Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Northwest Indian College
Wildcat men's basketball season opener Monday
11/1/2024 7:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Weber State hosts Northwest Indian College in the season opener Monday at the Dee Events Center.
• Weber State men's basketball begins the 63rd season of Division I basketball with the start of the 2024-25 season on Monday, November 4 with a home game against Northwest Indian College.
• Monday'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 Tony Parks and former Weber State player Brett Cox calling the action. The WSU radio broadcast will be on 103.1 FM "The Wave" with Carl Arky and former Wildcat standout and Big Sky MVP David Patten on the call.
• Gone from last year's team is Big Sky MVP Dillon Jones who was drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Jones joins Damian Lillard as the only two Wildcats ever drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft. He finished his career as Weber State's all-time leader in steals, and ranks second in assists, third in rebounding and fifth in scoring.
• The Wildcats have three starters returning from last year's team in seniors Dyson Koehler, Alex Tew, and Blaise Threatt. Koehler and Tew have both played three seasons and over 90 games at Weber State. Threatt is WSU's leading returning scorer who averaged 10.8 points per game last season. Two other players return that played last season, including sophomore Vilijami Vartianien and Marko Sarenac.
• The Wildcats have added several new players to this year's team, including three Division I transfers in junior Nigel Burris and seniors Miguel Tomley and Vasilije Vucinic. Burris is a former Big Sky Freshman of the Year at Idaho and also played last season at Utah State. Tomley played one season at Santa Clara and the last two seasons at Idaho State, where he earned Big Sky All-Tournament honors. He enters the season having played in 92 career games and has scored more than 900 points with 157 career 3-pointers. Tomley is the only Wildcat that was named to the Big Sky All-Conference preseason team. Vucinic played in 88 games over three seasons at the University of Portland.
• WSU added four high school players, Declan Cutler, David Hansen, Trevor Hennig, and Saadiq Moore.
• The Wildcats are coached by Eric Duft who returns for his third season as head coach and his 19th 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. In two years, Duft is 38-27 overall and 23-13 in Big Sky play.
• Weber State was picked third in the Big Sky preseason media poll and fourth in the coaches poll.
• WSU played two exhibition games this season prior to the start of the regular season. The Wildcats lost 85-66 at Utah State in a charity exhibition game in Logan, then beat Adams State 83-63 in a home exhibition game last Monday. Blaise Threatt nearly had a triple double with 15 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds against Adams State.
• Northwest Indian College is located on the Lummi Indian Reservation in Bellingham, Washington and is the only accredited tribal college serving Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. The Eagles are scheduled to play four Big Sky teams in this season, beginning with Monday's game. They will also play at Montana, Montana State, and Portland State.
• After Monday's opener, its three-straight road games for the Wildcats, beginning on Friday, November 8 at Oregon State. WSU will also play at Nevada on November 13 and at Hawaii on November 17. The next home game will be on November 22 against UC Irvine.
