2022–23 Kennesaw State Owls men's basketball team

The 2022–23 Kennesaw State Owls men's basketball team represented Kennesaw State University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Owls, led by fourth-year head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, played their home games at the KSU Convocation Center in Kennesaw, Georgia as members of the ASUN Conference. They finished the season with 26–9, 15–3 in ASUN play to earn a share of the regular season championship. As the No. 1 seed in the ASUN tournament, the Owls defeated Queens, Lipscomb, and Liberty to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, the school's first-ever trip to the tournament. As the No. 14 seed in the Midwest region, they lost in the first round to Xavier.

2022–23 Kennesaw State Owls men's basketball
ASUN regular season and tournament champions
NCAA tournament, First Round
ConferenceASUN Conference
Record26–9 (15–3 ASUN)
Head coach
Associate head coachBen Fletcher
Assistant coaches
Home arenaKSU Convocation Center
Seasons
2022–23 ASUN men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Kennesaw State 15 3   .833 26 9   .743
Liberty 15 3   .833 27 9   .750
Eastern Kentucky 12 6   .667 23 14   .622
Stetson 12 6   .667 17 14   .548
Lipscomb 11 7   .611 20 13   .606
North Alabama 10 8   .556 18 15   .545
North Florida 9 9   .500 14 17   .452
Bellarmine* 9 9   .500 15 18   .455
Queens* 7 11   .389 18 15   .545
Florida Gulf Coast 7 11   .389 17 15   .531
Jacksonville 6 12   .333 13 16   .448
Jacksonville State 6 12   .333 13 18   .419
Central Arkansas 4 14   .222 9 22   .290
Austin Peay 3 15   .167 9 22   .290
* Ineligible for the 2023 NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II
2023 ASUN tournament winner

On March 29, 2023, head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim left the school to take the head coaching position at South Florida.[1] On April 7, the school named Alabama assistant coach Antoine Pettway the team's new head coach.[2]

Previous season

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The Owls finished the 2021–22 season 13–18, 7–9 in ASUN play to finish in fourth place in the East Division. In the ASUN tournament, they defeated Eastern Kentucky in the first round,[3] before falling to Jacksonville State in the quarterfinals.[4]

Roster

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2022–23 Kennesaw State Owls men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
F 0 Demond Robinson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 264 lb (120 kg) Sr Murray State Montgomery, AL
G 1 Terrell Burden 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Campbell HS Smyrna, GA
G 2 Simeon Cottle 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Tri-Cities HS College Park, GA
G 3 Chris Youngblood 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 218 lb (99 kg) Jr East Coweta HS Tuscaloosa, AL
F 4 Cole LaRue 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 236 lb (107 kg) Jr McGill–Toolen HS Mobile, AL
G 5 Brandon Stroud 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr East Coweta HS Atlanta, GA
F 10 Alex Peterson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 218 lb (99 kg) Sr Missouri State–West Plains Tappahannock, VA
G 13 Kasen Jennings 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 202 lb (92 kg) Jr Langston Hughes HS Atlanta, GA
C 15 Yves Nkomba 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Three Rivers College Leeds, England
G 21 Armani Harris 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 204 lb (93 kg) Sr Newton HS Brooklyn, NY
G 22 Spencer Rodgers 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 188 lb (85 kg) Sr SW Mississippi CC Buford, GA
G 23 Ahmad Johnson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Colby CC Punta Gorda, FL
G 24 Quincy Ademokoya 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Temple Bloomington, IL
G 30 Matt Brown 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So The Walker School Stockbridge, GA
G 31 Charles Stone 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Columbus HS Columbus, GA
G 33 Eric Holland 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 145 lb (66 kg) Fr Rome HS Rome, GA
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: November 17, 2022

