Men's Basketball 2025-26 Roster Reload: ULM

Monroe, Louisiana is the home to a new head coach, as Phil Cunningham begins his first season leading the ULM Warhawks.

Cunningham, the former Troy head coach, takes over for longtime ULM coach Keith Richard, who retired following last season. Cunningham guided Troy to the NCAA tournament in the 2016-2-17 season before being let go in 2019. He joined Richard’s staff last offseason as an assistant head coach. He is familiar with other teams in the league, as he was a James Madison and Georgia State assistant in the 1990s.

A new chapter of Warhawk Basketball.@philtcunningham has been named the eighth head coach of ULM Men’s Basketball!

🏀📰: https://t.co/Nao7biY2Rm pic.twitter.com/sLch8tjOC8

— ULM Men’s Basketball (@ULM_MBB) March 18, 2025

The Warhawks finished 7-25 last season and 3-15 in conference play, placing at the bottom of the conference standings. Unfortunately, this has become a familiar position for the Warhawks, as they haven’t posted a winning record in conference play since 2015-16, where they went 15-5

While the team had limited success, Cunningham inherited a few key returners that have shown potential. Renars Sondors returns after averaging 5.8 points and 3.8 rebounds as a freshman before going down for the season after 10 games. Sophomore guard Micah Caster played important minutes off the bench last season, while Ajay Tew enters his third season in Monroe.

Departures

Like many programs across college athletics, the Warhawks face significant roster turnover. ULM loses roughly 96 percent of its scoring and 94 percent of its minutes from last season.

Two key pieces, Jalen Bolden and Makai Willis, will remain teammates after transferring to conference rival Texas State, Bolden, a 6-foot-4 guard, started 56 games in three seasons at ULM, averaging a career-high 13.2 points and 6 rebounds per game last season. Willis, a 6-foot-8 forward, also set career highs last season with 10.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

Signed 🖊️

Welcome to San Marcos, Jalen Bolden!

📰: https://t.co/zqIflBFHDK #EatEmUp x @jalenbolden5 pic.twitter.com/ywm1T2Bifn

— Texas State MBB (@TXStateMBB) June 11, 2025

The backcourt took additional hits, as point guard Tyreese Watson (12 ppg, 4.3 apg) transferred to UTEP. Coltie Young (10.3 ppg, 38.9 percent from three) has graduated, and veteran Jacob Wilson (68 career games, career 6.3 ppg) transferred to Morehead State

Down low, centers Jerry Ngopot and AD Diediou—who essentially split minutes at the five positions—are now gone as well. Ngopot also stayed in the conference, transferring to Coastal Carolina, after averaging six points per game, while Diedhiou graduated after a season where he hauled in 4.1 rebounds in 18 minutes per game.

Depth will also need to be addressed as Devon Hancock, P.D. McCraney, and Kelton Williams all transfer out of the program.

Arrivals

Cunningham looks to replace all of this lost production, by adding 10 players to the program.

Leading the group is Division I transfers MJ Russell and Brentay Noel. Russell, a 6-foot-3 redshirt junior, appeared in 21 games over two seasons for Mississippi State in the SEC. Noel, a 6-foot-10 forward, comes from Southern university where he averaged 4.8 points and 4.8 rebounds last season, and brings much-needed size to the frontcourt. Unfortunately, Noel will be out for the season with an injury.

AGTG #committed pic.twitter.com/qekVX4sCgc

— Brentay “ B9 “Noel (@brentay__) June 4, 2025

Monroe welcomes three international freshmen who could make an immediate impact. Przemek Hartman, a 6-foot-9 forward from Poland, brings experience as he has played with his country’s youth national team and professionally in Spain. Russian guard Alex Molofeev averaged 13.6 points per game for Lokomotiv Kuban’s second team. Wing Alex Huguet Carrasco, who stands at 6-foot-7,played in Spain’s third professional division.

A pair of non-Division I transfers bring scoring to the Warhawks. Lavell Brodnex, from Cameron University (Division II) averaged 14.4 points per game while shooting nearly 54 percent from the field last season. Krystian Lewis, who comes in with three years of eligibility after spending his freshman season at Pearl River C.C., also adds a true point guard presence after averaging 15.5 points and 4.3 assists. Lewis was originally committed to Louisiana when now ULM assistant Derrick Zimmerman was interim coach.

Rounding out the incoming class are three backcourt additions: Dylan Diaz a sharpshooter who hit 41.1 percent of his shots from deep last season in Junior College; Cam Campbell, a redshirt sophomore from Asbury University (Division III); and Wiggy Ball, a freshman who enters college with one of the most memorable names in the sport.

Was Phil Cunningham the right hire in Monroe? Can the Warhawks climb out of the bottom of the Sun Belt standings? Those questions will begin to be answered soon. ULM opens their season on Nov. 3 as they travel to Northern Illinois, in the first round of the MAC-SBC Challenge, with the game being aired on ESPN+.