2023–24 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team

2023–24 Toledo Rockets men's basketball
2023–24 Toledo Rockets men's basketball
MAC regular season champions
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	20–12 (14–4 MAC)
Head coach	Tod Kowalczyk (14th season);
Associate head coach	Jeff Massey (10th season)
Assistant coaches	Justin Ingram (6th season); Jordan Lauf (2nd season);
Home arena	Savage Arena
	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

The 2023–24 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team represented the University of Toledo during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rockets, led by 14th-year head coach Tod Kowalczyk, played their home games at Savage Arena, as members of the Mid-American Conference.^[1]^[2]^[3] They finished the season 20–12, 14–4 in MAC play to win their fourth straight regular season MAC championship. They were upset by Kent State in the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament.^[4]^[5] Toledo was not selected for the National Invitation Tournament and declined to participate in the College Basketball Invitational and the CollegeInsider.com tournament.^[6]

Previous season

The Rockets finished 27–8 and won their third straight regular season championship with a 16–2 record in MAC Play.^[7]^[8] They defeated Miami and Ohio in the first two rounds of the MAC tournament before losing to Kent State in the final.^[9]^[10]^[11] As a regular season champion who did not win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament, where they lost to Michigan in the first round.^[12]

Offseason

Departures

Departures
Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
EJ Farmer	G	6'5"	170	Sophomore	Cleveland, Ohio	Transferred to Youngstown State
Elijah Wilson	G	6'5"	180	Sophomore	Lithonia, Georgia	Transferred to Maryland Eastern Shore
Setric Millner Jr.	F	6'7"	205	Senior	Little Rock, Arkansas	Exhausted Eligibility
RayJ Dennis	G	6'2"	180	Junior	Plainfield, Illinois	Transferred to Baylor
Kooper Jacobi	F	6'6"	200	Sophomore	Sellersburg, Indiana	Transferred to Eastern Illinois
A. J. Edu	F/C	6'10"	225	Junior	Colchester, England	Turned professional with Toyama Grouses
J Wallace	G	6'5"	185	Freshman	Bath, Michigan	Entered Transfer Portal
Cooper Davis	G	6'5"	190	Freshman	Powell, Ohio	Transferred to Ashland
JT Shumate	F	6'7"	210	Senior	Newark, Ohio	Exhausted Eligibility

^[13]^[14]^[15]

Incoming transfers

Transfers
Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Ben Wight	C	6'9	220	RS-Junior	Columbus, Ohio	Transferred from William & Mary
Marko Maletic	G	6'6	208	Sophomore	London, Ontario	Transferred from Long Island

^[13]^[14]

Recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight
Bryce Ford G	Scottsdale, Arizona	Pinnacle	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)
Bryce Ford G	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Sonny Wilson G	Pontiac, Michigan	Detroit Jesuit	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)
Sonny Wilson G	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN grade: 79
Xavier Thomas F	Detroit, Michigan	Brother Rice	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	225 lb (102 kg)
Xavier Thomas F	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR
Sam Lewis G	Chicago, Illinois	Simeon Academy	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)
Sam Lewis G	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR
Grgur Brcic F	Zagreb, Croatia	Northampton School	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)
Grgur Brcic F	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, 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.com.

Roster

2023–24 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Ra'Heim Moss	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jr	SPIRE Academy	Springfield, OH
F	1	Javan Simmons	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	RS Fr	Gahanna Lincoln	Gahanna, OH
G	2	Bryce Ford	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Fr	Pinnacle	Scottsdale, AZ
G	3	Sonny Wilson	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Fr	Detroit Jesuit	Pontiac, MI
F	4	Xavier Thomas	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Fr	Brother Rice	Detroit, MI
G	11	Sam Lewis	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Simeon Academy	Chicago, IL
F	13	Andre Lorentsson	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Jr	Saint Louis	Gothenburg, Sweden
G	21	Dante Maddox Jr.	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jr	Cal State Fullerton	Chicago Heights, IL
G	23	Tyler Cochran	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Jr	Ball State	Bolingbrook, IL
F	24	Grgur Brcic	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Fr	Northampton School	Zagreb, Croatia
G	27	Marko Maletic	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	208 lb (94 kg)	So	Long Island	London, Ontario
F	35	Ben Wight	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	William & Mary	Columbus, OH

Head coach

Tod Kowalczyk (Minnesota Duluth)

Assistant coach(es)

Jeff Massey (Xavier)
Justin Ingram (Toledo)
Jordan Lauf (Toledo)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: September 29, 2023

