2025–26 New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team

2025–26 New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball
2025–26 New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball
Conference	Conference USA
Record	11–13 (4–10 CUSA)
Head coach	Jason Hooten (3rd season);
Assistant coaches	Preston Laird (2nd season); Terryonte Thomas (3rd season); Nick Matson (1st season); Shunn Buchanan (2nd season);
Home arena	Pan American Center ; (Capacity: 12,482)

2025–26 Conference USA men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Liberty	14	–	0	1.000	22	–	3	.880
Sam Houston	10	–	5	.667	18	–	8	.692
Louisiana Tech	8	–	7	.533	15	–	11	.577
Western Kentucky	8	–	7	.533	15	–	11	.577
Jacksonville State	8	–	7	.533	13	–	13	.500
Kennesaw State	7	–	8	.467	15	–	11	.577
Missouri State	7	–	8	.467	13	–	13	.500
Middle Tennessee	6	–	9	.400	12	–	14	.462
UTEP	6	–	9	.400	10	–	16	.385
FIU	5	–	9	.357	12	–	13	.480
New Mexico State	5	–	10	.333	12	–	13	.480
Delaware	5	–	10	.333	9	–	17	.346

† 2026 CUSA tournament winner As of February 18, 2026

The 2025–26 New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team represents New Mexico State University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Aggies, led by third-year head coach Jason Hooten, play their home games at Pan American Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico as a member of Conference USA.

Previous season

The New Mexico State finished the 2025–26 season 17–15, 10–8 in Conference USA to finish tied for fourth in the conference. As the 5-seed in the Conference USA Tournament they were defeated by 4-seed Kennesaw State 80–77 in the Quarterfinals to end their season.^[1]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Dionte Bostick	0	G	6'2"	185	Senior	Clearwater, FL	Out of eligibility
Zawdie Jackson	2	G	6'0"	185	Senior	Stone Mountain, GA	Transferred to FIU
Christian Cook	3	G	6'2"	175	Senior	Oklahoma City, OK	Out of eligibility
Carl Cherenfant	5	G	6'5"	195	Sophomore	Pompano Beach, FL	Transferred to McNeese
Christopher Biekeu	6	F	6'7"	235	Graduate	Montreal, QC, Canada	Out of eligibility
Marvin Cox	10	F	6'7"	170	Freshman	Clovis, NM	Entered transfer portal
Peter Filipovity	12	F	6'7"	-	Graduate	Kaposvár, Hungary	Out of eligibility
Jaden Harris	13	G	6'4"	190	Senior	Atlanta, GA	Transferred to Kennesaw State
Nate Tshimanga	19	F	6'10"	235	Senior	Montreal, QC, Canada	Out of eligibility
Azavier Johnson	20	G	6'5"	202	Junior	Las Vegas, NV	Entered transfer portal
Robert Carpenter	21	F	6'7"	210	Graduate	Detroit, MI	Out of eligibility
Emmanuel Tshimanga	25	F	7'0"	270	Graduate	Montreal, QC, Canada	Out of eligibility
Edward Nnamoko	34	F	6'10"	225	Junior	Lagos, Nigeria	Entered transfer portal

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous college
Julius Mims	0	G	6'9"	-	Graduate	Billings, MT	Idaho
Kyrese Mullen	3	G	6'7"	-	Senior	Norfolk, VA	Hampton
Chris Terrell	5	C	6'0"	-	Senior	Horn Lake, MS	Delta State
Jayland Randall	8	G	6'5"	-	Senior	Detroit, MI	Southern Indiana
Anthony Wrzeszcz	9	F	6'4"	-	Senior	Gdynia, Poland	McMaster
Elijah Elliott	11	F	6'1"	-	Graduate	Houston, TX	Southern Illinois
Christian Villegas	12	C	6'2"	-	Senior	El Paso, TX	Texas A&M–Corpus Christi
Amarco Doyle	20	C	6'7"	-	Sophomore	Queensland, Australia	Southern Idaho
Jemel Jones	21	C	6'4"	-	Senior	Chicago, IL	Cal State Bakersfield
Cyr Malonga	24	C	6'11"	-	Junior	Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo	East Carolina

2025 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Augustine Ekwe C	Mount Pleasant, UT	Wasatch Academy	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	240 lb (110 kg)	Nov 13, 2024
Augustine Ekwe C	Recruit ratings: Rivals: ESPN: (NR)
Omarr Smith SG	Baltimore, MD	Baltimore City College	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Nov 13, 2024
Omarr Smith SG	Recruit ratings: 247Sports: ESPN: (79)
Overall recruit ranking: Scout: – Rivals: –
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 New Mexico State Basketball Recruiting Commits". Scout. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout. "2025 Team Ranking". Rivals.

