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2024-25 W&L Men's Basketball Season Preview

Generals selected sixth in ODAC preseason poll

11/6/2024 2:00:00 PM

LEXINGTON, Va. -- The Old Dominion Athletic Conference released its 2024-25 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll on Wednesday and Washington and Lee was selected sixth with 78 points.

Randolph-Macon topped the poll with seven first-place votes and 137 points to edge out Guilford for the top spot. The Quakers accrued two first-place tallies and 129 points. Hampden-Sydney came in third with two first-place nods and 123 points to beat out Virginia Wesleyan, who claimed the final two first-place votes, by three points. Roanoke rounded out the Top 5 teams in the conference with 97 total points.

W&L is coming off an 18-10 overall season and 10-6 in the ODAC, which saw them clinch the No. 4 seed in the ODAC Tournament. The Generals proceeded to make noise in the conference playoffs, as they followed a quarterfinal win over Roanoke with a 74-71 upset-win over second-ranked and top-seeded Randolph-Macon in the semifinals. W&L made its first ODAC title game appearance since 2009, but fell to eventual national runner-up Hampden-Sydney.

The Generals are led into the 2024-25 season by eighth-year head coach Chris McHugh '09, who holds a 108-54 overall record across his first seven seasons.

2024-25 ODAC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll

Randolph-Macon College (7) 137 pts.
Guilford College (2) 129 pts.
Hampden-Sydney College (2) 123 pts.
Virginia Wesleyan University (2) 120 pts.
Roanoke College 97 pts.
Washington and Lee University 78 pts.
Shenandoah University 73 pts.
Ferrum College 69 pts.
Bridgewater College 67 pts.
University of Lynchburg 52 pts.
Randolph College 29 pts.
Averett University 26 pts.
Eastern Mennonite University 14 pts.

Hear from Coach

We are off to a great start in the preseason. We have a challenging non-conference schedule to prepare us for the rigor of the ODAC. Our returners know nothing but winning and have been helping our newcomers develop. We are looking forward to an exciting and successful season.

Head Coach Chris McHugh '09 (Eighth Season)

2024-25 Schedule Overview

The Generals have 25 games slated for regular season play, spread out amongst 12 home contests and 13 away from Lexington. This includes two in-season tournaments and one invitational.

The 2024-25 season will get underway for the Blue and White on Friday at the Ursinus College Bear Bash Tip-off Tournament against Wilkes. They will then play either Ursinus or Immaculata the following day in the tournament’s consolation or championship game.

The next four contests will all be local, including the team’s home opener on November 13 against Mary Baldwin. The Generals will then travel down to Salem for an early-season ODAC contest against the Maroons on November 20, followed by a quick trip to Buena Vista, Va., on November 26 for a meeting with the Knights and a December 2 home contest against No. 20 Maryville (Tenn.).

The 2024 calendar year will wrap up with the Charlie Cobb Classic at Hampden-Sydney and the annual W&L Holiday Tournament. W&L will matchup against Eastern and No. 3 John Carroll at the Charlie Cobb Classic on December 20 and 21, respectively, before welcoming Methodist, Centre and Piedmont to Lexington for its home tournament. The Generals will see Methodist on the first day of the Holiday Tournament on December 29, with consolation and championship games the following day.

The 2025 portion of the schedule will feature exclusively ODAC games to close out the regular season, with eight at home and seven on the road. W&L opens 2025 at Randolph and Virginia Wesleyan on January 4 and 8, respectively, before hosting the top-three teams in the ODAC in No. 7 Randolph-Macon (1/11), No. 23 Hampden-Sydney (1/15) and No. 17 Guilford (1/18).

Four of the next six games will be on the road for the Blue and White, before the season closes with 3-of-4 contests in Holekamp Gym. The road games will be at Eastern Mennonite (1/22), Lynchburg (1/25), Ferrum (2/5), Guilford (2/8) and Shenandoah (2/15), while the home matchups will consist of Bridgewater (1/29), Shenandoah (2/1), Roanoke (2/12), Averett (2/19) and Ferrum (2/22).

