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ATHENS, Ohio -- The new-look Ohio men's basketball team (0-0) opens the 2022-23 regular season on Monday, Nov. 7 when they head to Nashville, Tenn. to take on Belmont (0-0). Tip-off is set for 7:30 ET.  The Bobcats matchup will be seen on ESPN+, where Steve Layman, Greg Sage and Emily Proud will be on the call. 

The Bobcats' matchup can also be heard on the Ohio Sports Network from Learfield. Russ Eisenstein returns for his 15th season as the "Voice of the Bobcats" and will be joined by Ohio alum Rob Cornelius, who has been a part of the broadcasts for two decades. WXTQ (Power 105) in Athens returns as the 11-station network's flagship.  

STORYLINES
• Ohio is coming off a 79-62 victory over Capital in an exhibition on Thursday, Nov. 3. 
• This is the fourth all-time meeting between Ohio and Belmont.
• Ohio and Belmont met in last season's opener, with the Bobcats defeating the Bruins, 92-80 inside the Convo. 
• Belmont leads the all-time series with Ohio, 2-1. 
• Ohio finished last season 25-10, with its 25 wins the fourth-most in program history. 
• Ohio welcomes nine newcomers to the roster for the season, including transfers Jaylin Hunter, DeVon Baker and Gabe Wiznitzer.
• Ohio also adds six freshmen to this year's roster. 
• Ohio returns three members of the 2021 NACC Tournament team, with Ben Roderick, Miles Brown and Dwight Wilson III back in the Green and White. 
• Dwight Wilson III returns to Ohio after missing all of 2021-22 with a knee injury. 
• The Bobcats also return three sophomores from last season's roster, AJ Clayton, Olumide Adelodun and IJ Ezuma. 
• Ohio enters the season losing its top three scorers from last season. 
• In total, the Bobcats return only three that saw significant playing time last year, while losing 10 to graduation and the transfer portal. 
• Ohio spent nine days in Spain in August for its foreign tour. While there, Ohio played three games against a Spain Select team that was comprised of Spanish professional players. 
• Ohio was picked to finish fifth in the 2022 MAC Coaches Poll. 

SCOUTING BELMONT
Last season Belmont went 25-8 last season and earned an at-large bid to the Postseason NIT. 

Belmont lost seven of its top eight scorers from last year's team, most notably program legends Grayson Murphy - the all-time leader in assists and steals in Ohio Valley Conference history - and Nick Muszynski. 

Belmont returns leading scorer and Preseason All-MVC selection, senior guard Ben Sheppard.

SCOUTING OHIO
Under fourth-year head coach Jeff Boals, The Bobcats are coming off a 25-10 season and a 14-6 mark in conference play. Ohio advanced to the MAC Semifinals and then advanced into the second round of the 2022 CBI in Daytona Beach, Fla. 
 
The Bobcats return six from last season's roster including graduate student forward Dwight Wilson III (Tallahassee, Fla.) who is back after missing last season with a knee injury. Seniors Miles Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) and Ben Roderick (Powell, Ohio) and sophomores AJ Clayton (Roseville, Ohio), IJ Ezuma (Raleigh, N.C.) and Olumide Adelodun (Calgary, Canada) also return for the Green and White. 
 
Ohio welcomes nine newcomers to the roster that includes transfers Jaylin Hunter (Manchester, Conn.), Gabe Wiznitzer (Walhalla, S.C.) and DeVon Baker (Dayton, Ohio). Ohio also adds freshmen AJ Brown (Orlando, Fla.), Ajay Sheldon (Dublin, Ohio), Elmore James (Cleveland, Ohio), Aidan Hadaway (Lafayette, Ga.), Ben Estis (Southlake, Texas) and Quinn Corna (Columbus, Ohio).
 
The Bobcats were selected to finish fifth in this year's MAC Preseason Poll, which was released on Oct. 26. 
 
The Bobcats enter the season with a challenging nonconference slate starting at Belmont. The Bobcats will also face off with Cleveland State, Marshall, Michigan, Florida, and Delaware before kicking off MAC play in January. 

ALL TIME VS. BELMONT
This is the fourth all-time meeting between Ohio and Belmont.

Ohio and Belmont met is last season's opener, with the Bobcats defeating the Bruins, 92-80 inside the Convo. 

Belmont leads the all-time series with Ohio, 2-1. 

