# 2022–23 Western Athletic Conference men's basketball season

The 2022–23 WAC men's basketball season began with practices in October 2022 followed by the start of the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November 2022. The conference began play in December 2022. This is the WAC's 61st season of basketball. The WAC competed again with 13 teams with two teams leaving the conference and two teams joining the conference from the prior year. Chicago State turned independent and Lamar moved to the Southland Conference. Southern Utah University joins from the Big Sky Conference and UT Arlington joins from the Sun Belt Conference. Dixie State was also renamed as Utah Tech. Each WAC member played an 18-game conference schedule. The WAC tournament was held March 6–11, 2023 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

## Pre-season
### WAC Media days

The WAC's 2022 men's basketball media day was held on October 18.
Men's Basketball Coaches Preseason Poll :
| Place | Team | Points | First place votes |
| 1. | Grand Canyon | 135 | 8 |
| 2. | New Mexico State | 127 | 3 |
| 3. | Stephen F. Austin | 111 | -- |
| 4. | Abilene Christian | 101 | 1 |
| 5. | California Baptist | 96 | 1 |
| 6. | Seattle U | 91 | -- |
| 7. | Utah Valley | 85 | |
| 8. | Sam Houston | 79 | -- |
| 9. | Southern Utah | 66 | -- |
| 10. | Tarleton | 47 | -- |
| 11. | UT Arlington | 31 | -- |
| 12. | Utah Tech | 29 | -- |
| 13. | UTRGV | 16 | -- |
Men's Basketball Media Preseason Poll :
| Place | Team |
| 1. | Grand Canyon |
| 2. | New Mexico State |
| 3. | Stephen F. Austin |
| 4. | Abilene Christian |
| 5. | California Baptist |
| 6T. | Sam Houston |
| 6T. | Seattle U |
| 8. | Utah Valley |
| 9. | Southern Utah |
| 10. | UT Arlington |
| 11. | Tarleton |
| 12. | Utah Tech |
| 13. | UTRGV |

### WAC Preseason All-Conference
#### First Team

| Name | School | Yr. | Pos. |
| Airion Simmons | Abilene Christian | Sr. | F |
| Taran Armstrong | California Baptist | So. | G |
| † Jovan Blacksher Jr. | Grand Canyon | Jr. | G |
| Xavier Pinson | NM State | Sr. | G |
| Cameron Tyson | Seattle U | Jr. | G |
| Tevian Jones | Southern Utah | Sr. | G/F |
| Justin Johnson | UTRGV | Sr. | F |
| Trey Woodbury | Utah Valley | Sr. | G |
† Denotes Preseason Player of the Year

#### Second Team

| Name | School | Yr. | Pos. |
| Rayshon Harrison | Grand Canyon | So. | G |
| Gabe McGlothan | Grand Canyon | Jr. | F |
| Javion May | Sam Houston | Sr. | G |
| Riley Grigsby | Seattle U | Sr. | G/F |
| Maizen Fausett | Southern Utah | Sr. | F |
| Sadaidriene Hall | Stephen F. Austin | So. | F |
| Jaylin Jackson-Posey | Stephen F. Austin | So. | G |
| Freddy Hicks | Tarleton | Jr. | G/F |

## Regular season
### Early season tournaments

| Team | Tournament | Finish |
| Abilene Christian | Vegas 4 | 4th |
| California Baptist | SoCal Challenge (Surf Division) | 4th |
| Grand Canyon | Hall of Fame Classic | 3rd |
| New Mexico State | Las Vegas Holiday Classic | 2nd |
| Sam Houston | Fort Myers Tip-Off (Palms Division) | 1st |
| Seattle U | Diamond Head Classic | 7th |
| Southern Utah | North Shore Classic | 3rd |
| Stephen F. Austin | Montreal Northern Classic | 4th |
| Tarleton | Paradise Jam | 2nd |
| UT Arlington | Gulf Coast Showcase | 6th |
| UTRGV | Leon Black Classic | 2nd |
| Utah Tech | North Dakota MTE | 2nd |
| Utah Valley | Jamaica Classic (Rose Hall Division) | 3rd |

