2024–25 Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball team

2024–25 Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball
2024–25 Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball
Conference	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Record	2–16 (2–5 MAAC)
Head coach	Jim Christian (1st season);
Assistant coaches	Bill Wuczynski; Herschel Jenkins; Kevin Zabo;
Home arena	Koessler Athletic Center
	Seasons ← 2023–24 2025–26 →

2024–25 MAAC men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Quinnipiac	7	–	1	.875	11	–	8	.579
Marist	6	–	1	.857	13	–	3	.813
Merrimack	6	–	1	.857	9	–	9	.500
Mount St. Mary's	4	–	3	.571	11	–	7	.611
Manhattan	3	–	4	.429	8	–	8	.500
Siena	3	–	4	.429	8	–	10	.444
Fairfield	3	–	4	.429	7	–	11	.389
Rider	3	–	4	.429	7	–	11	.389
Iona	3	–	4	.429	6	–	12	.333
Saint Peter's	2	–	5	.286	7	–	8	.467
Niagara	2	–	5	.286	7	–	11	.389
Sacred Heart	2	–	5	.286	6	–	12	.333
Canisius	2	–	5	.286	2	–	16	.111

† 2025 MAAC tournament winner As of January 18, 2025

The 2024–25 Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball team represents Canisius University during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Golden Griffins, led by first-year head coach Jim Christian, play their home games at the Koessler Athletic Center in Buffalo, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Previous season

The Golden Griffins finished the 2023–24 season 14–18, 8–12 in MAAC play to finish in ninth place.^[1] They defeated Mount St. Mary's^[2] before falling to top-seeded Quinnipiac in the quarterfinals of the MAAC tournament.^[3]

On March 16, 2024, the school announced that they would be parting ways with head coach Reggie Witherspoon, ending his eight-year tenure at the helm.^[4] On March 8, former Boston College head coach and Kent State assistant Jim Christian was named Witherspoon's successor.^[5]

Roster

2024–25 Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	0	Alonso Easterling	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Fr	Peninsula Catholic High School	Fayetteville, North Carolina
G	1	Cam Palesse	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	RS So	Valparaiso	Waukesha, Wisconsin
F	2	TJ Porter	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Georgia Highlands	Atlanta, Georgia
G	3	Anthony Benard	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	So	Mercer	Detroit, Michigan
G	4	William Scott Jr.	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	So	Triton College	Akron, Ohio
G	5	Nicco DiGiulio	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	RS Fr	Williamsville South High School	Williamsville, New York
G	6	Tana Kopa	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	LIU	Perth, Australia
F	7	Dylan Godfrey	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	East Los Angeles College	Newport Beach, California
G	8	Carter Jackson	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Garfield Heights High School	Cleveland, Ohio
F	9	Evan van der Plas	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	BC Triple Threat U-19	Rosmalen, Netherlands
F	11	Tyson Oghene	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Allegany College of Maryland	Malmö, Sweden
F	15	Maji David-Maji	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Jr	SUNY Erie	Kogi, Nigeria
F	24	Jasman Sangha	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	GS	Cal State Northridge	Brampton, Ontario
F	33	Gianni Thompson	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jr	UMass	Dorchester, Massachusetts
G	34	Paul McMillan IV	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jr	Central Michigan	Cincinnati, Ohio

Head coach

Jim Christian (Rhode Island)

Assistant coach(es)

