Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Benedictine Mesa
Wildcats tipoff 2023-24 season with Tuesday night home game
11/6/2023 3:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Weber State will host Benedictine Mesa Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Dee Events Center in the season opener.
• Weber State men's basketball begins the 62nd season of Division I basketball with high expectations as the Wildcats officially tipoff the 2023-24 season this Tuesday, November 7 with a home game against Benedictine Mesa.
• Tuesday's game will tipoff at 7 p.m. from the Dee Events Center in Ogden. The game will be televised live on ESPN+ and on the ESPN app with Steve Brown and former Wildcat head coach Joe Cravens calling the action. The WSU radio broadcast will be on 103.1 FM "The Wave". Live stats will be available at WeberStateSports.com and the Weber State Wildcats app.
• Weber State begins the 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. Dillon Jones was a unanimous selection as the Big Sky Preseason MVP and Steven Verplancken was also named to the all-conference preseason team.
• In addition to being named the Big Sky Preseason MVP, Dillon Jones has also been named to the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year watch list, one of 20 players in the country on the preseason list. Jones participated in the G League and NBA Draft combines this past summer before returning to Weber State. He earned first-team All-Big Sky and first-team All-District honors last year and 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.
• 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 in Viljami Vartiainen from Finland and cousins Marko Sarenac and Nemanja 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.
• WSU beat Adams State 90-51 in an exhibition game on Thursday night. All 15 Wildcats the played scored in the game and Weber State shot 53 percent from the field. Steven Verplancken and Blaise Threatt led the way with 13 points each.
• Benedictine Mesa is an NAIA school located in Mesa, Arizona. The Redhawks compete in the California Pacific Conference. The team has played two games already this season and is 2-0 as they opened the year with a 99-70 win over West Coast Baptist and won 88-78 at Life Pacific. Benedictine Mesa was 10-18 overall and 8-12 in conference play. This will be the first ever meeting between the two schools.
• After Tuesday's opener, the Wildcats hit the road for their next four games, starting Sunday night at 23rd ranked Saint Mary's. The 'Cats will then play three games at the Atlantic Slam Tournament November 17-19 in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