### Records against other conferences

2022–23 records against non-conference foes:
Regular season
| Power Conferences & Gonzaga | Record |
| ACC | 1–1 |
| Big East | 0–0 |
| Big Ten | 0–1 |
| Big 12 | 1–7 |
| Pac-12 | 3–7 |
| SEC | 0–2 |
| Gonzaga | 0–0 |
| Power Conference Total | 5–18 |
| Other NCAA Division I Conferences | Record |
| America East | 1–0 |
| American | 0–4 |
| A-10 | 2–0 |
| ASUN | 0–0 |
| Big Sky | 15–4 |
| Big South | 1–0 |
| Big West | 9–3 |
| CAA | 1–1 |
| C-USA | 2–3 |
| Horizon | 2–2 |
| Ivy League | 0–0 |
| MAAC | 0–2 |
| MAC | 2–0 |
| MEAC | 0–1 |
| MVC | 2–2 |
| Mountain West | 2–10 |
| NEC | 0–0 |
| OVC | 1–0 |
| Patriot League | 0–0 |
| SoCon | 1–1 |
| Southland | 4–2 |
| SWAC | 5–1 |
| The Summit | 4–2 |
| Sun Belt | 2–2 |
| WCC (except Gonzaga) | 4–3 |
| Other Division I Total | 60–44 |
| Non-Division I Total | 36–0 |
| NCAA Division I Total | 65–62 |

### Record against ranked non-conference opponents

This is a list of games against ranked opponents only (rankings from the AP Poll):
| Date | Visitor | Home | Score | Conference record |
| November 17, 2022 | Utah Tech | No. 14 Arizona | L, 77–104 | 0–1 |
| November 18, 2022 | Southern Utah | No. 6 Kansas | L, 76–82 | 0–2 |
| November 26, 2022 | UTRGV | No. 4 Texas | L, 54–91 | 0–3 |
| December 6, 2022 | Tarleton | No. 12 Baylor | L, 57–80 | 0–4 |
Team rankings are reflective of AP poll when the game was played, not current or final ranking

### Rankings

| | Improvement in ranking |
| | Drop in ranking |
| RV | Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 |
| NV | No votes received |
| | | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Final |
| Abilene Christian | AP | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Abilene Christian | C | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| California Baptist | AP | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| California Baptist | C | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Grand Canyon | AP | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Grand Canyon | C | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| New Mexico State | AP | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| New Mexico State | C | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Sam Houston | AP | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Sam Houston | C | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Seattle U | AP | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Seattle U | C | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | RV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Southern Utah | AP | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Southern Utah | C | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Stephen F. Austin | AP | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Stephen F. Austin | C | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Tarleton | AP | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Tarleton | C | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| UT Arlington | AP | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| UT Arlington | C | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| UTRGV | AP | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| UTRGV | C | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Utah Tech | AP | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Utah Tech | C | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Utah Valley | AP | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Utah Valley | C | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |

## Head coaches
### Coaching changes

Only one coaching change was made during the offseason. Greg Heiar was hired on March 27 as the 27th head coach at New Mexico State University to replace Chris Jans who had previously been hired as the head coach at Mississippi State University.

### Coaches

Note: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season. Overall and WAC records are from time at current school.
| Team | Head coach | Previous job | Seasons at school | Overall record | WAC record | WAC titles | NCAA tournaments | NCAA Final Fours | NCAA Championships |
| Abilene Christian | Brette Tanner | (Associate HC) | 2nd | 25–11 (.694) | 11–7 (.611) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| California Baptist | Rick Croy | St. Mary's (assistant) | 10th | 68-50 (.576) | 30-32 (.484) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Canyon | Bryce Drew | Vanderbilt | 3rd | 40-15 (.727) | 22-8 (.733) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| New Mexico State | Greg Heiar | Northwest Florida State College | 1st | 0-0 (–) | 0-0 (–) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sam Houston | Jason Hooten | (Assistant HC) | 13th | 235-161 (.593) | 140-72 (.660) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seattle U | Chris Victor | (Assistant/interim HC) | 2nd | 23-9 (.719) | 14-4 (.778) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Southern Utah | Todd Simon | UNLV (interim HC) | 7th | 96-94 (.505) | 0-0 (–) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stephen F. Austin | Kyle Keller | Texas A&M (assistant) | 7th | 126-55 (.696) | 14–4 (.778) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tarleton | Billy Gillispie | Ranger College | 3rd | 24-27 (.471) | 14-16 (.467) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| UT Arlington | Greg Young | (Assistant) | 2nd | 11-18 (.379) | 0-0 (–) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UTRGV | Matt Figger | Austin Peay | 2nd | 8-23 (.258) | 3-15 (.167) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Utah Tech | Jon Judkins | Snow College | 18th | 306-149 (.673) | 10-22 (.313) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Utah Valley | Mark Madsen | Los Angeles Lakers (player development) | 4th | 42-42 (.500) | 24-22 (.522) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Notes:
* Overall and WAC records, conference titles, etc. are from time at current school and are through the end of the 2021–22 season.
* Records and season totals only include time spent at Division I as head coach.
* NCAA tournament appearances are from time at current school only.
* NCAA Final Fours and Championship include time at other schools.

