Charleston Southern University’s men’s basketball team is preparing for two consecutive home games as part of their Big South Conference schedule. The Buccaneers will face Radford on January 29 at 7:00 PM, followed by a matchup against Gardner-Webb on January 31 at 2:00 PM. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Last season, Charleston Southern defeated Radford in a low-scoring contest, but both teams have changed their playing styles significantly since then. This year, Charleston Southern ranks 46th nationally in points per game with an average of 84.2, while Radford is close behind at 81.7 points per game.
Radford has seen major changes in its roster and coaching staff during the offseason. Zach Chu was appointed head coach in March 2025 after serving as Chief Strategist at Southern Methodist for one season. The coaching staff expanded from six to eleven members this year.
Currently, Radford holds an overall record of 11–11 and is 4–3 in conference play. Last week, they narrowly lost to Winthrop by one point and hosted High Point shortly after.
Among Radford’s new players, Del Jones and Dennis Parker Jr. have stood out with strong performances. Jones leads the team in conference scoring with an average of 21.4 points per game and has scored over 25 points three times in seven conference games while shooting 51 percent from the field. Parker Jr., who had a notable 53-point game against Coppin State earlier this season, averages 18.9 points per conference game.
Senior guard Jaylon Johnson represented Radford at Big South Media Day and contributes with averages of 11.6 points, along with leading the team in assists (3.3) and steals (1.4) per game.
Historically, Radford leads the all-time series against Charleston Southern by a margin of 56–30.
In their next home contest, Charleston Southern will play Gardner-Webb on January 31. Last season’s meeting between these teams resulted in a win for Charleston Southern by nine points.
Gardner-Webb recently achieved its first Division I victory of the current season against USC Upstate, led by forward Jacob Hogarth who recorded his fifth double-double of the year with a performance that included both scoring and rebounding contributions.
The two teams previously met on December 31 to open conference play; despite trailing early by seventeen points, Charleston Southern came back to win behind A’lahn Sumler’s team-leading performance and additional double-digit contributions from Luke Williams, Brycen Blaine, and Jesse Hafemeister.
Gardner-Webb is coached by Jeremy Luther who took over as head coach in March 2024 after serving as an assistant for eleven seasons; he currently holds a record of fourteen wins and thirty-nine losses as head coach.
Gardner-Webb leads the all-time series versus Charleston Southern at twenty-seven wins to ten but has lost each of the last three matchups between these programs.
For ongoing updates about Charleston Southern men’s basketball activities or results, fans are encouraged to follow @csu_mbball on Instagram or X/Twitter.
