2023–24 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team represented Northern Illinois University in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Huskies were led by third-year head coach Rashon Burno.^[1] They played their home games at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Illinois as members of the Mid-American Conference.^[2][3] They finished the season 11–20, 5–13 in MAC play to finish in 11th place.^[4] They failed to qualify for the MAC tournament

2023–24 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	11–20 (5–13 MAC)
Head coach	Rashon Burno (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Shane Southwell Drew Gladstone Drew Kelly
Home arena	Convocation Center
Seasons ← 2022–23 2024–25 →

2023–24 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Toledo	14	–	4		.778			20	–	12		.625
Akron †	13	–	5		.722			24	–	11		.686
Ohio	13	–	5		.722			20	–	13		.606
Central Michigan	12	–	6		.667			18	–	14		.563
Bowling Green	10	–	8		.556			20	–	14		.588
Western Michigan	9	–	9		.500			12	–	20		.375
Miami (OH)	9	–	9		.500			15	–	17		.469
Kent State	8	–	10		.444			17	–	17		.500
Ball State	7	–	11		.389			15	–	16		.484
Eastern Michigan	6	–	12		.333			13	–	18		.419
Northern Illinois	5	–	13		.278			11	–	20		.355
Buffalo	2	–	16		.111			4	–	27		.129
† 2024 MAC tournament winner

Previous season

Main article: 2022–23 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team

The Huskies finished the 2022–23 season 13–19 and 9–9 in the MAC to finish a tie for sixth place.^[5] As the seventh seed in the MAC tournament they lost to Kent State in the first round.^[6]

Offseason

Departures

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason
Taku Youngblood	1	G	6'2"	185	Freshman	Yokohama, Japan	Entered Transfer Portal
Kaleb Thornton	3	G	6'0"	175	Junior	Bolingbrook, Illinois	Transferred to Akron
Darweshi Hunter	24	G	6'5"	200	Freshman	Cincinnati, Ohio	Transferred to Miami (OH)
Drew Wiemers	25	F	6'4"	200	Senior	Coal Valley, Illinois
Armandas Plintauskas	41	G	6'4"	185	Freshman	Kėdainiai, Lithuania	Transferred to Merrimack
Anthony Crump	50	G	6'8"	215	Senior	Inkster, Michigan	Transferred to Western Michigan

^[7][8][9]

Incoming transfers

Incoming Transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Philmon Gebrewhit	5	G	6'8"	185	Senior	Boston, Massachusetts	Transferred from DePaul
Ethan Butler	15	G	6'7"	205	Sophomore	Toronto, Ontario	Transferred from Oregon
Quaran McPherson	24	G	6'4"	197	Sophomore	Queens, NY	Transferred from Nebraska

^[7][8]

Recruiting class

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Will Lovings-Watts G	Jefferson, Indiana	Putnam Science	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    (80)
Nasir Muhammad G	Brooklyn, NY	Xaverian	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Apr 18, 2023
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    (NR)
Leo Amari G	Sherman Oaks, California	Viewpoint	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    (NR)
Luka Gogic F	Belgrade, Serbia	IMG Academy	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    (NR)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2023 Team Ranking". Rivals.

