Kennesaw State banks on youth movement for another big finish

Without a huge resource pool from which to draw, Kennesaw State is using the same strategy to build this season’s team that it employed a year ago. Some nights it works better than others.

Instead of bringing in a group of graduate transfers or players from the portal, the Owls are betting on youngsters to help carry the team. Last season, the team started three freshmen and wound up reaching the semifinals of the Conference USA Tournament.

This year KSU’s rotation includes four freshmen and a sophomore who played sparingly last season. The strategy worked early in the season when the Owls got off to an 8-2 start. It’s been tougher since; they have lost four consecutive games — to No. 14 Alabama and conference foes Liberty, Middle Tennessee State and Delaware.

Kennesaw State will host Missouri State (9-5, 3-0) at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Missouri State is tied with preseason favorite Liberty and Middle Tennessee for first place in Conference USA.

“It’s out of necessity,” Owls coach Antoine Pettway said. “I would love to be able to get top-tier transfer guys, but we can’t do that with the resources we have here, so we try to identify freshmen we think can play early and fit our style of basketball.”

Pettway and his staff have proved to be good talent evaluators and recruiters. Last year the Owls struck it big with Adrian Wooley, who became a freshman All-American and transferred to Louisville, where he averages 9.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Kennesaw State also found Braedan Lue at Alexander High School in Douglas County, and he averaged 10 points and 5.5 rebounds en route to making the CUSA All-Freshman team.

Lue opted to stick with the Owls and is averaging 11.5 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks.

“We got extremely luck last year with Braedan, and I think we’ve got some pretty decent freshmen this year,” Pettway said. “We’ve just got to get them better. They adjust at a different rate, and I still think it’s light at the end of the tunnel, but sometimes you’re going to take your lumps when you’re playing young guys.”

Kennesaw State's Amir Taylor (left) and Alabama's Aiden Sherrell (center) work under the basket Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Huntsville, Ala. (Vasha Hunt/AP)

But few other midmajor programs have as much youth as Kennesaw State.

Trey Simpson, a 6-foot-8 freshman from Evergreen, Alabama, has played in all 14 games, with three starts. He averages 7.9 points and eight rebounds and has 10 blocked shots, second on the club.

Darius Washington III, a 6-5 freshman from Orlando, Florida, has come off the bench in 14 games and averages 6.9 points in 17 minutes per game.

Kaden Rickard, a 6-6 freshman from Madison, Alabama, has played all 14 games and has started eight times. He averages 7.1 points, ranks second on the team with 40 assists and leads the team with 19 steals.

Amir Taylor, a 6-9 freshman from Grayson High, has played 13 games and started eight. He averages 5.2 points and 4.1 rebounds and scored 18 points in the win over rival Georgia State.

Ramone Seals is a 6-6 sophomore from Tampa, Florida, who played only 169 minutes last season. Seals has started 13 of the 14 games he’s played this season and averages 10.4 points and 5.6 rebounds.

“A lot of the things with these freshmen are the same,” Pettway said. “They’ve got good positional size, and they’re very coachable. We’ve just got to get them some experience.”

Pettway needs the youngsters to grow up in a hurry. The Owls are 0-3 in a difficult conference, but have three consecutive home games before another three-game road swing.