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2024–25 Western Athletic Conference men's basketball season

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 2600:1700:4840:3450:e52b:3f9c:a8a4:f0d (talk) at 04:31, 17 December 2024 (→Conference USA-Western Athletic Conference Challenge). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

2024–25 WAC men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Number of teams9
TV partner(s)ESPN, ESPN+
Regular season
WAC tournament
WAC men's basketball seasons
2025–26 →
2024–25 WAC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Grand Canyon 0 – 0   – 8 – 4   .667
Abilene Christian 0 – 0   – 8 – 5   .615
Southern Utah 0 – 0   – 8 – 6   .571
Utah Valley 0 – 0   – 7 – 6   .538
California Baptist 0 – 0   – 6 – 6   .500
UT Arlington 0 – 0   – 6 – 7   .462
Seattle 0 – 0   – 5 – 8   .385
Tarleton 0 – 0   – 4 – 10   .286
Utah Tech 0 – 0   – 4 – 10   .286
† 2025 WAC tournament winner
As of December 23, 2024

The 2024–25 WAC men's basketball season began with practices in October followed by the start of the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in early November 2024. The conference began play in January 2025. This is the WAC's 63rd season of basketball. The WAC competed with nine teams due to two teams having left the conference since the prior season. UTRGV and Stephen F. Austin both joined the Southland Conference since the prior year.[1] The WAC tournament will be held in March 2025 with all nine teams competing for the automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The opening round will be held at Burns Arena in St. George, Utah with the remaining rounds at the Orleans Arena in the Las Vegas-area community of Paradise, Nevada.[2] This was the last WAC season for both Grand Canyon and Seattle, which announced that they would join the West Coast Conference the following year.[3]

Pre-season

WAC Media days

The WAC's 2024 men's basketball media day was held on October 15.[4]

Men's Basketball Coaches Preseason Poll
Place Team Points First place votes
1. Grand Canyon 64 8
2. UT Arlington 49 --
3 Seattle U 46 1
4. California Baptist 45 --
5. Utah Valley 38 --
6. Tarleton 30 --
7. Abilene Christian 29 --
8. Utah Tech 12 --
9. Southern Utah 11 --

WAC Preseason All-Conference

First Team
Name School Yr. Pos.
Tyon Grant-Foster† Grand Canyon Senior G
Dominique Daniels Jr. California Baptist Senior G
Ray Harrison Grand Canyon Senior G
John Christofilis Seattle U Junior G
Freddy Hicks Tarleton State Senior G/F

† Denotes Preseason Player of the Year

Regular season

Early season tournaments

Team Tournament Finish
Abilene Christian Montana State MTE[5] 2nd
California Baptist Acrisure Holiday Invitational[6] 3rd
Grand Canyon Acrisure Holiday Invitational[6] 1st
Seattle U Vegas Showdown[7] 4th
Southern Utah San Diego MTE[8] 1st
Tarleton Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship[9] 4th
UT Arlington Jacksonville Classic[10] 4th
Utah Tech Montana MTE[11] 3rd
Utah Valley Samford MTE[12] 3rd

Conference USA-Western Athletic Conference Challenge

Date Conference USA team WAC team Score Location Leader
November 9 New Mexico State Utah Tech 75–63 Burns Arena • St. George, UT CUSA (1–0)
UTEP Utah Valley 89–60 UCCU Center • Orem, UT Tied (1–1)
Sam Houston Tarleton 91–62 Wisdom Gym • Stephenville, TX CUSA (2–1)
Western Kentucky Grand Canyon 74–72 Global Credit Union Arena • Phoenix, AZ Tied (2–2)
Louisiana Tech UT Arlington 92–77 College Park Center • Arlington, TX CUSA (3–2)
Liberty Seattle 66–64 Redhawk Center • Seattle, WA CUSA (4–2)
Middle Tennessee Abilene Christian 79–56 Moody Coliseum • Abilene, TX CUSA (5–2)
Kennesaw State California Baptist 88–84 Fowler Events Center • Riverside, CA CUSA (5–3)
Florida International Southern Utah 80–75 America First Event Center • Cedar City, UT CUSA (5–4)
November 20 Kennesaw State Abilene Christian 84–78 Convocation Center • Kennesaw, GA CUSA (6–4)
December 14 Jacksonville State Utah Valley 70-66 Pete Mathews Coliseum • Jacksonville, FL CUSA (7-4)
December 16 UTEP Tarleton 67-62 Don Haskins Center • El Paso, TX CUSA (8-4)
Louisiana Tech Grand Canyon 74-66 Thomas Assembly Center • Ruston, LA (CUSA 9-4)
Middle Tennessee California Baptist 75-64 Murphy Center • Murfreesboro, TN CUSA (10-4)
New Mexico State Southern Utah 72-66 Pan American Center • Las Cruces, NM CUSA (11-4)
December 17 Western Kentucky Seattle E. A. Diddle Arena • Bowling Green, KY
December 21 Liberty UT Arlington Liberty Arena • Lynchburg, VA
December 30 Florida International Utah Tech Ocean Bank Convocation Center • Miami, FL
WINNERS ARE IN BOLD. HOME TEAM IN ITALICS.

Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game. Did not participate: none

Records against other conferences

2024–25 records against non-conference foes:

Regular season

Power Conferences & Gonzaga Record
ACC 1–5
Big East 0–0
Big Ten 0–3
Big 12 0–7
Pac-12 0–0
SEC 0–0
Gonzaga 0–0
Power Conference Total 1–15
Other NCAA Division I Conferences Record
America East 0–0
American 0–0
A-10 0–2
ASUN 2–0
Big Sky 3–5
Big South 0–0
Big West 4–4
CAA 1–0
C-USA 5–7
Horizon 0–0
Ivy League 0–0
MAAC 0–1
MAC 0–0
MEAC 1–0
MVC 1–3
Mountain West 1–3
NEC 1–0
OVC 0–0
Patriot League 0–0
SoCon 0–2
Southland 1–0
SWAC 0–0
Summit 3–2
Sun Belt 3–1
WCC (except Gonzaga) 1–1
Other Division I Total 27–31
Non-Division I Total 13–0
NCAA Division I Total 28–46

Record against ranked non-conference opponents

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

Date Visitor Home Score
November 17 Tarleton #14/12 Baylor L, 41–104
November 29 Seattle #10/11 Duke L, 48–70
December 9 Baylor #RV/25 Baylor L, 57–88

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

Rankings

See also: 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
    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
C NV NV NV NV NV NV
California Baptist AP NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV
Grand Canyon AP RV RV NV NV NV NV
C RV RV NV NV NV NV
Seattle U AP NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV
Southern Utah AP NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV
Tarleton AP NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV
UT Arlington AP NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV
Utah Tech AP NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV
Utah Valley AP NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV

Head coaches

Coaching changes

No coaching changes were made during the offseason.

Coaches

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) 4th 54–46 (.540) 28–28(.500) 0 0 0 0
California Baptist Rick Croy St. Mary's (assistant) 12th 101-84 (.546) 47-55 (.461) 0 0 0 0
Grand Canyon Bryce Drew Vanderbilt 5th 94-32 (.746) 50-18 (.735) 2 3 0 0
Seattle U Chris Victor (Assistant/interim HC) 4th 66-35 (.653) 36-20 (.643) 1 0 0 0
Southern Utah Rob Jeter Western Illinois 2nd 10-21 (.323) 5-15 (.250) 0 0 0 0
Tarleton Billy Gillispie Ranger College 5th 59-51 (.536) 34-28 (.548) 0 0 0 0
UT Arlington K. T. Turner Kentucky (assistant) 2nd 20-14 (.588) 13-7 (.650) 0 0 0 0
Utah Tech Jon Judkins Snow College 20th 319-168 (.655) 22-48 (.314) 0 0 0 0
Utah Valley Todd Phillips (Associate HC) 2nd 16-16 (.500) 11-9 (.550) 0 0 0 0

Notes:

  • Overall and WAC records, conference titles, etc. are from time at current school and are through the end of the 2023–24 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

WAC tournament

Main article: 2025 WAC men's basketball tournament

The WAC tournament will be held in March 2025 with all nine teams competing for the automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The opening round will be held at Burns Arena in St. George, Utah with the remaining rounds at the Orleans Arena in the Las Vegas-area community of Paradise, Nevada.

