THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Friday, Nov. 6 – 11 am AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, AK
Evergreen State (0-0) at Alaska Anchorage (0-0)
&
Saturday, Nov. 7 – 4:15 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, AK
Evergreen State at Alaska Anchorage
 
TURNER ERA TIPS OFF: Led by new head coach Cameron Turner, the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team plays its 2026-27 season openers this week, welcoming NAIA foe Evergreen State for a pair of games at the Alaska Airlines Center ... Friday's special 11 a.m. tip time is to accommodate more than 2,800 Anchorage School District fifth-graders to attend for Slam Dunk Into Higher Education, sponsored by Premera.
 
LIVE VIDEO: All contests are streamed through the GNAC Network portal at Hudl – gnacnetwork.com/uaaseawolves ... fans can choose between a single event ($14), a 30-day subscription ($25) or a yearly subscription ($120).
 
LIVE STATS: GoSeawolves.com/sidearmstats/mbball
 
TICKETS: GoSeawolves.com.
 
UAA TENTATIVE STARTERS (2025-26 stats/notes)
G—Tarrance Warren, 6-2, Sr. (13.4 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.1 apg, 1.0 spg, .318 3FG at Barry)
G—Mack Keighran, 6-2, Sr. (11.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.3 apg, .356 3FG at Chadron St.)
G—Karim Elgizawy, 6-3, Jr. (12.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.1 apg, 364 3FG at Laramie County CC)
F—Sylas Williams, 6-7, Sr. (13.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.7 apg, 0.9 bpg, .448 FG, .318 3FG)
F—Walker Timme, 6-7, 5th (11.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.4 apg, .533 FG at S. Idaho in 2024-25)
 
BRIEF SEASON PREVIEW: Featuring a new head coach for the first time in 22 years, UAA returns one starter and three total letterwinners from last year's team that went 21-11 and reached the NCAA Tournament ... reigning GNAC Newcomer of the Year and '26-27 GNAC Preseason Player of the Year Sylas Williams will blend with a group of 11 newcomers, including nine transfers ... the Seawolves have been picked to finish fourth of 10 teams in the GNAC preseason coaches' poll.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: NAIA program Evergreen State, from Olympia, Wash., returns five players from last year's squad that finished 4-18 ... the Geoducks are led by Kenzel Massey (10.3 ppg, .317 3FG) and Jacob Laff (6.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg) ... ESU's games against UAA will be exhibitions for the visitors, while counting on the Seawolves' record.
 
THE SERIES vs Evergreen: UAA leads 2-0
Last: UAA 80-48 (11/8/25 at UAA)
Notes: Teams met for the first times last year, with UAA sweeping a weekend series 85-58 and 80-48 at the Alaska Airlines Center.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA finished 16-2 at home in 2025-26 and missed its first unbeaten GNAC home slate since 2016-17 by one point, falling to SMU on a buzzer beater ... the Seawolves led the GNAC stats in scoring defense (64.5 ppg), rebounds allowed per game (30.6), assists per game (17.3) and A/T ratio (1.42), and were second in turnovers forced per game (14.6), rebound margin (+4.9) and steals per game (8.8) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, UAA finished 13th in scoring defense, 15th in assists and 20th in A/T ratio  ... the Seawolves went 16-1 when leading at halftime, 9-0 when scoring 80 points or more and 6-0 when shooting .500 or better ... UAA has recorded .500-or-better records in 17 of the past 19 seasons and winning records in 38 of 48 seasons of NCAA Div. II existence ... the 2026-26 Seawolves also earned the 34th winning conference record in 44 years belonging to a league ... UAA has 18 20-win seasons since becoming an NCAA Div. II program in 1977-78.
 
HIGH ON SYLAS: On the heels of Second Team All-GNAC and GNAC Newcomer of the Year awards in his debut season in Green & Gold, Sr. F Sylas Williams enters 2026-27 as the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year ... beginning with Most Outstanding Player honors in the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge in November and ending with an all-tourney at the GNAC Championships in March, Williams emerged as UAA leading scorer (13.3 ppg) and the GNAC's leading rebounder (7.7 rpg) ... the 2024-25 NWAC Player of the Year at Skagit Valley (Wash.) College, Williams has posted 11 double-doubles, including 10 in the last 22 games ... the Washington native posted GNAC ranks of 1st in rebounding and defensive rebounding (5.5 drpg), 16th in scoring, 10th in blocks (0.9) and 17th in minutes per game (30.9), finishing the season with 30 points and 11 rebounds in a GNAC Tourney semifinal win over UAF and 19 points and 11 rebounds in the NCAA Tourney loss to CSU Dominguez Hills.
 
RARIN' TO ROLL: The Seawolves feature four returners who saw reserve minutes or did not see game action last season, led by Sr. C Lyman Simmons ... a Utah native, Simmons averaged 3.8 ppg and 1.8 rpg in 6.8 minutes per game, posting a season-high 12 points against Evergreen State ... former Dimond High standout Sr. G Luke Johnston saw action in five contests a year ago and 11 the previous season, while So. G Muhammed Sabally – the 2025 Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year at East High – is eager to show his stuff after appearing in a single contest as a freshman ... another Dimond product, So. G Marek Hajdukovich returns as well after sitting out with an injury, giving UAA another dangerous option on the perimeter.
 
