Coming off a 15-16 overall record and a 7-11 record in the Mid-American Conference (MAC), Ball State men’s basketball is looking for better results in the 2024-25 season. Ranked as the No. 7 MAC team in the preseason rankings, they have their eyes set on competing in the conference tournament at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
Though six Cardinals are returning from last year, new names will wear a Ball State uniform this season as four transfers and three freshmen have made their way to Muncie.
Throw in former Cardinal and MAC Freshman Player of the Year Payton Sparks who returned after one season at Indiana University, the roster looks vastly different from 10 months ago. The new Ball State squad only has one goal: do whatever it takes to win.
“We're going to have a good basketball team,” Lewis said. “I [talked about] the pieces, but can we get them to fit together? That's my job, and their job is to make a few individual sacrifices in order to do so.”
‘I think you got to adapt to every day’
Although Lewis has been critical of it at times, he knows the landscape of college sports is rapidly changing — and he must too.
“I think you got to adapt to every day,” Lewis said. “I think college athletics is changing daily. There's been some conferences out west that have gained and lost institutions each day.”
With UMass joining the MAC in less than 12 months, the former Indiana guard and third-year Cardinals’ coach believes the conference has to embrace the change and find where each program can improve.
“Not only as a coach, but I think your institution, your athletic department, you have to have some very forward-thinking ideas,” he said. “You can't sit back and be like, ‘Hey, it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out’. I think we all know what kind of direction it’s going and how it may play out.
“What are we doing to stay out in front of it? What are we doing across the country at each institution, to continue to develop resources to continue to try to be as competitive as you possibly can?”
But while he’s looked across college basketball to find ideas for improvement, Lewis thinks the competitive angle begins inside a program and depends on the players.
Throughout last season, the Cardinals struggled in multiple areas. Injuries, on-court mistakes and even distractions like former Cardinal Jarron “Boogie” Coleman leaving late in the off-season led to poor results. The latter is something Lewis wants to correct, even if the issues were ‘outside of his control.’
“I did not handle those [moments] particularly well,” Lewis said. “When your leading scorer walks out the door and transfers to Nebraska in August, I knew we weren't who we needed to be to be competitive. I probably allowed some of that frustration and then some other things that took place, which just should never take place, I allowed some of that frustration to boil over.”
‘I know how we run this program’
Seven Cardinals players will return to the team in the upcoming campaign, garnering them a lot of experience and knowledge of what Lewis wants the team to be this coming season. That vision is to allow his older players to take charge of the team.
Having as many returners as the Cardinals do, there are multiple players to lean on to step into that role. Redshirt senior Mickey Pearson Jr, sophomore Mason Jones and Sparks are a few of the key pieces returning for Ball State.
“I know what to expect with college basketball,” Pearson Jr said. “ I know what to expect from coach Lewis, so it’s just about trying to get guys in the right places, talking to them and being more vocal than I’ve been.”
Jones, while only being a sophomore, is taking the challenge of becoming a mentor to heart while also knowing there’s still much for him to learn.
“I learned a lot from [my first] season,” Jones said. “I’ve continued to try to learn from them as well and kept being a sponge. But I feel like I have a leadership role as well along with the other guys. I know how we run this program, and what’s expected of us.”
Last season the Cardinals were missing a big piece in their backcourt in graduate student Ethan Britain-Watts. A season-ending leg injury forced the Indianapolis native to use a medical redshirt after his surgery.
“It feels very good to be back,” Britain-Watts said. “I just want to get better and do what I can to contribute to on-the-court things right now.”
Britain-Watts wasn’t the only Cardinal to suffer injuries last season with redshirt senior Ben Hendriks battling through a multitude of them last year. Watching Hendriks fight through injuries and continuing to produce for Ball State has been a motivation for Britain-Watts coming into this year.
With the backcourt regaining crucial players the Cardinals' frontcourt has gained some additions of its own. Seniors Hendriks, Sparks, and sophomore Zane Doughty will be a focal point on the court this season.
