PORTLAND, Ore. (Oct. 22) – With its preseason debut just days away, the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team landed its first individual honors of 2024-25 on Tuesday as senior
Dillon Barrientos and junior
Bishop Tosi were named to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Preseason All-Conference Team.
A 6-1 point guard, Barrientos started every game for last year's UAA club that went 22-11 and made the NCAA Tournament. The Santa Clarita, Calif., native and College of the Canyons transfer averaged 11.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists as a junior, shooting 43 percent from the field. He ranked fourth in the GNAC in assists, sixth in assist/turnover ratio (2.4) and 15th in three-pointers per game (1.6), while helping UAA lead the GNAC and rank 11th nationally in scoring defense at 65.0 ppg.
"We are excited to have a talented and experienced player in Dillon back at the point guard position," said UAA head coach
Rusty Osborne. "He was playing his best basketball at the end of last season and was a driving force in our success. There are a lot of talented guards in the GNAC and we feel he is right there in that group. He had a great offseason, getting stronger and improving his all-around game. We are looking forward to Dillon having a very successful senior season."
A 6-6 forward, Tosi returns for his second season at UAA, having taken a medical redshirt in 2023-24. In three games prior to breaking his finger, the former Bartlett High School star averaged 13.0 points on 58 percent shooting and 7.7 rebounds, posting a 24-point, 14-rebound effort in a win over Chaminade. As a JC star at Bellevue (Wash.) College, Tosi totaled 820 points and 457 rebounds in 59 games, earning first-team All-NWAC honors and leading his team to back-to-back NWAC title games.
"It has been a long wait to get Bishop back on the floor after a tremendous start to his Seawolf career was ended with a freak injury," Osborne said. "He is unique and extremely valuable, as he has a tremendous motor and is a relentless rebounder with the strength and athletic ability to score inside. He also has the skill and shooting ability to pull other teams' post players away from the basket and make plays on the perimeter. He has had a very beneficial offseason and we expect him to be one of the better front line players in the region this season."
The UAA pair are two of 15 players chosen to the preseason team in balloting by the GNAC's 10 head coaches.
The Seawolves make their debut Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (5 p.m.) at the Alaska Airlines Center against Warner Pacific. Find tickets and more at GoSeawolves.com.
