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WAC TEAMS POST 6-3 MARK IN POSTSEASON PLAY
Half of the WAC's men's basketball teams participated in postseason play this year, with three of the four earning their program's first postseason victories at the Division I level. NM State earned the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament and fell to third-seeded Baylor. As WAC regular-season champion, CSU Bakersfield received an automatic berth into the National Invitational Tournament and became the first-ever No. 8 seed to advance to the semifinals. Utah Valley and UMKC both won their first-ever postseason games in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI), with the Wolverines advancing to the semifinals and the Roos advancing to the quarterfinals.
CSUB'S SEASON ENDS WITH LOSS TO GEORGIA TECH IN NIT SEMIFINALS AT MSG
Georgia Tech ended CSU Bakersfield's postseason run in the semifinals of the NIT with a 76-61 win over the Roadrunners at Madison Square Garden. After shooting over 50 percent in the first half of each of the first three NIT games, CSU Bakersfield shot just 36 percent from the floor in the first half. The Roadrunners' offense never got going, as Georgia Tech out-shot CSUB 44 percent to 35 percent on the game. After CSUB cut it to eight (42-34) in the second half, the Yellowjackets used a 13-3 run to put the game out of reach for good. Dedrick Basile led CSUB with 18 points and three rebounds, while Jaylin Airington added 12 points, and Damiyne Durham and Shon Briggs finished with 10 points each. CSUB had defeated top-seeded California 73-66 in the first round, No. 4-seed Colorado State 81-63 in the second round and sixth-seeded UT Arlington 80-6 in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals. The eighth-seeded ‘Runners, the first No. 8 seed in NIT history to advance to the semifinals, won three-straight road games in three different time zones to earn the first NIT semifinal appearance for the WAC since 2001, when Tulsa claimed the title.
UTAH VALLEY FALLS AT WYOMING IN CBI SEMIFINALS
The Wolverines cruised to their first-ever postseason victory, a 74-49 road win over Georgia Southern in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational, then defeated Rice 85-79 in the quarterfinals before falling 74-68 at Wyoming in the semifinals. Trailing 64-54 with 6:29 remaining, Utah Valley used an 11-1 run to tie the game with 4:30 remaining and took its first lead (67-66) on a pair of Isaac Neilson free throws with 3:20 to play. After a 68-68 tie with 2:23 to play, Wyoming scored six unanswered points to secure the win. Utah Valley shot 37 percent from the floor compared to the 46 percent of Wyoming. The Wolverines out-rebounded the Cowboys 42-32. Neilson led the Wolverines with his 10th double-double of the season of 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting and 12 rebounds. Conner Toolson also scored 15 points, while Brandon Randolph added 10 points and a game-high five assists.
UMKC BEATS GREEN BAY IN CBI, FALLS AT WYOMING IN QUARTERFINALS
In its first-ever appearance in a postseason tournament, UMKC defeated Green Bay 92-82 in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational before falling 72-61 at Wyoming. In a game of runs, UMKC trailed by as many as 15 points in both halves. The Roos went on a 14-3 run over to pull within four (64-60) with 3:42 left in the game, but that was the last offensive burst they could mount as Wyoming outscored UMKC 8-1 over the final 2:15 to seal the game. For the game, UMKC shot only 34 percent from the floor and 25 percent from beyond the arc compared to the 49 percent from the field and 44 percent from three-point range of the Cowboys. Dashawn King led UMKC with 16 points, while Kyle Steward added 15 points and Darnell Tillman grabbed a career-best 12 rebounds.
NM STATE FALLS TO BAYLOR IN NCAA TOURNAMENT
NM State saw its season come to a close in the first round of the NCAA Tournament with a 91-73 loss to third-seeded Baylor. The Aggies led 40-38 at halftime, but were outscored 53-33 in the second half. After NM State scored the first basket in the second stanza, the Bears went on a 30-6 run to go up 68-48 and put the game out of reach. Baylor out-rebounded the Aggies 39-27 and shot 57 percent on the game compared to the 44 percent of NM State. Ian Baker led NM State with 19 points, five assists, three steals and two rebounds. Braxton Huggins also scored 19 points, while Eli Chuha added 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting to go with six rebounds and Jemerrio Jones dished out a team-high seven assists.
CSUB'S BARNES NAMED HUGH DURHAM MID-MAJOR COACH OF THE YEAR
CSU Bakersfield men's basketball head coach Rod Barnes was named the Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year by CollegeInsider.com. Barnes was the 2017 WAC Don Haskins Coach of the Year for the second-straight season and was also a finalist for College Insider's Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year and Ben Jobe Minority Coach of the Year Awards. In his sixth season with the Roadrunners, Barnes led CSUB to a program Division I record 25 wins while posting a 25-10 mark which included the program's first WAC regular-season title. Barnes led CSUB on an improbable run through the NIT, becoming the first team in NIT history to go from an eight seed to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden. This is Barnes' third coach of the year award in the last two seasons and his first at the national level since joining the Roadrunners in 2011. Barnes won the Naismith National Coach of the Year award in 2001 while coaching at Ole Miss.
