2025–26 Central Arkansas Bears basketball team

2025–26 Central Arkansas Bears basketball
2025–26 Central Arkansas Bears basketball
Conference	Atlantic Sun Conference
Record	16–10 (11–2 ASUN)
Head coach	John Shulman (2nd season);
Associate head coach	Brock Widders
Assistant coaches	Max Shulman; Ryan Montgomery; Will Braden;
Home arena	Farris Center

2025–26 ASUN men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Austin Peay	13	–	1	.929	19	–	6	.760
Central Arkansas	12	–	2	.857	17	–	10	.630
Queens	10	–	4	.714	15	–	12	.556
Lipscomb	9	–	5	.643	16	–	11	.593
West Georgia*	6	–	8	.429	12	–	14	.462
Florida Gulf Coast	6	–	8	.429	12	–	15	.444
Bellarmine	6	–	8	.429	11	–	15	.423
Jacksonville	5	–	9	.357	10	–	17	.370
Eastern Kentucky	5	–	9	.357	9	–	18	.333
Stetson	5	–	9	.357	9	–	18	.333
North Florida	4	–	10	.286	6	–	21	.222
North Alabama	3	–	11	.214	8	–	17	.320

† 2026 ASUN tournament winner * ineligible for the 2026 NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II As of February 15, 2026

The 2025–26 Central Arkansas Bears basketball team represents the University of Central Arkansas during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears, led by second-year head coach John Shulman, play their home games at the Farris Center in Conway, Arkansas as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Previous season

The Bears finished the 2024–25 season 9–24, 4–14 in ASUN play, to finish in a tie for fourth place.^[1] They defeated Stetson,^[2] before falling to top-seeded and eventual tournament champions Lipscomb in the quarterfinals of the ASUN tournament.^[3]

Preseason

On October 17, 2025, the ASUN released their preseason polls. Central Arkansas was picked to finish eighth in the coaches poll and eleventh in the media poll.^[4]

Preseason rankings

ASUN Preseason Coaches Poll
Place	Team	Votes
1	Queens	136 (6)
2	North Alabama	117
3	Eastern Kentucky	111 (2)
4	Florida Gulf Coast	98 (2)
5	Austin Peay	94 (1)
6	Jacksonville	88
7	Lipscomb	77
8	Central Arkansas	57
9	Stetson	56
10	Bellarmine	36
11	North Florida	34 (1)
12	West Georgia	32
(#) first-place votes

Source:^[4]

ASUN Preseason Media Poll
Place	Team	Votes
1	North Alabama	519 (18)
2	Eastern Kentucky	495 (3)
3	Queens	468 (9)
4	Florida Gulf Coast	465 (12)
5	Lipscomb	408 (9)
6	Jacksonville	381
7	Austin Peay	357
8	Stetson	243
9	North Florida	192
10	Bellarmine	189
11	Central Arkansas	174
12	West Georgia	126
(#) first-place votes

Source:^[4]

Preseason All-ASUN Team

Preseason All-ASUN Team
Player	Year	Position
Camren Hunter	Senior	Guard

Source:^[4]

Roster

2025–26 Central Arkansas Bears men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	0	Truman Byrne	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Fr	Berwick College	Melbourne, Australia
G	1	Camren Hunter	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Wisconsin	Bryant, Arkansas
G	2	Javion Guy-King	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Sunrise Christian Academy	Little Rock, Arkansas
G	3	Rylie Marshall	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Harding	Beebe, Arkansas
G	4	J.C. Shulman	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Conway High School	Chattanooga, Tennessee
G/F	5	Tyler Lee	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	RS Fr	Fulton High School	Knoxville, Tennessee
G	7	R.J. Newton	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Bryant High School	Bryant, Arkansas
G	9	Harry Beauchamp	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Marcellin College	Melbourne, Australia
G	10	Owen Dehrmann	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	So	Bentonville High School	Bentonville, Arkansas
G	12	Ty Robinson	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	RS Fr	Lake Hamilton High School	Hot Springs, Arkansas
G	13	Parker Applegate	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Union	Murfreesboro, Tennessee
G	17	Ethan Thomas	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	Wilson Central High School	Lebanon, Tennessee
F	23	Chris Mason	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	So	Northeastern Oklahoma A&M	Tulsa, Oklahoma
G/F	24	Cole McCormick	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	Notre Dame High School	Chattanooga, Tennessee
F	25	Malchiah Marable	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Fr	Hargrave Military Academy	Washington, D.C.
G	32	Luke Moore	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Little Rock Central High School	Little Rock, Arkansas

Head coach

John Shulman (East Tennessee State)

Assistant coach(es)

Brock Widders (Lyon)
Max Shulman (Alabama–Huntsville)
Ryan Montgomery (Lee)
Will Braden (Sewanee)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: December 3, 2025