NCAA tournament

Main article: 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

Teams from the conference that were selected to participate: 0

Seed Region School First Four First round Second round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Bids W-L (%): 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) TOTAL: 0–0 (–)

National Invitation Tournament

Number from the conference that were selected to participate: 0

Main article: 2025 National Invitation Tournament
Seed School First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
–
–
–
–
–
W-L (%): 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) TOTAL: 0–0 (–)

College Basketball Invitational

Number from the conference that were selected to participate: 0

Main article: 2025 College Basketball Invitational
Seed School First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
–
–
–
–
W-L (%): 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) TOTAL: 0–0 (–)

CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament

Number from the conference that were selected to participate: 0

Main article: 2025 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament
Seed School First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
W-L (%): 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) TOTAL: 0–0 (–)
Index to colors and formatting
WAC member won
WAC member lost

*Denotes overtime period

Awards and honors

Players of the week

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

Week Player of the Week School Newcomer of the Week School
November 11 JaKobe Coles Grand Canyon JaKobe Coles Grand Canyon
November 18 Jaden Wells UT Arlington Jaden Wells UT Arlington
November 25 Jamir Simpson Southern Utah Jamir Simpson Southern Utah
December 2 Dominique Daniels Jr. Cal Baptist Carter Welling Utah Valley
December 9 Hunter Jack Madden Abilene Christian Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe Seattle U

Totals per school - Players of the week

School Player of the week Newcomer of the week Total
Abilene Christian University 1 1
California Baptist University 1 1
Grand Canyon University 1 1 2
Seattle University 1 1
Southern Utah University 1 1 2
Tarleton State University
University of Texas at Arlington 1 1 2
Utah Tech University
Utah Valley University 1 1
Total 5 5 10

All-Americans

Main article: 2025 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

All-WAC

First team
Name School
  • ‡ WAC Player of the Year
  • ‡‡ WAC Defensive Player of the Year
Second team
Name School

All-Freshman team

Name School

† Freshman of the Year

All-Defensive team

Name School
  • ‡WAC Defensive Player of the Year

Other awards

Sixth Man of the Year:

Coach of the Year:

2025 NBA draft

Main article: 2025 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality Team School/club team
− − −

Home game attendance

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 1,832 1,434 1,026 1,024 5,316 1,329 37%
California Baptist CBU Events Center 5,050 3,294 N/A 3,607 4,233 2,737 2,064 15,935 3,187 63%
Grand Canyon GCU Arena 7,000 7,053 7,332 7,002 7,022 7,004 7,038 42,451 7,075 101%
Seattle U Redhawk Center/Climate Pledge Arena 999/18,100[13] 999 966 1,194 3,159 1,053 105%
Southern Utah America First Event Center 5,300 1,486 2,856 965 1,006 995 900 8,208 1,368 26%
Tarleton State Wisdom Gymnasium 3,000 1,487 1,176 1,379 4,042 1,347 45%
UT Arlington College Park Center 7,000 1,001 3,195 1,169 5,365 1,788 26%
Utah Tech Burns Arena 4,779 1,392 1,126 2,518 1,259 26%
Utah Valley UCCU Center 8,500 2,075 1,653 3,728 1,684 22%
Total 62.329 90,722 20,271 50%

Bold – At or exceed capacity; capacity ratios for Seattle U computed based on smaller home arena; attendance is for regular season only

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

See also

References

  1. ^ "CONFIRMED: SFA returning to the Southland Conference". Dave Campbell's Texas Football. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
  2. ^ "Championship Format And Dates For 2025 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament Set". wacsports.com. October 15, 2024. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
  3. ^ "WCC to add Grand Canyon, Seattle in 2025-26". ESPN.com. May 10, 2024. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
  4. ^ "Grand Canyon The Unanimous Top Choice In The 2024-25 WAC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll". wacsports.com. August 15, 2024. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
  5. ^ "Men's Basketball Releases 2024-2025 Schedule". Montana State University Athletics. August 22, 2024. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Reyes, Jesus (June 3, 2024). "21 top collegiate teams to play 19 games across Thanksgiving week at Acrisure Arena". KESQ. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  7. ^ DiCristoforo, Andrea (May 23, 2024). "ESPN Events Announces 2024 Vegas Showdown Matchups". ESPN Press Room U.S. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  8. ^ ChrisDobbertean (May 13, 2024). "2024-25 Men's College Basketball Exempt Multi-Team Events (MTEs) Tracker". Blogging the Bracket. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  9. ^ "Tarleton State accepts Invitation to 2024 Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship". Tarleton State University Athletics. September 9, 2024. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  10. ^ "UTA Men's Basketball Releases Non-Conference Schedule". University of Texas Arlington Athletics. September 24, 2024. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  11. ^ information, UM sports (September 17, 2024). "Montana Grizzlies finalize 2024-25 men's basketball nonconference schedule". 406 MT SPORTS. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  12. ^ "Samford Men's Basketball Releases Non-Conference Schedule". Samford University Athletics. September 13, 2024. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  13. ^ Seattle U uses two home arenas: Redhawk Center, which is located on campus, and the newly renovated Climate Pledge Arena in uptown Seattle.
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