TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The 2026-27 Indiana State men's basketball season is here as the Sycamores prepare to host Charlotte on Monday, November 2, to open the regular season. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and will be carried live on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
 
Game Day Festivities and Promotions
Woodruff Sycamore Loft Dedication
Indiana State is set to dedicate the Woodruff Sycamore Loft in Monday's opening contest against the 49ers as the Sycamores will honor Troy and Melissa Woodruff at the first media timeout of game. The naming of the Woodruff Sycamore Loft stands as a meaningful tribute to the Woodruffs' generosity, leadership, and unwavering dedication to the university, its students, and the broader Sycamore community.
 
The Woodruff Sycamore Loft is a new premium hospitality space meant to elevate the fans and student-athlete experience and modernize one of the university's premier athletic facilities. It features six private loge boxes on the south side of the building overlooking the court. Each box can accommodate up to 12 guests, offering a premium and exclusive game-day experience, enhancing the game-day environment while creating new opportunities for engagement and revenue generation in support of Indiana State Athletics student-athletes.
 
Game Day Giveaways
Wright's Pool Koozies and 2026-27 Men's Basketball Posters will be available at the entrances for all fans. The game day roster flipcards will also be available at the entrances.
 
The Forest Giveaway
The first 250 Forest members will receive a free First Farmers Bank & Trust light-up rally towel. The first 100 Forest members will also receive a free scoop of Culver's Custard.
 
Recapping the Exhibition Slate
Indiana State went 1-1 over their preseason exhibition slate as the Sycamores took on both Butler and Rose-Hulman over the final weeks of October. The Sycamores dropped an 81-74 decision to the Bulldogs, while topping the Fightin' Engineers on October 24 inside the Hulman Center, 81-59.
 
Jackson Cooper and Maguire Mitchell posted double-digit scoring games in both preseason contests to highlight the offensive side of the ball. The Sycamore offense averaged double-digit three-pointers over the two games, while shooting 48.6% from the floor as a team. Indiana State made second half runs in both contests, outscoring the Bulldogs 45-44 in the game inside Hinkle Fieldhouse, while adding a 45-27 advantage over RHIT.
 
Karmani Gregory led all players with a game-high 22 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-8 from the three-point line and 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the exhibition against Butler. Cooper (12) and Mitchell (10) both scored double-digit points in the contest, while six different Sycamores converted three-pointers in the contest. Chance Puryear added five points, eight rebounds, and three assists off the bench.
 
All 15 Sycamores on the roster saw action on the court against RHIT with 13 scoring in the contest. Cooper led all scorers with 22 points, while adding seven rebounds and three assists. Mitchell added a game-high four three-pointers on his way to a 19-point, three-assist game. Puryear added three points and a game-high seven rebounds, while White scored eight points in his Sycamore preseason debut.
 
Defensively, Indiana State remained active around the ball with a combined 19 steals over the two games, while posting a 33:26 assist-to-turnover ratio. Gregory averaged 4.0 assists per game, while Cooper posted 2.5 steals per contest. Puryear was the leading rebounder overall with 7.5 boards per game.
 
About the Opponent
Charlotte was ranked fifth in the American Athletic Conference's preseason coaches poll as announce in early October as the 49ers head into their first season under head coach Wes Miller. The new head coach brings a winning resume to Charlotte with multiple 20-win seasons and eight postseason appearances as a head coach over time at UNC Greensboro and Cincinnati.
 
Charlotte's roster features an abundance of newcomers with just one player who saw time on the floor returning to the 49ers roster in the 2026-27 season. Redshirt junior forward Arden Conyers started 26 of the 32 games over the 2025-26 season, scoring 7.5 points and 1.6 rebounds per game on the year.
 
Three players from Charlotte's roster followed Miller over from Cincinnati including sophomore guard/forward Jordi Rodriguez-Stegemeijer, sophomore guard Keyshuan Tillery, and redshirt sophomore forward/center Tyler McKinley. All three players were role players with the Bearcats combining for three starts on the year, while averaging 7.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per contest. Tillery saw action in all 31 games on the year, while McKinley drew the three starts.
 
Last Time Against the 49ers
Indiana State opened up the 2025-26 regular season last year against Charlotte as the Sycamores headed to Halton Arena on November 3, 2025. Charlotte took the 92-76 victory over Indiana State to claim the victory.
 
Ian Scott secured a double-double and led the Sycamores with 24 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 from three. He also led with a team-high 11 rebounds. He added in two steals and a block. Derek Vorst scored 14 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field and 6-of-10 from the stripe. Camp Wagner added 12 points. Xavier Hall chipped in nine assists.
 
The 49ers kept the momentum throughout the game, building a 13-point lead midway through the second half. The Sycamores continued to chip away at the Charlotte lead in the contest, but another late run pushed Charlotte to a 20-point advantage on their way to securing the 92-76 victory.
 
All-Time Against Charlotte
Monday evening's game marks just the fourth time in school history the Sycamores will take on Charlotte. The 49ers hold the all-time edge, 2-1, dating back to the inaugural matchup on February 11, 1974.
 
The Sycamores last hosted Charlotte in both the 1974 and 1975 seasons, topping the 49ers in the first matchup, 70-67, while falling in the next season, 85-70.
 
