The 2024-25 Ball State men’s basketball season is officially over. It’s the second-straight year the Cardinals have missed the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
“It's a disappointment,” Ball State head coach Michael Lewis said.
After the red and white fell on the road today to Miami 79-66, the third-year Cardinals’ head coach was brutally honest about the circumstances the team went through and the state of where the program is at when it comes to funding from Ball State Athletics.
“We are in a situation where our basketball program is supported in a way that ranks 10 out of 12 teams in the MAC,” Lewis said. “...The issue is the level of support from within our university from a basketball standpoint. I don't think enough people understood where we were.
“I knew that when I took the job. Our women's program is supported in a way where they’re first at least second out of 12 teams, within their competitors on their side of the MAC … In today's landscape of college basketball, your commitment to your program has to match the expectations, and there's nobody on our campus at Ball State, or should there be, where the expectations are higher than the men's basketball program.”
Ball State’s (14-17, 7-11 MAC) final game of the year did not start in their favor as they missed their first nine shots of the day. On the other hand, Miami had success as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the early going.
Miami senior Dan Luers — their only senior — scored all seven points for the Redhawks.
As the first half went on, the Redhawks continued to find momentum on offense while Ball State never got anything going.
“We just couldn't ever get over the hump and put a complete game together,” Lewis said. “I think this is just a small sample size of what our whole season was.”
After shooting 30 percent (9-for-30) in the half, the Cardinals went into halftime trailing the Redhawks 41-23.
During the second half, Ball State attempted to fix things. However, that did not pan out as the Redhawks led 55-27 at the 16:36 mark, their biggest lead of the game. Throughout the rest of the game, the Cardinals cut the deficit, but it wasn’t enough.
Ball State senior Payton Sparks was the lone player to appear in the post-game Zoom press conference. The Daily News requested junior Jermahri Hill — who led the Cardinals with 18 points — but did not get the chance to speak with him.
Sparks reflected on his time and believes he gave it everything he had.
“It's been a great ride and I'm glad I got a finish out here,” Sparks said. “To the [coaching] staff, janitors, teammates, [I thank them] for allowing me to come back and enjoy my senior year.”
For the future of Ball State men’s basketball, Lewis believes the right conversations have been had the last three months. While he wants the program to shine, he knows that the community wants that as well and wants to give that to them.
“Muncie deserves it, Ball State deserves it, East Central Indiana deserves [it] and the state of Indiana deserves it for Ball State to have a quality basketball program.”
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or via X @ZachCarter85.
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