2025–26 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team

2025–26 Toledo Rockets men's basketball
2025–26 Toledo Rockets men's basketball
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	13–13 (7–6 MAC)
Head coach	Tod Kowalczyk (16th season);
Associate head coach	Jeff Massey (12th season); Justin Ingram (8th season)
Assistant coaches	Jordan Lauf (4th season); Brandon Pritzl (2nd season);
Home arena	Savage Arena

2025–26 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 22 Miami (OH)	14	–	0	1.000	27	–	0	1.000
Akron	13	–	1	.929	22	–	5	.815
Kent State	11	–	3	.786	20	–	7	.741
Ohio	9	–	6	.600	15	–	13	.536
Toledo	8	–	6	.571	14	–	13	.519
Bowling Green	7	–	8	.467	16	–	12	.571
Buffalo	6	–	8	.429	16	–	11	.593
UMass	6	–	9	.400	15	–	13	.536
Central Michigan	5	–	9	.357	9	–	18	.333
Northern Illinois	4	–	10	.286	9	–	17	.346
Eastern Michigan	4	–	11	.267	10	–	18	.357
Western Michigan	3	–	11	.214	9	–	18	.333
Ball State	3	–	11	.214	8	–	19	.296

† 2026 MAC tournament winner As of February 21, 2026 Rankings from AP Poll

The 2025–26 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team represents the University of Toledo during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rockets, led by 16th-year head coach Tod Kowalczyk, play their home games at Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio, as members of the Mid-American Conference.

Previous season

The Rockets finished the 2024–25 season 18–15, 10–8 in MAC play, to finish in a tie for fourth place.^[1] They defeated Ohio,^[2] before falling to top-seeded and eventual tournament champions Akron in the semifinals of the MAC tournament.^[3]

Offseason

Departures

Departures
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Javan Simmons	1	F	6'7"	235	Sophomore	Gahanna, Ohio	Transferred to Ohio
Bryce Ford	2	G	6'3"	190	Sophomore	Scottsdale, Arizona	Transferred to Arizona State
Xavier Thomas	4	F	6'5"	240	Sophomore	Detroit, Michigan	Transferred to Saginaw Valley State
Jaylen Murphy	6	G	6'3"	175	Freshman	Holland, Ohio	Transferred to Bryant & Stratton
Isaiah Adams	7	G	6'7"	225	Fifth Year	Jacksonville, Florida	Graduated
Ka'leel Stillman	10	C	6'10"	220	Freshman	Orlando, Florida	Entered the transfer portal
Sam Lewis	11	G	6'6"	210	Sophomore	Chicago, Illinois	Transferred to Virginia
Seth Hubbard	12	G	6'4"	195	Junior	Jonesboro, Georgia	Transferred to Milwaukee
André Lorentsson	13	F	6'9"	225	Senior	Gothenburg, Sweden	Graduated
Colin O'Rourke	20	F	6'8"	225	Graduate Student	Plainfield, Illinois	Graduated
Grgur Brcic	24	F	6'10"	235	Sophomore	Zagreb, Croatia	Transferred to Bucknell

Incoming transfers

Incoming transfers
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Kyler Vanderjagt	4	G	6'4"	220	Senior	Grand Rapids, Michigan	Central Michigan
Mynor Strong	5	G	6'3"	175	Junior	Omaha, Nebraska	Dodge City Community College
Sean Craig	7	F	6'7"	220	Senior	Sylvania, Ohio	IU Indy
Chris Riddle	10	F	6'5"	210	Sophomore	Chicago, Illinois	DePaul
Austin Parks	25	C	6'10"	250	Junior	St. Marys, Ohio	Ohio State

2025 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Toby Nwokolo PF	Reynoldsburg, Ohio	Reynoldsburg High School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jun 26, 2024
Toby Nwokolo PF	Recruit ratings: 247Sports: (NR)
Leroy Blyden Jr. PG	Detroit, Michigan	University of Detroit Jesuit High School	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Nov 13, 2024
Leroy Blyden Jr. PG	Recruit ratings: 247Sports: (NR)
Will James CG	Holly Springs, North Carolina	Holly Springs High School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Aug 31, 2024
Will James CG	Recruit ratings: 247Sports: (NR)
London Praytor PF	Colorado Springs, Colorado	Liberty High School	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	230 lb (100 kg)	Sep 30, 2024
London Praytor PF	Recruit ratings: ESPN: (NR)
Phoenix Glassnor PG	Warren, Michigan	De La Salle Collegiate High School	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jun 24, 2024
Phoenix Glassnor PG	Recruit ratings: ESPN: (NR)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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: "2025 Team Ranking". Rivals.

