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2022–23 Western Athletic Conference men's basketball season

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2022–23 WAC men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Number of teams13
TV partner(s)ESPN, ESPN+
Regular season
Season MVPQua Grant
WAC tournament
WAC men's basketball seasons
2022–23 WAC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Utah Valley 15 3   .833 28 9   .757
Sam Houston 14 4   .778 26 8   .765
Southern Utah 12 6   .667 24 13   .649
Grand Canyon 11 7   .611 24 12   .667
Seattle 11 7   .611 20 12   .625
Stephen F. Austin 11 7   .611 19 13   .594
Tarleton* 9 9   .500 17 17   .500
California Baptist 8 10   .444 17 16   .515
Abilene Christian 7 11   .389 13 17   .433
UT Rio Grande Valley 6 12   .333 15 17   .469
UT Arlington 6 12   .333 11 21   .344
Utah Tech* 5 13   .278 14 19   .424
New Mexico State** 2 16   .111 9 15   .375
* Ineligible for the NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II
** Season cancelled on February 11, 2023.
Conference tournament winner

The 2022–23 WAC men's basketball season began with practices in October 2022 followed by the start of the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November 2022. The conference began play in December 2022. This is the WAC's 61st season of basketball. The WAC competed again with 13 teams with two teams leaving the conference and two teams joining the conference from the prior year. Chicago State turned independent and Lamar moved to the Southland Conference.[1][2] Southern Utah University joins from the Big Sky Conference and UT Arlington joins from the Sun Belt Conference.[3][4] Dixie State was also renamed as Utah Tech.[5] Each WAC member played an 18-game conference schedule. The WAC tournament was held March 6–11, 2023 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.[6]

Pre-season

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WAC Media days

[edit]

The WAC's 2022 men's basketball media day was held on October 18.[7]

Men's Basketball Coaches Preseason Poll
Place Team Points First place votes
1. Grand Canyon 135 8
2. New Mexico State 127 3
3. Stephen F. Austin 111 --
4. Abilene Christian 101 1
5. California Baptist 96 1
6. Seattle U 91 --
7. Utah Valley 85
8. Sam Houston 79 --
9. Southern Utah 66 --
10. Tarleton 47 --
11. UT Arlington 31 --
12. Utah Tech 29 --
13. UTRGV 16 --
Men's Basketball Media Preseason Poll
Place Team
1. Grand Canyon
2. New Mexico State
3. Stephen F. Austin
4. Abilene Christian
5. California Baptist
6T. Sam Houston
6T. Seattle U
8. Utah Valley
9. Southern Utah
10. UT Arlington
11. Tarleton
12. Utah Tech
13. UTRGV

WAC Preseason All-Conference

[edit]
First Team
Name School Yr. Pos.
Airion Simmons Abilene Christian Sr. F
Taran Armstrong California Baptist So. G
Jovan Blacksher Jr. Grand Canyon Jr. G
Xavier Pinson NM State Sr. G
Cameron Tyson Seattle U Jr. G
Tevian Jones Southern Utah Sr. G/F
Justin Johnson UTRGV Sr. F
Trey Woodbury Utah Valley Sr. G

† Denotes Preseason Player of the Year

Second Team
Name School Yr. Pos.
Rayshon Harrison Grand Canyon So. G
Gabe McGlothan Grand Canyon Jr. F
Javion May Sam Houston Sr. G
Riley Grigsby Seattle U Sr. G/F
Maizen Fausett Southern Utah Sr. F
Sadaidriene Hall Stephen F. Austin So. F
Jaylin Jackson-Posey Stephen F. Austin So. G
Freddy Hicks Tarleton Jr. G/F

Regular season

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Early season tournaments

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Team Tournament Finish
Abilene Christian Vegas 4 4th
California Baptist SoCal Challenge (Surf Division) 4th
Grand Canyon Hall of Fame Classic 3rd
New Mexico State Las Vegas Holiday Classic 2nd
Sam Houston Fort Myers Tip-Off (Palms Division) 1st
Seattle U Diamond Head Classic 7th
Southern Utah North Shore Classic 3rd
Stephen F. Austin Montreal Northern Classic 4th
Tarleton Paradise Jam 2nd
UT Arlington Gulf Coast Showcase 6th
UTRGV Leon Black Classic 2nd
Utah Tech North Dakota MTE 2nd
Utah Valley Jamaica Classic (Rose Hall Division) 3rd

Records against other conferences

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2022–23 records against non-conference foes:

