SMU basketball hopes to right the wrongs after the team fell short of preseason expectations during the 2025-26 season.
The tradition continues! It’s another year of our countdown of the top 100 preseason teams in college basketball until the start of the season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: SMU basketball.
I try to admit where I’m wrong, and last season, I thought far too highly of SMU. I figured the guard play of Boopie Miller, Jaron Pierre Jr., and BJ Edwards would be the best in the country. I figured Samet Yigitoglu would be an All-ACC big man, and Corey Washington was just another valuable asset on a team with Final Four aspirations. As the season went on, it was clear none of that mattered – the Mustangs just didn’t click for wins, and the team fell to America’s darling, Miami (OH), in the First Four.
Now most of last year’s top guys are gone, and SMU basketball is starting all over again. While the team does return rising sophomore Jaden Toombs and rotation pieces Jermaine O’Neal Jr. and Nigel Walls, the rest of the 2026-27 roster is totally new.
Key incoming players include journeyman Rowan Brumbaugh, North Texas guard David Terrell Jr., St. John’s wing Oziyah Sellers, UConn transfer and National Champion Jaylin Stewart, and top-50 recruit Billy White III. While it’s definitely good recruiting by Enfield, I don’t want to fall into that trap again, and instead am optimistically cautious about this year’s team.
The positives are clear: Toombs is a rising star at big man, guard/wing play is very strong once again, and the team boasts depth. But the negatives are also there, mainly: if it didn’t work with Boopie/Jaron/BJ, how can any guard trio really top that at SMU?
Obviously, talent is evident for the Mustangs, but it will come down to coaching and how this talent plays with each other on the court.
Head coach: Andy Enfield (16th season overall, 3rd at SMU)
2025-26 record: 20-14 (8-10)
2026 postseason finish: Lost to Miami-OH (89-79) in First Four of NCAA Tournament
Notable departures:
- Boopie Miller (19.1 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 6.4 APG, 1.5 SPG, 41.4 3P%)
- Jaron Pierre Jr. (17.6 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.0 SPG, 37.0 3P%)
- Corey Washington (11.4 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 0.9 APG, 38.8 3P%)
- Samet Yigitoglu (10.7 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.6 APG, 1.3 BPG, 62.8 FG%)
- BJ Edwards (12.7 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 4.9 APG, 2.3 APG, 37.2 3P%)
Notable non-conference games:
- vs. Utah State (Nov. 25) – Acrisure Series
- vs. LSU (Nov. 26) – Acrisure Series
- at DePaul (Dec. 5)
- vs. Minnesota (Dec. 12)
- vs. UNLV (Dec. 19) – Phoenix
- vs. Oklahoma (Dec. 22)
Projected Rotation
PG: David Terrell Jr. (6-4, 195, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 13.5 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 4.8 APG, 1.7 SPG (North Texas)
SG: Rowan Brumbaugh (6-4, 185, Gr.-Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 19.2 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.6 APG, 36.0 3P% (Tulane)
SF: Oziyah Sellers (6-5, 190, Gr.-Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 10.3 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 1.6 APG, 35.1 3P% (St. John’s)
PF: Jaylin Stewart (6-7, 225, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 4.2 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 1.1 APG (UConn)
C: Jaden Toombs (6-10, 230, So.)
2025-26 stats: 8.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.1 APG, 56.8 FG%
6: Billy White III (6-8, 195, Fr.)
247Sports Composite No. 49 ranked recruit
7: Jermaine O’Neal Jr. (6-5, 185, So.)
2025-26 stats: 4.5 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 0.4 APG, 37.1 3P%
8: Nic Codie (6-8, 220, Jr.)
2025-26 stats: 4.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 0.8 APG (Texas)
9: Jacob Patrick (6-6, 195, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 7.2 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 0.5 APG, 46.5 3P%, 10 GP (Utah)
*Suffered season-ending injury
10: Johan Munch (6-11, 225, Jr.)
2025-26 stats: 7.9 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 1.0 APG, 52.7 FG% (Oregon State)
11: Nigel Walls (6-10, 200, So.)
2025-26 stats: 0.0 PPG, 0.2 RPG, 0.2 APG
*Four-star recruit in 2025
12: Jakub Szumert (6-9, 210, Fr.)
International recruit from Poland
13: Cameron Lomax (6-1, 170, Fr.)
247Sports Composite No. 183 ranked recruit
SMU basketball team MVP: Rowan Brumbaugh
While Toombs could very well be SMU’s top player by season’s end, Brumbaugh brings in four years of experience, redshirting at Texas, before playing at Georgetown and Tulane. And with the Green Wave, the former four-star recruit blossomed into one of the best scorers in the American.
Brumbaugh can hit from deep at a high percentage, but is also crafty with the ball and uses that to his advantage to create shots near the rim. He reminds me a lot of former Xavier star JP Macura and certainly brings an edge to SMU. The question is how well he’s improved since first playing Power Five ball as a Redshirt Freshman. I’d like to think the two seasons at Tulane paid off, but we shall see!
SMU basketball make-or-break player: Jaylin Stewart
Look, when you can bring in a former champion, it’s a good pickup. Stewart may not have been one of the key pieces on UConn’s 2024 title team, averaging 2.5 PPG off the bench as a freshman. But he stayed three seasons in Dan Hurley’s system and now brings that experience to SMU, hoping for more minutes and more of a chance to showcase his skills.
I think this is Enfield’s best pickup, not just because of his potential on the Mustangs’ roster, but because of that winning nature he can bring to this program. SMU has been hoping to get over a hump in that area, so Stewart’s help there may be his best asset.
Key statistic: Defensive efficiency
Last season, SMU finished outside the top 100 in KenPom defensive efficiency, which ultimately didn’t bode well once they reached the NCAA Tournament and got matched up against an offensive juggernaut in Miami.
Obviously, the Mustangs could also score the ball like few other teams, but when it came to defending them as well, it often led to their demise.
This season, that could hopefully change, as Stewart, Sellers, and Terrell all bring in defensive-minded approaches. The offense should remain fine based on Enfield’s trends as a coach, but defense needs to improve, and it looks like this roster should be able to help make those changes.
SMU basketball 2026-27 projections
Projected conference finish: 8th in the ACC
Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance