2026-27 Roster  |  2026-27 Schedule
 
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team was picked to finish fourth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division this season, the league office announced Thursday with the unveiling of its annual preseason poll.
 
Defending national champions Gannon was picked to win the Western Division after garnering eight first-place votes. Indiana (Pa.), California (Pa.), The Rock and Seton Hill made up the remaining top half of the preseason prognostication, with the Vulcans tallying the remaining first-place vote.
 
The rest of the Western Division poll featured Pitt-Johnstown in sixth place followed by Edinboro, Clarion and Lock Haven.
 
Opinions on the Eastern Division were much more divided as three teams earned at least one first-place vote. West Chester (4) was tabbed to win the division followed by East Stroudsburg (3), Shepherd (1), Millersville, Bloomsburg, Kutztown and Mansfield.
 
The top six teams in both the Western Division and Eastern Division standings at the end of the regular season qualify for the PSAC Tournament. No strangers to the postseason, Slippery Rock has made nine consecutive appearances in the conference tournament.
 
New this year, is the return of Lock Haven to the PSAC West after spending the past 12 seasons in the PSAC East. The Bald Eagles' move to the Western Division coincides with the eventual arrival to the Eastern Division of Lackawanna, which will play a full conference schedule this season without counting towards the league standings.
 
The 2026-27 Slippery Rock men's basketball team features a re-shaped roster as only four players who played in a game on last season's team that went 17-12 overall and 10-10 inside the PSAC return this year.

COACHING STAFF
One of the longest tenured coaches in the PSAC, Ian Grady is back for his 18th year on The Rock's coaching staff overall, and his ninth as the program's head coach. Grady, who has a career record of 116-88 (.569), is yet to have a losing season as a head coach.
 
Grady is the only active PSAC coach to have started his head coaching career with seven consecutive years with at least 15 wins a season. He is 11 wins away from surpassing Bab Barlett (1985-94) as the fourth winningest coach in SRU men's basketball history.
 
Grady will have plenty of company on The Rock's bench this season. In addition to the returns of lead assistant coach Jon Valeriano and volunteer assistants Brad Henry and Duncan Williams, former Penn State New Kensington head coach Brant Mack joins the staff as a volunteer assistant while former SRU standout athlete Ike Herster is in his first year as a graduate assistant.

SENIORS / 5TH YEAR ATHLETES
The Rock's senior / fifth year athletes include guard Bryon Ottrix and guard / forward Marlon Barnes Jr.
 
A member of the program since 2022, Ottrix is back for his final collegiate season after missing last year due to injury. A former transfer from Detroit Mercy, Ottrix has appeared in 26 games over his Slippery Rock career.
 
Barnes Jr. comes to The Rock after stops at a pair of Division I institutions in the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Evansville. A versatile athlete, Barnes Jr. is a former three-star prospect out of Brush High School in Cleveland, Ohio where he was ranked the No. 3 forward in the state of Ohio, and No. 9 overall athlete in the state, by 247Sports as a senior.

JUNIORS
Forward Elijah Hill and guard Braylon Littlejohn established themselves as key pieces to the Slippery Rock rotation a year ago despite battling through injuries.
 
A scrappy forward who also displayed a soft shooting touch in limited attempts from 3-point range, Hill started 18 of 19 games played a year ago on the way to averaging 11 points and 6.4 rebounds per game over 27.4 minutes per contest while shooting 63.4 percent from the field overall and 60.9 percent from 3-point range (14-of-23). He ranked second for SRU in offensive rebounding (2.7 orpg), while also being third in both overall rebounding and points per game as well as being fifth in made 3-pointers.
 
One of three local products from nearby Butler High School on the 2026-27 roster, Littlejohn played in 16 games last year primarily as a reserve. Littlejohn carved out an important role as one of The Rock's first guards off the bench last season (22.3 mpg) with per game averages of 6.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals. He shot 44.7 percent from the field overall and a near automatic 82.5 percent at the foul line.
 
