The Emory University men's basketball team will enter the 2025-26 season as one of the nation's most highly respected programs as the D3hoops.com released its national preseason poll. The Eagles are slotted at No. 3 in the preseason poll, marking the highest preseason ranking in program history as well as the third time Emory will be a top 10 team to open a campaign joining the 2019-20 (No. 6) and 2024-25 (No. 8) teams.
The Eagles will be returning 12 players from last year's roster that helped achieve one of the best seasons in team history, posting an overall record of 23-6 and advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight for the second time ever.
"It's always exciting to see the preseason polls because it means a new basketball season is about to begin," said Head Coach Jason Zimmerman. "The preseason polls are usually an indicator of what your team or program has done in the past and the potential someone sees in the future."Â
Returning to the fold will be the electrifying combination of seniors Jair Knight and Ben Pearce who were All-Region selections and All-University Athletic Association First Team honorees a season ago. Knight, who became the fifth All-American in program history, was third in the UAA scoring at 19.0 points per game after notching a career-high 550 points and established new career highs in rebounds, assists and steals. Pearce is also coming off a career best season where he posted a personal best 494 points and was the UAA's top distributor with a league-leading 159 assists, sixth-most in Division III, and finished second behind Knight amongst UAA leaders with 56 steals.
Headlining the returning core alongside Knight and Pearce will be junior AJ Harris who started 28 games in his second season and registered 11.6 points per game to go along with 5.1 rebounds per contest, 43 assists and 42 steals. In addition, senior John Coppolino IV, juniors Ethan Fauss and Spencer Hall and sophomores Mario Awasum and Will Otto bolster the roster experience having appeared in 20 or more games during 2024-25.
The roster will be rounded out with returning depth pieces in senior Tyson Thomas and sophomores Harry Kitey, Harris Jackson and Liam Mullins. The Eagles will also welcome a talented freshman group featuring Giacomo Kaplan, AJ Mickens, Maverick Wycoki, Eli Fauss and Gus Fried.
"We have been very fortunate to have great men who were tremendous teammates and leaders," Zimmerman continued. "They have taken great pride in representing Emory Basketball leading to a measure of success. We look forward to continuing that into this season and seeing where this journey takes us."
Zimmerman will man the bench for his 19th season in Atlanta and boasts an overall career record of 313-139. He'll be joined by first-year assistant, Mak Krause, and mainstays Chad Hixon and Charlie Copp.
The D3hoops.com national poll is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country. It is published weekly throughout the season.
The Eagles will host a pair of preseason scrimmages, including Division II's Augusta University on November 5th, prior to the season opener on Sunday, November 9th in Demorest, Georgia against Piedmont University. The remainder of the fall semester will feature several notable contests, starting with the Midway Classic against Trinity (TX) and UC-Santa Cruz in Chicago on November 15th and 16th; NCAA tournament rematches against Huntingdon (Dec. 4) and Berry (Dec. 7) for the first games at home; the Jay Bilas Classic in Charlotte in mid-December against preseason top 25 teams Christopher Newport (Dec. 19) and The College of New Jersey (Dec. 20). The 2025 calendar will conclude with the Emory Holiday Classic where nationally ranked programs will visit Atlanta with the Eagles set to face Bates and No. 17 Hampden-Sydney.
After ringing in the new year, Emory will travel cross town to take on Oglethorpe on January 3rd for the first game of 2026 before starting the UAA slate with three road games against Rochester (Jan. 10), Brandeis (Jan. 16) and NYU (Jan. 18). WashU (No. 5) and UChicago (No. 11) join the Eagles as UAA institutions recognized in the D3hoops.com preseason poll.
Tip off for the season opener in Demorest is scheduled for 2:00 PM.
