2024-25 North Carolina Sports Network
NC Basketball Spotlight, 10-Year Snapshot:
High Point University


By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network

School: High Point University

Location: High Point, N.C.

NCAA DI Member Since: 1999-2000

Conference: Big South

Big South Member Since: 1999-2000

Big South Ranking Among 31 Leagues (KenPom): 17th (2025), 18th (2024), 22nd (2023), 24th (2022), 28th (2021), 30th (2020)

NCAA Tournament Bids: 0

Conference Titles: 0

Conference 1st-Place Finishes: 5 (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2024)

Head Coach: Alan Huss (46 years old, 2nd season at High Point)

As A Player: Creighton (1997-2001)

Record At High Point (through Feb. 4): 46-14 (.767) in 1+ seasons

Previous HC Experience: none at NCAA level

College AC Experience: New Mexico (2014-17), Creighton (2017-23)

Assistant Under: Craig Neal, Greg McDermott

2023-24 Record: 27-9, 13-3 (1st in 9-team Big South)

2024-25 Preseason Prediction (Coaches/Media): 1st in 9-team Big South

2024-25 Record (through Feb. 4): 19-5, 7-2 Big South

2024-25 Midseason Ranking (KenPom): #97 nationally (1st in Big South)

Upcoming Schedule: at Radford (2/5), UNC Asheville (2/8), Longwood (2/12), at Winthrop (2/15), Charleston Southern (2/19), at Gardner-Webb (2/22), USC Upstate (2/26)


After more than 25 years as a Division One program, High Point is still seeking its first conference championship and its first NCAA Tournament bid.

Amazingly, under a first-time college head coach, and entering the final few weeks of Big South regular-season action, both of those lofty dreams seem within reach … for the second year in a row.

Last season, the Panthers shocked the college basketball world by winning the Big South regular-season title after being picked to finish seventh in the nine-team league. They even hosted the league tournament but ultimately fell short of the Big Dance after being upset — by one point, in overtime — in the event’s semifinals.

The initial task of the Panthers’ second-year leader, long-time Creighton assistant Alan Huss, was to try to lift them out of their league’s bottom tier, where they had spent much of the previous four seasons.

That goal clearly has been accomplished, both last year and this year.

“We have some very strict analytical guidelines that we try to follow,” Huss told the North Carolina Sports Network. “We try to recruit efficient players or players we feel like can be efficient within what we do. Aside from pace, that is probably the most important factor for success in our offense, their ability to be efficient, along with the ability or a willingness to be unselfish.”

Entering the final three weeks of the 2024-25 regular season, High Point was 19-5 overall and 7-2 in the Big South. For the second year in a row, the Panthers are a serious contender for the league’s regular-season and/or tournament titles, and they again rank among the most offensively efficient teams in the entire nation.

Especially given the Panthers’ modest basketball history, relatively new head coach and massive roster turnover, these back-to-back campaigns rank among the most remarkable turnarounds in college basketball.

The Panthers’ only previous peak historically came under former coach Scott Cherry, a backup guard on UNC’s 1993 national championship team. From 2013-16, with the help of elite forward John Brown (who’s still playing professionally overseas), Cherry led High Point to four consecutive first-place finishes in the Big South.

Since that stretch, and through the hirings/departures of High Point legend Tubby Smith (a Panthers player in the early 1970s and a national championship coach at Kentucky in 1998) and his son GG Smith, the Panthers hadn’t finished higher than fifth in the Big South, which is now a nine-team league.

Now they’re challenging for a championship for the second year in a row.

Impressively, in an era when some successful mid-major squads see three, four or even all five starters depart via the transfer portal, High Point lost only one, point guard Duke Miles (Oklahoma), from last year’s regular-season champs.

The continued development of senior guard Kezza Giffa, junior forward Kimani Hamilton (a Big South Player of the Year candidate) and sophomore center Juslin Bodo Bodo, along with offseason additions led by Texas Tech transfer D’Maurian Williams (a former Gardner-Webb star and another probable first-team all-conference selection), combine to give Huss a legitimate chance at another regular-season title … and perhaps even that elusive NCAA Tournament bid.

2024-25 High Point Panthers
(19-5, 7-2 Big South; through Feb. 4)

STARTERS (stats = 2024-25 numbers)

G Kezza Giffa*, Sr. (6-2/175) — 2023 Daytona State CC transfer (starter)
29 mpg, 14 ppg, 3 rpg, 42% FG, 87% FT, 29% threes, 50/44 ATO, 1 block, 11 steals

G Chase Johnston, Gr. (6-3/180) — 2024 Florida Golf Coast transfer (starter)
22 mpg, 8 ppg, 2 rpg, 50% FG, 50% FT, 49% threes, 25/11 ATO, 0 blocks, 28 steals

G D’Maurian Williams, Gr. (6-3/209) — 2024 Texas Tech transfer (backup)
28 mpg, 15 ppg, 4 rpg, 48% FG, 83% FT, 41% threes, 57/33 ATO, 3 blocks, 20 steals

F Kimani Hamilton*, Jr. (6-8/225) — 2023 Mississippi State transfer (backup)
25 mpg, 14 ppg, 5 rpg, 52% FG, 72% FT, 30% threes, 59/46 ATO, 13 blocks, 25 steals

