do. I want to take that next step."
Joining those returners is Hill, a sophomore guard who averaged 10.0 points per game on 51.4% shooting from the field and 35.5% from distance in 32 games for Jacksonville State last season.
Thomas, a junior forward, brings experience from the other side of last season's CUSA championship game. He averaged 9.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game over 33 appearances for Louisiana Tech and joins Simpson and Taylor as three players on the Owls' roster who started in that title game.
"I played Kennesaw three times last year," Thomas said. "Playing against them, seeing their style of play and how Coach Pettway coaches, I knew I had to come here and see what they could do with me."
The incoming experience also reaches beyond CUSA. Senior transfers Anthony Enoh, a forward from Georgia State, and Kris Parker, a guard from Central Florida, add veteran voices to the young roster.
"Going into last year I was the underclassman," Parker said. "I want to help lead the younger guys and bring a competitive and winning spirit to this team."
S.O.L.I.D.
As Pettway brings the returners and newcomers together, his expectations remain rooted in five traits: sacrifice, ownership, leadership, integrity and dedication. Now in his fourth season as Kennesaw State's head coach, he has signed 12 players from Georgia, making local talent a priority as he builds the program.
"When I got this job, that was a priority for me," Pettway said. "Try to keep as many kids in this area that's our level right here at home. Let there be some pride in staying in-state and playing for Kennesaw State. We got some of the best high school programs in the country. I take pride in getting guys from right here."
That emphasis is reflected in the five players on this roster who graduated from Georgia high schools: Amir Taylor (Grayson), Zyree Brown (Pebblebrook), Brendan Tousignaut (Sequoyah), Dozie Onyirimba (McEachern) and Tobiaz Tolbert (Carver). The freshman class also draws talent from elsewhere in the Southeast.
Among those newcomers is Kyler Theophile, a 17-year-old forward from Coral Springs, Florida, who will look to make an immediate impact. As a senior at Coral Glades High School, he was a top-50 recruit in Florida and shot over 50% from the field. In the words of Amir Taylor, he is a "real dawg."
"I just try to bring my defense to the court," Theophile said. "A lot of people don't know, but I think I'm really good defensively, and I can shoot the ball pretty well. I've been working on my shot."
Levi Ball, a freshman forward from West Columbia, South Carolina, is another newcomer expected to contribute right away. Last season at Gray Collegiate Academy, he averaged 15.6 points and 6.1 rebounds in each playoff game and was named SCHSL Region 4-4A Player of the Year.
"The main thing that attracted me here is Coach Pettway and his energy," Ball said. "The things that he coaches and preaches, that's who I want to be as a player."
Rounding out that group is Antwane Daniels, son of former NBA guard Marquis Daniels. As a senior at Auburn High School in Auburn, Alabama, Daniels averaged 19.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.
For Pettway, developing that freshman class will be central to sustaining the program's success. With three starters gone from last year's team, the Owls will need younger players to grow into larger roles alongside the returning core and incoming transfers.
"That's kind of been the landscape for us," Pettway said. "We've gone out and attracted those really talented freshmen and told them, 'If you pick us, you're coming to get thrown in the fire from day one.' You're not coming here to sit down and watch other people play, you're coming here to get better and eventually be a big part in winning a championship. We want to stay true to our culture."
Looking Ahead
That group opens the season Nov. 2 against Midway, the first of four straight non-conference home games. The Owls then host Austin Peay on Nov. 6, Winthrop on Nov. 10 and LaGrange on Nov. 12.
The first road test will carry added meaning for Pettway. On Nov. 17, Kennesaw State travels to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama, marking his first trip back to his alma mater as a head coach. Pettway helped lead the Crimson Tide to the 2004 Elite Eight before spending 15 seasons on the coaching staff.
The road stretch continues during Thanksgiving week at the Cancun Challenge, where the Owls face Eastern Michigan on Nov. 24 before taking on either Charleston or UTEP on Nov. 25. It will be KSU's first time playing in Mexico and its second trip outside the country in three years, following the 2024 Western Slam in Alberta, Canada.
December brings a pair of regional matchups. KSU visits Georgia State in Atlanta on Dec. 9, the fourth straight season the programs have met. Ten days later, the Owls travel to Tampa for a return game against South Florida, part of a two-year series honoring the memory of Amir Abdur-Rahim, who coached both programs.
The focus then turns to CUSA and the next step toward another championship run. CUSA play opens on New Year's Eve when the Owls host Western Kentucky, the team they beat to begin last season's tournament run. With a returning championship core and newcomers ready to take their place alongside it, Kennesaw State is looking to make another run.
