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CLEVELAND, Ohio – Four members of the Ohio men's basketball team earned spots on the 2025 Mid-American Conference Postseason Teams, the league announced today (March 12). Senior forward AJ Clayton and junior guard Jackson Paveletzke were named Third Team All-MAC, while graduate student guard Shereef Mitchell was named All-MAC Honorable Mention. Mitchell also earned a spot on the All-Defensive Team, while freshman guard Elijah Elliott was named to the All-Freshman Team. 

This is the second time Clayton (Roseville, Ohio) has earned a spot on an All-MAC team and the first time he has been named All-MAC Third Team. Clayton played and started 28 games for Ohio and finished the regular season as Ohio's leading scorer with 14.2 points a game. He shot 47.7 percent from the field, 37.2 percent from three and 78.7 percent from the line. He averaged a team-high 5.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. In MAC play, Clayton averaged 13.2 points a game and shot 47.8 percent from the field, 38.8 percent from three and 76.1 percent from the line in MAC games. He also grabbed 4.3 rebounds a game and had 23 total blocks on conference games. 

This season, Clayton set a new career-high in points with 34 against Portland on Nov. 22 in the Myrtle Beach Invitational. Then on Jan. 11 against Northern Illinois in the Convo, Clayton scored 31 points in 18 minutes on the floor, going 10-of-12 from the field and hitting a career-high nine three pointers. In that game, Clayton's first three minutes into the game rewarded him his 1,000th career point. This season, Clayton was named the MAC Player of the Week twice, the Lous Henson national Player of the Week and the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week. 

Paveletzke (Kimberly, Wis.) earns a spot on the All-MAC Third Team after his first season in the league. Paveletzke played and started all 31 games for Ohio in his first season in the Green and White and averaged 13.4 points a game. Paveletzke shot 51.2 percent from the field, 32.3 percent from three and 76.3 percent from the line. He averaged 4.1 rebounds and a team-high 4.9 assists per game. In MAC play, Paveletzke averaged 14.4 points a game and shot 57.3 percent from the field, 35.3 percent from three and 75.4 percent from the line. He also added 3.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists a game during the conference season. 

Paveletzke scored in double figures 24 times this season and recorded four double doubles. Paveletzke scored a career-high 28 points at Eastern Michigan on Jan. 21 and recorded his 1,000th career point in Athens on March 4 against Eastern Michigan. At the 2024 Myrtle Beach Invite, Paveletzke recorded 23 assists in three games, recording a new MBI assists record, surpassing the 22 set by Villanova's Collin Gillespie in 2019.

This is the first time Mitchell (Omaha, Neb.) has earned a spot on an All-MAC team, and it is the first time since 2021 that a Bobcat has earned a spot on the All-Defensive Team. Mitchell played in 24 games for the Bobcats, making 17 starts. After missing most of nonconference play due to injury, Mitchell finished the season averaging 13.2 points per game, while shooting 45.3 percent from the field, 39.7 percent from three and 82.8 percent from the line. He added 3.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, while also averaging 1.8 steals a game. In MAC play, Mitchell played in all 18 games, averaging 14.7 points a game, while shooting 42.8 percent from the field, 38.6 percent from three and 84.4 percent from the line, while adding 3.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists per game, while snagging 38 total steals. 

This season, Mitchell scored in double figures 19 times, with four 20-point games. This season, Mitchell scored a career-high 27 points at Akron on Jan. 17, going 9-of-16 from the field, 3-of-6 from three and 6-of-6 from the line. He also scored 25 points at Kent State on Feb. 14, hitting a career-high four three pointers in the game. He also recorded 13 multi-steal games, including four against Miami as recently as March 1 against Miami in Athens. Mitchell also scored his 1,000th career point on March 7 at Toledo. 

Elliott earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team after playing in 29 games and making 13 starts in his first year in Athens. Overall, on the season, Elliott averaged 5.1 points a game, while shooting 43.7 percent from the field, 39.3 percent from three and 61.5 percent from the line. He also added 3.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Elliott entered the starting lineup for the Bobcats on Jan. 24 against Kent State and has not left it. In MAC play, Elliott averaged 6.1 points a game, while shooting 41.9 percent from the field, 40.9 percent from three and 59.0 percent from the line. He added 4.4 rebounds a game, while dishing out 30 total assists. 

Elliott recorded his first career double double on Dec. 30 against Muskingum, scoring 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Elliott also scored 10 points and grabbed five boards at EMU on Jan. 21. He has back-t-back double figure scoring games against Western Michigan and App State, including scoring a career-high 14 points against the Mountaineers on Feb. 8 in Athens. 

Clayton, Paveletzke, Mitchell and Elliott are all back in action for the 2025 MAC Tournament on Thursday, March 13 when the fifth-seeded Bobcats take on No. 4 Toledo. Tip-off is set for around 1:30 p.m. ET inside Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The game can be seen on ESPN+. 

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