WKU Basketball 2025-26 Roster Tracker
Tracking the arrivals and departures from the WKU Basketball roster ahead of the 2025-26 season.
The 2024-25 season mercifully came to an end on March 11th as the Hilltoppers were unceremoniously bounced in the first round of the CUSA Tournament. WKU Head Coach Hank Plona’s debut didn’t go as planned as an injury riddled roster struggled to a 17-15 finish that leaves a lot of question marks moving forward. The main question that will need to be answered is the inevitable roster turnover that is now commonplace in modern college basketball.
With NCAA eligibility rules in flux (see notes below) there is potential for a lot of the roster to come back, but with how the season played out, we can anticipate the potential for a huge overhaul. Players will explore their options (NIL offers & playing time), and the majority could very possibly be playing elsewhere in the fall of 2025. Compared to last offseason, there will be a more significant roster overhaul as Plona looks to return WKU into a conference contender. Based on comments by Todd Stewart and recent offers, I would expect a heavy mix of JUCO and Division II transfers as Plona looks to find overlooked players to fix issues of depth of size and shooting that plagued the program in his debut season.
Here is where the roster currently stands on March 21st….
6/10/25 Update- With announcement of signing of LJ Hackman, it appears that 2025-26 roster is now full. Barring a last second addition prior to October it appears that these will be the players that Hank Plona is rolling with during his second season. We will update one last time when the roster is updated on WKUSports.com
Note: We’ll update as each roster move happens. This is a living document.
Scholarship Players That Are Eligible to Return (5)
Guard- Terrion Murdix ^-Senior
Center- Leeroy Odiahi*- Senior
Forward- Blaise Keita -Senior
Forward - Teagan Moore-Sophomore
Forward- Kade Unseld- Freshman
This list is in a lot of flux as the Diego Pavia Juco eligibility court ruling has opened up the potential for any player that played in Junior College to gain back those years of eligibility back. There are also several players that were out the entire season (or partial season i.e. Faye) that will be eligible for a medical redshirt. Denotations below but we expect most of these players to not be back in 2025-26. One thing to note, 13 players partook in the Senior Day festivities. While not 100 percent true that guarantees their departure, it definitely means many could have a foot out the door.
*Former Juco player that could come back due to Pavia ruling
^Could come back due to potential injury redshirt
Potential Returning Walk-On’s (3)
Forward - Jaylen Dorsey-Senior
Guard- Jack Edelen-Junior*
*Edelen has been a walk-on for the Hilltoppers his first two years. Of note, new rules could mean rosters will have a cap of 15 spots for the team (scholarships + walk-ons) so it will be interesting how Plona will utilize all spots moving forward.
Signees (9)
Entered the transfer portal (7)
Guard- Braxton Bayless* -Senior (transferring to Arkansas-Little Rock)
Forward/Center - Fallou Diagne^-Senior (transferring to Southern Miss)
Forward - Tyrone Marshall*-Senior (transferring to George Washington)
Forward- Babacar Faye ^-Senior (transferring to Utah)
Guard- Enoch Kalambay* - Senior (transferring to Campbell)
Guard- Julius Thedford- Freshman (transferring to Memphis)
Guard- Don McHenry *- Senior (transferring to Utah)
Departing Seniors (3)
Guard - Tyler Olden*
*Denotes walk-on player that didn’t count towards scholarship numbers
There is a lot of uncertainty with the WKU program/roster in the new NIL/Revenue sharing era of college basketball. Let’s hope that Plona’s experience in Junior College helps him field the most competitive roster possible. In a world that constantly turned over the roster every one to two years, perhaps his experience in this new transfer happy world of college athletics will give him some much needed experience in a key area. We’ll be sure to update you every step of the way as he looks to recapture the magic of a proud basketball program.
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