Last Five Against Charlotte

• Nov. 3, 2025 – at Charlotte (L, 92-76)
• Jan. 20, 1975 – Charlotte (L, 85-70)
• Feb. 11, 1974 – Charlotte (W, 70-67)

 
Against the American Athletic Conference
Indiana State has lined up against nine of the 13 current members of the American Athletic Conference over the Sycamores' program history according to current records on hand. The Sycamores have lined up the most against former MVC members Tulsa (1934-1996) and Wichita State (1945-2017), while also playing against Charlotte (2025), Florida Atlantic (2024), Rice (2023), and East Carolina (2022) over the last five seasons.
 
Against the AAC (Last Game)

• Charlotte – 1-2 (Nov. 3, 2025 – L, 92-76)
• East Carolina – 1-0 (Nov. 21, 2022 – W, 79-75)
• Florida Atlantic – 0-1 (Nov. 4, 2024 – L, 97-64)
• Memphis – 1-0 (Nov. 28, 2014 – L, 72-62)
• North Texas – 1-7 (Dec. 5, 2018 – L, 80-69)
• Rice – 2-1 (Nov. 21, 2023 – W, 103-88)
• Tulane – 1-3 (Dec. 17, 2007)
• Tulsa – 13-30 (Nov. 22, 2015 – L, 67-59)
• Wichita State – 28-61 (Jan. 21, 2018 – L, 84-58)

 
Returning to the Schedule
Indiana State features four returning regular season opponents from the 2025-26 season, as well as their second consecutive year in taking on Butler in a preseason exhibition to highlight the early portion of the schedule. The Sycamores host Charlotte (Nov. 2), Milwaukee (Nov. 11), SIUE (Dec. 2), and Southern Indiana (Dec. 6), while traveling to Ball State (Nov. 6).
 
Indiana State went 4-1 during the 2025-26 regular season against the returning opponents topping SIUE, Ball State, Southern Indiana, and Milwaukee, while falling in the season opener against Charlotte.
 
2025-26

• at Butler – Oct. 29 (L, 105-80)
• at Charlotte – Nov. 3 (L, 92-76)
• Ball State – Nov. 22 (W, 70-52)
• at Milwaukee – Dec. 14 (W, 70-68)
• at SIUE – Nov. 10 (W, 64-55)
• at Southern Indiana – Dec. 7 (W, 77-55)

 
2026-27

• at Butler – Oct. 18 (L, 81-74)
• Charlotte – Nov. 2 (7 p.m.)
• At Ball State – Nov. 6 (7 p.m.)
• Milwaukee – Nov. 11 (7 p.m.)
• SIUE – Dec. 2 (7 p.m.)
• Southern Indiana – Dec. 6 (1 p.m.)

 
New Look Roster
It's a new-look Indiana State roster on the floor under head coach Matthew Graves as the Sycamore head coach heads into his third season at the helm of the program. The Sycamores returned just redshirt freshman Martin Kaupanger to the floor from the 2025-26 squad, while welcoming nine transfers, five freshmen, and international big man Alessio Calamita to the roster this year.
 
Preseason MVC Poll, Watch List
The Sycamores were not listed among the top six teams receiving votes in the 2026-27 preseason MVC men's basketball poll but did feature two players on the preseason All-Conference Watch List heading into the year.
 
Guard Karmani Gregory and forward Jackson Cooper were among the list of players recognized among the tops in the conference heading into the season and the players represented Indiana State at the two-day media day event held inside the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Mo. over October 13-14.
 
Gregory is a former All-Conference guard transferring in from USC Upstate where he finished among the Big South's scoring leaders, while adding team-highs in assists (91) and steals (33). Cooper, an All-American forward, transferred in from NAIA Oregon Tech where averaged a team-high 17.7 points per game, while finishing seventh overall in NAIA with 174 total assists.
 
All-Americans on Roster
Indiana State men's basketball added two players that bring All-American status to the program with Jackson Cooper and EJ McQuillan both joining the roster in 2026-27. Cooper earned NAIA Second Team All-American honors following a standout 2025-26 campaign at Oregon Tech where he led the team in scoring (17.7), rebounds per game (7.7), and assists per game (5.8) while finishing seventh in the NAIA with 174 total assists.
 
McQuillan earned NAIA Second Team All-American honors following a standout 2025-26 campaign at LSU Alexandria where he averaged 20.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 38.5% from the three-point line. He highlighted his year by tying the LSUA single-game points record with 41 against Texas Wesleyan on October 31.
 
They Can Score
Indiana State men's basketball features four 1,000-point scorers heading into the 2026-27 season with another closing in on the mark. EJ McQuillan, Karmani Gregory, Meechie White, and Jackson Cooper have already achieved 1,000 career collegiate points heading into the year, while Greyson Pritzl sits at 860 points following his three years playing at Saint Leo and Lander.
 
Sycamore 1,000 Point Scorers
• 1,322 - EJ McQuillan (LSU Alexandria)
• 1,130 – Meechie White (Three Rivers C.C./EIU)
• 1,026 – Karmani Gregory (USC Upstate/Florida SouthWestern)
• 1,019– Jackson Cooper (Oregon Tech)
• 860 - Greyson Pritzl (Saint Leo/Lander)
 
Season Tickets Remain On Sale, Upper Level-Single Game Tickets Available
Season tickets remain on sale for the entirety of the 2026-27 slate. For more information on season tickets, contact Mason LaGrange, Manager for Sales and Service, by calling 812-237-8972 or emailing mason.lagrange@indstate.edu. Fans can also call 877-ISU-TIXS or email ISU-Tickets@indstate.edu.

Follow the Sycamores
For the latest information on Sycamore Basketball, visit GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from the both the App Store and the Google Play Store.