Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Washington
Weber State opens season Monday night at Washington
11/6/2022 8:18:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Monday's game will be televised on the Pac-12 Washington Network.
• Weber State men's basketball begins the 61st season of Division I basketballas the Wildcats officially tipoff the 2022-23 season this Monday, November 7 at the University of Washington in Seattle.
• Monday's game will tipoff at 8 p.m. Pacific time (9 p.m. MT) from Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Washington Network with Elsie Woodward and P.J. Carlesimo on the call. The WSU radio broadcast will be on 103.1 FM "The Wave" with Steve Klauke calling the action. Live stats will be available at WeberStateSports.com.
• Weber State begins the season with a new head coach in Eric Duft who was named the 10th head coach in Weber State history in May. Duft replaces Randy Rahe who retired after 16 seasons as the head coach at Weber State as the Big Sky Conference's all-time leader in career wins with 316 and led the Wildcats to five Big Sky titles and three trips to the NCAA Tournament. Duft is no stranger to Weber State, having spent all 16 seasons as an assistant coach under Rahe.
• Weber State finished 21-12 overall and finished in a tie for third in the Big Sky at 13-7.
• The Wildcats return five players off last year's squad, led by sophomore forward Dillon Jones, who earned second-team All-Big Sky and All-District honors last season. Jones is a two-time All-Big Sky selection and was named to the preseason all-conference team this year. He finished seventh in the country in rebounding last season at 10.6 rebounds per game. He also was 10th in the nation in double-doubles with 17 and averaged 12.6 points per game.
• Also returning for Weber State is senior Zahir Porter, junior KJ Cunningham and sophomores Dyson Koehler and Alex Tew.
• Weber State welcomes eight new scholarship players this season, including four Division I transfers. Junior Ballard (Fresno State), Keith Dinwiddie Jr. (San Diego State), Handje Tamba (Tennessee) and Steven Verplancken Jr. (Southern Illinois) have all joined the Wildcats as Division I transfers.
• WSU was picked to finish fourth in the Big Sky Conference preseason media and coaches polls.
• The Washington Huskies were 17-15 overall last season and finished in a tie for fifth in the Pac-12 Conference at 11-9.
• This is just the second ever meeting between the two schools. The only other meeting was Dec. 22, 2006 in Seattle, an 80-51 Washington win, in the first season with Randy Rahe as WSU head coach.
• WSU beat Adams State 88-76 in an exhibition game on Wednesday. Five players scored in double figures led by Jones who had 20 points, 15 rebounds, seven assist and three steals. Zahir Porter added 17 points and Keith Dinwiddie and Steven Verplancken each had 12.
• Weber State has a rich basketball tradition and boasts the 26th best winning percentage in college basketball history. WSU has won 22 Big Sky Championships and advanced to the NCAA Tournament 16 times. The 'Cats have six tournament wins, including a win over North Carolina in 1999. Weber State also boasts several players professionally, including NBA superstar Damian Lillard who played four years at Weber State from 2008-12.
• After Monday's season opener, the Wildcats return home for the home opener on Thursday, November 10 against Western Colorado, before playing at Colorado State on November 14.
