CHICAGO (Oct. 21, 2026) – Four UIC men's basketball players earned a place on the 2026-27 Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Watch List that was announced Wednesday. Senior guard Ahmad Henderson II makes the list for the second consecutive season, and is joined by three other returning starters from last year in senior guard Mekhi Lowery and sophomore guards Andy Johnson and Rashund Washington Jr.

Henderson has been a mainstay in the Flames' rotation throughout his two seasons at UIC, playing in all 66 games over that span and starting 31 times. He is averaging 11.8 points and 2.4 assists per game in a Flames' uniform, while adding 84 three-pointers and 71 steals and an .884 free-throw percentage. Last year, Henderson averaged a career-high 12.0 points per game (tops among returning players for 2026-27), scoring in double figures 26 times and finishing second in the MVC with an .871 free-throw percentage.

Like Henderson, Lowery is originally from the Windy City and proved to be an invaluable addition to the lineup last year after transferring to UIC from Towson. In 2025-26, Lowery started all 35 games for the Flames, averaging 8.1 points and a team-high 5.8 rebounds per game, scoring in double figures 14 times including three double-doubles, the last coming against Drake in the Arch Madness semifinals on March 7 in St. Louis. He also was named to the Boardwalk Battle All-Tournament Team and was the MVC Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 24 after posting back-to-back double-doubles vs. High Point and Southern Indiana.

A product of Union, Ky., Johnson earned a spot on the MVC All-Freshman Team after appearing in all 35 games, starting 34 times, and averaging 11.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game with a team-high 54 three-pointers and a .348 percentage from beyond the arc. Johnson scored in double figures 18 times during his rookie campaign, including a career-high 25 points in a double-overtime win over Bradley on Feb. 24.

Washington, a native of Dublin, Ga., also was a regular in the Flames' lineup last year, starting 31 times and playing in all 35 games while logging 8.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. He scored in double figures 17 times and collected three double-doubles, including a career-high 23 points in the Arch Madness semifinal win over Drake, which led to his spot on the MVC All-Tournament Team (16.7 ppg., 6.3 rpg., .571 FG% in three games). Washington went on to score a team-high 15 points in the Flames' NIT opener at California.
 
UIC welcomes back four starters and a fifth part-time starter (accounting for a league-high 59 percent of minutes returning) and adds 10 newcomers (five transfers/five freshmen) to a squad that won 19 games last year and earned a third-place finish in the MVC, capped off by the school's first NIT berth since 2003, and the Flames' first-ever appearance in the Arch Madness championship game. UIC also posted its highest overall KenPom rating since 2004 (No. 110) and highest defensive efficiency mark since 2008 (No. 91), along with its highest-ever NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) ranking at No. 115.

What's more, during head coach Rob Ehsan's first two years at UIC, the Flames have collected eight Quad 1 & 2 wins, the second-most in the MVC, as well as six wins over teams ranked in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll (four against top-10 squads).

UIC will tip off its 2026-27 season with an Oct. 28 exhibition game at Illinois (7 p.m. CT on B1G+) before opening the regular season the following Monday, Nov. 2, by playing host to St. Francis (Ill.) at 4 p.m. CT at Credit Union 1 Arena. Four days later, the Flames will welcome Robert Morris to town for their annual Homecoming Game, which will tip off at 7 p.m. (CT), preceded by the UIC Homecoming Tailgate in Lot 1 (across Harrison Street from Credit Union 1 Arena).

TV coverage and promotions for all Flames' home games will be announced within the next week.

Season and single-game ticket packages for the 2026-27 Flames' men's basketball campaign are now on sale through Ticketmaster or the UIC Athletics Ticket Office, which can be reached by phone (312.413.8421) or e-mail (athleticsticketing@uic.edu). Once again this season, all UIC students are admitted FREE to all home games with their student ID.
 
For more information on UIC men's basketball, fans are encouraged to visit UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (@UIC_MBB and @UICFlames) and Instagram (@uic_mbb and @uicflames).