OREM, Utah — The 2023-24 basketball season tips off on Monday night with Utah Valley University hosting Weber State University at 7:30 p.m. MT at the UCCU Center. The game will be the second of a men's/women's doubleheader at UVU, with the Wolverine men tipping off at 5 p.m. MT. Monday's contest—and all home games—can be seen live on ESPN+.
The Wolverines open the season with three of their first four games against in-state rivals. UVU will play at BYU on Tuesday, Nov. 14 and host Westminster on Nov. 21. The lone non-Utah opponent during that stretch will be at St. Thomas on Nov. 1.
NEW-LOOK ROSTER
After opening last year needing to replace nearly 80% of its scoring output from the season prior, this year's team doesn't approach those numbers and has more experience returning. Not among those returners though are the top two scorers from a season ago;
Shay Fano is now at Grand Canyon and
Jaeden Brown—who played in just 13 games last season—is at Southern Utah.
The Wolverines return sophomore
Kaylee Byon, who averaged 11.9 per contest during WAC play, and
Eleyana Tafisi, who had her best season despite battling an injury over the last month of the season. They'll also have two players who were injured in the rotation in
Tahlia White and
Halle Nelson. White missed the entire season due to injury after appearing in 27 games in 2021-22, and Nelson was limited to just one three-minute stint in her first season in Orem.
Utah Valley also brought in what is expected to be the biggest impacts in the transfer portal era with graduates Jenna Dick and Liana Kaitu'u, and BYU transfer Amanda Barcello. Dick played two seasons at Eastern Washington, and then two more at WAC foe Tarleton State before transferring to UVU for her final season. She is a career 40.6% shooter from three and has a single-season career-high of 95 made during her freshman season.
Kaitu'u, after leading East High School to a state championship as a senior, spent five years at the University of Portland, including an injury redshirt season in 2019-20. She was a part of two West Coast Conference Championships with the Pilots, including this past season. Barcello appeared in 32 games as a freshman in Provo a season ago.
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
New head coach Jenteal Jackson took over the Weber State program this offseason after spending two seasons leading Westminster's program in Salt Lake City. The Wildcats were picked 10th out of 10 in the preseason coaches and media poll in the Big Sky Conference. They return the league's third-highest scorer from last season, Daryn Hickok, who was named preseason All-Conference after earning third-team a season ago.
THE All-TIME SERIES
Utah Valley trails the all-time series against Weber State, 9-7, and lost the most recent contest last season in Ogden. The Wildcats won that game 55-44 to notch their second straight win in the in-state rivalry. UVU is 5-2 all-time at home against Weber State, winning last time the two met in Orem, on Dec. 18, 2018.
THE NEW WAC
Another year and another new look for the Western Athletic Conference. The league bid farewell to a pair of programs now in Conference USA in New Mexico State and Sam Houston, and has 11 members for the 2023-24 season.
The 2023 WAC Tournament will again be held at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the top eight teams advancing to the tournament. The top two seeds will earn a double-bye into the semifinals.
WOLVERINES TABBED NINTH IN WAC
The Wolverines were picked to finish in a tie for ninth in the WAC, along with Tarleton State, in the poll voted on by the league's coaches. Grand Canyon was the pick to win the league with defending champions Southern Utah voted second.
