The 2025–26 Western Illinois Leathernecks men's basketball team represented Western Illinois University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Leathernecks, led by third-year head coach Chad Boudreau, played their home games at Western Hall in Macomb, Illinois, as second-year members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). The Leathernecks finished the season 5–26, 1–19 in OVC play to finish in last place. They failed to qualify for the OVC tournament.
Previous season The Leathernecks finished the 2024–25 season 12–19, 6–14 in OVC play, to finish in tenth place. They failed to qualify for the OVC tournament, as only the top eight teams make it.
Preseason On October 14, 2025, the OVC released their preseason polls. Western Illinois was picked to finish in last place in the conference.
Preseason rankings +OVC Preseason Coaches Poll Place Team Votes 1 188 (12) 2 177 (6) 3 163 (1) 4 135 (1) T–5 100 7 80 8 79 9 67 (2) 10 63 11 Western Illinois 57
Source:
Players to Watch Each OVC team selected two "Players to Watch" for their team. Players to WatchPlayerPositionYearLucas LorenzenGuardJuniorAntwaun MasseyForwardSenior Source:
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=""| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=12 style=""| OVC regular season
Sources:
References