LAST TIME VS. BELMONT
Ohio and Belmont met is last season's opener, with the Bobcats defeating the Bruins, 92-80 inside the Convo.

Mark Sears finished with 27 points on 10-for-11 shooting, with six rebounds and four assists. Jason Carter contributed 20, Ben Vander Plas had 19, and Miles Brown scored 10. Carter led the rebounding effort with 10, while Vander Plas dished out seven assists.

LAST TIME OUT
The Ohio men's basketball team returned to the Convocation Center Thursday night (Nov. 3), defeating Capital, 79-62 in an exhibition. 
 
Overall, Ohio was led by junior guard Jaylin Hunter (Manchester, Conn.) with 15 points and five rebounds, followed by sophomore forward AJ Clayton (Roseville, Ohio) with 14 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Senior forward Ben Roderick (Powell, Ohio) added 13 points and went 5-of-8 from the field, while senior guard DeVon Baker (Dayton, Ohio) added 10 points. Graduate student Dwight Wilson III (Tallahassee, Fla.) returned to the Convo with nine points and 10 rebounds. 
 
As a team, Ohio shot 43 percent from the field, nine percent from three and 59 percent from the line, while Capital shot 38 percent from the field, 38 percent from three and 58 percent from the line. Ohio outrebounded Capital 48-33 and Ohio forced 23 turnovers, scoring 23 points off them. 
 
The Bobcats also registered six blocks, 15 steals and 16 assists. 

RODERICK, BROWN RETURN
Seniors Miles Brown and Ben Roderick are back for their fourth season with the Bobcats. 

Last season, Brown Played and started in 33 games and averaged 29.8 minutes a game. He finished the season averaging 6.9 points a game and added 2.5 rebounds while shooting .424 from the field, .382 from three and .750 from the line. Grabbed 31 steals and scored a career-high 19 points against Concordia (Mich.) on Nov. 26. He recorded his first career double double on Feb 12 at EMU where he scored 15 points and grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds and scored in double figures nine times during the season.

Meanwhile, Roderick played and started in 33 games last season and averaged 24.7 minutes a game. He averaged 6.8 points and 3.1 rebounds a game and shot .344 from the field, .222 from three and .627 from the line. He scored a season-high 19 points against EMU on Feb. 8 and grabbed a season-high seven rebounds three times and was named Academic All-MAC. 

DWIII RETURNS
Dwight Wilson III returns to the lineup after missing all of 2021-22 with a knee injury. 

In 2020-21, Wilson III was important to Ohio's NCAA Tournament run. Wilson III Played and started in 23 games for the Bobcats. He led team with 7.6 rebounds per game and was second in scoring with 14.4 points per game. Had team-high shooting percentage with 64.4% from the field, setting a new single season field goal percentage record for the Bobcats, breaking the mark previously held by Gary Trent. He recorded five double-doubles including 24 points and 12 rebounds at Marshall on Dec. 13 and scored career-high 25 points in win on Jan. 5 against Northern Illinois. 

He was named to All-MAC Third Team and Academic All-MAC.

OTHER KEY RETURNERS
AJ CLAYTON: Played in 34 games for the Bobcats, averaging 9.9 minutes a game…Averaged 3.3 points a game, while shooting 42.6 percent from the field, 38.2 percent from three and 50 percent from the line…He added 2.0 rebounds a game…Scored his first career points with a three on Nov. 9 against Belmont…Scored a career-high 12 points and went 4-for-7 from the field and 3-for-6 from three against Bowling Green on Jan. 11…Scored 11 points against Abilene Christian on March 21…Grabbed a career-high five rebounds twice…Hit two threes in both games at Kentucky and LSU. 

IJ EZUMA: Played in 28 games while making one start…Averaged 6.7 minutes a game…Averaged 1.6 points and 1.2 rebounds…Shot .447 from the field and was 10-of21 from the line…Made his first career appearance on Nov. 22 against Mount St. Mary's…Scored his first career points on Nov. 26 against Concordia (Mich.)…Scored a career-high six points on Feb. 1 against Ball State…Grabbed a career-high four rebounds on Feb. 22 against CMU…Made his first career start on Nov. 15 against Miami. 

OLU ADELODUN: Played in 13 games and averaged 3.0 minutes a game…scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds…Scored first career points with a made three against Ball State on Feb. 1 in Athens…Also grabbed a career-high three rebounds in the same game against Ball State.

