• Preseason Releases: Men, Women | Media Day Recap
The SIUE men's team was picked third while the women's team was predicted 10th in the 2025-26 OVC Preseason Poll voted on by league head coaches and communications directors.
The predictions were released as part of the OVC Basketball Media Day powered by
Centerpoint Energy, which was held on October 14.
Coming off an OVC Tournament Championship, the Cougars men's team will look to seniors Ring Malith and Arnas Sakenis this season. Malith will play his second season at SIUE after finishing third in scoring with 11.1 points per game. He led the team in rebounding at 7.0 per game, which ranked fourth in the OVC. Malith was an All-Tournament team selection after averaging 10 points and 5.5 rebounds during SIUE's championship run. Sakenis is playing his fourth season with the Cougars after appearing in 26 games while making a career-high 16 starts in 2024-25. He led the league in total blocks with 48 and an average of 1.85 blocks per game.
For the women's team seniors Macy Silvey and Jaiden Bryant were named OVC's Preseason Players to Watch List. Silvey is playing her fourth season at SIUE after finishing third in three-point field goals in 2024-25. She averaged 2.3 per game. She appeared in all 29 games for the Cougars shooting 35 percent from the field and 36 percent from three-point range. Bryant will be playing her second season with SIUE after transferring from Missouri State. Last season she started 26 games for the team, being the rebounding leader for eight games. She also was second on the team in rebounds averaging 4.1 per game.
The SIUE teams will look to be one of eight teams in each gender to qualify for the 2026 OVC Basketball Championships, which will be played March 4-7 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. For more information on the championship,
click here.
BELOW VIDEOS
Head Men's Coach
Brian Barone
Senior G/F
Ring Malith
Head Women's Coach
Samantha Quigley Smith
Senior Guard
Macy Silvey