# 2022–23 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team

The 2022–23 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Weber State University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by first-year head coach Eric Duft, played their home games at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah, as members of the Big Sky Conference.

## Previous season

The Wildcats finished the 2021–22 season 21–12, 13–7 in Big Sky play to finish a tie for third place. As the No. 4 seed in the Big Sky tournament, they defeated Montana in the quarterfinals before losing to Northern Colorado in the semifinals. Despite having 21 wins, they were not invited to a postseason tournament. After the season, Rahe would retire as the winningest coach in Weber State and Big Sky conference history. He would be succeeded by assistant coach Eric Duft.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| David Nzekwesi | 4 | F/C | 6'9" | 250 | Junior | The Nague, Netherlands | Transferred |
| Seikou Sisoho Jawara | 5 | G | 6'3" | 210 | Sophomore | Mataró, Spain | Transferred to San Diego |
| Michal Kozak | 11 | F | 6'8" | 215 | Senior | Plzeň, Czech Republic | Graduated |
| Donatas Kupsas | 13 | F | 6'8" | 210 | Sophomore | Joniškis, Lithuania | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Josh Sanders | 14 | G | 6'2" | 180 | Freshman | Kaysville, UT | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Koby McEwen | 15 | G | 6'4" | 195 | Senior | Toronto, ON | Graduated |
| Dontay Bassett | 21 | C | 6'9" | 250 | Senior | Oakland, CA | Graduated |
| Chance Trujillo | 23 | G | 6'3" | 205 | Freshman | Kaysville, UT | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| JJ Overton | 24 | G/F | 6'6" | 190 | Senior | San Diego, CA | Graduated |
| Jake Furgerson | 25 | F | 6'7" | 210 | Sophomore | Star, ID | Walk-on; transferred |
| Cody Carlson | 34 | F/C | 6'10" | 230 | Senior | Duluth, MN | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Keith Dinwiddie Jr. | 10 | G | 6'0" | 185 | Sophomore | Los Angeles, CA | San Diego State |
| Junior Ballard | 24 | G | 6'3" | 185 | GS Senior | Stockton, CA | Fresno State |
| Handje Tamba | 32 | F | 6'11" | 229 | RS Freshman | Knoxville, TN | Tennessee |
| Cole Lake | 41 | G | 5'11" | | Sophomore | Eagle, ID | Walk-on; Montana Western |
| Sebastian Gahse | 43 | F | 6'10" | | Junior | Stuttgart, Germany | Central Wyoming College |

### 2022 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Chris Dockery SG | Los Angeles, CA | Middlebrooks Academy | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Oct 28, 2021 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ||||||
| Daniel Rouzan PF | Las Vegas, NV | Bishop Gorman High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 236 lb (107 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| JJ Louden SG | Indianapolis, IN | Pike High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Louie Jordan SF | Leicester, England | Charnwood College | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | N/A | Apr 4, 2022 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2022 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 15, 2022. ||||||

