Photo by Ibuki Hinohara | Photo Editor

The 2025-2026 Arkansas State men’s basketball campaign will start on November 3, and everything has changed for the Red Wolves.

Following the departure of former head coach Bryan Hodgson for South Florida, Arkansas State hired another former Alabama Crimson Tide assistant in Ryan Pannone. Pannone has a plethora of experience at the professional level with coaching stints in Serbia, Israel, China and the NBA G-League. This is his first head coaching job at the collegiate level.

To compound the situation A-State found themselves in, the entirety of the roster from 2024-25 left for other programs via the transfer portal. Pannone has since rebuilt the roster with his own recruits and players from the transfer portal, and hopes that the fans will invest in this new team the way they invested in Hodgson’s teams.

“Our guys have done a really good job of figuring out how to get involved with the community and how to build those early relationships within the community so that there’s some sentiment from the fans so that they come out and support these new faces,” Pannone said.

Despite the tremendous amount of turnover in the offseason, the Sun Belt Conference preseason poll selected the Red Wolves to finish second in conference standings. Should this come true, this would likely mean a bid to the National Invitational Tournament. Pannone is confident in his team this season, because he says the team has an intense drive to perform well.

“Our guys care, and that makes it really fun to coach,” Pannone said. “Our care-factor is high in wanting to learn and grow and win and do what’s right, and as a result I think we’ll get better and better over time.”

Photo by Ibuki Hinohara | Photo Editor

The Red Wolves players are also confident that this will be a good season. 

Defensively, A-State looks to completely lock down the court thanks to concepts from assistant coach Dean Cooper and imposing physical size. 

“We have a lot of length and we’re one of the biggest teams in the league,” forward Jaxon Ellingsworth said. “And we have Coop, who has been coaching for a very long time. His defensive principles are easy to pick up. It’s a simple defense but it works.”

Ellingsworth is one of ten players the Red Wolves acquired via the transfer portal. The 6’9” senior transferred from UT-Arlington. Pannone said he expects the older players to be leaders this season. 

Among these players expected to lead the squad is senior guard Chandler Jackson. Jackson was one of the many players who left Florida State after the retirement of legendary Seminoles head coach Leonard Hamilton. Jackson was named as an Atlantic Coast Conference  Breakout Player last season, and averaged 6.3 points per game.

Jackson was also the only player on the Red Wolves to make an All-Sun Belt Preseason team, taking second team honors.

“Coach Pannone told me when I committed here that he was going to put a lot of responsibility on me and the older guys to lead these guys,” Jackson said. “That’s been my mindset from day one.”

Expected to start as well is graduate guard Matt Hayman. Hayman transferred from defensive juggernaut Stephen F. Austin, and he was a big part of that team. Hayman started in 30 games for the Lumberjacks, averaging 14 points per game and shooting 36.9% from three last season. Hayman is also a defensive star who was top-100 nationally in steals with 1.7 per game. 

“When I first got in the portal, I didn’t really know what I wanted,” Hayman said. “I expanded to wanting more of a playmaking role. When I talked to Coach Pannone he told me what I needed to get better on, and just put me on the hot seat. He told me ‘if you want to get better, come play for me.’ So that’s what I did.”

Photo by Ibuki Hinohara | Photo Editor

Another transfer player looking to make a big impact is sophomore guard Joey Chammaa. Chammaa, or “SoCal Joe” as Hayman calls him, transferred from the San Diego Toreros. The six foot guard seems poised for a breakout season after averaging 6.5 PPG and 1.7 assists per game as a redshirt freshman. And apparently, he’s a dog on defense too.

“Even with his height, he’s a tough defender,” Hayman said of Chammaa. “Right now I think he’s defending the rim the best on the team.”

Several other players will be looking to have big seasons in the big ‘26. Junior guard TJ Caldwell played in every game for Ole Miss last season and averaged 5.5 PPG from the bench. French sophomore wing Fredy-Salam Sylla has been a reliable guy according to Pannone, and was a top-50 freshman at the junior college level last season. 

British redshirt sophomore Chudi Dioramma will likely see plenty of playing time this season. The 6’10” forward shot 62% from the floor last season at Sacramento State, and he played in every game as a redshirt freshman. Guinean sophomore forward Aly Tounkara is the tallest of the Red Wolves at 7’0” and averaged 4.7 rebounds and 3.5 points per game as a freshman at Lindenwood.

The Red Wolves open their season against the Ohio Bobcats on November 3, but they will play an open scrimmage against UT-Martin on Sunday, October 26. The scrimmage begins at 2 p.m.

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