The Northeastern men’s basketball program looks to put their injury-riddled 2025 campaign behind them as they gear up for the 2026-27 season. After finishing 7-24 overall and 2-16 in conference play, including a 12-game losing streak heading into the CAA Tournament, the Huskies will look to turn the page featuring five returning players, four freshmen recruits, four transfers and one familiar face from the 2024-25 season.
Saying goodbye to the historic Matthews Arena last November marked a watershed moment for the Northeastern men’s basketball program. Little did anyone know, it was only the beginning. In addition to preparing for its first full season at the Cabot Center since the mid-2000s, the program will look to new talent to help shape its identity.
The Captain and the King
The biggest storyline surrounding the Huskies is the return of graduate guard Rashad King. In 2024, King led the team in scoring, averaging 18.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 44.9% from the floor. He started 31 of 32 games, averaging 36.5 minutes per contest.
After the 2024-25 season, King entered the transfer portal and transferred to LSU. He averaged 5.8 points in 32 games for the Tigers, making nine starts and playing 18.7 minutes per contest. After graduating from Northeastern in three years with a degree in business and spending a season at LSU, King decided to return to Northeastern as a graduate student.
“The familiarity and the mutual respect between Rashad, his family, and our program was there,” said Northeastern head coach Bill Coen. “He knew what he was getting in the program and the staff, and we knew what we were getting in a teammate and a player.”
King was named to the Preseason All-CAA First Team, two years after earning All-CAA First Team honors at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season. He not only adds another scoring threat, but also elevates the play of his teammates around him.
Named team captain, senior guard Mike Loughnane finished last season averaging 10.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 45% from the floor. A 6-foot-4 guard from Quincy, Massachusetts, Loughnane enters his second season with the program after starting 23 of 31 games last year. Coen said he had conversations with Loughnane about King’s return, and the senior was excited to hear the news.
“Not often can you add a guy who’s a first-team level player in your league, let alone a guy who already knows your system,” Loughnane said.
Loughnane and King will complement each other well, as Loughnane led the team in assists last season, dishing out 117 of them.
“Mike’s all about winning,” Coen said. “He knows that Rashad can help us win.”
He has incredible command of the floor and discipline on offense. On Dec. 7, at home against Central Connecticut State, he made his first start and took over as the primary point guard.
“I’ve been here a long, long time and I would put Mike in the top-five most competitive guys that we’ve had in this program,” Coen said.
The captain earned the team honor through his leadership and locker room presence, setting an example for his teammates through both his words and actions.
“When you see a young man like that and you see the power he has over his teammates and the positivity that he adds to the culture, you want to kind of embrace that and honor that,” Coen said.
Arrivals
The Huskies welcome eight newcomers to their squad this season, including four freshmen recruits and four transfers.
Freshman guard Josh Goodwin stands 6-foot-5 and joins the Huskies from Cypress Ranch High School in Texas. He averaged 22.5 points per game in 35 games as a senior in 2025-26. In his introductory video on Instagram, Goodwin described his playstyle as that of an “energy, downhill guard that likes to play defense and have fun.”
Freshman forward Damian Jung is a 6-foot-10 forward born in Bad Kreuznach, Germany. A high flyer, he represented Germany at the FIBA U20 Eurobasket 2026 in Slovenia. In his introductory video, Jung described himself as an “energetic, gritty player.”
Another downhill guard, freshman Sage Baptiste is a 6-foot-6 forward from Wareham, Massachusetts. Baptiste likes to play above the rim while also bringing a three-point and midrange shot and can attack the paint. In his introductory video, he said, “I think we have a chance to be really good, and that’s what excites me the most.”
Freshman guard Danny Houlihan joins the Huskies from Illinois, where he averaged 17 points and four rebounds at New Trier High School. A 1,000-point scorer, he broke his own school’s record for three-pointers made in a season with 95. Houlihan said he decommitted from High Point then committed to Northeastern, and fans can expect him to “shoot the ball, be there every day, and compete really hard on offense and defense.”
The first transfer to highlight is sophomore guard Louis Bond, who joins Northeastern from Idaho State. He appeared in 24 games, including two starts, averaging nearly five points per game while shooting 45% from the field. At 6-foot-6, Bond describes himself as an “all-around player” who is just trying to do “what’s best for the team to win.”
