University of Northern Iowa Athletics
Eight named to MVC men’s and women’s basketball preseason watchlists
10/15/2025 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball
MVC announces preseason basketball watchlist for 2025-26 season. Tickets for UNI basketball available for purchase.
ST. LOUIS --- The Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) on Wednesday announced the selections for its 2025-26 conference preseason basketball watchlists.
Made up of student-athletes from all 11 league institutions, four UNI men and four Panther women were selected to this year's list. Northern Iowa men named to the watchlist include Leon Bond III, Trey Campbell, Ben Schwieger and RJ Taylor. Panther women named to the preseason list included Ryley Goebel, Elise Jaeger, Bri Robinson and Taryn Wharton.
Leon Bond III - Guard/Forward - Wauwatosa, Wisc.
- Bond enters his redshirt junior season after averaging 9.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists. 0.9 steals and 0.6 blocks per game in 23 appearances last season. He shot 55.6% from the field, 33.3% from three-point range and 78.4% from the free throw line with eight double-double performances. Bond notably scored a career-high 37 points against Montana last year, earning MVC Player of the Week honors.
Trey Campbell - Guard - Cedar Falls, Iowa
- Campbell begins his senior year after earning Third Team All-MVC honors a year ago with 11.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.5 blocks per game, starting in all 33 games. Shooting 41.5% from the field with a team-high 72 made three-pointer (42.9%) and an 80.9% free throw clip, he notably scored a career-high 30 points last season at Illinois State to earn MVC Player of the Week recognition. Campbell has also started 63 consecutive games for UNI since the start of the 2023-24 season.
Ben Schwieger - Guard/Forward - Aurora, Ill.
- Entering his redshirt season season, the former Loyola-Chicago transfer begins his second year with the Panthers after starting all 33 games last season with 9.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.5 steals and 0.5 blocks a game. Schwieger shot 49.1% from the field, 36.5% from beyond the three-point arc and 70.4% from the charity stripe. Notably, he scored a season-high 20 points against Northern Illinois last year and pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds against Evansville.
RJ Taylor - Guard - Grand Blanc, Mich.
- Taylor begins his redshirt sophomore year looking to bounce back from a season-ending injury in 2024-25 that limited him to just eight games. In his shortened season, he posted 7.5 points, one rebound, 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game in 21.4 minutes played per contest. Taylor shot 51.1% from the field and scored a season-high 13 points against Dubuque with a career-high six made baskets.
Ryley Goebel - Forward - Urbana, Iowa
- Goebel heads into her senior year with the Panthers after becoming the first player in UNI and MVC history to record 70+ blocks and 70+ steals in a single season. Her MVC All-Defensive team season saw 10.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, and 2.1 steals per game as she recorded the fourth-best field goal shooting season in program history with a 58.9% (162-for-275) field goal percentage and the third-most single-season blocks in program history (78).
Elise Jaeger - Forward - West Des Moines, Iowa
- A successful freshman season that saw Jaeger become the 12 Panther to be named to the MVC All-Freshman Team. The sophomore averaged 5.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game and recorded four double-figure performances including a career-high 15 points and 12 rebounds against Illinois State.
Taryn Wharton - Guard - Bellevue, Neb.
- Heading into her senior season with the Panthers, Wharton played in 34 games making three starts. The guard averaged 7.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game and recorded career-highs with 18 points, eight field goals, and two three-pointers against Illinois State.
Bri Robinson - Guard - Lincoln, Neb.
- Junior guard Bri Robinson played in 34 games making three starts. The Lincoln, Nebraska native recorded 49 points, 23 rebounds, and 17 assists on the season and set career highs with 10 points (Nov. 5 vs. UW-La Crosse), two three-pointers (Dec. 10 vs. South Dakota), six free throws (Nov. 5 vs. UW-La Crosse), three rebounds (Feb. 22 vs. Southern Illinois), four assists (Dec. 7 vs. RV Creighton), and four steals (Jan. 2 vs. Valparaiso).
The UNI women's basketball team will host Truman State in a preseason exhibition on Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. CT before its Nov. 3 regular season opener at home vs. North Dakota State.
The Panther men's basketball team will host Upper Iowa on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. CT for an exhibition matchup and will open the regular season on Nov. 6 at home against Cal State Northridge.
Tickets for both the UNI men's and women's basketball seasons can be purchased online through the UNI Ticket Office, by calling 319-273-4849 or through email at tickets@uni.edu.
UNI men's and women's basketball action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Men's Basketball / UNI Women's Basketball), X (@UNImbb / (@UNIwbb) and on Instagram (@uni_basketball / @uni_wbb). The full 2025-26 schedule and roster, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.
