HILLSBORO, Ore. – Fresh off the 22nd Northwest Conference men's basketball championship in school history, the Whitworth Pirates are well-represented on the 2025-26 All-NWC team, which was released today by the conference office.
Damion Jablonski has been voted by his peers as the 2025-26 NWC Coach of the Year. Stephen Behil is a first team All-NWC selection, while Ben Nyquist and Caden Bateman are second team honorees. Nyquist was also selected as the NWC's Defensive Player of the Year.
Jablonski, who is 137-44 in his seventh season coaching the Pirates, led Whitworth to its fifth conference crown in his tenure. Despite losing three starters to graduation from 2024-25, including two All-NWC honorees, the Pirates won the league title with a 14-2 record. Whitworth is 20-5 overall and hosting the NWC tournament this weekend as the top seeded team. Among active coaches with at least five years of experience, Jablonski ranks fourth in NCAA Division III with a .757 winning percentage.
Behil had a breakout senior season. The 6-6 wing from Camas, Washington led the team in scoring average at 16.6 ppg, which ranked seventh in the NWC. He also was fourth in the conference in rebounds per game (7.3). Behil finished seventh in the NWC in three-pointers made per game (2.3) and was ninth in three-point percentage (345.8). Behil was selected as the NWC's men's basketball Player of the Week on January 5th and January 12th.
Nyquist made a successful transition from sixth man to key starter in 2025-26. The senior guard from Kirkland, Washington led the Northwest Conference in steals with 84 and steals per game (3.36), which ranked 4th in NCAA Div. III. He has passed Heritage Gallery Hall of Famer Steve Mihas for the school record for steals in one season. He also led the team in assists with 88 (3.5 apg – sixth in the NWC) and ranked third in the NWC in assist-to-turnover ratio (+2.4). He averaged 11.3 points per game, fourth on the team, while making 51.0% of his field goals. Nyquist is the first Pirate player ever selected as the NWC's Defensive Player of the Year.
Bateman, from Missoula, Montana, played like the NWC's top big man down the stretch of the 2025-26 season. He led the team with seven double-doubles, four of which came in the last eight games. He averaged 12.1 points per game and ranked second in the NWC in field goal percentage (54.1%). He also led the team and ranked second in the NWC in rebounding (7.9 rpg), including a 21-board effort at Puget Sound on Feb. 21 – five more than any other NWC player this season.
Whitworth hosts Puget Sound, Willamette and Lewis & Clark in the 2026 NWC men's basketball tournament this weekend. The winner of the tournament receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