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 3, 2025* 6:00 pm, ACCN	at No. 25 North Carolina	L 54–94	0–1	Dean Smith Center (16,079) Chapel Hill, NC
November 8, 2025* 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Champion Christian	W 110–63	1–1	Farris Center (936) Conway, AR
November 11, 2025* 7:00 pm, SECN+	at No. 21 Arkansas	L 56–93	1–2	Bud Walton Arena (19,200) Fayetteville, AR
November 16, 2025* 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Samford ASUN/SoCon Challenge	L 77–84 ^OT	1–3	Farris Center (819) Conway, AR
November 20, 2025* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at North Texas	L 56–74	1–4	The Super Pit (2,743) Denton, TX
November 23, 2025* 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Eastern Washington	W 92–65	2–4	Farris Center (653) Conway, AR
November 25, 2025* 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Eastern Illinois	W 81–60	3–4	Farris Center (688) Conway, AR
November 29, 2025* 3:00 pm, ESPN+	at East Tennessee State ASUN/SoCon Challenge	L 57–80	3–5	Freedom Hall Civic Center Johnson City, TN
December 3, 2025* 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Little Rock I-40 Showdown	W 85–47	4–5	Farris Center (1,470) Conway, AR
December 7, 2025* 5:00 pm, ESPN+	at East Texas A&M	L 68–75	4–6	The Field House (413) Commerce, TX
December 13, 2025* 5:30 pm, SECN	at No. 15 Vanderbilt	L 72–83	4–7	Memorial Gymnasium (7,227) Nashville, TN
December 17, 2025* 11:00 am, ESPN+	Kansas Christian	W 102–47	5–7	Farris Center (2,342) Conway, AR
December 21, 2025* 1:00 pm, ACCNX	at SMU	L 82–99	5–8	Moody Coliseum (4,634) University Park, TX
ASUN regular season
January 1, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Florida Gulf Coast	W 85–83	6–8 (1–0)	Farris Center (796) Conway, AR
January 3, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Stetson	W 93–73	7–8 (2–0)	Farris Center (782) Conway, AR
January 8, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Bellarmine	L 78–84 ^OT	7–9 (2–1)	Knights Hall (1,752) Louisville, KY
January 10, 2026 3:00 pm, ESPN+	at Eastern Kentucky	L 74–79 ^OT	7–10 (2–2)	Baptist Health Arena (1,171) Richmond, KY
January 15, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Jacksonville	W 62–60	8–10 (3–2)	Farris Center (922) Conway, AR
January 17, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+	North Florida	W 98–69	9–10 (4–2)	Farris Center (802) Conway, AR
January 22, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+	at West Georgia	W 86–65	10–10 (5–2)	The Coliseum (1,274) Carrollton, GA
January 28, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Queens	W 100–90	11–10 (6–2)	Curry Arena (420) Charlotte, NC
January 31, 2026 3:30 pm, ESPN+	Eastern Kentucky	W 90-81	12-10 (7-2)	Farris Center (1,128) Conway, AR
February 4, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	North Alabama	W 81-60	13-10 (8-2)	Farris Center (984) Conway, AR
February 7, 2026 4:00 pm, ESPN+	at Lipscomb	W 86-78	14-10 (9-2)	Allen Arena (1,147) Nashville, TN
February 9, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at North Alabama	W 72-65	15-10 (10-2)	CB&S Bank Arena (2,202) Florence, AL
February 11, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Bellarmine	W 84-76	16-10 (11-2)	Farris Center (1,165) Conway, AR
February 14, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+	West Georgia			Farris Center Conway, AR
February 19, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Stetson			Insight Credit Union Arena DeLand, FL
February 21, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+	at Florida Gulf Coast			Alico Arena Fort Myers, FL
February 25, 2026 7:30 pm, ESPN+	at Austin Peay			F&M Bank Arena Clarksville, TN
February 28, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Queens			Farris Center Conway, AR
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.

Sources:^[5]^[6]

References

^ "2024-25 Men's Basketball Standings". Atlantic Sun Conference. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
^ "Wood hits seven three-pointers in Stetson's 77-72 loss to Central Arkansas". Stetson University Athletics. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
^ "Top-seeded Lipscomb cruises past Central Arkansas 84-66 in ASUN quarterfinals". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "ASUN Announces Men's Basketball Preseason Honors". Atlantic Sun Conference. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
^ "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Central Arkansas Athletics. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
^ "Central Arkansas Bears 2025-26 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved December 3, 2025.

[1] "2024-25 Men's Basketball Standings". Atlantic Sun Conference. Retrieved December 3, 2025.

[2] "Wood hits seven three-pointers in Stetson's 77-72 loss to Central Arkansas". Stetson University Athletics. Retrieved December 3, 2025.

[3] "Top-seeded Lipscomb cruises past Central Arkansas 84-66 in ASUN quarterfinals". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 3, 2025.

[poll-4] "ASUN Announces Men's Basketball Preseason Honors". Atlantic Sun Conference. Retrieved December 3, 2025.

[5] "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Central Arkansas Athletics. Retrieved December 3, 2025.

[6] "Central Arkansas Bears 2025-26 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved December 3, 2025.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

Central Arkansas Bears basketball
Venues	Farris Center (1972–present)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26