### 2023 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2023 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Viljami Vartiainen SG | Helsinki, Finland | HBA Märsky | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | N/A | Oct 10, 2022 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2022 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 15, 2022. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 2, 2022* 7:00 p.m. | | Adams State | W 88–76 | | Dee Events Center Ogden, UT |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 7, 2022* 9:00 p.m., P12N | | at Washington | L 52–69 | 0–1 | Alaska Airlines Arena (6,445) Seattle, WA |
| November 10, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Western Colorado | W 83–67 | 1–1 | Dee Events Center (4,113) Ogden, UT |
| November 14, 2022* 7:00 p.m., MW Network | | at Colorado State | L 52–77 | 1–2 | Moby Arena (3,769) Fort Collins, CO |
| November 21, 2022* 8:00 p.m., Baller TV | | vs. UC Riverside Vegas 4 | L 65–72 | 1–3 | Dollar Loan Center Henderson, NV |
| November 22, 2022* 5:30 p.m., Baller TV | | vs. Abilene Christian Vegas 4 | W 77–67 | 2–3 | Dollar Loan Center Henderson, NV |
| November 23, 2022* 2:30 p.m., Baller TV | | vs. Wright State Vegas 4 | L 65–87 | 2–4 | Dollar Loan Center Henderson, NV |
| November 29, 2022* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Tarleton State | L 65–75 | 2–5 | Dee Events Center (1,873) Ogden, UT |
| December 3, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Utah Tech | L 65–77 | 2–6 | Dee Events Center (4,663) Ogden, UT |
| December 7, 2022* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at California Baptist | L 52–64 | 2–7 | CBU Events Center (2,817) Riverside, CA |
| December 10, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Saint Martin's | W 82–58 | 3–7 | Dee Events Center (4,459) Ogden, UT |
| December 14, 2022* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Cal Poly | W 74–45 | 4–7 | Mott Athletics Center (1,329) San Luis Obispo, CA |
| December 19, 2022* 7:00 p.m., MW Network | | at Utah State | W 75–72 | 5–7 | Smith Spectrum (7,000) Logan, UT |
| December 22, 2022* 7:00 p.m., BYUtv | | at BYU | L 57–63 | 5–8 | Marriott Center (13,229) Provo, UT |
| Big Sky Conference season ||||||
| December 29, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Northern Colorado | W 81–72 | 6–8 (1–0) | Dee Events Center (4,861) Ogden, UT |
| December 31, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Northern Arizona | W 76–60 | 7–8 (2–0) | Dee Events Center (4,923) Ogden, UT |
| January 7, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Idaho State | L 57–67 | 7–9 (2–1) | Dee Events Center (5,114) Ogden, UT |
| January 12, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Montana | W 59–57 | 8–9 (3–1) | Dahlberg Arena (3,243) Missoula, MT |
| January 14, 2022 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Montana State | L 52–67 | 8–10 (3–2) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (3,270) Bozeman, MT |
| January 19, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Portland State | W 84–68 | 9–10 (4–2) | Dee Events Center (4,448) Ogden, UT |
| January 21, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Sacramento State | W 50–48 | 10–10 (5–2) | Dee Events Center (6,156) Ogden, UT |
| January 26, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Idaho | W 73–65 | 11–10 (6–2) | Idaho Central Credit Union Arena (1,713) Moscow, ID |
| January 28, 2023 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Eastern Washington | L 71–75 | 11–11 (6–3) | Reese Court (2,231) Cheney, WA |
| February 4, 2023 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Idaho State | W 72–71 $^{2OT}$ | 12–11 (7–3) | Reed Gym (1,669) Pocatello, ID |
| February 6, 2023 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | Northern Colorado | L 54–88 | 12–12 (7–4) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,503) Greeey, CO |
| February 9, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Montana State | W 73–63 | 13–12 (8–4) | Dee Events Center (4,827) Ogden, UT |
| February 11, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Montana | L 69–74 | 13–13 (8–5) | Dee Events Center (6,372) Ogden, UT |
| February 16, 2023 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Sacramento State | W 52–49 | 14–13 (9–5) | Hornets Nest (906) Sacramento, CA |
| February 18, 2023 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Portland State | W 65–57 | 15–13 (10–5) | Viking Pavilion (1,583) Portland, OR |
| February 23, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Eastern Washington | L 82–89 | 15–14 (10–6) | Dee Events Center (5,817) Ogden, UT |
| February 25, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Idaho | W 67–53 | 16–14 (11–6) | Dee Events Center (6,039) Ogden, UT |
| February 27, 2023 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Northern Arizona | W 90–89 $^{OT}$ | 17–14 (12–6) | Findlay Toyota Court (876) Flagstaff, AZ |
| Big Sky tournament ||||||
| March 6, 2023 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | (3) | vs. (6) Sacramento State Quarterfinals | W 70–64 | 18–14 | Idaho Central Arena Boise, ID |
| March 7, 2023 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | (3) | vs. (2) Montana State Semifinals | L 58–60 $^{2OT}$ | 18–15 | Idaho Central Arena Boise, ID |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain. ||||||
Source