Each individual is coming back from different backgrounds with Doughty finishing his freshman season, Sparks transferring back home, and Hendriks having battled injuries all through last season.
The addition of Sparks this season has come with an ‘iron sharpens iron’ mentality. For Doughty and Hendriks, going against him daily in practice presents challenges.
“I’ve had to get tougher down [in the paint],” Hendriks said. “Playing the best in the league, that’s going to help you out. That way I get better, and naturally, he’ll get better as well.”
Sparks’ return to the Cardinals was a decision made to come back home to what he knew best.
“I wanted to finish my career off the right way,” Sparks said. “Coming back to a familiar place, having fun my senior year, playing with good guys and coach Lewis again and where my family can come to all my games too. It’s just a really good feeling.”
Lewis loves the experience on the Cardinals roster but also knows that it can take time for that leadership to be fully embraced.
‘They should understand what it takes to win and lose at this level’
Lewis went into the transfer portal seeking athletes who would fit right into his culture. He said in the era of college sports we’re in right now, getting those experienced players is something coaches must do.
“We've got 17 [and] 18-year-olds coming in competing against 22 [and] 23-year-olds that have all that experience,” he said. “That's something that we sought out in recruiting. Those guys that fit in very well.”
He added that on top of the experience those older players offer, their leadership will be important to the success of the team.
“They played a lot of basketball. They should understand what it takes to win and lose at this level. They should understand the competitiveness at this level and the things that it takes to be successful,” he said. “All of them come from different backgrounds, different levels of success.”
Redshirt freshman Kentucky transfer Joey Hart says the number one reason he chose Ball State over other schools once entering the portal was Lewis.
“It was easy because coach [Lewis] is super tough, and you have to be tough just like him,” Hart said.
Hart appeared in just seven games in Lexington before redshirting the rest of the season. In high school, he was an Indiana All-Star and IndyStar Mr. Basketball finalist his senior year. He averaged 23.6 points per game shooting around 40 percent from the perimeter, leading Linton-Stockton to the class-2A state finals.
Graduate student Southern Indiana transfer Jeremiah Hernandez echoed the fact that Lewis was the main driving force behind his commitment. He said that the culture Lewis has been creating for the past two years attracted him to the team.
“He has brought in [the right] people and it speaks to how [Lewis] recruits too. People with good character, and the team has a lot of good guys,” he said. “It's easy to buy in when you have guys with you that also want to buy in.”
Hernandez began his collegiate career at Kent State where he logged minutes in 52 games and six starts over two seasons after redshirting his freshman year. In his time with the Golden Flashes, he averaged 3.2 points per game.
It was in Evansville that he had his best production. As a redshirt senior Hernandez averaged a team-high 17.2 points per game, ranking fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) — earning him a First Team All-OVC selection. That season he scored 25 points or more in seven games and set a school record for free throws, sinking 16-out-of-16 against Little Rock.
He said he’ll take all of his past experiences and use them as fuel for his final year of college basketball.
“I just want to use everything I've learned from up to this point to win games and bring Ball State to the MAC championship,” he said. “Our goals have been set this year and we're not trying to fall short of it.”
Junior Portland transfer Juanse Gorosito expressed that he is most excited to be playing in a good conference, but he also explained that Lewis’ culture is what enticed him. Gorosito played in 66 games at Portland, starting 29 of them. He averaged 8.6 points per game shooting 35 percent from the perimeter.
Another Cardinal pickup is junior guard Jermahri Hill, who transferred from South Plains College. In his time with the Texans, Hill started 33 of 35 games, averaging 14.3 points per game to go with 4.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists – leading South Plains to the Elite Eight of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division-1 Tournament with a 32-3 record.
Ball State opens up its 2024-25 campaign Nov. 4 against Georgia State in Atlanta, Georgia as part of the MAC-SBC (Sun Belt Conference) challenge.
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or via X @ZachCarter85. Contact Derran Cobb via email at derrancobb@gmail.com or via X @derran_cobb. Contact David Moore via email at david.moore@bsu.edu or via X @gingninj63.
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