High expectations: Tops embrace role as CUSA favorite
Published 2:16 pm Saturday, October 31, 2026
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Western Kentucky freshman guard Armelo Boone (12) dunks the ball in the Hilltoppers’ 80-70 win against the FIU Panthers at E. A. Diddle Arena on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026.
(GRACE McDOWELL / The Daily News)
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Western Kentucky men’s basketball coach Hank Plona speaks to the Hilltoppers during open practice July 16 at E.A. Diddle Arena.
(GRACE McDOWELL / Daily News)
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Western Kentucky junior guard LJ Hackman (2) shoots a layup over Jax State senior guard AC Bryant (0) in the Hilltoppers’ 71-66 loss to the Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026.
(GRACE McDOWELL / The Daily News)
The expectations are sky high for Western Kentucky’s men’s basketball team this season.
The Hilltoppers are the pick to win Conference USA in the men’s preseason coaches’ poll, with a roster stacked with a solid core of returning experience and potential impact newcomers.
There’s pressure to perform and live up to that hype, and that’s just fine with third-year head coach Hank Plona.
“I think it’s probably better to be picked to be good than to not be good,” Plona said. “So I’m not telling you it’s something we’re running away from. I know within our locker room we do have high expectations to have a great season. I’m not saying win every single game, but being as successful as we can be every single day is a goal of this team.”
The Tops have the most returning offensive production in the league centered around a trio of talented guards – redshirt junior Teagan Moore, senior LJ Hackman and sophomore Armelo Boone.
Moore, the CUSA’s 2026-27 Preseason Player of the Year, headlines the group after finishing second in CUSA in scoring (18.7 points per game) and third in field-goal percentage (52.9%) en route to first-team all-CUSA honors last year.
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Boone enjoyed a stellar freshman season, averaging 10.9 points and a team-high 6.1 rebounds. Like Moore, Boone is a preseason all-CUSA selection.
Hackman was also solid in his first year as a Hilltopper after transferring from a junior-college program (Jones College), playing in all 32 games (21 starts) and averaging 8.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
Those three are all big, physical guards who can score and defend. Keeping those three for another year along with fellow returnees Kade Unseld – another big, physical guard who showed flashes of his dangerous shooting potential in another injury-hampered season – plus 6-6 guard Lawson Rice (redshirted as a true freshman while rehabbing a knee injury) is a major reason rival CUSA programs are plenty concerned about the Tops.
“Teagan, Melo and LJ are at a point where I wouldn’t trade them for anybody in the league,” Plona said. “So I’m not saying I disagree with any kind of expectation. I think they’re very good players. They play to win.”
Plona went to work to build out a roster that enhances the strengths – versatility and interchangeability – of what he already had in place. Point guard Sharron Young, who helped Akron reach the NCAA Tournament last season, brings more winning experience to the backcourt. Trevion LaBeaux, another 6-5 guard who played for Plona at Indian Hills Community College, reunited with his old coach after spending last season at East Carolina. UNC Greensboro transfer Noah Norgaard, a later addition to the roster, adds another deep-range shooting threat.
In the frontcourt, the Tops landed Jax State transfer Emondrek Erkins-Ford – a 6-9 senior who Plona considered one of the best frontcourt players in CUSA last year – plus high-level talent EJ Walker from South Carolina. WKU also picked up a pair of 6-10 forwards – sophomore Moussa Konare and freshman Joseph Adebayo – who offer more potential athletic upside than recent Hilltopper frontcourts.
Then there’s the rest of the incoming freshmen class – 6-7 forward Gabe Weis and 5-11 guard Gavin Murphy, both in-state recruits to make it seven Kentuckians on the roster.
Plona has been particularly high on Weis, a Springfield native who play at La Lumiere School in Indiana as a senior.
“I think we’ve got a lot of great talent that all into what we’re trying to do system-wise,” Moore said. “And I think that we all gel and play together really well. And I think we all have the same goal in mind and that’s the most important thing at the end of the day. And we’re all working towards that conference championship.”
After splitting a pair of open exhibition games – a 65-62 home win against Bowling Green, followed by a 79-74 loss to Indiana on a neutral floor – the Hilltoppers start the regular season at home Monday against Morehead State. Another home game against Kentucky Wesleyan follows Thursday, then the first road test against Tennessee Tech on Nov. 8.
After another home game against Campbellsville on Nov. 11, the Tops have a road game at Tulsa on Nov. 16 and will face Richmond and George Washington two days apart in the Greenbrier Tip-off (Nov. 20 and 22) in White Sulpher Springs, W.Va.
WKU closes out the month with a road trip to Illinois on Nov. 27.
The non-conference slate for December features three home games in the first four – Belmont (Dec. 1), then a short trip to Evansville (Dec. 5) and back home to face UAB (Dec. 12) and Lipscomb (Dec. 16). The Tops take on Tulane Dec. 22 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, then are back home to for a final tuneup before league play against Bethel (Tennessee) on Dec. 28.
“I think it’s a very challenging non-conference schedule,” Plona said. “I guess I’m not surprised that we were picked to win our league because when we were trying to schedule opponents, everybody kept telling us how good they thought we were going to be. And when people think you’re going to have a strong team, usually you can only find other teams that think they’re going to be pretty good to play you. We don’t duck from anybody. I’m not worried about our overall win total. I’m not worried about confidence. I know I have a lot of people in my life telling me I should try to make sure our guys have confidence instilled in them and all that nonsense.
“We’re a competitive group. I think playing the best is part of why Teagan and LJ and Melo (came back) is because it’s going to be a challenge. It’s going to be a battle. There’s not going to be easy games or easy days.”
The Tops start CUSA play Dec. 31 at Kennesaw State, the first of 18 league games.
“I just always think the league is going to be very, very good,” Plona said. “I think there are nine coaches that we will play against that really know what they’re doing. The three years I’ve been in the league, I can’t remember a game that you went into and just thought we should win this one. No, I don’t think we should win anything. I think you need to be your best to win every single night, whether it’s home or road or whatever environment you play in.”
After the Tops’ season ended with a first-round loss to Kennesaw State in the CUSA tournament, Boone is ready for a much longer run in the postseason and he thinks his teammates feel the same.
“It’s just different,” Boone said. “We’re like 10 times (more) hungry than we were last year. We lost in the first round, so we’re more hungry and just ready to go for it.”
About Jeff Nations
Sports Editor, Bowling Green Daily News
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