## Post season
### WAC tournament

The conference tournament was played from March 7–11, 2023, at Michelob ULTRA Arena and the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada near Las Vegas. The first round was played on March 7 at Michelob ULTRA Arena with the remaining rounds March 8–11 at the Orleans Arena. Twelve of the thirteen members were invited to the tournament. While Tarleton and Utah Tech were ineligible for the NCAA tournament, they were eligible for the WAC tournament.

### NCAA tournament

Teams from the conference that were selected to participate:
| Seed | Region | School | First Four | First round | Second round | Sweet Sixteen | Elite Eight | Final Four | Championship |
| 14 | West | Grand Canyon | – | lost to (3) Gonzaga 70–82 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Bids | W-L (%): | 0–0 (–) | 0–1 (.000) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | TOTAL: 0–1 (.000) |

### National Invitation Tournament

Number from the conference that were selected to participate: 2
| Seed | School | First round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals |
| 3 | Sam Houston | defeated Santa Clara 58–56 | lost to (2) North Texas 55–75 | – | – | – |
| N/A | Utah Valley | defeated (2) New Mexico 83–69 | defeated (3) Colorado 81–69 | defeated (4) Cincinnati 74–68 | lost to (4) UAB 86–88* | – |
| | W-L (%): | 2–0 (1.000) | 1–1 (.500) | 1–0 (1.000) | 0–1 (.000) | TOTAL: 4–2 (.667) |

### College Basketball Invitational

Number from the conference that were selected to participate: 2
| Seed | School | First round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals |
| 4 | Southern Utah | defeated (13) North Alabama 72–50 | defeated (12) Rice 81–79 | lost to (8) Eastern Kentucky 106–108** | – |
| 7 | Tarleton | lost to (10) Radford 70–72* | – | – | – |
| | W-L (%): | 1–1 (.500) | 1–0 (1.000) | 0–1 (.000) | TOTAL: 2–2 (.500) |
* Index to colors and formatting
* WAC member won
* WAC member lost
*Denotes overtime period

## Awards and honors
### Players of the week

Throughout the conference regular season, the WAC offices name a player of the week, and a freshman of the week each Monday.
| Week | Player of the Week | School | Freshman of the Week | School |
| November 14 | Cameron Tyson | Seattle U | Adante' Holiman | UTRGV |
| November 21 | Freddy Hicks | Tarleton | Parsa Fallah | Southern Utah |
| November 28 | Justin Johnson | UTRGV | Kobe Knox | Grand Canyon |
| December 5 | Le'Tre Darthard | Utah Valley | Brandon Walker | UT Arlington |
| December 12 | Aziz Bandaogo | Utah Valley | Parsa Fallah | Southern Utah |
| December 19 | Justin Johnson | UTRGV | Adante' Holiman | UTRGV |
| December 27 | Trey Woodbury | Utah Valley | Parsa Fallah | Southern Utah |
| January 3 | Tevian Jones | Southern Utah | Anthony Wrzeszcz | Sam Houston |
| January 10 | Aziz Bandaogo | Utah Valley | Chendall Weaver | UT Arlington |
| January 17 | Riley Grigsby | Seattle U | Kobe Knox | Grand Canyon |
| January 24 | Riley Grigsby | Seattle U | Chendall Weaver | UT Arlington |
| January 30 | Taran Armstrong | Cal Baptist | Leonardo Bettiol | Abilene Christian |
| February 6 | Ray Harrison | Grand Canyon | Chendall Weaver | UT Arlington |
| February 13 | Le'Tre Darthard | Utah Valley | Adante' Holiman | UTRGV |
| February 20 | Gabe McGlothan | Grand Canyon | Chendall Weaver | UT Arlington |
| February 27 | Qua Grant | Sam Houston | Kobe Knox | Grand Canyon |
| March 4 | Ray Harrison | Grand Canyon | Adante Holiman | UTRGV |

