ATLANTA – Oglethorpe head coach Philip Ponder's 22nd season came to a close after a monumental year.

Oglethorpe's first win was 99-94 against Covenant, but the Petrels took a few hits on the road for a shaky start to the season. Oglethorpe posted an 11-3 home record, which included a 91-66 win against Asbury and 93-85 over Earlham. The Petrels won both of their games in the annual Jack Berkshire Classic. 2025 and conference play opened with an overtime loss to Centre, then two more close losses at the hands of Sewanee and Berry.

The Petrels grabbed their first Southern Athletic Association win against Millsaps, and began to rise in the conference standings. Oglethorpe nabbed wins against Rhodes and Hendrix, then avenged the Berry and Sewanee games. The regular season ended with a 74-69 win against Millsaps and made the Petrels the No. 4 seed in the SAA tournament.

Oglethorpe defeated Rhodes once again in the conference quarterfinals but fell to No. 1 seed Berry at the semis, ending the four-game winning streak and the season.

Award Winners

• Perry Robinson: All-SAA first team, 3x SAA Athlete of the Week, Jack Berkshire All-tournament and MVP.
• Malachi Dooley: All-SAA first team.
• Dylan Pumpian: All-SAA Honorable Mention, SAA Athlete of the Week, Jack Berkshire All-tournament team.
• Joe Helenbrook: SAA All-Sportsmanship team.

Individual Leaders

• Robinson became the 13th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points, and the first to do it in just two years for either men's or women's. He totaled 520 points this year (fifth all-time), averaging 20.0 per game. He posted nine double-doubles this season after making 232 rebounds (fifth all-time).
• Robinson had the highest field goal percentage in the SAA at .592 and he ranked third for scoring, second for rebounding and 10th for blocks. Robinson posted 64 assists and 16 blocks. His career scoring average of 20.2 is now second highest in program history. His career rebound average of 8.8 is also second highest all time, just 0.1 behind Todd Ward '11.
• Dooley followed in scoring with 429 points, averaging 16.5 a game. The junior ranked fourth in the SAA for scoring, seventh for field goal percentage and eighth for assists. He led Oglethorpe in assists with 76 and made 34 steals.
• Pumpian had the fifth highest 3-point field goal percentage in the SAA at .370. He had the highest number per game, averaging 2.7 and totaling 74 on the season. Pumpian set a new school record for threes in a single game, hitting 11 on December 15, 2024. He also posted 386 points, 86 rebounds, 34 assists and 25 steals.
• Mason Kemp led the team in steals at 39, ranking fourth in the SAA. He also made 204 points, 106 rebounds and 44 assists.
• Jordan James made 206 points, 87 rebounds, 12 blocks and 19 assists. He posted a .491 field goal percentage.
• Jackson Kemp made 154 rebounds, ranking eighth in conference. He also scored 180 points with a .486 field goal percentage and 31 assists. 
• Logan Turner scored 83 points.
• Willard Thompson made 76 points and 10 steals.
• Helenbrook recorded 74 rebounds.

Season Notes

• Seven freshmen made their debut: Thompson, Corey Gatlin, Cyrus LaPlant, Max Skidmore, James McGriff and Andrew LaVigne.
• Helenbrook, Turner and Jaylon Taylor made their Oglethorpe debuts.
• The team graduated six seniors; Robinson, Pumpian, James, Robert Reisman, Tyler O'Donoghue, Christian Williams, plus MBA student Helenbrook.
• Ryan Jenei '23 wrapped his second season as an assistant coach.
• This was Benji Oxman's first season as an assistant coach.
• Oglethorpe faced St. Jospeh's, Yeshiva, Earlham, Luther and Albion for the first time.