Bill Wuczynski (UNLV)
Herschel Jenkins (Staten Island)
Kevin Zabo (Kent State)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: November 10, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 4, 2024* 10:00 pm, ESPN+	at No. 10 Arizona	L 64–93	0–1	McKale Center (13,597) Tucson, AZ
November 9, 2024* 4:00 pm, ESPN+	St. Bonaventure	L 78–87	0–2	Koessler Athletic Center (1,904) Buffalo, NY
November 13, 2024* 7:00 pm, NEC Front Row	at Mercyhurst	L 52–62	0–3	Owen McCormick Court (987) Erie, PA
November 16, 2024* 3:00 pm	vs. SIU Edwardsville Bronco Classic	L 58–76	0–4	University Arena (186) Kalamazoo, MI
November 17, 2024* 12:00 pm, ESPN+	at Western Michigan Bronco Classic	L 69–92	0–5	University Arena (1,406) Kalamazoo, MI
November 19, 2024* 7:00 pm, B1G+	at Maryland	L 37–108	0–6	Xfinity Center (9,485) College Park, MD
November 23, 2024* 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Brown	L 76–83	0–7	Koessler Athletic Center (953) Buffalo, NY
November 27, 2024* 4:00 pm, ESPN+	at Robert Morris	L 64–72	0–8	UPMC Events Center Moon Township, PA
December 6, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Merrimack	L 52–60	0–9 (0–1)	Koessler Athletic Center (755) Buffalo, NY
December 8, 2024 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Siena	L 53–66	0–10 (0–2)	Koessler Athletic Center (816) Buffalo, NY
December 14, 2024* 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Maine	L 79–84	0–11	Koessler Athletic Center (830) Buffalo, NY
December 18, 2024* 8:00 pm, Marquee/ESPN+	at Loyola Chicago	L 60–72	0–12	Joseph J. Gentile Arena (1,965) Chicago, IL
December 21, 2024* 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Bradley	L 59–92	0–13	Carver Arena (5,002) Peoria, IL
January 5, 2025 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Sacred Heart	L 82–99	0–14 (0–3)	William H. Pitt Center (682) Fairfield, CT
January 10, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Rider	W 85–67	1–14 (1–3)	Koessler Athletic Center (711) Buffalo, NY
January 12, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Saint Peter's	L 49–62	1–15 (1–4)	Koessler Athletic Center (457) Buffalo, NY
January 16, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Iona	L 61–82	1–16 (1–5)	Hynes Athletics Center (1,369) New Rochelle, NY
January 18, 2025 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Fairfield	W 78–67	2–16 (2–5)	Leo D. Mahoney Arena (2,020) Fairfield, CT
January 23, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Sacred Heart			Koessler Athletic Center Buffalo, NY
January 25, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Marist			Koessler Athletic Center Buffalo, NY
January 31, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Niagara Battle of the Bridge			Koessler Athletic Center Buffalo, NY
February 6, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Quinnipiac			M&T Bank Arena Hamden, CT
February 8, 2025 3:00 pm, ESPN+	at Merrimack			Hammel Court North Andover, MA
February 12, 2025 6:30 pm, ESPN+	at Niagara Battle of the Bridge			Gallagher Center Lewiston, NY
February 16, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Mount St. Mary's			Koessler Athletic Center Buffalo, NY
February 21, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Marist			McCann Arena Poughkeepsie, NY
February 23, 2025 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Siena			MVP Arena Albany, NY
February 28, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Manhattan			Koessler Athletic Center Buffalo, NY
March 2, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Iona			Koessler Athletic Center Buffalo, NY
March 6, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Rider			Alumni Gymnasium Lawrenceville, NJ
March 8, 2025 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Saint Peter's			Run Baby Run Arena Jersey City, NJ
MAAC tournament
March 11–15, 2025 ESPN+	vs.			Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, NJ
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Sources:^[6]^[7]

References

^ "2023-24 Men's Basketball Standings". Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
^ "Canisius beats Mount St. Mary's in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament 77-61". USA Today. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
^ "Paul Otieno's 'impressive' night helps lead men's basketball to all-around postseason victory against Canisius". The Quinnipiac Chronicle. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
^ "Canisius announces Witherspoon will not return as men's basketball coach". Spectrum News 1 Buffalo. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
^ "Canisius hires former Boston College coach Jim Christian to take over men's basketball program". AP News. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
^ "2024-25 Men's Basketball Schedule". Canisius University Athletics. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
^ "Canisius Golden Griffins 2024-25 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved November 10, 2024.

[1] "2023-24 Men's Basketball Standings". Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Retrieved November 10, 2024.

[2] "Canisius beats Mount St. Mary's in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament 77-61". USA Today. Retrieved November 10, 2024.

[3] "Paul Otieno's 'impressive' night helps lead men's basketball to all-around postseason victory against Canisius". The Quinnipiac Chronicle. Retrieved November 10, 2024.

[4] "Canisius announces Witherspoon will not return as men's basketball coach". Spectrum News 1 Buffalo. Retrieved November 10, 2024.

[5] "Canisius hires former Boston College coach Jim Christian to take over men's basketball program". AP News. Retrieved November 10, 2024.

[6] "2024-25 Men's Basketball Schedule". Canisius University Athletics. Retrieved November 10, 2024.

[7] "Canisius Golden Griffins 2024-25 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved November 10, 2024.

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v t e Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball
Venues	Broadway Auditorium (1936–1939) Buffalo Memorial Auditorium (1940–1995) Marine Midland Arena (1996–1998) Koessler Center (1999–present)
Rivalries	Niagara
Culture & lore	Petey "Canisius, Blue and Gold"
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25