Men’s Basketball Opens 2025-26 Season at New Haven on Friday

Friday, November 7

West Haven, Conn.

1:00 P.M.

Columbia University

New Haven

Tickets

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics / Stockton Photo, Inc.

Men’s Basketball Opens 2025-26 Season at New Haven on Friday

11/6/2025 11:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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The Lions begin the Kevin Hovde era with their first-ever meeting with the Chargers

NEW YORK — Columbia men's basketball embarks on its 125th year when it visits new Division I member New Haven on Friday at 1 p.m. at The Hazell Center in the Lions' 2025-26 season opener. It marks the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

Friday's matchup between the Lions (0-0) and Chargers (0-1) can be followed via live stats or watched live on NEC Front Row. JJ Duke (play-by-play) and Joe DeSantis (analyst) will have the call.

News/Notes

Opening Tip-Off

The Lions return more than 68 percent of their scoring for the third straight season. Columbia also brings back at least 67 percent of its rebounds and assists from 2024-25.

Columbia is 79-44 all-time in season openers and looks to win its second straight campaign debut. Columbia begins the season on the road for the ninth straight season.

Kevin Hovde makes his head coaching debut for Columbia. Hovde is fresh off a National Championship at Florida as an assistant coach and returns to Morningside Heights, where he was on Kyle Smith's staff from 2011-16.

The Lions return 11 student-athletes from last season, including four starters from a year ago, and welcome six newcomers in 2025-26.

A New Era

Kevin Hovde became the 24th head coach in Columbia men's basketball history on March 24, 2025. The Kennett Square, Pennsylvania native returns to the Lions after helping the Florida Gators win a National Championship in 2025 as an assistant coach. Hovde recently spent three years in Gainesville and worked alongside former Columbia assistant and Florida head coach, Todd Golden, for nine seasons. Hovde's other coaching stops include San Francisco and Richmond. Hovde has been a part of nine NCAA Tournament victories (two as a student-athlete at Richmond, one as an assistant at Richmond, and six as an assistant at Florida).

Seniors Lead The Way

Columbia's foursome of seniors (Avery Brown, Kenny Noland, Blair Thompson, and Zine Eddine Bedri) all enter their fourth season in Morningside Heights. Brown, Noland, and Thompson have all seen significant action over the last three seasons, averaging at least 23.1 minutes per game over their careers. The trio has accounted for at least a third of the team's scoring over each of the last three seasons. Noland, Brown, and Bedri led the team in assists last season, while Thompson, Noland, and Bedri had the most rebounds in 2024-25.
Continuity Is King

Last season, Columbia ranked ninth in the country in continuity rating, per KenPom. The Lions continue that trend by bringing back double-digit returners for the third straight season. Columbia has the seventh-highest returning scoring percentage in the country (68.4), which is also the second-highest in the Ivy League behind Harvard. The Lions are also one of nine teams in the country that return 65% of their scoring, rebounding, and assists.

The Returners

Columbia returns 11 players from last season, and all but one appeared in games throughout the 2024-25 campaign. The Lions return four starters, despite losing five seniors to graduation. Top returners include the aforementioned senior class of Avery Brown, Kenny Noland, Blair Thompson, and Zine Eddine Bedri. Also returning to the mix is last season's blocks leader Mason Ritter. Fellow sophomore Gerard O'Keefe, who was a six-time Ivy League Honor Roll recipient and league Rookie of the Week (Feb. 10) a season ago, is back as well.

The Newcomers

Columbia's class of 2029 features Edwin Bai (Hong Kong, China), Connor Igoe (Brooklyn, N.Y.), and Miles Franklin (Vienna, Va.). The Lions have also brought in three key transfers in sophomores Ryan Soulis (Richmond) and Leland Coleman (New Orleans), along with junior Hampton Sanders (NYU). Each transfer will make an impact and features great versatility, size, and athleticism, along with significant college basketball playing experience. In 2024-25, Sanders helped guide NYU to the Division III National Championship game and was named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team.

The Coaching Staff

Hovde's new staff includes assistant coaches Mark McGonigal, Shasha Brown, and Matt Elkin. McGonigal previously coached at Cornell, Brown at California, and Elkin at Stanford. Also joining the program is director of basketball operations Chasen Hofmann and director of strategy Nate Hickman. The staff features two assistant coaches who have helped pull off upsets as assistants in the NCAA Tournament (Matt Elkin - Yale in 2024 and Mark McGonigal - Richmond in 2022). Hickman played in 104 games at Columbia from 2014-18 and totaled 700 career points. He was a member of the 2015-16 CollegeInsider.com Tournament Championship team. Hofmann arrives from Florida, where he served as a graduate assistant with the Gators.