Regular season

Power Conferences & Gonzaga Record
ACC 1–1
Big East 0–0
Big Ten 0–1
Big 12 1–7
Pac-12 3–7
SEC 0–2
Gonzaga 0–0
Power Conference Total 5–18
Other NCAA Division I Conferences Record
America East 1–0
American 0–4
A-10 2–0
ASUN 0–0
Big Sky 15–4
Big South 1–0
Big West 9–3
CAA 1–1
C-USA 2–3
Horizon 2–2
Ivy League 0–0
MAAC 0–2
MAC 2–0
MEAC 0–1
MVC 2–2
Mountain West 2–10
NEC 0–0
OVC 1–0
Patriot League 0–0
SoCon 1–1
Southland 4–2
SWAC 5–1
The Summit 4–2
Sun Belt 2–2
WCC (except Gonzaga) 4–3
Other Division I Total 60–44
Non-Division I Total 36–0
NCAA Division I Total 65–62

Record against ranked non-conference opponents

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This is a list of games against ranked opponents only (rankings from the AP Poll):

Date Visitor Home Score Conference record
November 17, 2022 Utah Tech No. 14 Arizona L, 77–104 0–1
November 18, 2022 Southern Utah No. 6 Kansas L, 76–82 0–2
November 26, 2022 UTRGV No. 4 Texas L, 54–91 0–3
December 6, 2022 Tarleton No. 12 Baylor L, 57–80 0–4

Team rankings are reflective of AP poll when the game was played, not current or final ranking

Rankings

[edit]
    Improvement in ranking
  Drop in ranking
RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25
NV No votes received
  Pre Wk
2
Wk
3
Wk
4
Wk
5
Wk
6
Wk
7
Wk
8
Wk
9
Wk
10
Wk
11
Wk
12
Wk
13
Wk
14
Wk
15
Wk
16
Wk
17
Wk
18
Final
Abilene Christian AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
California Baptist AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Grand Canyon AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
New Mexico State AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Sam Houston AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Seattle U AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV RV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Southern Utah AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Stephen F. Austin AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Tarleton AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
UT Arlington AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
UTRGV AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Utah Tech AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Utah Valley AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV

Head coaches

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Coaching changes

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Only one coaching change was made during the offseason. Greg Heiar was hired on March 27 as the 27th head coach at New Mexico State University to replace Chris Jans who had previously been hired as the head coach at Mississippi State University.[8]

Coaches

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Note: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season. Overall and WAC records are from time at current school.

Team Head coach Previous job Seasons at school Overall record WAC record WAC titles NCAA tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA Championships
Abilene Christian Brette Tanner (Associate HC) 2nd 25–11 (.694) 11–7 (.611) 0 0 0 0
California Baptist Rick Croy St. Mary's (assistant) 10th 68-50 (.576) 30-32 (.484) 0 0 0 0
Grand Canyon Bryce Drew Vanderbilt 3rd 40-15 (.727) 22-8 (.733) 1 1 0 0
New Mexico State Greg Heiar Northwest Florida State College 1st 0-0 (–) 0-0 (–) 0 0 0 0
Sam Houston Jason Hooten (Assistant HC) 13th 235-161 (.593) 140-72 (.660) 0 0 0 0
Seattle U Chris Victor (Assistant/interim HC) 2nd 23-9 (.719) 14-4 (.778) 1 0 0 0
Southern Utah Todd Simon UNLV (interim HC) 7th 96-94 (.505) 0-0 (–) 0 0 0 0
Stephen F. Austin Kyle Keller Texas A&M (assistant) 7th 126-55 (.696) 14–4 (.778) 1 0 0 0
Tarleton Billy Gillispie Ranger College 3rd 24-27 (.471) 14-16 (.467) 0 1 0 0
UT Arlington Greg Young (Assistant) 2nd 11-18 (.379) 0-0 (–) 0 0 0 0
UTRGV Matt Figger Austin Peay 2nd 8-23 (.258) 3-15 (.167) 0 0 0 0
Utah Tech Jon Judkins Snow College 18th 306-149 (.673) 10-22 (.313) 0 0 0 0
Utah Valley Mark Madsen LA Lakers (player development) 4th 42-42 (.500) 24-22 (.522) 1 0 0 0

Notes:

  • Overall and WAC records, conference titles, etc. are from time at current school and are through the end of the 2021–22 season.
  • Records and season totals only include time spent at Division I as head coach.
  • NCAA tournament appearances are from time at current school only.
  • NCAA Final Fours and Championship include time at other schools.

