Eastern Wayne Today

The Wayne State University men's basketball team will begin its 2025-26 season with two consecutive home games at the WSU Fieldhouse. The Warriors are scheduled to face Michigan-Dearborn from the NAIA on Friday at 4 p.m., followed by a matchup against Ashland of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) on Sunday at 2 p.m.

This marks the first time since the 2017-18 season that Wayne State has started its campaign with multiple home games.

Head coach Bryan Smothers, a Wayne State alumnus and Hall of Famer, is entering his fourth season leading the program. Smothers holds an overall record of 37-46, including a 23-33 mark in league play. Last season, he guided the team to a 15-14 overall record and an 11-9 finish in GLIAC competition, resulting in a second consecutive conference tournament appearance—the first such streak since 2017-18. The Warriors ended their previous season with three wins in their last four regular-season games before being eliminated by Ferris State in the conference tournament quarterfinals.

Returning players include senior forward Kelvin Tamakloe, who started 22 out of 28 appearances last year and averaged 3.9 points and 3.8 rebounds per game; senior forward Carlos Paul III, who is the top returning scorer with averages of 10.4 points and 4.7 rebounds; and junior guard Jordan Briggs, expected to start at point guard after averaging 8.1 points over 29 games last season. Graduate guard Jon Brantley and redshirt sophomore guard Adam Ayrault also return.

The roster features eight newcomers: two freshmen and six transfers. Coaching staff changes include Will Vergollo's promotion to Associate Head Coach and Gjon Djokaj joining as third assistant.

Wayne State's schedule includes 27 games—25 within NCAA’s Midwest Region—with 20 GLIAC matchups and 15 home contests at Wayne State Fieldhouse. At the end of regular season play, the top eight teams in the conference will qualify for the GLIAC Tournament starting March 4.

Michigan-Dearborn enters Friday’s game under first-year head coach Mo Bazzi with a record of 1-3 overall and winless in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play so far this season. Junior Jackson Reynolds leads Michigan-Dearborn with an average of 23.3 points per game, while graduate Luc Laketa adds another double-digit scoring presence along with being the team’s leading rebounder.

Ashland is led by John Ellenwood, now in his seventeenth year as head coach and holding a career record of 275-175—the most wins in program history. Ashland was projected to finish second out of twelve teams in this year's G-MAC preseason poll. The Eagles return both All-G-MAC selections from last year: senior Maceo Williams (last year’s G-MAC Player of the Year) averaged over twenty points per game along with nearly nine rebounds; Cooper Davis contributed almost thirteen points per contest.

In the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Preseason Coaches' Poll released October 22, Wayne State was picked to finish seventh among eleven teams.