Roster

2023–24 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Keshawn Williams 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Tulsa Chicago Heights, IL G 1 Will Lovings-Watts 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Putnam Science Jefferson, Indiana G 2 Zarique Nutter 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Clarendon College Newark, NJ G 3 Nasir Muhammad 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Xaverian Brooklyn, NY F 4 Oluwasegun Durosinmi 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr St. Bonaventure Lagos, Nigeria G 5 Philmon Gebrewhit 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr DePaul Boston, MA G 10 Zion Russell 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr National Christian Academy Upper Marlboro, MD G 11 David Coit 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Atlantic Cape Community College Columbus, NJ F 13 Xavier Amos 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Whitney Young Chicago, IL F 14 Yanic Konan Niederhäuser 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Ursping Fraschels, Switzerland F 15 Ethan Butler 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Oregon Toronto, ON G 20 Leo Amari IV 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Viewpoint Sherman Oaks, CA F 21 Luka Gogic 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr IMG Academy Belgrade, Serbia G 21 Steve Tipton 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 155 lb (70 kg) So Brookfield Central High School Brookfield, WI F 23 Harvin Ibarguen 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Seward County Community College Cali, Colombia G 24 Quaran McPherson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 197 lb (89 kg) So Nebraska Queens, NY	Head coach Rashon Burno (DePaul) Assistant coach(es) Shane Southwell (Kansas State) Drew Gladstone (DePaul) Drew Kelly (Villanova) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 1, 2023* 7:00 p.m.		Illinois Wesleyan	W 81–64	–	16 – Konan Niederhauser	9 – Amos	3 – Tied	Convocation Center (387) DeKalb, IL
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2023* 7:30 p.m., FS1		at No. 5 Marquette	L 70–92	0–1	14 – Coit	11 – Konan Niederhauser	3 – Tied	Fiserv Forum (16,352) Milwaukee, WI
November 11, 2023* 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		Appalachian State MAC-SBC Challenge	W 91–78	1–1	27 – Coit	6 – Nutter	6 – Coit	Convocation Center (1,071) DeKalb, IL
November 13, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Illinois Tech	W 107–55	2–1	19 – Lovings-Watts	7 – Konan Niederhauser	5 – Coit	Convocation Center (596) DeKalb, IL
November 17, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Georgia State Capitol Challenge	W 70–64	3–1	22 – Nutter	9 – Ibarguen	5 – Coit	GSU Convocation Center (1,337) Atlanta, GA
November 18, 2023* 1:00 p.m.		vs. Little Rock Capitol Challenge	W 98–93	4–1	21 – Amos	8 – Coit	6 – Coit	GSU Convocation Center (1,188) Atlanta, GA
November 25, 2023* 8:00 p.m., FS2		at DePaul	W 89–79	5–1	34 – Coit	8 – Amos	4 – Gebrewhit	Wintrust Arena (2,745) Chicago, IL
November 27, 2023* 7:00 p.m., BTN+		at Northwestern	L 67–89	5–2	26 – Amos	7 – Amos	6 – Nutter	Welsh–Ryan Arena (4,564) Evanston, IL
December 5, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Indiana State	L 67–90	5–3	13 – Coit	6 – Amos	2 – Coit	Convocation Center (1,242) DeKalb, IL
December 9, 2023* 1:00 p.m.		at Monmouth	L 71–74	5–4	21 – Tied	11 – Amos	4 – Coit	OceanFirst Bank Center (1,722) West Long Branch, NJ
December 18, 2023* 7:30 p.m., ESPN+		Calumet College	W 92–48	6–4	23 – Lovings-Watts	10 – Tied	3 – Coit	Convocation Center (747) DeKalb, IL
December 21, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Northern Iowa	L 63–76	6–5	17 – Coit	8 – Konan Niederhauser	3 – Coit	Convocation Center (803) DeKalb, IL
December 29, 2023* 6:00 p.m., BTN+		at Iowa	L 74–103	6–6	23 – Coit	5 – Tied	3 – Tied	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (11,846) Iowa City, IA
MAC regular season
January 2, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Akron	L 51–73	6–7 (0–1)	21 – Coit	7 – Ibarguen	2 – Ibarguen	Convocation Center (917) DeKalb, IL
January 6, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Ohio	L 66–78	6–8 (0–2)	22 – Amos	7 – Amos	3 – Tied	Convocation Center (3,802) Athens, OH
January 9, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Western Michigan	L 90–95 OT	6–9 (0–3)	32 – Coit	13 – Ibarguen	10 – Coit	University Arena (1,339) Kalamazoo, MI
January 13, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		Bowling Green	L 72–83	6–10 (0–4)	27 – Coit	8 – Amos	3 – Gebrewhit	Convocation Center (1,041) DeKalb, IL
January 16, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Kent State	L 76–83	6–11 (0–5)	20 – Amos	5 – Butler	4 – Coit	Convocation Center (809) DeKalb, IL
January 23, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Toledo	L 73–89	6–12 (0–6)	23 – Coit	6 – Nutter	3 – Coit	Convocation Center (1,534) DeKalb, IL
January 27, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Ball State	L 71–81	6–13 (0–7)	25 – Coit	8 – Amos	3 – Tied	Worthen Arena (4,010) Muncie, IN
January 30, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Central Michigan	L 77–84 2OT	6–14 (0–8)	25 – Amos	11 – Ibarguen	3 – Russell	McGuirk Arena (1,520) Mount Pleasant, MI
February 3, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		Eastern Michigan	W 76–66	7–14 (1–8)	19 – Amos	7 – Tied	5 – Nutter	Convocation Center (1,537) DeKalb, IL
February 6, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Miami (OH)	W 62–59	8–14 (2–8)	22 – Nutter	12 – Amos	2 – Tied	Millett Hall (2,242) Oxford, OH
February 10, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at South Alabama MAC-SBC Challenge	L 66–75	8–15	16 – Amos	10 – Nutter	4 – Tied	Mitchell Center (1,539) Mobile, AL
February 13, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Buffalo	W 72–68	9–15 (3–8)	25 – Amos	12 – Nutter	2 – Tied	Convocation Center (1,425) DeKalb, IL
February 17, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Kent State	L 47–85	9–16 (3–9)	17 – Butler	5 – Butler	3 – Coit	MAC Center (2,894) Kent, OH
February 20, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Ball State	L 63–70	9–17 (3–10)	28 – Coit	10 – Tied	2 – Tied	Convocation Center (1,317) DeKalb, IL
February 24, 2024 3:30 p.m., ESPN+		Ohio	L 59–80	9–18 (3–11)	27 – Coit	6 – Tied	2 – Tied	Convocation Center (2,886) DeKalb, IL
February 27, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Toledo	W 75–72	10–18 (4–11)	27 – Coit	10 – Lovings-Watts	5 – Tied	Savage Arena (4,692) Toledo, OH
March 2, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Akron	L 73–80	10–19 (4–12)	35 – Coit	7 – Tied	3 – Tied	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,331) Akron, OH
March 5, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Central Michigan	L 63–69	10–20 (4–13)	27 – Konan Niederhauser	8 – Konan Niederhauser	4 – Coit	Convocation Center (1,399) DeKalb, IL
March 8, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Buffalo	W 78–68	11–20 (5–13)	37 – Coit	11 – Tied	6 – Coit	Alumni Arena (2,416) Buffalo, NY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source^[10][11]