Troy sees the departure of six members of the team that won the conference tournament, with four of them playing massive roles
The Troy Trojans enter the 2025-26 season fresh off of a NCAA Tournament appearance and Sun Belt Tournament championship.
Head Coach Scott Cross led the Trojans to a conference title, earning them an automatic bid into March Madness. The Trojans earned a 14-seed and fell to the three-seed Kentucky Wildcats 76-57, in the opening round.
Although four of the starters in that game have since left, Troy does not bring in much to replace them. In a world of the transfer portal and NIL, Coach Cross and staff seem to pride themselves on development.
Forward Thomas Dowd is the lone starter from the March Madness game against Kentucky. Dowd. The 6-foot-8 junior, started in 33 of Troyβs 34 games last season, averaging 9.5 points and 6.9 rebounds. He is expected to once again take a leap both on and off the court. He was named preseason Second-Team All-Conference.
We still got work to doβΌοΈ #TakeTheStairs pic.twitter.com/v2LQu3yq0P
β Thomas Dowd (@thomasdowd_) March 28, 2025
Sophomore Cooper Campbell was a pleasant surprise for the Trojans last season, playing 16.6 minutes per game and scoring 5.2 points. His older brother Cobi Campbell also returns to the Trojans after redshirting last season.
Two potential breakout candidates this season are redshirt sophomore Kerrington Kiel, and junior Victor Valdes. Kiel recorded a career-high eight points and 10 rebounds in a career-high 28 minutes against ULM last season. Valdes, a 6-foot-7 235 pound wing, has made 15 career starts and scored in double figures five times across two seasons.
The Trojans also return frontcourt pieces Theo Seng and Jerrell Bellamy, who both enter their final seasons. Seng averaged 5.3 points per game last season, including an 18-point performance against Arkansas State. Bellamy recorded double-figures four times, including 18 points in only 16 minutes against Eastern Kentucky.
Redshirt Freshman Evan Griffin is also someone who could make an impact in the frontcourt, where the Trojans look to build depth.
Departures
Troy sees the departure of six members of the team that won the conference tournament, with four of them playing massive roles.
Reigning Sun Belt Player of the Year Tayton Conerway has found a new home via the transfer portal, with the Indiana Hoosiers. Conerway was the leading scorer for the Trojans, scoring 14.2 points per game. He also added 4.6 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. Conerway could have easily been Defensive Player of the Year as well, as he stole the ball 2.9 times a game, which was good for third in the country.
Wing Myles Rigsby transferred to Tulsa. Rigsby, the 2023-24 Conference Freshman of the Year, improved in his sophomore season, averaging 12.2 points per game. His older brother Marcus Rigsby Jr. also transferred out. The 6-foot-3 junior started in 34 games last season as Troy made their run in March. He scored a season-high 17 points against ULM in February.
The final starter to enter the portal was Jackson Fields, who is now in the Big-12 with West Virginia. Fields, the starting center, had seven points and seven rebounds against Kentucky, and leaves a significant void in the frontcourt
Bench center Randarius Jones has transferred to Grambling State after seeing limited minutes, while walk-on Braydon Whitaker graduated.
Arrivals
The Trojans see the smallest incoming class in the conference, only adding four guys to the roster.
Senior forward Corbin Green transfers in from Texas Tech, where he appeared in nine games last season. Before joining the Red Raiders, Green played at Air Force, where he started 12 games as a freshman, averaging 6.5 points per game.
Javier Gilgeous-Glasgow, the cousin of NBA star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, joins the Trojans from Toronto Metropolitan in Canada. He averaged 12.5 points and 4.6 assists last season, Gilgeous-Glasgow also played two seasons at the junior college level.
Javen Colbert, one of two freshmen joining the Trojans, was named 4A Player of the Year in the state of Texas last season. He was a scoring machine his senior season, scoring 40 points or more seven times. Colbert also dished out seven assists and was very good defensively, with 3.3 steals per game.
Combo guard Emmanuel Clarton rounds out the class. Clarton, an Alabama native, was First-Team All-State his senior season and chose Troy over Tennessee Tech.
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Get to know freshman guard Emmanuel ClartonβΌοΈ#TakeTheStairs | #OneTROY βοΈπ pic.twitter.com/4xqrZxiqpA
β Troy Trojans MBB (@TroyTrojansMBB) October 7, 2025
Despite losing a significant amount of production, Troy will look to familiar faces to step up, while new additions will fill in the holes.
Troy will begin their season at Kent State on Nov. 3. Their conference championship defense starts on Dec. 20 with Marshall coming to Alabama
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