Roster

2025–26 New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	0	Julius Mims	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	—	GS	Idaho	Billings, Montana
G	1	Gabe Pickens	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—	So	Dream City Christian	Phoenix, Arizona
G	2	Omarr Smith	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Fr	Baltimore City College	Baltimore, Maryland
F	3	Kyrese Mullen	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Sr	Hampton	Norfolk, Virginia
F	4	Jae'Coby Osborne	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	So	Bella Vista Prep	Missouri City, Texas
G	5	Chris Terrell	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—	Sr	Delta State	Horn Lake, Mississippi
G	8	Jayland Randall	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	Sr	Southern Indiana	Detroit, Michigan
G	9	Anthony Wrzeszcz	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Sr	McMaster	Gdynia, Poland
G	11	Elijah Elliott	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	GS	Southern Illinois	Houston, TX
G	12	Christian Villegas	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	Sr	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	El Paso, Texas
F	20	Amarco Doyle	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	So	Southern Idaho	Queensland, Australia
G	21	Jemel Jones	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Sr	Cal State Bakersfield	Chicago, Illinois
C	24	Cyr Malonga	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	—	Jr	East Carolina	Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo
C	44	Augustine Ekwe	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	—	Fr	Wasatch Academy	Lagos, Nigeria

Head coach

Jason Hooten (Tarleton State)

Assistant coach(es)

Preston Laird (Memphis)
Terryonte Thomas (Sam Houston State)
Nick Matson (VMI)
Shunn Buchanan (New Mexico State)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2025-10-28

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 4, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Adams State	W 83–72	1–0	23 – Jones	9 – Jones	5 – Pickens	Pan American Center (4,683) Las Cruces, NM
November 11, 2025* 7:30 p.m., ESPN+	New Mexico Highlands	W 74–58	2–0	24 – Jones	6 – Ekwe	3 – Tied	Pan American Center (3,856) Las Cruces, NM
November 15, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	New Mexico Rio Grande Rivalry	W 76–68	3–0	16 – Wrzeszcz	8 – Mims	4 – Elliott	Pan American Center (8,106) Las Cruces, NM
November 21, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Samford Cancún Challenge campus-site game	W 81–72	4–0	17 – Mims	11 – Mims	8 – Pickens	Pan American Center (4,484) Las Cruces, NM
November 25, 2025* 6:30 p.m., FloHoops	vs. UC Irvine Cancún Challenge	W 57–45	5–0	12 – Jones	8 – Tied	2 – Pickens	Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya Cancún, QR, Mexico
November 26, 2025* 1:00 p.m., FloCollege	vs. Georgia State Cancún Challenge	W 77–58	6–0	12 – Jones	11 – Mims	3 – Tied	Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya Cancún, QR, Mexico
December 2, 2025* 5:00 p.m., TBD	vs. South Alabama	L 75–77	6–1	21 – Randall	9 – Jones	4 – Tied	Merrell Center (195) Katy, TX
December 6, 2025* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Abilene Christian	L 69–77	6–2	19 – Jones	4 – Tied	4 – Terrell	Moody Coliseum (923) Abilene, TX
December 13, 2025* 1:00 p.m., Urban Edge Network	vs. Tulsa	L 70–83	6–3	16 – Mims	5 – Tied	4 – Tied	Comerica Center (1,342) Frisco, TX
December 21, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	Sam Houston	W 87–78	7–3 (1–0)	18 – Elliott	9 – Mims	3 – Terrell	Pan American Center (4,125) Las Cruces, NM
December 28, 2025* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	University of the Southwest	W 104–33	8–3	19 – Jones	11 – Osborne	9 – Tied	Pan American Center (3,741) Las Cruces, NM
January 2, 2026 10:00 a.m., ESPN+	at FIU	L 74-89	8–4 (1–1)	15 – Wrzeszcz	4 – Terrell	3 – Tied	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (431) Miami, FL
January 4, 2026 1:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Missouri State	L 82-89	8–5 (1–2)	22 – Mims	14 – Mims	3 – Tied	Great Southern Bank Arena (2,075) Springfield, MO
January 8, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Western Kentucky	W 80-64	9–5 (2–2)	24 – Jones	15 – Mims	6 – Pickens	Pan American Center (3,603) Las Cruces, NM
January 10, 2026 6:00 p.m., ESPNU	Middle Tennessee	L 55-59	9–6 (2–3)	16 – Jones	7 – Mims	3 – Tied	Pan American Center (4,047) Las Cruces, NM
January 15, 2026 4:00 p.m., CBSSN	at Liberty	L 71-73	9–7 (2–4)	16 – Wrzeszcz	12 – Osborne	5 – Terrell	Liberty Arena (2,580) Lynchburg, VA
January 17, 2026 12:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Delaware	W 97-64	10–7 (3–4)	19 – Jones	10 – Mims	5 – Jones	Bob Carpenter Center (2,560) Newark, DE
January 22, 2026 7:00 p.m., CBSSN	Missouri State	L 75-84	10–8 (3–5)	28 – Jones	8 – Mims	7 – Elliott	Pan American Center (5,664) Las Cruces, NM
January 24, 2026 12:00 p.m., ESPN+	FIU	L 78-81	10–9 (3–6)	26 – Elliott	13 – Mims	5 – Jones	Pan American Center (5,682) Las Cruces, NM
January 28, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Delaware	L 64-73	10–10 (3–7)	20 – Wrzeszcz	9 – Mims	4 – Pickens	Pan American Center (5,538) Las Cruces, NM
January 31, 2026 3:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Kennesaw State	L 53-76	10–11 (3–8)	13 – Jones	10 – Mims	2 – Tied	Convocation Center (1,377) Kennesaw, GA
February 4, 2026 5:30 p.m., ESPN+	at Louisiana Tech	W 72-63	11–11 (4–8)	26 – Jones	12 – Mims	5 – Jones	Thomas Assembly Center (2,127) Ruston, LA
February 7, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	at UTEP Battle of I-10	L 88-91	11–12 (4–9)	26 – Jones	12 – Mims	4 – Tied	Don Haskins Center (7,862) El Paso, TX
February 11, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Liberty	L 75-77	11–13 (4–10)	23 – Jones	13 – Mims	6 – Terrell	Pan American Center (5,236) Las Cruces, NM
February 14, 2026 3:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Jacksonville State						Pete Mathews Coliseum Jacksonville, AL
February 21, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	UTEP Battle of I-10						Pan American Center Las Cruces, NM
February 26, 2026 5:30 p.m., ESPN+	at Western Kentucky						E.A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
February 28, 2026 11:00 a.m., ESPN+	at Middle Tennessee						Murphy Center Murfreesboro, TN
March 5, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Jacksonville State						Pan American Center Las Cruces, NM
March 7, 2026 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	Kennesaw State						Pan American Center Las Cruces, NM
Conference USA tournament
March 10–14, 2026	vs.						Propst Arena Huntsville, AL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time.

Source^[2]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** — = Not ranked
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	—
Coaches

References

^ Bloomquist, Bret. "New Mexico State men's basketball falls down the stretch to Kennesaw in CUSA tournament". Las Cruces Sun-News. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
^ "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule". nmstatesports.com. Retrieved October 28, 2025.

[1] Bloomquist, Bret. "New Mexico State men's basketball falls down the stretch to Kennesaw in CUSA tournament". Las Cruces Sun-News. Retrieved October 29, 2025.

[2] "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule". nmstatesports.com. Retrieved October 28, 2025.

[1]

[2]

New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball
Venues	Pan American Center (1968–present)
Rivalries	New Mexico UTEP
Culture & lore	Pistol Pete
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 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
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics