2023–24 Western Athletic Conference men's basketball season

The 2023–24 WAC men's basketball season began with practices in October followed by the start of the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in early November 2023. The conference began play in late November 2023. This is the WAC's 62nd season of basketball. The WAC competed with 11 teams due to two teams having left the conference since the prior season.[1] Both New Mexico State and Sam Houston joined Conference USA effective July 1, 2023.[2] The WAC tournament was held March 13–16, 2024 with the top eight teams competing for the automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament at Orleans Arena in the Las Vegas-area community of Paradise, Nevada.[3]

2023–24 WAC men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Number of teams11
TV partner(s)ESPN, ESPN+
Regular season
WAC tournament
WAC men's basketball seasons
2023–24 WAC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Grand Canyon 17 3   .850 30 5   .857
Tarleton* 16 4   .800 25 10   .714
UT Arlington 13 7   .650 20 14   .588
Seattle 11 9   .550 23 14   .622
Utah Valley 11 9   .550 16 16   .500
Stephen F. Austin 10 10   .500 18 15   .545
Abilene Christian 10 10   .500 16 18   .471
California Baptist 8 12   .400 16 17   .485
Utah Tech* 7 13   .350 11 20   .355
Southern Utah 5 15   .250 10 21   .323
UT Rio Grande Valley 2 18   .100 6 25   .194
* Ineligible for the NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II
2024 WAC tournament winner

This was the last WAC season for UTRGV, which announced on March 25, 2024 that it would join the Southland Conference that July.[4]

Pre-season

edit

WAC Media days

edit

The WAC's 2023 men's basketball media day was held on October 16.[5]

Men's Basketball Coaches Preseason Poll
Place Team Points First place votes
1. Grand Canyon 99 9
2. Stephen F. Austin 87 2
3 Seattle U 86 --
4. Utah Valley 61 --
5. Abilene Christian 60 --
6. Tarleton 49 --
7. California Baptist 47 --
8. UT Arlington 43 --
9. (T) Southern Utah 26 --
9. (T) UTRGV 26 --
11. Utah Tech 21 --

WAC Preseason All-Conference

edit
First Team
Name School Yr. Pos.
Ray Harrison Grand Canyon Junior G
Gabe McGlothan Grand Canyon Senior F
Cameron Tyson Seattle U Senior G
Sadaidriene Hall Stephen F. Austin Junior F
Drake Allen Utah Valley Junior G

† Denotes Preseason Player of the Year

Regular season

edit

Early season tournaments

edit
Team Tournament Finish
Abilene Christian Paradise Jam 2nd
California Baptist The Joust 1st
Grand Canyon Arizona Tip-Off 2nd
Seattle U Seattle MTE 1st
Southern Utah Louisiana Tech MTE 3rd
Stephen F. Austin Cayman Islands Classic 2nd
Tarleton SoCal Challenge 1st
UT Arlington Acrisure Classic 3rd
UTRGV Acrisure Invitational 4th
Utah Tech Lake Erie Classic 2nd
Utah Valley Jacksonville Classic (Bay Bracket) 2nd

Conference USA-Western Athletic Conference Challenge

edit
Date[6] Conference USA team WAC team Score Location Leader
November 9 FIU Tarleton 82–65 Ocean Bank Convocation CenterMiami, FL WAC (1–0)
Sam Houston Utah Valley 79–73OT Bernard Johnson ColiseumHuntsville, TX WAC (2–0)
Middle Tennessee Stephen F. Austin 67–62 Murphy CenterMurfreesboro, TN WAC (2–1)
November 11 Jacksonville State Utah Tech 81–79 Pete Mathews ColiseumJacksonville, AL WAC (3–1)
November 21 Louisiana Tech Southern Utah 67–53 Thomas Assembly CenterRuston, LA WAC (3–2)
December 9 Liberty Grand Canyon 69–64 Libery ArenaLynchburg, VA WAC (4–2)
December 17 UTEP Abilene Christian 88–82 Moody ColiseumAbilene, TX WAC (5–2)
December 18 Jacksonville State Tarleton 65–62 Wisdom GymStephenville, TX WAC (5–3)
December 19 New Mexico State Stephen F. Austin 75–72 William R. Johnson ColiseumNacogdoches, TX WAC (6–3)
Western Kentucky California Baptist 73–70 Fowler Events CenterRiverside, CA WAC (6–4)
December 20 Sam Houston Grand Canyon 76–64 GCU ArenaPhoenix, AZ WAC (7–4)
Louisiana Tech Seattle 79–73OT Redhawk CenterSeattle, WA WAC (8–4)
Liberty Utah Valley 63–79 UCCU CenterOrem, UT WAC (8–5)
December 22 Middle Tennessee Southern Utah 69–63 America First Event CenterCedar City, UT WAC (9–5)
December 30 UTEP Seattle 73–61 Don Haskins CenterEl Paso, TX WAC (10–5)
Western Kentucky Abilene Christian 86–84 E. A. Diddle ArenaBowling Green, KY WAC (10–6)
New Mexico State California Baptist 66–61 Pan American CenterLas Cruces, NM WAC (10–7)
FIU Utah Tech 96–92OT Burns ArenaSt. George, UT WAC (11–7)
WINNERS ARE IN BOLD. HOME TEAM IN ITALICS.

Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game. Did not participate: UT Arlington, UT Rio Grande Valley

Records against other conferences

edit

2023–24 records against non-conference foes:

Regular season

Power Conferences & Gonzaga Record
ACC 0–2
Big East 0–0
Big Ten 0–0
Big 12 1–4
Pac-12 0–8
SEC 0–3
Gonzaga 0–0
Power Conference Total 117
Other NCAA Division I Conferences Record
America East 0–0
American 0–2
A-10 1–1
ASUN 1–0
Big Sky 5–6
Big South 0–0
Big West 4–3
CAA 0–0
C-USA 12–7
Horizon 0–1
Ivy League 0–1
MAAC 0–0
MAC 0–0
MEAC 0–0
MVC 1–2
Mountain West 3–5
NEC 0–0
OVC 2–1
Patriot League 0–0
SoCon 0–0
Southland 4–1
SWAC 3–1
The Summit 3–2
Sun Belt 2–2
WCC (except Gonzaga) 4–2
Other Division I Total 4638
Non-Division I Total 190
NCAA Division I Total 4755

Record against ranked non-conference opponents

edit

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

Date Visitor Home Score
11/19 UT Arlington #3/3 Arizona L, 56–101
12/5 Grand Canyon #RV/25 San Diego State W, 79–73
12/21 Tarleton #8/7 Tennessee L, 46–65
1/1 UT Arlington #24/21 Texas L, 62–79

Team rankings are reflective of AP poll/Coaches 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 RV RV RV RV RV RV RV NV RV RV RV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV NV NV RV
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 NV 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

edit

Coaching changes

edit

Three coaching changes were made during the offseason. Todd Simon accepted the head coaching position at Bowling Green in March 2023.[7] The next month, Rob Jeter began as head coach at Southern Utah.[8] With 20 years of coaching experience at the college level, KT Turner was hired as the new head coach at UT Arlington.[9] Mark Madsen was hired as the head coach at California and Todd Phillips was promoted from associate head coach to the head coach at Utah Valley in April 2023.[10]

Coaches

edit

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) 3rd 38–28 (.576) 18–18 (.500) 0 0 0 0
California Baptist Rick Croy St. Mary's (assistant) 11th 85-66 (.563) 38-42 (.475) 0 0 0 0
Grand Canyon Bryce Drew Vanderbilt 4th 64-27 (.703) 33-15 (.688) 1 2 0 0
Seattle U Chris Victor (Assistant/interim HC) 3rd 43-21 (.672) 25-11 (.694) 1 0 0 0
Southern Utah Rob Jeter Western Illinois 1st 0-0 (–) 0-0 (–) 0 0 0 0
Stephen F. Austin Kyle Keller Texas A&M (assistant) 8th 145-68 (.696) 25–11 (.694) 1 0 0 0
Tarleton Billy Gillispie Ranger College 4th 30-33 (.476) 23-25 (.479) 0 0 0 0
UT Arlington K. T. Turner Kentucky (assistant) 1st 0-0 (–) 0-0 (–) 0 0 0 0
UTRGV Matt Figger Austin Peay 3rd 23-40 (.258) 9-27 (.250) 0 0 0 0
Utah Tech Jon Judkins Snow College 19th 320-168 (.656) 15-35 (.300) 0 0 0 0
Utah Valley Todd Phillips (Associate HC) 1st 0-0 (–) 0-0 (–) 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 2022–23 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

edit

WAC tournament

edit

The conference tournament is scheduled to be played from March 13–16, 2024, at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada near Las Vegas. Eight of the eleven members are invited to the tournament. While Tarleton and Utah Tech are ineligible for the NCAA tournament, they are eligible for the WAC tournament.[11]

NCAA tournament

edit

Teams from the conference that were selected to participate: 1

Seed Region School First Four First round Second round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship
12 West Grand Canyon
defeated (5) Saint Mary's 75–66 lost to (2) Alabama 61–72
Bids W-L (%): 0–0 (–) 1–0 (1.000) 0–1 (.000) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) TOTAL: 1–1 (.500)

National Invitation Tournament

edit

Number from the conference that were selected to participate: 0

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

edit

Number from the conference that were selected to participate: 1

Seed School First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
3 Seattle
defeated (14) Delaware State 79–66
defeated (11) Evansville 71–57
defeated (7) Fairfield 75–58
defeated (1) High Point 77–67
W-L (%): 1–0 (1.000) 1–0 (1.000) 1–0 (1.000) TOTAL: 4–0 (1.000)

CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament

edit

Number from the conference that were selected to participate: 2

Seed School First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
N/A Abilene Christian
defeated Texas A&M–CC 73–63
lost to Tarleton 59–86
N/A Tarleton
defeated Texas Southern 82–71
defeated Abilene Christian 86–59
lost to Purdue Fort Wayne 72–73
W-L (%): 2–0 (1.000) 1–1 (.500) 0–1 (.000) TOTAL: 3–2 (.600)
Index to colors and formatting
WAC member won
WAC member lost

*Denotes overtime period

Awards and honors

edit

Players of the week

edit

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 13 DaJuan Gordon UT Arlington Dominique Daniels Jr. CBU
November 20 Shemar Wilson UT Arlington Tyon Grant-Foster Grand Canyon
November 27 Jakorie Smith Tarleton Tyon Grant-Foster Grand Canyon
December 4 Tyon Grant-Foster Grand Canyon Tyon Grant-Foster Grand Canyon
December 11 Gabe McGlothan Grand Canyon Caleb Stone-Carrawell Utah Valley
December 18 Gabe McGlothan Grand Canyon Phillip Russell UT Arlington
December 26 Cameron Tyson Seattle U Duke Brennan Grand Canyon
January 2 KiAndre Gaddy Tarleton Elijah Elliott UTRGV
January 8 Gabe McGlothan Grand Canyon Tyon Grant-Foster Grand Canyon
January 15 Tyon Grant-Foster Grand Canyon Tyon Grant-Foster Grand Canyon
January 22 Dominique Daniels Jr. CBU Dominique Daniels Jr. CBU
January 29 Dominique Ford Southern Utah Dominique Daniels Jr. CBU
February 5 Lue Williams, Sr. Tarleton Phillip Russell UT Arlington
February 12 Jaylen Searles Utah Tech Jaylen Searles Utah Tech
February 19 DaJuan Gordon UT Arlington John Christofilis Seattle U
February 26 DaJuan Gordon UT Arlington Devon Barnes Tarleton
March 4 Tyon Grant-Foster Grand Canyon Tyon Grant-Foster Grand Canyon

Totals per school - Players of the week

edit
School Player of the week Freshman of the week Total
Abilene Christian University
California Baptist University 1 3 4
Grand Canyon University 6 7 13
Seattle University 1 1 2
Southern Utah University 1 1
Stephen F. Austin State University
Tarleton State University 3 1 4
University of Texas at Arlington 4 2 6
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley 1 1
Utah Tech University 1 1 2
Utah Valley University 1 1
Total 17 17 34

All-Americans

edit

All-WAC

edit
First team
Name School
Tyon Grant-Foster‡ Grand Canyon
Gabe McGlothan Grand Canyon
Cameron Tyson Seattle
Jakorie Smith Tarleton
DaJuan Gordon UT Arlington
  • ‡ WAC Player of the Year
  • ‡‡ WAC Defensive Player of the Year
Second team
Name School
Ali Abdou Dibba Abilene Christian
Dominique Daniels Jr. California Baptist
Ray Harrison Grand Canyon
Alex Schumacher Seattle
Shemar Wilson UT Arlington

All-Freshman team

edit
Name School
Braden Housley Southern Utah
Emmanuel Innocenti Tarleton
Makaih Williams† UT Arlington
Aric Demings Utah Tech
Osiris Grady Utah Valley

† Freshman of the Year

All-Defensive team

edit
Name School
Collin Moore Grand Canyon
KiAndre Gaddy‡ Tarleton
Emmanuel Innocenti Tarleton
DaJuan Gordon UT Arlington
Shemar Wilson UT Arlington
  • ‡WAC Defensive Player of the Year

Other awards

edit

Sixth Man of the Year: Phillip Russell, UT Arlington

Coach of the Year: Joseph Jones, Tarleton

2024 NBA draft

edit
Round Pick Player Position Nationality Team School/club team

Home game attendance

edit
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 Game 18 Total Average % of Capacity
Abilene Christian Moody Coliseum 3,600 1,895† 1,773 1,153 1,251 1,469 1,521 1,541 1,401 1,712 1,652 1,323 1,669 1,437 1,817 21,614 1,544 43%
California Baptist CBU Events Center 5,050 3,290 5,096 2,540 2,034 2,009 2,372 2,854 2,522 2,518 3,676 N/A 3,197 4,822 2,550 2,230 2,111 2,550 5,363† 51,734 3,043 60%
Grand Canyon GCU Arena 7,000 7,186 7,118 7,208 7,214 7,282 N/A 7,436† 7,105 7,233 7,239 7,276 7,124 7,117 7,268 7,192 7,388 115,572 7,223 103%
Seattle U Redhawk Center/Climate Pledge Arena 999/18,100[12] 999 999 1,410‡ 999 836 943 705 5,702‡† 702 944 795 1,000 999 2,354‡ 966 932 926 999 23,210 1,289 129%
Southern Utah America First Event Center 5,300 1,461 1,181 1,326 1,335 886 1,007 1,809 3,563† 1,422 1,352 1,175 1,613 828 1,119 20,077 1,434 27%
Stephen F. Austin William R. Johnson Coliseum 7,203 3,250 2,032 2,328 1,710 1,422 2,120 2,049 2,361 3,649† 2,909 2,208 2,120 2,887 1,507 1,565 34,117 2,274 32%
Tarleton State Wisdom Gymnasium 3,000 1,040 1,327 1,210 605 1,754 1,078 2,104 1,677 2,110 2,140 3,000† 2,276 2,024 N/A 22,345 1,719 57%
UT Arlington College Park Center 7,000 2,185 2,512 1,119 1,280 1,275 1,696 1,112 1,009 1,824 2,871† 2,393 2,110 1,622 1,781 1,871 26,660 1,777 25%
UTRGV UTRGV Fieldhouse/Bert Ogden Arena 2,500/7,688[13] 1,622 644 1,944 1,012 718 1,031 591 1,015 1,514 1,932 2,041 2,766† 857 652 18,339 1,310 52%
Utah Tech Burns Arena 4,779 2,501 1,501 1,176 1,213 1,492 1,658 1,455 1,904 2,648† 1,682 1,739 1,440 2,387 22,796 1,754 37%
Utah Valley UCCU Center 8,500 1,849 1,326 2,319 1,651 1,407 1,553 2,163 2,801† 2,381 1,985 2,474 2,601 2,357 2,615 29,482 2,106 25%
Total 73,523 385,946 25,474 54%

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

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

References

edit
  1. ^ "C-USA picks Liberty among four new additions". ESPN.com. November 5, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  2. ^ Bourne, Isaac (November 2, 2023). "Conference USA Season Preview: A Conference Flipped Upside Down". Mid-Major Madness. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  3. ^ "Championship Format And Dates For 2024 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament Set". wacsports.com. November 4, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  4. ^ "UTRGV Athletics Accepts Invitation to Join Southland Conference in 2024-25" (Press release). Southland Conference. March 25, 2024. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  5. ^ "Grand Canyon Chosen By WAC Coaches To Repeat In 2023-24 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll". wacsports.com. November 4, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  6. ^ "Matchups For The 2023-24 WAC/CUSA Scheduling Initiative Announced". wacsports.com. October 23, 2024. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  7. ^ Couch, Graham (March 18, 2023). "Fowler's Todd Simon comes back close to home, takes over Bowling Green men's basketball program". Lansing State Journal. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  8. ^ Walker, Sean; April 12, KSL com | Posted-; A.m, 2023 at 9:59. "Southern Utah finalizes hiring of new coach Rob Jeter from Western Illinois". www.ksl.com. Retrieved November 9, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ "Kentucky basketball assistant KT Turner named UT Arlington head coach". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  10. ^ Dallas, Kelsey (April 7, 2023). "UVU has chosen its next head basketball coach". Deseret News. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  11. ^ "WAC approves Conference Championship eligibility for Tarleton in recent board meeting". Tarleton State University Athletics. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  12. ^ Seattle U uses two home arenas: Redhawk Center, which is located on campus, and the newly renovated Climate Pledge Arena in uptown Seattle.
  13. ^ 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.