THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Fri., Oct. 25 – 6 pm ADT – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, AK
Warner Pacific (0-0) at Alaska Anchorage (0-0)
&
Sat., Oct. 26 – 5 pm ADT – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, AK
Warner Pacific at Alaska Anchorage
 
TICKETS: GoSeawolves.com
LIVE VIDEO: youtube.com/UAASeawolves
LIVE STATS: GoSeawolves.com/sidearmstats/mbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2023-24 stats)
G—Dillon Barrientos, 6-1, Sr. (11.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.4 apg, .425 FG, .331 3FG)
G—Sean Evans, 6-3, Sr. (10.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.5 apg, .735 FT at Neb.-Kearney)
G—Tyler Burraston, 6-4, Jr. (18.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg, .442 3FG, .808 FT at Green River CC)
F—Jesse Stines, 6-7, Jr. (13.9 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 1.3 bpg at Irvine Valley College)
C—Bishop Tosi, 6-6, Jr. (13.0 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 1.0 apg, .583 FG, .733 FT)
 
SEASON OPENERS: The Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team gets an early start to the 2024-25 season this week with a pair of games against NAIA opponent Warner Pacific at the Alaska Airlines Center ... both games will count on UAA's overall record and be exhibitions for the visitors.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: An NAIA program from Portland, Ore., Warner Pacific is coming off a 5-23 record in 2023-24 ... the Knights play in the Cascade Collegiate Conference ... UAA and WPU have played only once, during UAA's brief NAIA tenure in the 1975-76 season (58-56 UAA win at WPU).
 
BACK IN THE DANCE: UAA made its NCAA Tournament return last season, taking the No. 7 seed for the NCAA Div. II West Regional Championships in Los Angeles and falling 52-49 to eventual region champ Cal State San Bernardino in the first round ... it was the program's 17th all-time NCAA appearance and first since 2012.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA has earned 16 .500-or-better records in the past 17 seasons, and 37 winning records in 46 seasons of NCAA Div. II existence ... the 2023-24 Seawolves claimed the program's 33rd winning conference record in 42 years belonging to a league ... last year marked the 17th 20-win season for UAA since becoming an NCAA Div. II program in 1977-78 ... the 2023-24 Seawolves were top-20 in the nation in scoring defense (12th, 65.4 ppg), turnover margin (14th, +4.1), assist/turnover ratio (17th, 1.48), plus 31st in assists per game (16.3) and 34th in turnovers forced per game (15.3) ... UAA paced the GNAC in scoring defense, assists, TO margin, and A/T ratio, and was top-3 in steals (7.7 spg) and 3FG% defense (.320).
 
PRESEASON PICKS: The Seawolves have already garnered a pair of individual honors as Sr. PG Dillon Barrientos and Jr. F Bishop Tosi were named this week to the Preseason All-GNAC Team ... 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 4th in the GNAC in assists, 6th in A/T ratio (2.4) and 15th in 3FGs per game (1.6) ... 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 star averaged 13.0 points on .583 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.
 
VETTING THE VETS: In addition to their preseason all-league picks, the Seawolves have three additional letterwinners returning from 2023-24, including So. F/C Sloan Lentfer, who logged 22 starts ... a former Alaska 3A Player of the Year, Lentfer averaged 4.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg and shot .518 FG, posting an 18-point (8-13 FG) effort in an OT home win over Simon Fraser ... the second generation Seawolf closed strong, averaging 7.9 ppg on .581 (36-62) shooting, 4.6 rpg and 1.5 apg over the final 10 contests ... Jr. G/F Hasaan Herrington is back after playing in all 33 games last year ... the former Texas-Tyler transfer and East Anchorage High star posted 4.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, and 1.1 apg, propelling a road victory over Simon Fraser with a season-high 10 points ... Sr. F Luke Devine adds another solid hand off the bench, having shot .500 FG in his 36 career games ... head coach Rusty Osborne announced this week that So. C Lyman Simmons (2.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg, .524 FG) will redshirt this year.
 