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 21, 2023* 2:00 p.m.		Ferris State	W 93–62	–	19 – Maddox Jr.	9 – Cochran	–	Savage Arena Toledo, OH
October 29, 2023* 4:00 p.m.		Findlay	W 95–70	–	19 – Moss	–	–	Savage Arena Toledo, OH
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Detroit Mercy	W 94–60	1–0	15 – Moss	8 – Moss	5 – Moss	Savage Arena (4,223) Toledo, OH
November 11, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Louisiana MAC-SBC Challenge	W 87–78	2–0	18 – Cochran	5 – Moss	4 – Cochran	Savage Arena (4,290) Toledo, OH
November 14, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Wright State	W 78–77	3–0	20 – Maddox Jr.	7 – Moss	4 – Maddox Jr.	Nutter Center (4,239) Dayton, OH
November 21, 2023* 11:15 p.m., FloHoops		vs. New Mexico Ball Dawgs Classic	L 84–92	3–1	23 – Maddox Jr.	5 – Maddox Jr.	6 – Wilson	Dollar Loan Center Henderson, NV
November 22, 2023* 11:45 p.m., FloHoops		vs. UC Irvine Ball Dawgs Classic	L 71–77	3–2	19 – Moss	6 – Wilson	4 – Moss	Dollar Loan Center Henderson, NV
November 24, 2023* 2:00 p.m., FloHoops		vs. Indiana State Ball Dawgs Classic	L 74–76	3–3	14 – Simmons	7 – Cochran	4 – Cochran	Dollar Loan Center Henderson, NV
December 2, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		George Mason	L 77–86	3–4	24 – Maddox Jr.	8 – Cochran	2 – Tied	Savage Arena (3,907) Toledo, OH
December 6, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Oakland	W 69–68	4–4	20 – Maddox Jr.	8 – Simmons	4 – Moss	Athletics Center O'rena (2,893) Rochester, MI
December 9, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Northern Iowa	W 84–80	5–4	21 – Moss	12 – Cochran	2 – Tied	Savage Arena (4,041) Toledo, OH
December 13, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Marshall	W 88–87	6–4	33 – Cochran	12 – Moss	5 – Cochran	Savage Arena (3,878) Toledo, OH
December 20, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Vermont	L 60–86	6–5	12 – Cochran	8 – Moss	6 – Moss	Savage Arena (4,031) Toledo, OH
December 23, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at West Virginia	L 81–91	6–6	21 – Moss	6 – Tied	4 – Maddox Jr.	WVU Coliseum (10,693) Morgantown, WV
MAC regular season
January 2, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPNU		at Ohio	W 86–77	7–6 (1–0)	18 – Tied	7 – Cochran	3 – Tied	Convocation Center (4,016) Athens, OH
January 5, 2024 2:00 p.m., CBSSN		Miami (OH)	W 68–64	8–6 (2–0)	18 – Moss	6 – Moss	2 – Tied	Savage Arena (4,428) Toledo, OH
January 9, 2024 7:00 p.m., CBSSN		at Kent State	W 89–75	9–6 (3–0)	21 – Cochran	6 – Tied	4 – Moss	MAC Center (1,786) Kent, OH
January 13, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Ball State	W 77–72	10–6 (4–0)	24 – Moss	7 – Maddox Jr.	5 – Maddox Jr.	Savage Arena (4,413) Toledo, OH
January 16, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Buffalo	W 77–66	11–6 (5–0)	21 – Maddox Jr.	10 – Cochran	7 – Moss	Savage Arena (3,689) Toledo, OH
January 19, 2024 7:00 p.m., CBSSN		at Central Michigan	L 62–65	11–7 (5–1)	21 – Maddox Jr.	10 – Cochran	3 – Cochran	McGuirk Arena (2,254) Mount Pleasant, MI
January 23, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Northern Illinois	W 89–73	12–7 (6–1)	20 – Moss	7 – Maddox Jr.	3 – Tied	Convocation Center (1,534) DeKalb, IL
January 27, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Bowling Green	W 88–72	13–7 (7–1)	26 – Maddox Jr.	10 – Cochran	10 – Moss	Savage Arena (7,318) Toledo, OH
January 30, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Western Michigan	W 88–63	14–7 (8–1)	19 – Simmons	6 – Tied	4 – Maddox Jr.	Savage Arena (3,915) Toledo, OH
February 3, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Akron	L 70–77	14–8 (8–2)	16 – Moss	9 – Cochran	4 – Moss	James A. Rhodes Arena (3,151) Akron, OH
February 6, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Eastern Michigan	W 91–87	15–8 (9–2)	20 – Tied	8 – Simmons	4 – Cochran	George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,542) Ypsilanti, MI
February 10, 2024* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Appalachian State MAC-SBC Challenge	L 104–109 ^2OT	15–9	25 – Maddox Jr.	10 – Simmons	5 – Maddox Jr.	Holmes Center (5,437) Boone, NC
February 16, 2024 9:00 p.m., ESPNU		Ohio	W 85–83	16–9 (10–2)	21 – Maddox Jr.	16 – Simmons	6 – Maddox Jr.	Savage Arena (5,079) Toledo, OH
February 20, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Akron	W 72–64	17–9 (11–2)	18 – Wilson	9 – Maddox Jr.	6 – Simmons	Savage Arena (5,547) Toledo, OH
February 23, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Bowling Green	L 68–76	17–10 (11–3)	19 – Moss	7 – Cochran	3 – Tied	Stroh Center (4,032) Bowling Green, OH
February 27, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Northern Illinois	L 72–75	17–11 (11–4)	27 – Cochran	9 – Maddox Jr.	5 – Wilson	Savage Arena (4,692) Toledo, OH
March 2, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Buffalo	W 85–79	18–11 (12–4)	20 – Wilson	9 – Wilson	5 – Cochran	Alumni Arena (2,476) Buffalo, NY
March 5, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Miami (OH)	W 97–63	19–11 (13–4)	22 – Cochran	9 – Maddox Jr.	5 – Maddox Jr.	Millett Hall (1,847) Oxford, OH
March 8, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Kent State	W 86–71	20–11 (14–4)	21 – Moss	8 – Simmons	7 – Moss	Savage Arena Toledo, OH
MAC tournament
March 14, 2024 11:00 a.m., ESPN+	(1)	vs. (8) Kent State Quarterfinals	L 59–67	20–12	19 – Maddox Jr.	9 – Maddox Jr.	6 – Moss	Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Cleveland, OH
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[16]^[17]

References

^ "MAC Men's College Basketball Standings - 2023-24". ESPN. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
^ "John F. Savage Arena". Toledo Athletics. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
^ "Tod Kowalczyk". Toledo Athletics. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
^ "MAC basketball tournament bracket set; Miami RedHawks face Akron in first round". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
^ "Kent State 67, Toledo 59". ESPN. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
^ "Toledo men's basketball not selected for NIT, passes on CBI and CIT". Toledo Blade.
^ "History: Toledo men win third consecutive outright MAC Championship". Toledo Blade. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
^ "MAC Basketball Standings - 2022-23". ESPN. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
^ "Miami 75, Toledo 91". ESPN. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
^ "Ohio 75, Toledo 82". ESPN. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
^ "Toledo 78, Kent State 93". ESPN. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
^ "Bufkin, Baker lead Michigan past Toledo 90-80 in NIT". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "2023-24 Men's Basketball Roster". Toledo Athletics.
^ ^a ^b "2023 D1 Basketball Transfers". Verbal Commits. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
^ "2022-23 Men's Basketball Roster". Toledo Athletics.
^ "2022-24 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Toledo Athletics.
^ "Toledo Rockets Schedule 2023-24". ESPN.

[1] "MAC Men's College Basketball Standings - 2023-24". ESPN. Retrieved May 19, 2023.

[2] "John F. Savage Arena". Toledo Athletics. Retrieved March 18, 2023.

[3] "Tod Kowalczyk". Toledo Athletics. Retrieved March 18, 2023.

[4] "MAC basketball tournament bracket set; Miami RedHawks face Akron in first round". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved March 10, 2024.

[5] "Kent State 67, Toledo 59". ESPN. Retrieved March 15, 2024.

[6] "Toledo men's basketball not selected for NIT, passes on CBI and CIT". Toledo Blade.

[7] "History: Toledo men win third consecutive outright MAC Championship". Toledo Blade. Retrieved March 9, 2023.

[8] "MAC Basketball Standings - 2022-23". ESPN. Retrieved August 8, 2023.

[9] "Miami 75, Toledo 91". ESPN. Retrieved March 9, 2023.

[10] "Ohio 75, Toledo 82". ESPN. Retrieved March 10, 2023.

[11] "Toledo 78, Kent State 93". ESPN. Retrieved March 11, 2023.

[12] "Bufkin, Baker lead Michigan past Toledo 90-80 in NIT". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 15, 2023.

[roster-13] "2023-24 Men's Basketball Roster". Toledo Athletics.

[transfer-14] "2023 D1 Basketball Transfers". Verbal Commits. Retrieved August 5, 2023.

[15] "2022-23 Men's Basketball Roster". Toledo Athletics.

[16] "2022-24 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Toledo Athletics.

[17] "Toledo Rockets Schedule 2023-24". ESPN.

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2023–24 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team

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