After missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2012 during the 2023-24 season, the Emory University men's basketball team responded in a massive way with the 2024-25 campaign – turning in arguably the greatest single season in program history.
The Eagles tied a single-season high during the Jason Zimmerman era with 23 wins – two shy of the team record – going 23-6 and advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in 11 seasons and just the second time ever.
Emory was spearheaded by a talented senior class led by Logan Shanahan as well as the dynamic junior duo of Ben Pearce and Jair Knight. All three players garnered All-University Athletic Association recognition while Knight became just the fifth player in team history to earn All-America honors.
Knight and Pearce formed one of the most electrifying combinations in the nation as the pair combined to score 1,044 points. Knight finished the year with 550 points – the fifth-most in a single season – whereas Pearce tallied 494 points to end in a tie for sixth place on the single season ladder. Both marks represented career highs. Pearce added a career-best 159 assists to end the year sixth on the Division III leaderboard.
On the defensive end, Shanahan anchored the best rim-protecting team in Division III as the Eagles concluded the year with a nation's best 6.4 blocks per game. Shanahan swatted away 84 shots throughout the season – the second-most in a single season in program history – and averaged 2.9 blocks per game to finish seventh in the country. With his outstanding season performance, Shanahan became the third Eagle to ever be chosen as the UAA Defensive Player of the Year.
In addition to their shot-blocking ability, the Eagles ranked 10th in rebounding at 43.8 per game led by Shanahan's 258 boards (8.9 per game). Shanahan established a new program record with 185 defensive rebounds while Knight and Shanahan topped all UAA leaders with their 2.62 and 2.52 offensive rebounds per game averages.
The Eagles did not lose a game on the 2024 side of the calendar, ripping off 10 consecutive victories to begin the season 10-0 – the third-best start to a season in team history. The win streak included triumphs against top 25 programs in No. 17 Guilford and No. 21 Middlebury as well as a clean sweep against No. 9 Calvin and No. 3 John Carroll at the Great Lakes Invitational at Calvin in late November. The GLI served as a national coming out party for Knight as he was tabbed to the D3hoops.com National Team of the Week after averaging 27 points per game over the two games.
The 10-0 start catapulted the Eagles to their first-ever No. 1 ranking in the D3hoops.com national poll on December 9th. Emory opened the season at No. 8 in the preseason poll and did not fall below No. 12 for the entirety of the season.
The Eagles went on to end the regular season with a 10-5 mark with a 10-4 record inside UAA competition where Emory finished second in the team standings. Among the conference wins, a standout result came on January 17th when the Eagles knocked off No. 4 ranked and previously unbeaten NYU, 77-65 on the road, giving Zimmerman his 300th career victory in his head coaching career. The Eagles' conference slate also featured season sweeps over Rochester, Brandeis, Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve.
Boasting a 20-5 record, the Eagles were selected to host the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament after earning an at-large bid and welcomed Huntingdon, Berry and Guilford to Atlanta for the four-team pod.
Emory handled the HC Hawks in the first round of the postseason, scoring 50 first half points en route to the 83-69 win. In the second round, the Eagles went up against in-state foe Berry for a second time in the season and dispatched the Vikings, 84-68, behind Shanahan's monster 22 points, 16 rebounds, three blocks performance. With his efforts, Shanahan eclipsed the 1,000 points mark in his standout career and became the third Eagle to reach that milestone on the season after Pearce did so versus Bowdoin on December 8th and Knight followed on January 19th at Brandeis. Pearce's accomplishment against the Polar Bears also marked the fastest any Eagle had reached the 1,000-point club as he did so in 59 games – one game earlier than Emory Hall of Fame inductee Jake Davis.
Advancing to the NCAA's second weekend for the first time since 2018 and for just the sixth time in team history, the Eagles traveled to Middletown, Connecticut looking to add more history to their resume.
In the Sweet 16, Pearce and Knight combined for 52 points as the Eagles outlasted upset-minded Mary Washington, the tournament's Cinderella story to that point. Emory won the contest 80-78 and survived multiple last-second attempts from UMW.
In the Elite Eight, Emory was pitted against the bracket's No. 1 overall seed, Wesleyan University, on its home court. The Eagles overcame a 13-point deficit in the second half to force overtime with the Cardinals. Trailing by three within the closing moments, Emory had a game-tying shot prior to the final horn but could not get its attempt to fall.
The Elite Eight run signified the program's 11th tournament appearance over the past 12 seasons while this year was the team's 10th campaign with 20-plus wins.
The Eagles earned the following honors during the 2024-25 season:
