A look into men’s basketball for the 2025-26 season

  The Kansas City Roos men’s basketball team is looking to build off of last year’s disappointing season. 

  After coaches predicted a first-place finish in the Summit League preseason poll, the Roos wound up eighth in the conference with a 4-12 conference record. Overall, Kansas City went 13-20. 

  For this season, Kansas City is predicted to finish in sixth place in the Summit League preseason polls. The Roos didn’t receive any first place votes.

  However, assistant head coach Joe Esposito isn’t worried about the preseason predictions. He is just focused on the team’s success.

  “I don’t really put too much cloud into the polls,” said Esposito. “They ranked us in sixth place, we’ll see what happens.”

  One factor that stayed consistent for the Roos last season: its defense. Kansas City finished number one in the Summit League in that category. 

  Coach Esposito expressed his excitement for this season and said he hopes the defense will stay at the top. 

  “Our defense kept us in a lot of close games last season,” said Esposito. “It is the DNA of our program.”

  On the flip side, the offense in the half court will need to improve for this season. Kansas City ranked last in the Summit League in offense last year.

  “We have to do a better job of finishing around the basket and scoring,” said Esposito. “If all of that comes together, I think we’ll be a really good team.

  Once the season ended, many players decided to leave the university to play elsewhere. Among those were big names, such as senior guard Jamar Brown and graduate guard Babacar Diallo. 

    Junior guard Jayson Petty and senior guard Kasheem Grady II are the only returners for the team this season.

  Petty had an up and down season last year, but finished averaging 11 points and four rebounds a game. He had good performances in the Summit League Tournament, scoring 18 points against Oral Roberts and 15 points against Omaha. When asked about his goals for this season, he made it clear that he is ready to make an impact in the winning column. 

  “Our goal is to win as many games as possible,” said Petty. “We’re playing for a championship, and we want to get to the NCAA tournament.” 

  Senior guard Kasheem Grady II was a solid role player for Kansas City last season. He averaged five points a game on 43% shooting. With him and Petty being the only returners, Grady II is definitely going to have a bigger role for this season. 

 Tickets can be found at this link.

  [email protected]