REDSHIRTS READY: Including Bishop Tosi, the Seawolves have four players coming off redshirt campaigns in 2023-24 ... Jr. F Malik Jackson was a First Team All-NWAC selection at Peninsula (Wash.) College prior to joining the Seawolves, averaging 12.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and shooting .390 3FG during his sophomore season as Peninsula went 25-4 ... former Alaska prep stars Parker Kroon and Jaylin Scott will look to crack the rotation after redshirt as true freshmen ... Kroon was a second-team AABC all-state performer as a senior at Wasilla, averaging 19.1 ppg, while Scott helped Ninilchik to a 50-5 combined record over his last two seasons and a 2A state title as a senior.
 
NEW CREW: Seven brand-new additions have joined the Seawolf roster this year, comprised of one Div. II transfer, five JC transfers and one true freshman ... Sr. G Sean Evans comes north for his final season after starting 74 of 79 career contests at Nebraska-Kearney ... Evans posted his top season as sophomore in 2022-23 with 14.2 ppg (13th in MIAA), 3.8 rpg, 1.9 apg, and MIAA top-10 shooting numbers of .489/.438/.810 ... Jr. G Tyler Burraston captured NABC NWAC All-America honors in both of his seasons at Green River (Wash.) CC, helping the Gators to a combined 50-12 record and their first NWAC title in program history in 2023-24 … Burraston paced GRCC with 18.1 points per game, leading all JC players nationally with 148 treys, and ranking second nationally with 1.171 points per possession … So. G Zach Ibbetson spent two seasons at Santiago Canyon (Calif.) College, earning honorable mention All-Orange Empire Conference as a freshman in 2022-23 (10.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg, .404 3FG) and redshirting in 2023-24 … Jr. F Jesse Stines was a First Team All-Orange Empire Conference performer and his team MVP last year, posting 13.9 ppg, 7.7 rpg and 1.3 bpg ... the LA-area native had six double-doubles and broke the Irvine Valley College single-game record with 21 rebounds ... another SoCal big man, Jr. F John McFadden, adds more strength down low ... the 6-8, 220-pounder led the OEC by more than a board per game with 9.1 rpg in 2023-24, along with 15.6 ppg ... Jr. G Alex Argandar will be inactive to start the season due to injury ... Argandar played two seasons at College of the Sequoias (Calif.), helping his squad to a 27-6 record and a league co-title as a junior ... former Dimond High star Luke Johnston, a 6-2 guard, is the team's lone true freshman and gives the Seawolves seven Alaskans on the roster ... Johnston was a two-time 4A all-state selection, leading the Lynx to top-4 finishes at the state tournament his last two seasons.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: In his 20th season (21st year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (349-213) has led the Seawolves to six NCAA Tournament bids, including advancement to the 2008 NCAA Div. II Semifinals, and 16 records of .500-or-better in the last 17 seasons … the longest tenured coach in program history and in the GNAC, he became the first UAA coach in any sport to reach 300 career victories when the Seawolves beat Hawaii Pacific on Nov. 13, 2021 … Osborne captured GNAC and NABC West District coach-of-the-year awards in 2008 after becoming the second coach to lead UAA to three consecutive NCAA berths (2006-08), and in 2011-12 his Seawolves posted a 24-10 record to equal the 2nd-most victories in program history; Osborne's 2007-08 club holds that record with a 29-6 mark … before taking over the head job in 2004-05, the Texas native previously served 13 seasons (1991-04) as a UAA assistant, including 11 years as the top assistant … the Seawolves have won over 60 percent of their games with Osborne on the staff, claiming four conference titles and eight trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament ... Osborne is assisted by associate head coach Ryan Orton (10th season/11th year) and Ryan Engebretsen (4th season/5th year).
 
2024-25 Seawolf Individual Honors
DILLON BARRIENTOS
Preseason All-GNAC Team
BISHOP TOSI
Preseason All-GNAC Team