Ohio Men's Basketball Opens 2026-27 Season Monday at South Alabama

Monday, November 2

Mobile, Ala.

8 p.m. ET

South Alabama

11/1/2026 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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ATHENS, Ohio -- The revamped Ohio men's basketball team (0-0) opens the 2026-27 season on Monday, Nov. 2 when the Bobcats head to Mobile, Ala. to take on South Alabama (0-0) in the 2026-27 MAC-SBC Challenge. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. ET inside the Mitchell Center and can be seen on ESPN+.

The Bobcats' matchup can also be heard on the Ohio Sports Network from Learfield, presented by Holzer Health System. Jason Toy begins his second season on the mic for the Bobcats and will be joined by veteran college basketball analyst Dave Cecutti. WXTQ (Power 105) in Athens returns as the 11-station network's flagship and can be heard on the Varsity Network App.

OPENING TIP
- This is the fourth year of the MAC-SBC Challenge.
- The Bobcats are 1-5 against the Sun Belt in the challenge since it began in 2023-24.
- This is the first ever meeting between Ohio and South Alabama.
- Since 2000, the Bobcats are 21-5 in season openers.
- Ohio is 4-3 in season openers under Boals.
- Ohio returns four from last year's roster who saw valuable minutes including in fifth year guard Jackson Paveletzke, redshirt senior forward Javan Simmons, redshirt sophomore forward Kiir Kuany and redshirt sophomore guard Jesse Burris.
- Ohio also returns redshirt junior guard Carter Reese and redshirt freshman forward Zay Mosley who both did not play during the season.
- The Bobcats welcome three domestic transfers in senior guard Kyler D'Augustino (IU Indy), redshirt junior Kolton Mitchell (Idaho) and redshirt sophomore center Moek Icke (Rhode Island).
- The Bobcats also went overseas, bringing over four international players including graduate student guards Siebe Ledegen (Aalst, Belgium) and Marin Petkov (Skopje, North Macedonia), sophomore forward -Dusan Makitan (Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina) and freshman guard Ché Brogan (Melbourne, Australia).
- Ohio also welcomes true freshmen forwards Jordie Bowens (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) and Christian Trudic (Chagrin Falls, Ohio)
- Ohio was selected fifth in this year's MAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
- Redshirt senior forward Javan Simmons was named to the Preseason All-MAC First Team, while fifth year guard Jackson Paveletzke earned a spot on the Preseason All-MAC Second Team.
- Senior guard Kyler D'Augustino, a native of Albany, Ohio, returns to Southeast Ohio to play for the team he grew up rooting for.

SCOUTING SOUTH ALABAMA
South Alabama finished the 2025-26 season with a 21-12 overall record and 11-7 in the Sun Belt. The Jags fell to Georgia Southern in the SBC Tournament, and then accepted a bit to the NIT where the fell to Auburn in the first round.

Last season, South Alabama averaged 74.4 points a game, while shooting 46.5 percent from the field, 34.8 percent from three and 65.8 percent from the line. The Jags also averaged 35.4 rebounds a game. Meanwhile, opponents averaged 70.1 points a game, while shooting 38.8 percent from the field, 32.7 percent from three and 73.2 percent from the line. Opponents also averaged 36.9 rebounds a game.

South Alabama was picked to finish fourth in the SBC Preseason Poll, earning 136 votes from the league's coaches. Meanwhile, Peyton Law earned Preseason All-Sun Belt First Team honors, while Jalen Langsy earned Preseason All-Sun Belt Second Team recognition.

Law averaged 12.8 points and 6.0 rebounds in 10 starts last season before suffering a season-ending injury. The Calhoun, Ga., native shot 64.7 percent from the field and 75.0 percent at the free-throw line, highlighted by a season-high 29 points on 13-of-15 shooting against Alcorn State.

Langsy arrives at South Alabama after earning NAIA First Team All-America and NABC First Team All-America honors at Northwestern College last season. He averaged 27.3 points per game to rank second nationally, while shooting 51.0 percent from three-point range and 90.9 percent at the free-throw line.

SCOUTING OHIO
Ohio finished last season 15-17 overall and 9-9 in MAC play before falling in the MAC Quarterfinals.

Last season Ohio averaged 77.9 points a game, while shooting 46.1 percent from the field, 30.8 percent from three and 70.6 percent from the line, while adding 33.6 rebounds a game. Meanwhile, Opponents averaged 79.6 points a game, while shooting 46.1 percent from the field, 36.2 percent from three and 72.8 percent from the line, while adding 36.1 rebounds a game.

Ohio returns four from last year's roster who saw valuable minutes including in fifth year guard Jackson Paveletzke, redshirt senior forward Javan Simmons, redshirt sophomore forward Kiir Kuany and redshirt sophomore guard Jesse Burris.