Freshman guard Dorian Grosber joins Northeastern as a redshirt transfer from High Point University. The 6-foot-6 guard can shoot from beyond the arc and has been part of the Luxembourg National Team from 2023 to 2026. He can also rebound and score, describing himself as “a very versatile player,” adding, “I like to pass a lot, I like to drive.”
Sophomore forward Brayden Young joins the Huskies after spending his freshman season at Loyola Chicago. Young was originally recruited by Northeastern out of high school. Fans can expect the 6-foot-10 forward to “play hard, play with passion, [be] a good defender, and a [have] lot of mobility and athleticism.”
Freshman forward Jovan Icitovic, a 6-foot-8 transfer from Arizona State, brings rebounding and three-point scoring to the Huskies. The Serbian played for KK Real Beograd in the Serbian JLS league, where he averaged 12.7 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game while shooting over 40% from three-point range.
Departures
This offseason saw plenty of players say goodbye to Huntington Avenue as well. Among the eight transfers were breakout freshman Xavier Abreu and veterans William Kermoury, JB Frankel, L.A. Pratt and Youri Fritz.
Abreu stepped up after a string of key injuries early in the 2025–26 season, averaging 12.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.0 assist per game to earn a spot on the CAA All-Rookie Team. He’ll stay in the conference, joining Charleston for the 2026–27 season.
Kermoury spent three seasons with the program, averaging 13.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game while shooting 40.2% from three last season. He’s also staying in the CAA, joining reigning regular-season champion UNC Wilmington.
Frankel is headed down Commonwealth Avenue to Boston College, where he’ll face his former team on Dec. 9. He averaged 5.0 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game over three seasons with the Huskies.
Fritz took a big step forward in his second year with the program, averaging 9.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game in 2025–26 after averaging 4.5 points and 3.6 rebounds the year before. He’s heading west to play his final season at Pepperdine.
The Huskies also said goodbye to Pratt, who averaged 17 points per game through three games before missing the rest of last season due to injury. Pratt joins Northwestern for the 2026-27 campaign and will face his former team November 27th.
Season Outlook
The Huskies face a daunting start to the season, with six high-major opponents on their nonconference slate: preseason AP No. 9 Virginia, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Cal, Butler and Boston College. All six matchups will be played on the road. Asked about the matchups against Virginia and Butler and the nonconference outlook as a whole, coach Bill Coen said:
“We’ve always tried to challenge ourselves against the very, very best. We’re going to play Virginia, we’re going to play Butler, we’re going to play BC, we’re going to play Wisconsin, we’re going to play Northwestern, we’re going to play Cal. … Our schedule is built in a way that gives our guys the opportunity to play against the very best, to learn about themselves … and hopefully it gets us ready by the time New Year’s Eve comes around to face the fierce competition in the CAA.”
According to ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI), Northeastern’s strength of schedule ranks 125th out of 365 teams, second in the CAA behind only Campbell (121st). But regardless of how tough the early slate is, no current CAA member has ever earned an at-large NCAA Tournament bid while in the conference, meaning the Huskies’ path to March Madness almost certainly runs through the conference tournament. Picked 11th of 13 in the CAA preseason poll, Northeastern is very much an unknown quantity. If the new-look squad can let iron sharpen iron during their non-conference endeavors and build around Preseason and Former All-CAA First Team selection Rashad King, the Huskies could do some serious damage come March.
2026-27 CAA Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
| Team (1st Place Votes) | Points |
|---|---|
| UNCW (11) | 143 |
| Charleston | 130 |
| Hofstra (2) | 125 |
| Towson | 110 |
| Monmouth | 95 |
| William & Mary | 78 |
| Stony Brook | 69 |
| Elon | 63 |
| Drexel | 58 |
| Hampton | 48 |
| Northeastern | 42 |
| Campbell | 35 |
| North Carolina A&T | 18 |
Predictions
This is solely the opinion of Aiden Barker, Sam Riggs and WRBB Sports.
Record (Conference): 11-21 (8-10 CAA)
CAA Regular Season Finish: 8th
CAA Tournament Finish: Quarterfinals
Aiden Barker is a fourth-year student at Northeastern University who’s been with WRBB since 2023. He primarily covers basketball and designs WRBB’s social graphics.
Sam Riggs is a fifth-year student at Northeastern University who’s been with WRBB since 2024. He primarily covers basketball and soccer.