WHEELING, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team has been selected sixth in the Mountain East Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, the league office released Tuesday ahead of MEC Media Day.
THE POLL
| Place |
Team (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. |
West Liberty (11) |
121 |
| T-2. |
Glenville State (1) |
101 |
| T-2. |
Fairmont State |
101 |
| 4. |
Charleston |
98 |
| 5. |
Wheeling |
84 |
| 6. |
Concord |
61 |
| 7. |
Frostburg State |
56 |
| 8. |
West Virginia State |
47 |
| 9. |
Shawnee State |
46 |
| 10. |
Davis & Elkins |
43 |
| 11. |
Point Park |
23 |
| 12. |
West Virginia Wesleyan |
11 |
2025-26 REVIEW
CU advanced to the MEC Tournament Semifinals for the fourth straight year by defeating Wheeling in the MEC Quarterfinals. The Mountain Lions finished sixth in the MEC regular season despite battling injuries throughout the season. At season's end, head coach Todd May, third-winningest coach in program history with 152 victories, departed for an assistant coaching job at Division I Akron.
2026-27 SCHEDULE
Concord has 28 games on the slate this winter with six outside of the MEC and 22 versus conference foes—five opponents on this year's schedule made the NCAA Tournament in 2026: Charleston, Fairmont State, Fayetteville State, Indiana (Pa.) and West Liberty. The conference slate is a home-and-away double round robin format. The Mountain Lions open the season against the defending Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Champions, Fayetteville State, November 9 at home. CU travels to IUP's Hilton Garden Inn Classic November 13-14 where Concord squares off with Clarion and IUP. The Mountain Lions' annual rivalry with Bluefield State is renewed on the road November 21. December 2 is the first MEC game of the season as the Maroon and Gray has an MEC Tournament rematch with Wheeling on the road. The top MEC matchups are December 5 against MEC favorite West Liberty inside the Carter Center, a date at Fairmont State December 14, a contest with Charleston at home January 2, a road game at West Liberty January 30 and the final game of the regular season versus Shawnee State February 27.
THE RETURNERS
With the coaching change at Concord, only players return for the Mountain Lions in junior forward
Corey Shumate, sophomore guard
Riley Clevenger and redshirt freshman guard
Isaiah Board.
THE NEWCOMERS
Former Charleston head coach Jayson Gee was hired to take over the very successful men's basketball program at CU. Gee made multiple NCAA Tournament during his tenure at UC (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002) while winning two conference championships. Since the early 2000s, Gee has been at multiple Division I schools, most recently spending time on the bench at Kansas State during the 2025-26 season.
Concord welcomed 19 new players to campus this fall as Gee and his two assistants, Jared Drake and Bryce Beavers, were busy on the recruiting trail this summer. The new faces came from various levels, Division I, NAIA, junior college and high school. The lone Division I transfer is redshirt freshman guard
Kody Frey (Raleigh, N.C./Fairleigh Dickinson University). Senior guard
Kam Bender averaged 18.1 points per game two seasons ago at Vancouver Island University. Junior guard
Keenan Gray tossed in 15.6 points per game at the junior college level (Lake Land CC) as he shot 54 percent from the floor and 40 percent from three-point range. Junior forward
Uwami Chongo scored 15.2 points and grabbed 6.9 rebounds per game at Miles CC.
The top two freshmen for Concord are
JR Bates (Columbus, Ohio/Pickerington North) and
Benjamin Zabinsky (Herzilya, Israel/Central Florida Prep). Bates was Division I All-State First Team during his senior season, and averaged 13.2 points per game. Â
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