TIP-TOP TRANSFERS: Three of UAA's nine transfers bring NCAA Div. I experience, three come directly from the NCAA Div. II ranks, and three come exclusively from junior-college  programs ... sporting a familiar last name to college hoops fans, Sr. F Walker Timme looks to make his mark after stops at McNeese State and Northern Arizona, along with an outstanding 2024-25 season at JC program Southern Idaho, where he posted 11.1 ppg on .533 shooting ... Jr. G Will Kuykendall comes north after playing at the highest collegiate levels at both Arizona and Baylor, while Jr. G Karim Elgizawy saw action at D-I Tarleton State before an outstanding 2025-26 season at JC program Laramie County (12.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.1 apg, 364 3FG) ... following a solid career under Cameron Turner at Eastern Arizona, Sr. G Tarrance Warren rejoins his old coach after scoring 13.4 ppg last year at D-II program Barry, while fellow EAC alum Xzavier Baker (Dimond HS) returns home after spending his junior season at Alaska Fairbanks ... continuing the great tradition of Australians at UAA, Sr. G Mack Keighran is sure to make an impact as well ... a Melbourne native, Keighran was the third-leading scorer last year for Chadron State, recording 11.0 ppg on .356 3FG shooting and ranking 14th in the RMAC with an .825 FT pct ... UAA's three JC transfers all hail from powerhouse programs, starting with Sr. G Joseph Mayberry, who averaged 11.0 pppg, 5.5 rpg and a 2-to-1 A/T ratio for a McLennan (Texas) CC team that went 29-2 a year ago ... another Dallas native alongside Mayberry, Warren and Timme, Sr. F RJ Foreman provides a double-double threat, having averaged 11.4 ppg and 5.8 rpg last year at Lamar (Colo.) CC ... So. G/F Quincy Byas also rejoins Turner from his EAC days, having redshirted in 2025-26 after a standout prep career in Oregon.
 
FRESH FACES: The Seawolves feature a pair of incoming freshmen in local standout Amelio Ambrosio and Floridian Sam Quebedeaux ... Ambrosio averaged 19 points last year for Dimond's Cook Inlet Conference title squad, while Quebedeaux was an all-conference performer with 17.1 points and 4 assists per game at Pensacola Catholic High School – the same alma mater as former UAA volleyball stars Ellen Floyd and Madison Galloway.
 
TURNER-ING THE PAGE: For the first time since 2004-05, the Seawolves feature a new bench boss in Cameron Turner, who takes over as just the seventh head coach in 48 years of program history ... UAA assistant from 2011-17, Turner returns north after an impressive stint at Eastern Arizona College, where he lifted the two-year program to new heights on both the women's and men's sides ... as the men's coach at EAC for the past four years, Turner accumulated a 95-32 (.748) record, leading the Gila Monsters to back-to-back Arizona Community College Athletic Conference and NJCAA Region I championships in 2023-24 and 2024-25 ... the 2024-25 season was a historic one for EAC, going 29-4 overall and 16-2 in the ACCAC, and capturing the program's first consecutive titles in 20 years ... the Monsters' 28 NJCAA wins that year were third-most in the nation, while the team ranked third nationally in net efficiency ... before earning back-to-back ACCAC and Region I Coach of the Year honors on the men's side, Turner spent five years building the EAC women's program from the ground up into national contenders ... after taking over a five-win program his first year, he got the Monsters to 21 victories and an NJCAA runner-up finish two seasons later, and led his final two teams to a combined 44-8 mark and top-25 national rankings ... the 2020-21 EAC squad went 17-3 and won the NJCAA regional and district titles as Turner captured ACCAC and Region I Coach of the Year accolades, while the 2021-22 team was region runner-up, going 27-5 overall ... Turner came to UAA as a graduate assistant in 2011 and quickly rose to the top assistant role on Rusty Osborne's staff, helping the Seawolves to a 116-60 record in his six seasons ... in addition to recruiting former stars like Suki Wiggs and aiding the development of 2012 NCAA National Player of the Year Taylor Rohde, he coached 14 all-conference players and helped UAA to top-4 GNAC finishes in each of his campaigns ... prior to his first stint at UAA, the Oregon native Turner founded the AAU program Willamette Reign, which placed 53 athletes into college basketball. He also previously coached future NBA all-star Kevin Love at the high school level ... Turner earned his bachelor's degree in criminology from Southern Oregon University in 2004.
 
2025-26 Seawolf Individual Honors (returning players)
LUKE JOHNSTON
GNAC All-Academic Team
LYMAN SIMMONS
GNAC All-Academic Team
SYLAS WILLIAMS
GNAC Championships All-Tournament Team
Second Team All-GNAC
GNAC Newcomer of the Year
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge Most Outstanding Player