1,000 Points Watch

Columbia's Avery Brown (849 points) and Kenny Noland (745 points) each are closing in on the 1,000 point mark for their careers. The last Lion to reach 1,000 points was Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa on Feb. 23, 2024. Columbia has 30 all-time 1,000 point scorers.

Lions Compete Internationally

Avery Brown (USA - 3x3 FISU World University Games), Ryan Soulis (Greece - FIBA U20 EuroBasket), and Zine Eddine Bedri (Qatar - FIBA Asia Cup) all garnered valuable experience playing internationally this summer.

Scouting New Haven

The Chargers enter their home opener against the Lions after dropping a 79-55 contest at No. 4 UConn on Monday to open their season. New Haven was picked to finish 10th in the Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. The Chargers are in their first season as a Division I institution.

Series History - New Haven

The Lions and Chargers meet for the first time ever on Friday at the Hazell Center.

Up Next

The Lions take on No. 4 UConn on Monday at 6:30 p.m. inside Gampel Pavilion. It will be Columbia's first matchup against a ranked team since 2019 (at No. 9 Virginia) and 10th contest in program history against a top-five team.

Preseason Ivy League Poll

The Lions were predicted to finish eighth in the preseason Ivy League poll, conducted by selected members of the media.

The Schedule

The Lions have a 28-game slate set for 2025-26 that features 14 home games from Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium. Columbia's home opener is set for Nov. 13 against UMass Lowell.
Ivy League play commences for the Lions on Jan. 5 at Cornell. Columbia concludes the 2025-26 regular season on the road against Harvard on March 7.

The top-four regular season finishers in the conference will compete in this year's Ivy Madness, held March 13-15 at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y. The men's semifinals will be played on March 14 and the final will follow on March 15.

Geronimo Goes Pro

Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa '25 CC signed professionally with the Mexico City Capitanes of the NBA G League.
Rubio De La Rosa played in 100 games at Columbia from 2021-25. The Santiago, Dominican Republic native finished his Lions career with 1,414 points, which ranks eighth on Columbia's all-time scoring list.

He also ranks second all-time in program history in three-pointers made (230), and third all-time in program history in free throw percentage (.843).

Rubio De La Rosa scored double-figures in 17 out of 20 games played in 2024-25. He was also named a Nolan Richardson Award Finalist by CollegeInsider.com, tabbed to the NABC Second Team All-North Atlantic District, and named to the All-Met Division I Third Team.

In 2024-25, Rubio De La Rosa was a three-time Ivy League Player of the Week, two-time Lou Henson National Player of the Week, USBWA Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week, Mid-Major Madness Player of the Week, and Dick Vitale National Player of the Week.

On Nov. 23 last season vs. Stony Brook, Rubio De La Rosa dropped a career-high 37 points and moved to 11th place on Columbia's all-time scoring list. Rubio De La Rosa set a Levien Gym record and a career high with nine three-pointers made. He also tied the Levien Gym record for points scored by a Lion, matching Mike Smith, Buck Jenkins, and C.J. Thompkins' 37-point performances. From the floor, Rubio De La Rosa was 14-18 (.778) from inside the arc and 9-13 (.692) from three-point range.

Lo Wins Gold

Columbia men's basketball alumnus Maodo Lo '16CC and Team Germany won a gold medal in September at the FIBA Eurobasket 2025. Lo also competed with his country at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Lions In The Pros

Columbia has 10 alumni currently playing professionally: Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa '25CC, Ike Nweke '22CC, Tai Bibbs '21CC, Gabe Stefanini '21CC, Mike Smith '20CC, Patrick Tapé '20CC, Kyle Castlin '18CC, Luke Petrasek '17CC, Maodo Lo '16CC, and K.J. Matsui '09CC.

Tickets On Sale

Columbia men's basketball tickets are on sale now. Visit https://gocolumbialions.evenue.net/list/MB or call the ticket office at 888-LIONS-11 to purchase.

Follow The Lions
For the latest on Columbia men's basketball, follow @CULionsMBB on X and Instagram, search Columbia men's basketball on Facebook, or follow on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.