Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Oregon State
10/30/2026 1:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Weber State opens a new season and the Kaleb Canales era Monday night at Oregon State.
• It's the start of a new era as the Weber State men's basketball team begins its 65th season of Division I action. The Kaleb Canales era begins as the Wildcats tip off the 2026-27 season on Monday, November 2 at Oregon State.
• Monday's game will tip off at 6:30 p.m. Pacific time (7:30 p.m. MT) from Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Oregon. The game will be streamed on the Pac-12 YouTube channel with Rich Burk and Jennifer Mountain on the call. The Weber State radio broadcast will be on 103.1 FM with Carl Arky on the call.
• Weber State begins the season with 12 new players and only two returners from last season. ArDarius Grayson and Declan Cutler are the only two returners from last year. The 'Cats have nine players who transferred from Division I schools. WSU has one of the youngest teams in the nation with only six players that have played in a Division I game entering the season.
Weber State does not have any fifth-year seniors and has just one fourth-year senior in Brock Felder, a transfer from Southern Utah and Seattle. The 'Cats have four juniors, including Dylan Warlick a transfer from St. Louis and Dyllan Thompson, a transfer from Georgia Tech. Junior Alvin Jackson III suffered an ACL injury and will miss the season.
The 'Cats have five sophomores, but only Grayson, and Augustine Ekwe, a transfer from New Mexico State, have played in a game. WSU also has three freshmen on the roster.
• Kaleb Canales was named the 11th head coach in Weber State's Division I history in April. He spent last season as the associate head coach at Troy, where he helped the team to the NCAA Tournament. A native of Laredo, Texas, Canales had an 18-year career in the NBA. He was a longtime assistant coach with the Portland Trail Blazers and in 2012, he served as the interim head coach for 23 games. He also spent time as an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, and Indiana Pacers.
• Canales added Patrick Zipfel as the associate head coach. He has over 24 years in the NBA as an assistant coach and advance scout. Dondrale Campbell is an assistant coach with the Wildcats and joins WSU after three seasons at Northern Colorado. Bobby Jones was promoted to an assistant coach and Luke Spring returns as an assistant coach over Operations.
• NBA superstar Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers is the General Manager of the Weber State program. Lillard was a Wildcat legend from 2008-12 before being drafted sixth in the 2012 NBA Draft. Lillard was a two-time Big Sky MVP at Weber State.
• Weber State played three exhibition games before the season opener, with home wins over Colorado Christian, Westminster, and Colorado Mesa. In the three games, Dylan Warlick averaged 13.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game. Mason Abittan averaged 13.5 points per game, and Aaron Powell added 12 points. Dyllan Thompson and Augustine Ekwe each averaged 11.3 points a game.
• Oregon State is also in the first season with a new head coach in Justin Joyner. He came to OSU after two seasons as an assistant coach at Michigan, including a national championship last season. This year, the Beavers have one returning player and 12 newcomers. OSU was picked to finish fifth in the new-look Pac-12 this season. This is the sixth all-time meeting between the two schools with Oregon State leading 4-1. The two teams last played in November 2024, a 76-48 OSU win in Corvallis.
• This season WSU will play a challenging schedule, starting Monday night, which is the first of three games against teams in the Pac-12. The Wildcats will also play at Utah State and will host Washington State. Weber State will play every team in the state of Utah, including road games at Utah, Utah State, and BYU. The 'Cats will have 15 regular season home games starting next Saturday night with a home game against Utah Valley.