Swingman Jay Rose is new to The Rock, but very familiar to the PSAC West after appearing in 41 games over two seasons at Pitt-Johnstown. While with the Mountain Cats, Rose averaged 15.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists and just under one steal per game in addition to shooting 49.7 from the field overall, 39.8 percent from distance and 76.2 percent at the foul line.
 
The final three members of The Rock's junior class are transferring into the program from the JUCO ranks in guard / forward Nick DelGratta (Butler County Community College), guard Rashad McCormick (Gillette College) and forward Bryan Saleh (Gordon College).
 
DelGratta and McCormick were both dynamic scorers a season ago at their respective colleges. DelGratta led NJCAA Division III in scoring at BC3 (29.7 ppg) while also averaging 8.8 rebounds, 3.8 steals and 3.0 assists to go with his scoring exploits. Not to be outdone, McCormick was good for 21 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game at Gillette.

SOPHOMORES
The backcourt duo of RJ Sledge and Brady Mayo both laid the foundation of promising collegiate careers at SRU with solid freshmen seasons last year.
 
Mayo was one of only three Rock athletes to appear in all 29 games last season, including 21 starts as a rookie. He closed his first season at SRU averaging 10.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game over 25.3 minutes per contest.
 
At 86 percent, Mayo ranked third in the PSAC among qualified athletes in free throw shooting all the while being second for SRU in made 3-pointers (34) and fourth in scoring. He set a Slippery Rock freshman record for free throw percentage in addition to ranking seventh in SRU rookie history in points and minutes played as well as being 10th in steals.
 
Sledge returns for his second year in The Rock's system following a freshman campaign in which he started 15 of 26 games played and registered per game averages of 7.5 points, 2.9 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals. He was 16th in the PSAC in assist/turnover ratio (1.4), 18th in steals per game and 22nd in assists per game.
 
Sledge distributed the fourth most assists by a freshman in program history in addition to ranking seventh in steals and eighth in free throw percentage by an athlete in their rookie season at SRU.

FRESHMEN
Grady brought in a four-man freshmen class in 2026-27 made up of former Butler High School teammates guard Stainton Forbes and forward Andrew Gettinger as well as guard Sean Badea (Pennsburg, Pennsylvania / Andrews Osborne Academy) and guard Amon Hawthorne (Pittsburgh / Penn Hills High School).

THE SCHEDULE
Slippery Rock plays a 28-game schedule consisting of its 21-game league schedule and seven non-conference contests. Of the 28 regular-season games, 15 will be played at the friendly confines of Morrow Field House where Slippery Rock is 187-63 (.748) since 2008.
 
In addition to its round-robin 16-game Western Division slate, SRU plays crossover contests against West Chester, Millersville, Mansfield, East Stroudsburg and Kutztown of the PSAC East.
 
The Rock's non-conference schedule features games against Lincoln, Davis & Elkins, Bluefield State, Penn State Shenango, Glenville State, Lackawanna and D'Youville.
 
Under Grady, Slippery Rock has gone 75-33 (.694) in home games, 25-15 (.625) in crossover contests against PSAC East teams and 31-24 (.564) in non-conference matchups.
 
Of SRU's 20 unique opponents this season, 11 finished last year holding a .500 or better winning percentage.
 
Slippery Rock's season officially gets underway 6 p.m. Nov. 9 against Lincoln at Chase Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Delaware.
 
SRU's first home games of the year come Nov. 13-14 as part of what's become the annual Atlantic Region Challenge at Morrow Field House. As part of the two-day event, SRU plays Davis & Elkins Nov. 13 followed by a Nov. 14 meeting with Bluefield State.
 
A comprehensive breakdown of Slippery Rock's 2026-27 schedule, roster and coaching staff can be found by following the corresponding links at the top of the page.
 
Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
Western Division
1. Gannon (8)
2. IUP
3. California (1)
4. Slippery Rock
5. Seton Hill
6. Pitt-Johnstown
7. Edinboro
8. Clarion
9. Lock Haven 
 
Eastern Division
1. West Chester (4)
2. East Stroudsburg (3)
3. Shepherd (1)
4. Millersville
5. Shippensburg
6. Bloomsburg
7. Kutztown
8. Mansfield





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