Preseason

On October 21, 2025, the MAC released their preseason poll. Toledo was picked to finish sixth in the conference.^[4]

Preseason rankings

MAC Preseason Poll
Place	Team	Votes
1	Akron	143 (11)
2	Miami (OH)	133 (2)
3	Kent State	122
4	Ohio	108
5	UMass	98
6	Toledo	95
7	Bowling Green	73
8	Ball State	62
9	Eastern Michigan	52
10	Western Michigan	46
11	Buffalo	37
12	Central Michigan	31
13	Northern Illinois	14
(#) first-place votes

Source:^[4]

Preseason All-MAC Teams

Preseason All-MAC Teams
Team	Player	Year	Position
Second	Sonny Wilson	Junior	Guard

Source:^[4]

Roster

2025–26 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	0	Toby Nwokolo	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Reynoldsburg High School	Columbus, Ohio
G	2	Leroy Blyden Jr.	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Fr	Detroit Jesuit High School	Detroit, Michigan
G	3	Sonny Wilson	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Detroit Jesuit High School	Pontiac, Michigan
G	4	Kyler Vanderjagt	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Sr	Central Michigan	Grand Rapids, Michigan
G	5	Mynor Strong	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	So	Dodge City Community College	Omaha, Nebraska
F	7	Sean Craig	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Sr	IU Indy	Sylvania, Ohio
F	10	Chris Riddle	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	So	DePaul	Chicago, Illinois
G	11	Will James Jr.	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Fr	Holly Springs High School	Holly Springs, North Carolina
F	21	London Praytor	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Fr	Liberty High School	Colorado Springs, Colorado
G	22	Tyler Ode	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	So	Saginaw Heritage High School	Saginaw, Michigan
G	23	Phoenix Glassnor	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Fr	Warren De La Salle High School	Port Huron, Michigan
C	25	Austin Parks	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	Jr	Ohio State	St. Marys, Ohio
F	32	Jaylan Ouwinga	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	Grand Rapids Christian High School	Grand Rapids, Michigan

Head coach

Tod Kowalczyk (Minnesota Duluth)

Assistant coach(es)

Jeff Massey (Xavier)
Justin Ingram (Toledo)
Jordan Lauf (Toledo)
Brandon Pritzl (Hillsdale)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: December 18, 2025