C Juslin Bodo Bodo*, So. (7-0/255) — 2023 HS signee (Southern Cal Academy)
21 mpg, 5 ppg, 8 rpg, 61% FG, 58% FT, 0 threes, 5/17 ATO, 31 blocks, 16 steals

KEY RESERVES (stats = 2024-25 numbers)

G Bobby Pettiford, Sr. (6-0/195) — 2024 East Carolina transfer (starter)
21 mpg, 8 ppg, 2 rpg, 64% FG, 82% FT, 44% threes, 59/27 ATO, 0 blocks, 15 steals

F Simon Hildebrandt, Jr. (6-9/238) — 2024 Manitoba transfer (2-year starter)
16 mpg, 7 ppg, 4 rpg, 44% FG, 77% FT, 33% threes, 9/14 ATO, 5 blocks, 2 steals

G Trae Benham*, Sr. (6-4/203) — 2023 Lipscomb transfer (starter)
14 mpg, 4 ppg, 2 rpg, 40% FG, 92% FT, 39% threes, 8/6 ATO, 1 block, 5 steals

G Abdoulaye Thiam, Jr. (6-4/191) — 2022 Minnesota transfer (backup)
13 mpg, 5 ppg, 1 rpg, 49% FG, 81% FT, 28% threes, 11/9 ATO, 1 block, 3 steals

F Terry Anderson, Sr. (6-6/202) — 2024 Lamar transfer (2-year starter)
13 mpg, 3 ppg, 3 rpg, 41% FG, 40% FT, 31% threes, 13/11 ATO, 3 blocks, 8 steals

F Josh Ibukunoluwa, Fr. (6-10/219) — 2024 international signee (Australia)
10 mpg, 3 ppg, 3 rpg, 53% FG, 64% FT, 0% threes, 5/7 ATO, 10 blocks, 4 steals

Departures from 2023-24: F Pavlo Dziuba (Sr./transfer/Eastern Washington), F Denzel Hines (Fr./transfer/Coastal Carolina), G Duke Miles* (Sr./transfer/Oklahoma), F Cade Potter (So./transfer/Cal Poly Humboldt), G Justin Taylor (So./transfer/Coffeyville CC)

*—2023-24 starter (started at least 50% of the Panthers’ games last season)

High Point Panthers
10-Year Snapshot

Season: Overall, League (Place), Postseason

2023-24: 27-9, 13-3 Big South (1st*), CBI Runner-Up (Alan Huss)
2022-23: 14-17, 6-12 Big South (8th), no postseason (GG Smith)
2021-22: 14-18, 7-9 Big South (7th), no postseason (Tubby/GG Smith)
2020-21: 9-15, 6-11 Big South (8th), no postseason (Tubby Smith)
2019-20: 9-23, 6-12 Big South (10th), no postseason (Tubby Smith)
2018-19: 16-15, 9-7 Big South (5th), no postseason (Tubby Smith)
2017-18: 14-16, 9-9 Big South (5th), no postseason (Scott Cherry)
2016-17: 15-16, 9-9 Big South (5th), no postseason (Scott Cherry)
2015-16: 21-11, 13-5 Big South (1st*), NIT 1st Round (Scott Cherry)
2014-15: 23-10, 13-5 Big South (1st*), CIT 2nd Round (Scott Cherry)

*—conference champion (regular-season and/or tournament)

NOTE: In the coming weeks and months, please visit the North Carolina Sports Network’s 2024-25 profiles and 10-year snapshots for all 19 Division One men’s basketball programs in North Carolina and all 18 Atlantic Coast Conference programs. The items below will become “live links” as new articles are posted.

Appalachian State Mountaineers, Sun Belt Conference

Boston College Eagles, Atlantic Coast Conference

California Golden Bears, Atlantic Coast Conference

Campbell Camels, Coastal Athletic Association

Charlotte 49ers, American Athletic Conference

Clemson Tigers, Atlantic Coast Conference

Duke Blue Devils, Atlantic Coast Conference

East Carolina Pirates, American Athletic Conference

Elon Phoenix, Coastal Athletic Association

Florida State Seminoles, Atlantic Coast Conference

Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs, Big South Conference

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Atlantic Coast Conference

High Point Panthers, Big South Conference

Louisville Cardinals, Atlantic Coast Conference

Miami Hurricanes, Atlantic Coast Conference

North Carolina Tar Heels, Atlantic Coast Conference

North Carolina A&T Aggies, Coastal Athletic Association

North Carolina Central Eagles, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference

North Carolina State Wolfpack, Atlantic Coast Conference

Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Atlantic Coast Conference

Pitt Panthers, Atlantic Coast Conference

Queens Royals, Atlantic Sun Conference

SMU Mustangs, Atlantic Coast Conference

Stanford Cardinal, Atlantic Coast Conference

Syracuse Orange, Atlantic Coast Conference

UNC Asheville Bulldogs, Big South Conference

UNC Greensboro Spartans, Southern Conference

UNC Wilmington Seahawks, Coastal Athletic Association

Virginia Cavaliers, Atlantic Coast Conference

Virginia Tech Hokies, Atlantic Coast Conference

Wake Forest, Atlantic Coast Conference

Western Carolina Catamounts, Southern Conference