Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Gardner-Webb
Weber State heads to Canada for Atlantic Slam Tournament this weekend
11/15/2023 4:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Wildcats will play Gardner-Webb, Yale, and Colgate in three games Friday-Sunday at the Atlantic Slam in New Brunswick, Canada.
• After a 2-0 start, including a nationally-ranked road win, the Weber State men's basketball team is off to Canada to play three games at the Atlantic Slam this weekend in Moncton, New Brunswick.
• The tournament will feature Weber State, along with Colgate, Gardner-Webb, and Yale. The Wildcats will take on Gardner-Webb in the first game on Friday, play Yale on Saturday and Colgate on Sunday. Colgate, Yale, and Weber State were all picked to win their conferences this season.
• All games of the tournament will be televised on ESPN+ and on the ESPN app. There will be no Weber State radio coverage of the games. Live stats will be available at WeberStateSports.com and the Weber State Wildcats app.
• This is the first college basketball tournament ever held in Atlantic Canada. Moncton is located on the eastern side of New Brunswick, 180 miles east of the border of Maine and Canada. It is about 500 miles east of Boston. The Wildcats have traveled over 3,500 miles from Moraga, California to Moncton, New Brunswick for the tournament this weekend.
• Weber State enters the tournament riding a two-game winning streak, including a comeback win at No. 23 Saint Mary's on Sunday in Moraga, California. The Wildcats trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half before a big rally to win the game. It was Weber State's first win over a ranked opponent in 23 years.
• After the 2-0 start to the season, the Wildcats received votes in the national polls and are ranked ninth in this week's Collegeinsider.com Mid Major poll.
• For his efforts in the 2-0 start, Weber State standout Dillon Jones was honored as the USBWA National Player of the Week, the first Wildcat to receive the honor since Damian Lillard in 2012. He was also named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week for the ninth time in his career.
In two games last week, Jones averaged 27.5 points per game, 12.0 rebounds per game, was 18 of 18 from the free throw line, and shot 63 percent from the field.
He scored 26 points in 27 minutes of action and grabbed 14 rebounds in the season-opening win over Benedictine Mesa on Tuesday. He was 6 of 7 from the field and a perfect 13 of 13 from the free throw line in the win.
On Sunday at Saint Mary's, he played all 40 minutes in the win and scored a career-high 29 points. He also grabbed 10 rebounds for his second double-double. He was 11 of 20 from the field and a perfect 5 of 5 from the free throw line in the win.
Through two games, Jones leads the nation in defensive rebounds per game through two games at 12.0. He is also second in the country in scoring at 27.5 points per game and 12th in overall rebounds. He is also third in the nation in most free throw attempts without a miss at 18-18.
• The Columbia, South Carolina native has played in 90 career games over the last four seasons at Weber State and ranks fifth in career rebounding, fifth in steals, and 20th in scoring.
He is the only player in Weber State history with at least 1,000 career points, 800 rebounds, 250 assists, and 100 steals.
He was a unanimous selection as the Big Sky Preseason MVP this year and was named to the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year preseason watch list.
Jones is a two-time All-Big Sky Conference and a two-time All-District performer, including first-team honors in 2022-23. He led the Wildcats in points, rebounds, assists, and steals last season and recorded 20 double-doubles. He led the country in defensive rebounds and finished fifth in overall rebounding at 10.9 per game.
Jones participated in the G League and NBA Draft combines this past summer before returning to Weber State for the season.
• Weber State has entered the 2023-24 season with high expectations as the Wildcats have all five starters returning and were picked first in the Big Sky Conference preseason media and coaches polls. WSU had two players named to the Big Sky preseason all-conference team in Jones and senior Steven Verplancken.
• Verplancken earned third-team All-Big Sky honors last season. Also returning as starters for the Wildcats are KJ Cunningham, Dyson Koehler, and Alex Tew. Other returners that played last season include Louie Jordan, Handje Tamba, and Cole Lake, as well as red shirt freshman Chris Dockery.
• The Wildcats have added several new players to this year's team, including transfers Blaise Threatt and Arnaud Revaz. The 'Cats also added three international freshmen including Viljami Vartiainen from Finland and Marko Sarenac from Serbia.
• The Wildcats are coached by Eric Duft who returns for his second season as head coach and his 18th season overall at Weber State. He spent 16 seasons as an assistant coach under Randy Rahe before becoming the 10th head coach in WSU history in May 2022. Weber State finished 18-15 overall last season and was third in the Big Sky at 12-6.
• Weber State has a rich basketball history and has the 26th highest winning percentage in college basketball history. The school has gone to 16 NCAA Tournaments and has won 22 Big Sky Conference regular season titles. NBA superstar Damian Lillard, named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, played four years at Weber State from 2008-12. He was a two-time Big Sky MVP and earned All-America honors in 2012, the only player from the Big Sky named to an All-America team. Lillard was the sixth pick of the NBA Draft in 2012 and is a seven-time NBA All-Star. WSU has also had well known coaches including Dick Motta, who went on to a 25-year NBA coaching career, and Phil Johnson, who became an NBA Coach of the Year and was a longtime NBA assistant coach. Randy Rahe retired in 2022 as Weber State's and the Big Sky's all-time leader in coaching wins.
• Through two games this season, Weber State is fifth in the nation in free throw percentage at 85.7 percent, including Dillon Jones shooting 18-18 from the line. The Wildcats are also 13th in the country in turnovers at 8.0 per game.
• Gardner-Webb is 1-2 on the early season with a home win over Erskine and road losses at #14 Arkansas and #20 Baylor. The Runnin' Bulldogs were 15-16 overall last season and 10-8 in Big South play. Gardner-Webb was picked fourth in the Big South preseason poll this year.
• Yale is 2-1 on the season. They opened the year with a win over Vassar, then lost at #11 Gonzaga. They are coming off an 83-80 win at Loyola Marymount on Sunday. The Bulldogs were 21-9 overall last season and finished in a tie for first in the Ivy League at 10-4 and advanced to the NIT. Yale was picked to win the Ivy League in this year's preseason polls. Bez Mbeng returns as the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year last season.
• Colgate opened the year with a home win over Brown and a four-point loss at Syracuse. The Raiders were 26-9 overall last season and won the Patriot League with a 17-1 record. They also won the postseason tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Colgate was picked as the preseason favorites in the Patriot League and Keegan Records was named the preseason Player of the Year.
• This will be the first time for Weber State playing any of the teams in the tournament. It will also mark Weber State's first ever games played in Canada.
