2025–26 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team

2025–26 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball
2025–26 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball
Conference	Horizon League
Record	7–3 (1–1 Horizon)
Head coach	Darrin Horn (7th season);
Assistant coaches	Simon McCormack; David Harris; R.J. Evans; Ryan Peterson;
Home arena	Truist Arena
	Seasons ← 2024–25 2026–27 →

2025–26 Horizon League men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Youngstown State	2	–	0	1.000	6	–	4	.600
Detroit Mercy	2	–	0	1.000	4	–	6	.400
Oakland	1	–	0	1.000	5	–	5	.500
Milwaukee	1	–	0	1.000	4	–	5	.444
Northern Kentucky	1	–	1	.500	7	–	3	.700
Robert Morris	1	–	1	.500	7	–	4	.636
Wright State	1	–	1	.500	5	–	5	.500
Purdue Fort Wayne	1	–	1	.500	5	–	6	.455
Green Bay	0	–	2	.000	4	–	7	.364
Cleveland State	0	–	2	.000	3	–	8	.273
IU Indy	0	–	2	.000	3	–	8	.273

† 2026 Horizon League tournament winner As of December 7, 2025

The 2025–26 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team represents Northern Kentucky University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Norse, led by seventh-year head coach Darrin Horn, play their home games at Truist Arena in Highland Heights, Kentucky as members of the Horizon League.

Previous season

The Norse finished the 2024–25 season 17–16, 11–9 in Horizon League play, to finish in a tie for sixth place.^[1] They defeated Detroit Mercy,^[2] before falling to Cleveland State in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League tournament.^[3]

Preseason

On October 8, 2025, the Horizon League released their preseason poll. Northern Kentucky was picked to finish sixth in the conference.^[4]

Preseason rankings

Horizon League Preseason Poll
Place	Team	Points
1	Milwaukee	428 (24)
2	Oakland	384 (7)
3	Youngstown State	364 (2)
4	Robert Morris	345 (8)
5	Purdue Fort Wayne	287 (1)
6	Northern Kentucky	274
7	Wright State	221
8	Cleveland State	217 (2)
9	Detroit Mercy	176
10	IU Indy	115
11	Green Bay	93
(#) first-place votes

Source:^[4]

Preseason All-Horizon League Teams

Preseason All-Horizon League Teams
Team	Player	Position	Year
Second	Dan Gherezgher	Guard	Senior

Source:^[4]

Roster

2025–26 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Dan Gherezgher	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Michigan Tech	Brookfield, Wisconsin
G/F	1	Ryan Tolliver	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Fr	Northwest Catholic High School	Hartford, Connecticut
G	3	Shawn Nelson	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	GS	Barton College	Miami, Florida
G	4	Bryce Darbyshire	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	RS So	Sycamore High School	Cincinnati, Ohio
F	5	LJ Wells	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Sr	Eau Claire Memorial High School	Eau Claire, Wisconsin
G	6	Ethan Elliott	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	Joondalup Wolves	Perth, Australia
G	8	Donovan Oday	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	Cal State Fullerton	Arlington, Texas
G/F	10	Donovan Rakotonanahary	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	RS Fr	Oak Hill Academy	Antananarivo, Madagascar
G	11	Tae Dozier	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	GS	Georgetown College	Louisville, Kentucky
F	12	Addison Archer	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jr	Ranger College	Charlotte, North Carolina
F	17	Juanma Ruiz	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Real Betis	Begíjar, Spain
G	22	JJ Apathjang	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Judge Memorial Catholic High School	Salt Lake City, Utah
F	24	Kael Robinson	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	GS	Montana State Billings	Hamilton, New Zealand
G	26	Mitchel Minor	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Sr	Scott High School	Taylor Mill, Kentucky

Head coach

Darrin Horn (Western Kentucky)

Assistant coach(es)

Simon McCormack (American)
David Harris (Ashland)
R.J. Evans (Connecticut)
Ryan Peterson (Lynn)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: November 19, 2025