BOBCATS ADD THREE TRANSFERS:
Ohio added three transfers to the roster in 2022-23. Senior DeVon Baker comes to Ohio from Tulane, while junior Jaylin Hunter played two years at Old Dominion and junior Gabe Wiznitzer played two seasons at Louisville.

BAKER: Played one season at Tulane and three seasons at UNC Asheville. At Asheville, made 64 starts in 70 total games while averaging 15.9 points on 43 percent shooting from the floor including 96-of-286 (.336) beyond the 3-point arc...Crossed the 1,000-point threshold for his career during his sophomore year...Was a two-time Preseason All-Big South First Team selection in 2019 and 2020 after being named to the league's all-freshman team in 2019

At Tulane, Played in 26 games while starting in seven for the Green Wave… Averaged 6.2 points per game shooting .399 from the field… Scored in double figures eight times in 2022

HUNTER: Spent two seasons at Old Dominion. In his career, Hunter has played in 84 games while making 34 starts while averaging 22.5 minutes a game. He's averages 6.3 points and 2.4 rebounds, while shooting .389 from the field, .300 from three and .814 from the line. He has also dished out a career total 184 assists and grabbed 85 steals. 

Last season, played in and started all 32 games last season for Old Dominion, while averaging 34.5 minutes per game. A team captain for Old Dominion, Hunter averaged 9.7 points to go along with 4.0 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game.

WIZNITZER: Spent two seasons at Louisville. During his first season with the Cardinals, Wiznitzer planned to redshirt, however took the opportunity of the extra year of eligibility to play. During that season, Wiznitzer saw action in 12 games and averaged 5.7 minutes a game and 1.3 rebounds. Last season, Wiznitzer played in five games and averaged 6.2 minutes a game before dealing with a wrist injury.

Averaged 14.2 points and 10.1 rebounds a game, while shooting 42 percent from three-point range on the postgraduate team for Hargrave Military Academy. That season, Hargrave achieved a 37-4 record and reached the semifinals of the national prep championship.

OHIO ADDS FOUR SCHOLARSHIP FRESHMEN:
The Bobcats added four scholarship freshmen to the roster for 2022-23. 

AJ Brown, a 6'4 4 Star wing from Orlando, Fla. signs with the Bobcats as a freshman for the 2022-2023 Season. Brown is ranked as the #19 SG in the country according to ESPN and is the Bobcats highest ever signed recruit since D.J. Cooper in 2009. Brown also had offers from Texas A&M, Penn State, and Clemson.

Aidan Hadaway, a 6'8 forward from Lafayette, Ga. signs with the Bobcats as a freshman for the 2022-2023. Hadaway is ranked as the #30 Small Forward in the country according to Rivals. Hadaway also had offers from Georgia and Belmont.

Elmore James IV, a 6'3 guard from Cleveland, Ohio signs with the Bobcats as a freshman for the 2022-2023 Season. James also had offers from North Texas, Tulane, Toledo, and Kent State.

Ajay Sheldon, a 6'1 point guard from Dublin, Ohio signs with the Bobcats as a freshman for the 2022-2023. Sheldon also had offers from Elon and Furman.

OTHER ROSTER ADDS
The Bobcats also added two walk-ons to the roster for the season. Guards Ben Estis and Quinn Corner join Ohio this season. 

MAC PRESEASON POLL
The Ohio men's basketball team was selected to finish fifth in 2022-23 Mid-American Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.

Ohio earned 91 points and no first-place votes and was slated to finish behind Kent State (135) with six first-place votes, Toledo (131) and four first-place votes, Akron (127) with two first-place picks and Ball State (94). Buffalo was picked to finish just behind the Bobcats with 82 votes. 
 
Meanwhile, Eastern Michigan (68), Western Michigan (66), Bowling Green (42), Central Michigan (38), Miami (36) and Northern Illinois (26) wrapped up the remainder of the league. 

Kent State (4) was selected to win the 2023 MAC Tournament, followed by Toledo (3), Akron (2), EMU (1) and WMU (1).

NEW YEAR, SAME STAFF
The Bobcats return all of it's coaching staff from last season. Lamar Thornton and Kyle Barlow are back for year four, while Lee Martin is back for his third season. 

UP NEXT
Ohio opens the 2022-23 home slate on Saturday, Nov. 12 when they host Cleveland State. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. inside the Convocation Center. 

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