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 19, 2025* 3:00 p.m.	at Findlay	W 123–103	–	18 – Ouwinga	11 – Ouwinga	–	Croy Gymnasium Findlay, OH
Regular season
November 3, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	South Alabama MAC-SBC Challenge	L 74–76	0–1	17 – Tied	9 – Craig	9 – Blyden Jr.	Savage Arena (3,626) Toledo, OH
November 8, 2025* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	Marshall	L 73–85	0–2	16 – Tied	7 – Craig	4 – Tied	Savage Arena (4,026) Toledo, OH
November 11, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Wright State	W 81–71	1–2	21 – Craig	9 – Craig	4 – Tied	Nutter Center (3,182) Fairborn, OH
November 15, 2025* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+	Detroit Mercy	W 90−83	2−2	20 – Blyden Jr.	7 – Parks	7 – Blyden Jr.	Savage Arena (3,797) Toledo, OH
November 19, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Youngstown State	W 92−75	3−2	18 – Tied	12 – Craig	5 – Tied	Savage Arena (3,741) Toledo, OH
November 24, 2025* 11:00 a.m., FloCollege	vs. Troy Coconut Hoops Royal Palm Division semifinals	W 75–68	4–2	23 – Wilson	11 – Craig	4 – Blyden Jr.	Alico Arena (212) Fort Myers, FL
November 26, 2025* 1:30 p.m., FloCollege	vs. Belmont Coconut Hoops Royal Palm Division championship	L 72–87	4–3	17 – Craig	5 – Parks	5 – Blyden Jr.	Alico Arena (289) Fort Myers, FL
December 1, 2025* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	Central State	W 102–58	5–3	27 – Parks	12 – Praytor	6 – Tied	Savage Arena (3,776) Toledo, OH
December 6, 2025* 3:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Oakland	L 97–98	5–4	20 – Blyden Jr.	10 – Craig	7 – Wilson	OU Credit Union O'rena (2,023) Auburn Hills, MI
December 13, 2025* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Robert Morris	L 70–75	5–5	21 – Wilson	8 – Parks	2 – Blyden Jr.	UPMC Events Center (996) Moon Township, PA
December 16, 2025* 6:30 p.m., Peacock	at No. 9 Michigan State	L 69−92	5−6	29 – Wilson	9 – Parks	5 – Wilson	Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI
December 20, 2025* 12:00 p.m., ESPN+	Lourdes	W 100–67	6–6	20 – Blyden Jr.	11 – Craig	8 – Wilson	Savage Arena (3,963) Toledo, OH
December 30, 2025 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	Western Michigan	W 84–79	7–6 (1–0)	36 – Blyden Jr.	13 – Craig	6 – Wilson	Savage Arena (4,232) Toledo, OH
January 3, 2026 3:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Central Michigan	W 78–75	8–6 (2–0)	23 – Vanderjagt	11 – Parks	5 – Tied	McGuirk Arena (1,342) Mount Pleasant, MI
January 6, 2026 8:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Northern Illinois	W 75–61	9–6 (3–0)	18 – Vanderjagt	5 – Tied	5 – Tied	Convocation Center (864) DeKalb, IL
January 9, 2026 6:00 p.m., CBSSN	Miami (OH)	L 73–87	9–7 (3–1)	20 – Wilson	13 – Craig	5 – Wilson	Savage Arena (5,143) Toledo, OH
January 13, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Ohio	W 101–85	10–7 (4–1)	25 – Wilson	10 – Craig	5 – Tied	Savage Arena (4,552) Toledo, OH
January 16, 2026 6:30 p.m., CBSSN	at Kent State	L 84–87	10–8 (4–2)	19 – Blyden Jr.	6 – Tied	6 – Wilson	MAC Center (2,433) Kent, OH
January 20, 2026 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	at UMass	L 82–84	10–9 (4–3)	22 – Blyden Jr.	5 – Tied	7 – Wilson	Mullins Center (2,507) Amherst, MA
January 24, 2026 5:00 p.m., ESPN+	Bowling Green	W 73–72	11–9 (5–3)	19 – Blyden Jr.	7 – Craig	5 – Blyden Jr.	Savage Arena (6,850) Toledo, OH
January 27, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Akron	L 81–91	11–10 (5–4)	22 – Wilson	9 – Craig	8 – Wilson	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,100) Akron, OH
January 31, 2026 12:00 p.m., ESPN+	Ball State	W 73–55	12–10 (6–4)	19 – Wilson	9 – Ouwinga	7 – Wilson	Savage Arena (4,076) Toledo, OH
February 3, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Kent State	L 72–75	12–11 (6–5)	17 – Parks	8 – Parks	5 – Wilson	Savage Arena (4,165) Toledo, OH
February 7, 2026* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+	at James Madison MAC-SBC Challenge	L 71–73	12–12	24 – Blyden Jr.	5 – Craig	5 – Blyden Jr.	Atlantic Union Bank Center (3,417) Harrisonburg, VA
February 11, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Western Michigan	W 90–79	13–12 (7–5)	18 – Wilson	8 – Craig	4 – Parks	University Arena (1,522) Kalamazoo, MI
February 14, 2026 5:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Bowling Green	L 70–80	13–13 (7–6)	20 – Wilson	9 – Parks	5 – Blyden Jr.	Stroh Center (4,167) Bowling Green, OH
February 21, 2026 5:00 p.m., ESPN+	Eastern Michigan						Savage Arena Toledo, OH
February 24, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Northern Illinois						Savage Arena Toledo, OH
February 28, 2026 4:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Ohio						Convocation Center Athens, OH
March 3, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Miami (OH)						Millett Hall Oxford, OH
March 6, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Buffalo						Savage Arena Toledo, OH
MAC tournament
March 12–14, 2026	vs.						Rocket Arena Cleveland, OH
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Sources:^[5]^[6]

References

^ "2024-25 Men's Basketball Standings". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
^ "Ohio Men's Basketball season ends with a dramatic overtime loss to Toledo". WOUB Public Media. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
^ "Zips return to MAC Tournament title game". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
^ ^a ^b ^c "MAC Announces 2025-26 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll, All-MAC Teams". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
^ "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Toledo Athletics. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
^ "Toledo Rockets 2025-26 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved December 18, 2025.

[1] "2024-25 Men's Basketball Standings". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved December 18, 2025.

[2] "Ohio Men's Basketball season ends with a dramatic overtime loss to Toledo". WOUB Public Media. Retrieved December 18, 2025.

[3] "Zips return to MAC Tournament title game". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved December 18, 2025.

[poll-4] "MAC Announces 2025-26 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll, All-MAC Teams". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved December 18, 2025.

[5] "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Toledo Athletics. Retrieved December 18, 2025.

[6] "Toledo Rockets 2025-26 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved December 18, 2025.

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Toledo Rockets men's basketball
Venues	The Field House (1931–1976) Savage Arena (1976–present)
Culture & lore	Point-shaving scandal
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 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