— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall men’s basketball coach Cornelius Jackson is working to retool his team for the 2025-26 season. As he does, Jackson received news this week that helps bring stability to the Thundering Herd roster.
Starting guards Dezayne Mingo and Jalen Speer announced on social media that they’ll stay with the Herd next season.
Forward Wyatt Fricks also announced his return.
Mingo, Speer and Fricks each have one season of eligibility remaining.
In Mingo and Speer, Marshall will return a pair of primary scoring options that also were responsible for the bulk of the team’s ball-handling.
Mingo, a 6-foot-4 native of Hamilton, Ontario, came to Huntington from University of Guelph. He handled point guard duties this season and averaged 12.2 points to rank second on the team in scoring, along with 4.7 rebounds.
Mingo had 162 assists and averaged 5.2. His assist total was more than double than the total of his closest teammate.
The 6-1 Speer, a Florida A&M transfer, was one of the Herd’s top three-point shooting threats. He averaged 10.8 points and added 79 assists and 28 steals.
Speer made 35.1 percent of his 202 three-point attempts, a total exceeded only by Mikal Dawson, who attempted a team-high 237 from long range.
The 6-10 Fricks played 31 games last season and started three contests. He averaged five points and two rebounds and contributed 20 blocked shots and 16 steals.
Marshall can also benefit from the return of reserve point guard Kai Spears — the son of Marshall Director of Athletics Christian Spears — and 6-10 sophomore Erich Harding, whose minutes increased in spots throughout February.
Thus far, Marshall has lost one player to the Transfer Portal in sophomore guard Kycen Pruett, who appeared in only three games last season and 17 over the last two campaigns.
The loss of both Obinna Anochili-Killen and Nate Martin creates an opportunity for Fricks to take on a more featured role, but also leaves Jackson looking for outside help in the front court.
Other areas to address include adding help on the wing to replace Dawson, Jakob Gibbs and Cade Gibbs, all of which recently finished their college careers.
Marshall finished 20-13 in Jackson’s first season as head coach. The Herd won five straight games late in the season before suffering a loss to Arkansas State in the quarterfinal round of the Sun Belt Conference Championship.