INDIANAPOLIS - The IU Indianapolis men's basketball team will officially kickoff the 2024-25 basketball season on Monday (Nov. 4) when the Jaguars host IU Columbus inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum at 11:00 a.m. The game marks the seventh edition of the partnership with the NCAA on the annual 'Readers Becomes Leaders' program as more than 3,600 elementary aged students from across Central Indiana are expected to be in attendance. The game also kicks off the Paul Corsaro-era of IU Indy basketball as the Indianapolis-native was named the 11th head coach in program history last spring. 

On the court, Corsaro's program has 16 new faces as no players returned from last year's squad. Five players joined Corsaro from across town, having played at UIndy a season ago, highlighted by graduate transfers Julian Steinfeld, Jarvis Walker and Paul Zilinskas. Zilinskas, a 6-foot-5 guard, is a two-time All-Great Lakes Valley Conference honoree while Walker averaged 13.3 points per game at UIndy a season ago. Steinfeld, a 7-footer, brings much needed size and efficiency to the interior. 

And while transfers headline the roster, Corsaro also did well to ink a group of freshmen that includes former Indiana All-Star Keenan Garner, local standout guard Ron Rutland III and versatile big man DeSean Goode, from West Virginia. 

Given the bevy of new bodies, matchups and rotations will be a work in progress in the season's early going, but Corsaro has a number of familiar faces to which to turn. In addition to the three previously mentioned UIndy-transfers, Corsaro also brought over junior swingman Sean Craig and junior walk-on Ajay Holubar. 

He was also familiar with junior swingman Timaris Brown, who starred at Rockhurst and earned All-Great Lakes Valley Conference honors as a sophomore when he averaged 15.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and scored in double-digits 20 different times. Briggs McClain, a Manhattan-transfer, will compete with fellow guards Alec Millender and Nathan Dudukovich for minutes in the backcourt while 6-foot-10 sophomore Ebenezer Ogoh will attempt to earn minutes up front. McClain and Walker are the only two players on the Jaguar roster to have Division I experience entering this season. 

Monday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and IU Indy Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) describe the action. Fans can purchase tickets by clicking here as Monday's game will be one of just three home contests inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum this season. The remainder of the home schedule will be played inside The Jungle on the IU Indy campus.