Post season

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WAC tournament

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The conference tournament was played from March 7–11, 2023, at Michelob ULTRA Arena and the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada near Las Vegas. The first round was played on March 7 at Michelob ULTRA Arena with the remaining rounds March 8–11 at the Orleans Arena. Twelve of the thirteen members were invited to the tournament.[9] While Tarleton and Utah Tech were ineligible for the NCAA tournament, they were eligible for the WAC tournament.[10]

NCAA tournament

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Teams from the conference that were selected to participate:

Seed Region School First Four First round Second round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship
14 West Grand Canyon
lost to (3) Gonzaga 70–82
Bids W-L (%): 0–0 (–) 0–1 (.000) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) TOTAL: 0–1 (.000)

National Invitation Tournament

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Number from the conference that were selected to participate: 2

Seed School First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
3 Sam Houston
defeated Santa Clara 58–56
lost to (2) North Texas 55–75
N/A Utah Valley
defeated (2) New Mexico 83–69
defeated (3) Colorado 81–69
defeated (4) Cincinnati 74–68
lost to (4) UAB 86–88*
W-L (%): 2–0 (1.000) 1–1 (.500) 1–0 (1.000) 0–1 (.000) TOTAL: 4–2 (.667)

College Basketball Invitational

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Number from the conference that were selected to participate: 2

Seed School First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
4 Southern Utah
defeated (13) North Alabama 72–50
defeated (12) Rice 81–79
lost to (8) Eastern Kentucky 106–108**
7 Tarleton
lost to (10) Radford 70–72*
W-L (%): 1–1 (.500) 1–0 (1.000) 0–1 (.000) TOTAL: 2–2 (.500)
Index to colors and formatting
WAC member won
WAC member lost

*Denotes overtime period

Awards and honors

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Players of the week

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Throughout the conference regular season, the WAC offices name a player of the week, and a freshman of the week each Monday.

Week Player of the Week School Freshman of the Week School
November 14 Cameron Tyson Seattle U Adante' Holiman UTRGV
November 21 Freddy Hicks Tarleton Parsa Fallah Southern Utah
November 28 Justin Johnson UTRGV Kobe Knox Grand Canyon
December 5 Le'Tre Darthard Utah Valley Brandon Walker UT Arlington
December 12 Aziz Bandaogo Utah Valley Parsa Fallah Southern Utah
December 19 Justin Johnson UTRGV Adante' Holiman UTRGV
December 27 Trey Woodbury Utah Valley Parsa Fallah Southern Utah
January 3 Tevian Jones Southern Utah Anthony Wrzeszcz Sam Houston
January 10 Aziz Bandaogo Utah Valley Chendall Weaver UT Arlington
January 17 Riley Grigsby Seattle U Kobe Knox Grand Canyon
January 24 Riley Grigsby Seattle U Chendall Weaver UT Arlington
January 30 Taran Armstrong Cal Baptist Leonardo Bettiol Abilene Christian
February 6 Ray Harrison Grand Canyon Chendall Weaver UT Arlington
February 13 Le'Tre Darthard Utah Valley Adante' Holiman UTRGV
February 20 Gabe McGlothan Grand Canyon Chendall Weaver UT Arlington
February 27 Qua Grant Sam Houston Kobe Knox Grand Canyon
March 4 Ray Harrison Grand Canyon Adante Holiman UTRGV

Totals per school - Players of the week

[edit]
School Player of the week Freshman of the week Total
Abilene Christian University 1 1
California Baptist University 1 1
Grand Canyon University 3 3 6
New Mexico State University
Sam Houston State University 1 1 2
Seattle University 3 3
Southern Utah University 1 3 4
Stephen F. Austin State University
Tarleton State University 1 1
University of Texas at Arlington 5 5
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley 2 4 6
Utah Tech University
Utah Valley University 5 5
Total 17 17 34

All-Americans

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All-WAC

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First team
Name School
Ray Harrison Grand Canyon
Qua Grant‡ Sam Houston
Cameron Tyson Seattle U
Tevian Jones Southern Utah
Aziz Bandaogo‡‡ Utah Valley
Le'Tre Darthard Utah Valley
Trey Woodbury Utah Valley
Justin Johnson UTRGV
  • ‡ WAC Player of the Year
  • ‡‡ WAC Defensive Player of the Year
Second team
Name School
Taran Armstrong California Baptist
Gabe McGlothan Grand Canyon
Donte Powers Sam Houston
Riley Grigsby Seattle U
Maizen Fausett Southern Utah
Sadaidriene Hall Stephen F. Austin
Freddy Hicks Tarleton
Cameron Gooden Utah Tech

All-Newcomer team

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Name School
Ray Harrison Grand Canyon
Qua Grant Sam Houston
Cameron Huefner Sam Houston
Drake Allen Southern Utah
Aziz Bandaogo† Utah Valley

† Newcomer of the Year

All-Defensive team

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Name School
Damien Daniels Abilene Christian
Javion May Sam Houston
Shamir Bogues Tarleton
Aziz Bandaogo Utah Valley
Le'Tre Darthard Utah Valley
  • ‡WAC Defensive Player of the Year

Other awards

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Sixth Man of the Year: Dee Barnes, Southern Utah