Ohio also returns redshirt junior guard Carter Reese and redshirt freshman forward Zay Mosley who both did not play during the season.

The Bobcats welcome three domestic transfers in senior guard Kyler D'Augustino (IU Indy), redshirt junior Kolton Mitchell (Idaho) and redshirt sophomore center Moek Icke (Rhode Island).

The Bobcats also went overseas, bringing over four international players including graduate student guards Siebe Ledegen (Aalst, Belgium) and Marin Petkov (Skopje, North Macedonia), sophomore forward Dusan Makitan (Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina) and freshman guard Ché Brogan (Melbourne, Australia).

Ohio also welcomes true freshmen forwards Jordie Bowens (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) and Christian Trudic(Chagrin Falls, Ohio).

Ohio was selected to fifth in this year's MAC Preseason Poll, while Simmons earned Preseason All-MAC First Team Honors and Paveletzke earned a spot on the Preseason All-MAC Second Team.

ALL-TIME IN THE MAC-SBC CHALLENGE
This is the fourth year of the MAC-SBC Challenge.

The Bobcats are 1-5 against the Sun Belt in the challenge since it began in 2023-24.

ALL-TIME AGAINST SOUTH ALABAMA
This is the first ever meeting between Ohio and South Alabama.

J1 RETURNS
Redshirt senior forward Javan Simmons returns to Ohio for his final season.

Simmons enters the season having earned a spot on the Preseason All-MAC First Team.

In his first year in the Green and White, Simmons played and started 31 games for Ohio this season, averaging 27.0 minutes per game. Simmons Averaged 15.1 points and 5.7 rebounds a game, while shooting 53.6 percent from the field, 20 percent from three and 68.5 percent from the line. He also recorded 50 assists, 19 steals and 24 blocks for the Bobcats over the course of the season.

Simmons had 26 double digit scoring games, three double digit rebounding games and three double doubles. Simmons scored a career-high 30 points on March 6 against No. 19 Miami, going 11-of-14 from the field, 2-of-2 from three and 6-of-6 from the line. He also grabbed nine rebounds against the RedHawks in Athens. Simmons scored his 1,000th career point on March 6 against UMass in Athens and earned Mid-American Conference Honorable Mention honors.

PAV IS BACK
Fifth year guard Jackson Paveletzke returns to the Bobcats' roster for the 2026-27 season.

Paveletzke enters the season having earned a spot on the Preseason All-MAC Second Team.

Last season Paveletzke put together the best season of his career. He played and started in 31 games, while averaging 17.3 points a game. He shot 47 percent from the field, 32 percent from three and 80 percent from the line, while averaging 3.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. He had 26 double digit scoring games, 12 20-point games and dished out 11 assists twice this season.

On March 6 in a game against No. 19 Miami, Paveletzke had the game of his career, scoring a career-high 37 points, going 12-of-25 from the field, 3-of-6 from three and 10-of-12 from the line, while dishing out six assists in the overtime thriller.

Paveletzke was named MAC Player of the Week on Jan. 12 and was named Second Team All-MAC, CSC Academic All-District and Academic All-MAC.

WELCOME HOME, KYLER
In the offseason, the Bobcats added hometown transfer Kyler D'Augustino to the roster.

The Albany, Ohio native returns to Southeast Ohio after spending two seasons at DII West Liberty and one season at IU Indy.

D'Augustino spent one season at IU Indy and averaged a team-high 18.5 points per game while also leading the team in minutes played (32.4 mpg) and free throws made (69). He ranked among the Horizon League's top 10 in four categories: scoring (3rd; 18.5 ppg), field goal percentage (6th; .531), minutes (7th; 32.4 mpg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (10th; 1.82 a/to) D'Augustino as named Third Team All-Horizon League and was named to IU Indy's Academic Advisor's List during the fall semester.

Prior to his time in Indianapolis, spent two years at DII West Liberty. In two years he averaged 13.3 points a game, while shooting 48.6 percent from the field, 25.2 percent from three and 78.6 percent from the line, while dishing out 114 assists and grabbing 89 steals. During his sophomore year he was named First Team D2CCA All-Atlantic Region and First Team All-Mountain East Conference (MEC). He helped West Liberty to a 30-5 record and an NCAA Division II Elite Eight finish. During his freshman year, D'Augustino was the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Freshman of the Year and was named to the MEC Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll.

D'Augustino played for Alexander High School where he became the All-Time leading scorer. He was a First-Team All-Ohio Division II selection and ranked among the leading scorers in the state at 27.9 points per game his senior year.

UP NEXT
Ohio returns to Athens for the 2026-27 home opener on Saturday, Nov. 7 when the Bobcats host North Carolina A&T. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. ET inside the Convocation Center and can be seen on ESPN+.

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