NM STATE'S BAKER NAMED AP HONORABLE MENTION ALL-AMERICAN
NM State senior guard Ian Baker earned Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America honors. The WAC Player of the Year, Baker also earned National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 6 first team honors. He notched his 1,000th point on Dec. 13 at UTEP and closed out his career with 1,411 points. Baker led team with 16.7 points and 4.2 assists per game while pulling down 4.2 rebounds per game. The Aggie floor general led the team in scoring in 19 of the 33 games he started.
CHRIS JANS NAMED NM STATE HEAD COACH
NM State Director of Athletics Mario Moccia introduced Chris Jans as the 26th head coach in NM State men's basketball history on April 17. The Fairbanks, Iowa, native began his second-stint at Wichita State prior to the start of the 2016-17 season. Prior to returning to Wichita State, Jans coordinated one of the nation's best turnarounds in 2014-15 in his first year as the head coach at Bowling Green. In just one season, he took a BGSU team that lost 20 games in 2013-14 and guided it to a record-setting 21-12 overall mark in 2014-15, the most wins in a single-season for Bowling Green since 2001-02 (24). Jans began his coaching career as an assistant coach at NCAA Division III Elmhurst College in 1992 before taking a similar role at NAIA Grande View College in 1994. Jans earned his first head coaching opportunity when he took over at NJCAA Division II Kirkwood Community College in 1996. Bookended between his time at Independence Community College (1998-99) and Howard College (2001-03), Jans got his first taste of the Division I level as an assistant coach at Idaho (1999-01). After Howard, he took over at Chipola Junior College and joined forces with Greg Heiar - who played for Jans in his rookie season as a head coach at Kirkwood CC and was a fellow assistant coach at WSU. Jans then made his second appearance at the Division I level, this time as an assistant coach at Illinois State (2004-07) before joining Gregg Marshall at Wichita State. Jans was a three-year starter at Loras College (1987-91) and was named a captain as a senior. A 1991 graduate of Loras, Jans earned bachelor's degrees in marketing and finance. He and his wife Sheri have two kids, Nick and Maddie Gazda.
JIM HAYFORD NAMED SEATTLE U HEAD COACH
Jim Hayford was named the 17th head coach in Seattle U men's basketball history on March 29. Hayford came to Seattle U from Eastern Washington, where he spent the last six years at the helm of the Eagles' program. Hayford has 18 total seasons as a head coach, amassing an overall record of 360-175 (.673). He has stints at EWU, Whitworth (NCAA Division III) and Sioux Falls (NAIA). He has coached in nine national postseason tournaments, including six (2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) at NCAA Division III Whitworth and three at EWU (2015, 2016, 2017). In six seasons with Hayford at the helm, the Eagles went to the NCAA Tournament (2015), the CBI Tournament (2016, 2017), earned a Big Sky regular-season co-championship (2015) and won the Big Sky Tournament title (2015). Under Hayford, the Eagles had one Big Sky Conference Player of the Year, two Big Sky Freshmen of the Year, 12 All-Big Sky selections, seven National Association of Basketball (NABC) All-District selections, two Associated Press honorable mention All-Americans and one NBA Draft pick. In addition, the Eagles reached 20 or more wins in two of the last three seasons (2015, 2017) and had at least 10 Big Sky Conference wins during the past three seasons. Before taking over at Eastern Washington, Hayford spent 10 seasons building Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash., into a NCAA Division III powerhouse. In his tenure at the helm of the Pirates, Hayford had a record of 217-57 (.792). He was the Northwest Conference Coach of the Year five times, and twice was honored by the NABC as the West Region Coach of the Year. Prior to Whitworth, Hayford was head coach at the University of Sioux Falls (S.D.), where he compiled a 37-27 record in two seasons. Hayford served as the top assistant coach at Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) from 1990-99. Hayford earned his bachelor's degree in social science from Azusa Pacific in 1989. He earned a master's degree in education from Claremont Graduate School in 1991. Hayford and his wife, Robin, have two adult children, Jayme and Joseph.
GCU'S DALLARIVA HONORED BY NABC AS UNDER ARMOUR 30-UNDER-30 SELECTION
Grand Canyon Director of Men's Basketball Operations Luke DallaRiva was honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) as an Under Armour 30-Under-30 honoree, a group of up and coming young coaches in men's college basketball. DallaRiva recently completed his third season with the Lopes. In his role, he serves all aspects of the program including compliance, recruiting, team travel, academic monitoring, practice planning and game preparation.
FIFTEEN MEN'S BASKETBALL STUDENT-ATHLETES EARN ACADEMIC ALL-WAC HONORS
Fifteen WAC men's basketball players were honored as Academic All-WAC honorees. To be eligible for the honor, a student-athlete must have completed at least one academic year, have at least a 3.2 cumulative grade-point average and have participated in at least 50 percent of the team's contests. The following is a complete list of the men's basketball Academic All-WAC honorees.
Andrew Bastien, Utah Valley
Tanveer Bhullar, NM State
Joshua Braun, Grand Canyon
Telly Davenport, Utah Valley
Matej Kavas, Seattle U
Grant Leach, UMKC
Gerard Martin, Grand Canyon
Zack Moore, Seattle U
Isaac Neilson, Utah Valley
Zach Nelson, Utah Valley
Trayvon Palmer, Chicago State
DeWayne Russell, Grand Canyon
Hayden Schenck, Utah Valley
Lew Stallworth, UT Rio Grande Valley
Brent Wrapp, CSU Bakersfield