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 20, 2025* 6:00 pm	vs. Ashland CareSource Invitational — Dayton	W 83–72	–	17 – Tied	16 – Wells	7 – Elliott	UD Arena Dayton, OH
Regular season
November 3, 2025* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	UC Clermont	W 126–69	1–0	22 – Robinson	10 – Wells	9 – Elliott	Truist Arena (2,009) Highland Heights, KY
November 8, 2025* 3:00 pm, SECN+	at No. 18 Tennessee	L 56–95	1–1	14 – Tied	8 – Robinson	3 – Elliott	Thompson–Boling Arena (18,661) Knoxville, TN
November 12, 2025* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at East Tennessee State	L 63–75	1–2	24 – Gherezgher	7 – Wells	4 – Oday	Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,307) Johnson City, TN
November 16, 2025* 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Cumberlands	W 101–73	2–2	19 – Oday	8 – Wells	5 – Elliott	Truist Arena (1,743) Highland Heights, KY
November 20, 2025* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Central Michigan	W 90–66	3–2	20 – Oday	9 – Wells	8 – Elliott	McGuirk Arena (1,402) Mount Pleasant, MI
November 24, 2025* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Eastern Kentucky	W 82–71	4–2	19 – Gherezgher	11 – Wells	4 – Gherezgher	Truist Arena (2,346) Highland Heights, KY
November 26, 2025* 2:00 pm, ESPN+/FDSNOH	Wofford	W 93–83	5–2	27 – Oday	8 – Wells	4 – Elliott	Truist Arena (1,574) Highland Heights, KY
November 29, 2025* 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Boston University	W 74–65	6–2	23 – Gherezgher	6 – Dozier	3 – Oday	Truist Arena (1,502) Highland Heights, KY
December 3, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Cleveland State	W 95–80	7–2 (1–0)	21 – Wells	10 – Wells	5 – Elliott	Truist Arena (1,814) Highland Heights, KY
December 6, 2025 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Purdue Fort Wayne	L 77–79	7–3 (1–1)	27 – Gherezgher	7 – Tied	10 – Elliott	Gates Sports Center (937) Fort Wayne, IN
December 9, 2025* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Brescia						Truist Arena Highland Heights, KY
December 13, 2025* 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Bellarmine						Knights Hall Louisville, KY
December 17, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Oakland						Truist Arena Highland Heights, KY
December 21, 2025* 12:00 pm, ESPN+/FDSNOH	Charleston						Truist Arena Highland Heights, KY
December 29, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Robert Morris						UPMC Events Center Moon Township, PA
January 1, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	IU Indy						Truist Arena Highland Heights, KY
January 4, 2026 4:00 pm, ESPN+	Youngstown State						Truist Arena Highland Heights, KY
January 9, 2026 8:00 pm, ESPN+	at Milwaukee						UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena Milwaukee, WI
January 11, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Green Bay						Kress Events Center Green Bay, WI
January 15, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Detroit Mercy						Truist Arena Highland Heights, KY
January 17, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Robert Morris						Truist Arena Highland Heights, KY
January 24, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Wright State						Nutter Center Fairborn, OH
January 30, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Detroit Mercy						Calihan Hall Detroit, MI
February 1, 2026 3:00 pm, ESPN+	at Oakland						OU Credit Union O'rena Auburn Hills, MI
February 4, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Green Bay						Truist Arena Highland Heights, KY
February 7, 2026 5:00 pm, ESPN+/FDSNOH	Milwaukee						Truist Arena Highland Heights, KY
February 12, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	at IU Indy						The Jungle Indianapolis, IN
February 18, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+/FDSNOH	Purdue Fort Wayne						Truist Arena Highland Heights, KY
February 22, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Youngstown State						Beeghly Center Youngstown, OH
February 25, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Cleveland State						Wolstein Center Cleveland, OH
February 28, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Wright State						Truist Arena Highland Heights, KY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Sources:^[5]^[6]

References

^ "2024-25 Men's Basketball Standings". Horizon League. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
^ "NKU advances in the Horizon League Tournament with rout of Detroit Mercy". WLWT. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
^ "Cleveland State men's basketball reaches Horizon League semis with 68-63 win over Northern Kentucky". cleveland.com. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Milwaukee Earns Top Spot in 2025-26 Under Armour #HLMBB Preseason Poll". Horizon League. Retrieved November 18, 2025.
^ "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule". Northern Kentucky University Athletics. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
^ "Northern Kentucky Norse 2025-26 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved November 19, 2025.

[1] "2024-25 Men's Basketball Standings". Horizon League. Retrieved November 19, 2025.

[2] "NKU advances in the Horizon League Tournament with rout of Detroit Mercy". WLWT. Retrieved November 19, 2025.

[3] "Cleveland State men's basketball reaches Horizon League semis with 68-63 win over Northern Kentucky". cleveland.com. Retrieved November 19, 2025.

[poll-4] "Milwaukee Earns Top Spot in 2025-26 Under Armour #HLMBB Preseason Poll". Horizon League. Retrieved November 18, 2025.

[5] "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule". Northern Kentucky University Athletics. Retrieved November 19, 2025.

[6] "Northern Kentucky Norse 2025-26 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved November 19, 2025.

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[6]

v t e Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball
Venues	Regents Hall (1973–2008) Truist Arena (2008–present)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 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