SPOKANE, Wash. – A team of familiar faces will take the court this weekend for the first official games of the 2023-24 Whitworth University men's basketball season. The season opener is against Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) on Friday night at 7:00 pm. St. Olaf (Minn.) visits on Saturday at 6:00 pm.
Check the 2023-24 Whitworth men's basketball schedule for links to tickets, video and stats.
Of the 16 players on the roster, 14 are returnees. Only two of those returnees were starters last season, however, when the Pirates finished 18-10 after winning the Northwest Conference tournament and advancing to the NCAA Division III tournament for the 16th time in school history.
Despite the loss of three starters, Whitworth still ended up atop the 2023-24 Northwest Conference preseason coaches poll with six first place votes and 62 points.
"While the results of the preseason poll are a compliment to the tradition of our program, it ultimately means very little," said Damion Jablonski, now in his fifth season as head coach at Whitworth. "This league will be very competitive, and our team will have to work hard in order to accomplish our goals."
Those goals include a Northwest Conference regular season title, an NWC tournament crown and a deep run in the NCAA Division III tournament.
Jablonski credits the strong familiarity of the players with one another as a strength of this year's team.
"I love the amount of togetherness and unselfishness that I've seen thus far from this team," he said. "I think our fans are going to love the way that they share the ball."
Sharing the basketball begins with the point guard and Whitworth is in great shape at that position. Jojo Anderson, who had a phenomenal freshman campaign in 2021-22, but missed 2022-23 with an injury, is back at full strength and ready to take charge. The Pirates also welcomed the transfer of Garrett Long from Carroll College (Mont.), where he was a starter for the NAIA powerhouse Saints. Hayden Bayudan, who got on-court minutes late last season after recovering from injury, gives Whitworth quality depth at the point.
Sullivan Menard, who spent most of last season as Whitworth's first guard off the bench, is ready to move into a starting role at off-guard. Diego Jaques had great minutes off the bench as a freshman last winter and will play a key role again this season. Jackson Cash is a sharp-shooter who can take the floor and make a key three-pointer at any time.
Jerry Twenge, now in his fifth year as a Pirate, returns on the wing where he started all 28 games last season. Stephen Behil, who demonstrated his scoring potential in a win at Pacific last season, will provide explosiveness off the bench. Ben Nyquist is a hard-nosed player capable of playing bigger than his 6'-2" stature.
Jake Holtz is Whitworth's leading returning scorer from last season, when he averaged 12.5 points per game and made over 60% of his field goals, despite coming off the bench in most contests. He will be a full-time starter at forward this season. Colton Looney, Lucas Meissner and Jacob Coram will all provide versatile depth at the four position.
Ty Edwards is Whitworth's second returning starter. The sophomore made the difficult transition from point guard to post as a freshman, where his 6-7 frame was most needed. Jablonski expects a more comfortable Edwards to increase his scoring and rebounding contributions this season. Carson Talbert, another 6-7 sophomore, has improved significantly in the off-season and will see court time as well. Craig Mueller is a well-traveled transfer who might be the strongest player on the team.
The Pirates will put themselves to the test against a challenging non-conference schedule, beginning this weekend. In addition to this weekend's foes, Whitworth will host traditional NCAA Division III powers Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Elmhurst (Ill.). Other games include NCAA Division III tournament qualifier Schreiner (Texas), west region foe UC Santa Cruz, along with NAIA Northwest University. The Pirates will travel to Hawaii for Christmas for games against Dubuque and Knox.
"Not only does this kind of non-conference schedule prepare us well for conference play, but it helps us build a strong resume to be considered for the NCAA Tournament," Jablonski said. "Plus, the guys we recruit to Whitworth come here because they want to be challenged and compete with the best teams in the nation, so it's always been my philosophy to give them that experience."
This weekend's opponents fit that description. Carnegie Mellon, from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, is a member of the powerful University Athletic Association (UAA). The Tartans are coming off a 15-11 season, but they were 15-6 and looking at an NCAA berth before a late losing skid. Whitworth and Carnegie Mellon have never played in men's basketball. The Pirates have played only two other UAA members and are 1-1 against both Emory (Ga.) and Washington University in St. Louis.
St. Olaf finished 15-12 overall and 10-10 in the challenging Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics Conference. The Oles will take on Whitman College on Friday night before coming to Spokane on Saturday. Whitworth is 2-0 against St. Olaf, the most recent game a 75-55 win on a neutral court at George Fox University in November of 2018.
Northwest Conference play opens with home games against Willamette and Pacific on December 1-2, and resumes with a home game against Whitman on January 2nd.
Jablonski says this familiar and close group of players is anxious to get started.
"The guys are locked in," he said. "They enjoy being on the court together and really play with a lot of joy and confidence."