The ODAC Tournament will see a new format in the upcoming season, as the tournament field will be trimmed from 10 teams to eight, while each of the Top 4 seeds will host quarterfinal action on February 26. Each advancing team from the quarterfinals will then meet at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va., in the semifinals on March 1, with the championship game to follow on March 2.

Key Returners

The Generals return two starters from last year’s team in juniors Colin Ryan and John Loughlin, along with junior AJ Thomas, who appeared in 26 games and logged 15.4 minutes per game. Ryan played in the point guard role a season ago and led the Generals with 84 total assists on 3.0 per game. He also scored 4.7 points per game on 49.1 percent shooting from the floor in 27.1 minutes per game.

Loughlin is one of W&L’s top returning outside-scoring threats, as he ranked second on last year’s team and first among returning players in made three-point shots with 37. A 36.6 percent shooter from beyond the arc a season ago, Loughlin scored 5.5 points per game and pulled down 3.7 boards per contest in 25.6 minutes per game.

Thomas will look to build upon an expanded role from his sophomore season that saw him play in all but two games and average 3.5 points in 15.4 minutes per game. Thomas made 20-of-60 three-point shots last season, but he connected at a rate of 50 percent (5-10) over the team’s last four games of the season, including the go-ahead triple with 9.0 seconds left in W&L’s upset win over No. 2 Randolph-Macon in the ODAC semifinals.

Roberton appeared in all 28 games for the Blue and White as a first-year and covered 16.3 minutes per game. With 3.3 points per game, Roberton made 39.1 percent (34-87) of his shots from the field, including 41.7 percent (10-24) from long range. Roberton also added 1.3 rebounds per game and ranked fourth on the team (second among returners) with 41 total assists.

Senior Thomas Feigin enters his senior with 48 career games played, and looks for a rebound season after missing a majority of his junior campaign due to injury.

Feigin is back for his senior season and figures to be one of W&L’s top outside scoring threats. A career 40.7 shooter from beyond the arc, Feigin made 11-of-27 outside shots last season and a career best 42.9 percent (24-56) of his threes during his rookie campaign.

Off the court, Feigin is a W&L Scholar Athlete and ODAC All-Academic Team student as a sociology and anthropology double-major. He has worked as a Business Operations Intern with the WNBA’s New York Liberty, a Corporate Parternships Intern with the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks and, most recently, a Digital Risk Consulting Intern at Ernst & Young.

Junior Colin Ryan enters his junior season with 54 career games played and is W&L’s top returning distributor.

Ryan saw his minutes more than double from his first to second season in Lexington, playing an average of 27.1 minutes last season. The Generals’ leader in assists, Ryan dished out 84 assists as a sophomore at a rate of 3.0 per game, in addition to 3.3 rebounds per contest and 49.1 percent (53-108) shooting from the floor.

Away from the gym, Ryan is a four-time W&L Scholar Athlete and two-time ODAC All-Academic Team student as a business administration and economics double-major. This past summer, Ryan participated in the Williams School London Internship Program and worked for Pernix Specialty Limited.

Drew Harrell '24 Volunteer Assistant Coach

New Faces on Staff

The Generals' coaching staff will feature two new faces this season in assistant coach Isaac Hibbard and volunteer assistant coach Drew Harrell '24.

Hibbard joins the Generals' coaching staff after serving the past two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at Purdue University-Fort Wayne. With his help, the Mastodons' men's basketball program achieved a 40-28 overall record, two Horizon League Tournament appearances and a berth into the 2023-24 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.

Harrell, a W&L graduate this past May, is in his first coaching post following a standout playing career with the Generals. He appeared in 79 games in his career and compiled 643 points on 42.4 percent shooting from the field, and he added averages of 4.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.6 blocks.

For more information on Coaches Hibbard and Harrell, click on the following links: Isaac Hibbard | Drew Harrell