In a year of transitioning to a newer coaching staff, Greyhounds men’s basketball managed to make notable improvements in play throughout the year. They are still unsatisfied, though, falling short of the Patriot League Championship. The Greyhounds finished their season with 12 wins and 19 losses. They finished No. 8 in the Patriot League and lost their final game of the season to Bucknell University in overtime in the conference’s quarterfinal game. Despite this loss, some players still had notable play throughout the year.
Jacob Theodosiou ‘27, a transfer from the University of Wyoming, was more than happy with how he played this season. He started in all 31 games of the season, averaging 31.1 minutes per game. He was the team’s second leading scorer with 13.0 points per game and shot 37.8 percent from the field. He also averaged 4 rebounds, 2.7 steals, and 1.7 assists. Theodosiou took over several games with his three-point shooting, having three games where he had six made threes this season, and logged his career high of 32 points against Colgate on Feb. 8.
“My first season at Loyola was everything I could ask for… coming from a situation where I wasn’t playing much to stepping into a starting role was exactly the opportunity I was looking for,” Theodosiou said.
In the off-season, Theodosiou plans on working on many things to better his game for next season. He first wants to work on becoming a better finisher at the rim and work on improving his assist-to-turnover ratio by reviewing film. Assist-to-turnover ratio is a key indicator of how efficient a player is as a ball handler. The more assists or less turnovers one has, the better that statistic will look.
Theodosiou also wants to continue to get faster and stronger each day. Teamwise, he wants to continue being a leader and help the team grow as a unit so they can position themselves for a big year next season. Theodosiou is more than excited to work with his teammates and Head Coach Josh Loeffler to make a run for the Patriot League championship.
Jordan Stiemke ‘27 has also taken a big step in his role on the team since last year. The Maryland native played all 31 games this season, starting in 11 of them, and averaged 28.9 minutes per game, a jump from his last year’s average of 16.0 minutes. He was the third leading scorer on the team this year, averaging 12.1 points per game and shooting 40.6 percent. He also averaged 3.7 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game.
Stiemke had many highlights this season with amazing dunks and blocks that wowed the crowd. He also had eight games when he scored over 15 points and tallied a career high 25 against Lehigh on Jan. 18.
“Compared to last year, I feel as if I performed a lot better… Overall I feel as if I am more capable than I showed,” Stiemke said.
He is ready to continue crafting and perfecting his game this off-season. One of his goals is to get stronger by lifting more in the weight room so he can be more physical. He plans on working on his ball handling and his consistency as well. He is very excited for next season and for the team to continue to grow into a great basketball program.
Another player on the Greyhounds roster that stood out this season was first-year Braeden Speed ‘28, who started 30 out of all 31 games this year. The guard from Phoenix, Arizona finished his first season of collegiate basketball averaging 30.2 minutes per game. He was the team’s fourth highest scorer with 8.0 points on 40.6 percent shooting. He also averaged 3.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.0 steals.
Speed was able to clinch a couple of very important games this season. He had a clutch layup against Navy on Jan. 11 and had another clutch and-one layup against Lehigh in the Patriot League Tournament First Round game on March 3. Even with these big moments, he wants to improve on his game even more in the years to come.
“I did well but didn’t perform anywhere near as well as I can in the future…I had a lot of learning experiences that helped me grow as a player and as a person,” Speed said.
His goals are to build off the different things he has learned this year, his first collegiate season. He also wants to work on being a more consistent shooter both inside and outside the arc. Speed is very excited for the next season to begin and to help Loyola win a conference championship.
Taking a look into next season’s campaign, the team currently has four recruits joining the squad. The team also has a chance of adding a couple of players from the transfer portal as well. Six players from this past season’s team are in the portal currently. The team’s leading scorer and rebounder Milos Ilic ‘25 and his brother Veljko Ilic ‘25 are two of those six players.
Nonetheless, the team looks to continue to improve each day to make a run next year and earn a March Madness bid with the team they will have. Head Coach Josh Loeffler has certainly won over his locker room this season as he goes into his second year coaching Greyhounds men’s basketball.
“[I’m] most excited to see what kind of jump we can make under Coach Loeffler in year two as we continue to grow and learn from him,” Theodosiou said.Be sure to catch the 2025-26 season of Loyola men’s basketball in the upcoming fall of the next academic year. For more information on the team, make sure to follow their Instagram and visit the Loyola Greyhounds official site.
