MBB: What Might Have Been in 2024-25 for T-Birds
A hot start including a good win over Summit League regular season champs, and then the wheels fell off in Cedar City
Everything started so well in 2024-25 for the Southern Utah Thunderbirds men’s basketball team.
The T-Birds were healthy and talented, which led to some quality wins in November. Eight wins to be exact.
There were wins over a Conference USA squad, a West Coast Conference squad, a Big West squad, and what turned out to be the Summit League regular-season champs.
The T-Birds even went toe-to-toe with Loyola Chicago before ultimately falling by four at Joseph J. Gentile Arena.
Jamir Simpson was living up to the hype after redshirting his first season in Cedar City. Dominique Ford was the leading scorer and best perimeter shooter. Colorado State transfer Tavi Jackson was the floor leader of the T-Birds.
Brock Felder was bigger and stronger in the paint for Rob Jeter. Hercy Miller was a key piece off the bench. Jabari Sibley returned for Rob Jeter after starting 14 games in 2023-24 for the T-Birds.
There was depth, athleticism, and talent. And it showed in the first 10 games of the season.
But, things have a way of changing in the blink of an eye.
Tavi Jackson suffered an injury in practice the night before the T-Birds faced New Mexico State in Las Cruces.
The floor leader was gone, and Rob Jeter had to turn to a pair of smaller guards, one of whom was a true freshman and had no Division I experience.
The leg injury wasn’t a season-ending injury for Jackson. The 6’2 junior played 32 minutes at GCU two weeks after suffering the initial injury, and 38 minutes in a home loss to Tarleton State two nights later.
But the injury hampered the floor general for the T-Birds. Jackson played at 75 percent for most of the season before a season-ending injury to the leg occurred in a home loss to Utah Valley two months after suffering the initial injury.
The last time in 2024-25 that Tavi Jackson, whom Jeter and his staff had built the roster around, was fully healthy was Dec. 7 in a loss at Arizona.
Southern Utah’s second leading scorer played nearly the entire 2024-25 season with a torn labrum.
Yes, for a sharpshooter like Dom Ford, that made things a challenge. Despite the pain, Ford shot nearly 42 percent from the field and 32 percent from 3-point range in averaging 14.5 points per game.
The last time in 2024-25 that Dom Ford was fully healthy was in a win at San Diego on Nov. 22.
JT Langston was supposed to be another key contributor for the T-Birds but he also played with a torn labrum the entire season, and nearly dislocated his shoulder in every game he played.
Hercy Miller suffered a foot injury against New Mexico State and was never fully healthy from that point on. In a blowout loss at Utah Valley on March 1, Miller suffered a season-ending ankle injury.
About the only starters that didn’t get hit by the injury bug were Jamir Simpson and Brock Felder.
But when you build a team a specific way, and injuries hit the key players, it takes its toll on the team.
Following the 8-2 start and the injury bug wreaking havoc, the T-Birds finished the season 12-19 overall.
Yes, Southern Utah won four more games the entire season after the stellar start.
Sure, sophomore guard Lorenzo Abellar had moments stepping into a larger role due to Tavi Jackson’s injuries. Yes, Xavier Sykes also had moments while stepping in for Dom Ford or Hercy Miller.
But the team wasn’t the same without those key players fully healthy.
“It was quite the journey to deal with all those injuries,” Rob Jeter said.
“We were just never fully healthy. And when we were fully healthy, you could see what kind of team we could be. It was really unfortunate.”
The season came to an end in St. George on March 11, 2025, when the T-Birds lost 72-65 to rival Utah Tech in the WAC Tournament play-in game.
Heading into 2025-26, Jeter and his staff return just three players from that 2024-25 squad.
Lorenzo Abellar and Kai Burdick are back, and both saw significant minutes in 2024-25. Langston Binns is another returner who didn’t play for the T-Birds a season ago.
With 10 new players, a little more depth due to more NIL money, perhaps the injury bug won’t have such an impact on the T-Birds in 2025-26.
At least that is what Jeter and Company are hoping for in the final season in the Western Athletic Conference.