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 7, 2022*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
LaGrange W 99–56  1–0
KSU Convocation Center (1,285)
Kennesaw, GA
November 11, 2022*
7:00 pm, SECN+
at Florida L 78–88  1–1
O'Connell Center (9,072)
Gainesville, FL
November 14, 2022*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Brewton–Parker W 95–36  2–1
KSU Convocation Center (924)
Kennesaw, GA
November 18, 2022*
4:00 pm
vs. Southeastern Louisiana
Appalachian State Tournament
W 72–68  3–1
Holmes Center (109)
Boone, NC
November 19, 2022*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Appalachian State
Appalachian State Tournament
W 71–67  4–1
Holmes Center (2,603)
Boone, NC
November 20, 2022*
12:00 pm
vs. Campbell
Appalachian State Tournament
L 61–85  4–2
Holmes Center (158)
Boone, NC
November 26, 2022*
4:00 pm, ESPN+
at VCU L 61–64  4–3
Siegel Center (6,807)
Richmond, VA
December 2, 2022*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Mercer W 66–63  5–3
Hawkins Arena (958)
Macon, GA
December 5, 2022*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Charleston Southern W 76–65  6–3
Buccaneer Field House (627)
North Charleston, SC
December 12, 2022*
10:00 pm, MWN
at San Diego State L 54–88  6–4
Viejas Arena (11,532)
San Diego, CA
December 17, 2022*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Georgia College W 79–55  7–4
KSU Convocation Center (657)
Kennesaw, GA
December 20, 2022*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
USC Upstate W 65–56  8–4
KSU Convocation Center (652)
Kennesaw, GA
December 23, 2022*
7:00 pm, BTN
at No. 18 Indiana L 55–69  8–5
Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (12,978)
Bloomington, IN
ASUN Conference regular season
December 31, 2022
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Central Arkansas W 82–66  9–5
(1–0)
KSU Convocation Center (688)
Kennesaw, GA
January 2, 2023
6:30 pm, ESPN+
Eastern Kentucky W 79–75  10–5
(2–0)
KSU Convocation Center (810)
Kennesaw, GA
January 5, 2023
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at North Florida L 86–89  10–6
(2–1)
UNF Arena (1,042)
Jacksonville, FL
January 7, 2023
8:00 pm, ESPN+
at Queens W 76–67  11–6
(3–1)
Curry Arena (416)
Charlotte, NC
January 12, 2023
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Jacksonville W 81–68  12–6
(4–1)
KSU Convocation Center (1,547)
Kennesaw, GA
January 14, 2023
2:00 pm, ESPN+
North Florida W 86–72  13–6
(5–1)
KSU Convocation Center (764)
Kennesaw, GA
January 19, 2023
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Stetson W 82–81 OT 14–6
(6–1)
Edmunds Center (929)
DeLand, FL
January 21, 2023
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Florida Gulf Coast W 65–63  15–6
(7–1)
Alico Arena (2,171)
Fort Myers, FL
January 26, 2023
7:30 pm, ESPN+
Austin Peay W 84–57  16–6
(8–1)
KSU Convocation Center (1,945)
Kennesaw, GA
January 28, 2023
5:00 pm, ESPN+
Lipscomb W 85-72  17-6
(9-1)
KSU Convocation Center (1,879)
Kennesaw, GA
February 2, 2023
7:30 pm, ESPN+
at Bellarmine W 90-84 OT 18-6
(10-1)
Freedom Hall (1,649)
Louisville, KY
February 4, 2023
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Eastern Kentucky L 74–77  18–7
(10–2)
McBrayer Arena (3,761)
Richmond, KY
February 9, 2023
8:30 pm, ESPN+
at Jacksonville State W 54–52  19–7
(11–2)
Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,434)
Jacksonville, AL
February 11, 2023
5:00 pm, ESPN+
Jacksonville State W 74–71  20–7
(12–2)
KSU Convocation Center (1,902)
Kennesaw, GA
February 16, 2023
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Liberty W 88–81  21–7
(13–2)
KSU Convocation Center (3,059)
Kennesaw, GA
February 18, 2023
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Queens L 76–83  21–8
(13–3)
KSU Convocation Center (1,514)
Kennesaw, GA
February 22, 2023
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at North Alabama W 79–66  22–8
(14–3)
Flowers Hall (1,735)
Florence, AL
February 24, 2023
8:00 pm, ESPN+
at Central Arkansas W 72–56  23–8
(15–3)
Farris Center 
Conway, AR
ASUN tournament
February 28, 2023
7:00 pm, ESPN+
(1) (9) Queens
Quarterfinals
W 67–66  24–8
KSU Convocation Center (2,322)
Kennesaw, GA
March 2, 2023
7:00 pm, ESPN+
(1) (5) Lipscomb
Semifinals
W 80–71  25–8
KSU Convocation Center (3,137)
Kennesaw, GA
March 5, 2023
3:00 pm, ESPN2
(1) (2) Liberty
Championship
W 67–66  26–8
KSU Convocation Center (3,805)
Kennesaw, GA
NCAA tournament
March 17, 2023*
12:40 pm, TruTV
(14 MW) vs. (3 MW) No. 13 Xavier
First Round
L 67–72  26–9
Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern.

Sources[5][6]

References

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  1. ^ "Kennesaw State's Abdur-Rahim hired as South Florida coach". AP NEWS. March 29, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  2. ^ "Ex-Tide assistant Pettway takes Kennesaw St. job". ESPN.com. April 7, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  3. ^ "Owls Explode for 57 Second-Half Points to Blow Past EKU in ASUN First Round". Kennesaw State University Athletics. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  4. ^ "#ASUNMadness Return for JSU Sees Gamecocks Advance to Semifinals". ASUN Conference. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  5. ^ "2022-23 Men's Basketball Schedule". Kennesaw State University Athletics. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  6. ^ "2022-23 Kennesaw State Owls Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved November 17, 2022.