Freshman of the Year: Chendall Weaver, UT Arlington

Coach of the Year: Mark Madsen, Utah Valley

2023 NBA draft

[edit]
Round Pick Player Position Nationality Team School/club team

Home game attendance

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Team Stadium Capacity Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4 Game 5 Game 6 Game 7 Game 8 Game 9 Game 10 Game 11 Game 12 Game 13 Game 14 Game 15 Game 16 Game 17 Total Average % of Capacity
Abilene Christian Moody Coliseum 3,600 2,489† 1,643 974 747 1,204 897 1,152 1,122 2,005 1,889 1,744 N/A 1,844 1,951 19,661 1,512 42%
California Baptist CBU Events Center 5,050 4,466 5,050† 2,602 2,067 4,038 2,817 2,345 2,883 2,192 2,611 5,050 4,011 2,705 3,128 5,050 2,225 3,296 56,536 3,326 66%
Grand Canyon GCU Arena 7,000 7,171 6,891 7,166 6,873 6,713 7,011 7,072 6,804 7,316 6,982 6,041 7,007 7,095 7,076 6,039 7,438† 7,414 118,109 6,948 99%
New Mexico State Pan American Center 12,482 5,178 6,332† 4,346 4,460 4,942 4,705 5,092 4,864 5,107 4,948 49,974 4,997 40%
Sam Houston Bernard Johnson Coliseum 6,110 1,892† 1,320 1,127 731 777 1,702 3,686 1,674 1,845 1,332 1,613 1,772 1,866 21,337 1,641 27%
Seattle U Redhawk Center/Climate Pledge Arena 999/18,100[11] 896 999 683 1,277‡ 780 767 2,265 901 928 2,045†‡ 1,565‡ 999 999 1,175 16,279 1,163 116%
Southern Utah America First Event Center 5,300 1,718 1,534 1,173 2,116 959 873 1,204 2,178 1,583 2,093 4,013 1,862 4,554† 1.460 1.859 29,179 1,945 37%
Stephen F. Austin William R. Johnson Coliseum 7,203 2,610 2,049 2,128 2,339 2,023 1,939 1,841 2,814 2,644 3,286 2,180 3,303 2,180 3,488 3,554 4.189† 42,567 2,660 37%
Tarleton State Wisdom Gymnasium 3,000 1,386 1,873 776 856 1,533 1,105 1,487 1,424 N/A 2,155† 1,578 2,367 2,017 1,776 20,333 1,564 52%
UT Arlington College Park Center 7,000 2,466† 1,429 1,475 1,011 1,931 1,419 1,017 1,052 1,663 1,271 1,691 423 1,526 1,905 20,279 1,449 21%
UTRGV UTRGV Fieldhouse/Bert Ogden Arena 2,500/7,688[12] 678 453 6,674†‡‡ 1,355‡‡ 865 644 785 517 723 1,121 2,606 1,018 1,837 2,788 275 886 1,431 24,656 1,450 58%
Utah Tech Burns Arena 4,779 2,297 1,133 833 465 442 710 1,256 1,689 1,878 3,962† 1,929 1,306 2,141 20,041 1,542 32%
Utah Valley UCCU Center 8,500 1,449 2,034 1,389 1,427 1,141 1,911 2,463 2,976 2,827 2,915 1,886 5,168† 2,574 2,267 32,427 2,316 27%
Total 73,523 471,378 32,514 44%

Bold – At or exceed capacity; capacity ratios for Seattle U and UTRGV computed based on smaller home arena

  • †Season high
  • ‡Climate Pledge Arena
  • ‡‡Bert Ogden Arena

References

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  1. ^ Lorensen, Nick (November 1, 2022). "Mid-Major Madness Independent teams preview". Mid-Major Madness. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  2. ^ Faye, Matt (July 12, 2022). "FAYE: How Lamar's WAC tenure turned into one big mess". Beaumont Enterprise. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  3. ^ "SUU joins Utah's Legacy Conference, the WAC". Deseret News. March 8, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  4. ^ "UT-Arlington set to join WAC this summer". ESPN.com. January 21, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  5. ^ Facer, Austin (November 11, 2021). "Why Dixie State's name change to Utah Tech University matters". ABC4 Utah. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  6. ^ "2022-23 WAC Championships Schedules Released". July 28, 2022. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ "2022-23 WAC Basketball on ESPN". October 12, 2022. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ "Greg Heiar Named 27th Head Coach of NM State Men's Basketball Team". New Mexico State University Athletics. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  9. ^ "2022-23 WAC Championships Schedules Released". July 28, 2022. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. ^ "WAC approves Conference Championship eligibility for Tarleton in recent board meeting". Tarleton State University Athletics. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  11. ^ Seattle U uses two home arenas: Redhawk Center, which is located on campus, and the newly renovated Climate Pledge Arena in uptown Seattle.
  12. ^ UTRGV uses two home arenas: UTRGV Fieldhouse, which is located on campus, and Bert Ogden Arena which is also located in Edinburg, Texas and is home to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League.