#### Totals per school - Players of the week

| School | Player of the week | Freshman of the week | Total |
| Abilene Christian University | | 1 | 1 |
| California Baptist University | 1 | | 1 |
| Grand Canyon University | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| New Mexico State University | | | |
| Sam Houston State University | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Seattle University | 3 | | 3 |
| Southern Utah University | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Stephen F. Austin State University | | | |
| Tarleton State University | 1 | | 1 |
| University of Texas at Arlington | | 5 | 5 |
| University of Texas Rio Grande Valley | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Utah Tech University | | | |
| Utah Valley University | 5 | | 5 |
| Total | 17 | 17 | 34 |

### All-WAC
#### First team

| Name | School |
| Ray Harrison | Grand Canyon |
| Qua Grant‡ | Sam Houston |
| Cameron Tyson | Seattle U |
| Tevian Jones | Southern Utah |
| Aziz Bandaogo‡‡ | Utah Valley |
| Le'Tre Darthard | Utah Valley |
| Trey Woodbury | Utah Valley |
| Justin Johnson | UTRGV |
* ‡ WAC Player of the Year
* ‡‡ WAC Defensive Player of the Year

#### Second team

| Name | School |
| Taran Armstrong | California Baptist |
| Gabe McGlothan | Grand Canyon |
| Donte Powers | Sam Houston |
| Riley Grigsby | Seattle U |
| Maizen Fausett | Southern Utah |
| Sadaidriene Hall | Stephen F. Austin |
| Freddy Hicks | Tarleton |
| Cameron Gooden | Utah Tech |

#### All-Newcomer team

| Name | School |
| Ray Harrison | Grand Canyon |
| Qua Grant | Sam Houston |
| Cameron Huefner | Sam Houston |
| Drake Allen | Southern Utah |
| Aziz Bandaogo† | Utah Valley |
† Newcomer of the Year

#### All-Defensive team

| Name | School |
| Damien Daniels | Abilene Christian |
| Javion May | Sam Houston |
| Shamir Bogues | Tarleton |
| Aziz Bandaogo | Utah Valley |
| Le'Tre Darthard | Utah Valley |
* ‡WAC Defensive Player of the Year

#### Other awards

Sixth Man of the Year: Dee Barnes, Southern Utah
Freshman of the Year: Chendall Weaver, UT Arlington
Coach of the Year: Mark Madsen, Utah Valley

## 2023 NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | School/club team |

## Home game attendance

| Team | Stadium | Capacity | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 | Game 8 | Game 9 | Game 10 | Game 11 | Game 12 | Game 13 | Game 14 | Game 15 | Game 16 | Game 17 | Total | Average | % of Capacity |
| Abilene Christian | Moody Coliseum | 3,600 | 2,489† | 1,643 | 974 | 747 | 1,204 | 897 | 1,152 | 1,122 | 2,005 | 1,889 | 1,744 | N/A | 1,844 | 1,951 | | | | 19,661 | 1,512 | 42% |
| California Baptist | CBU Events Center | 5,050 | 4,466 | 5,050† | 2,602 | 2,067 | 4,038 | 2,817 | 2,345 | 2,883 | 2,192 | 2,611 | 5,050 | 4,011 | 2,705 | 3,128 | 5,050 | 2,225 | 3,296 | 56,536 | 3,326 | 66% |
| Grand Canyon | GCU Arena | 7,000 | 7,171 | 6,891 | 7,166 | 6,873 | 6,713 | 7,011 | 7,072 | 6,804 | 7,316 | 6,982 | 6,041 | 7,007 | 7,095 | 7,076 | 6,039 | 7,438† | 7,414 | 118,109 | 6,948 | 99% |
| New Mexico State | Pan American Center | 12,482 | 5,178 | 6,332† | 4,346 | 4,460 | 4,942 | 4,705 | 5,092 | 4,864 | 5,107 | 4,948 | | | | | | | | 49,974 | 4,997 | 40% |
| Sam Houston | Bernard Johnson Coliseum | 6,110 | 1,892† | 1,320 | 1,127 | 731 | 777 | 1,702 | 3,686 | 1,674 | 1,845 | 1,332 | 1,613 | 1,772 | 1,866 | | | | | 21,337 | 1,641 | 27% |
| Seattle U | Redhawk Center/Climate Pledge Arena | 999/18,100 | 896 | 999 | 683 | 1,277‡ | 780 | 767 | 2,265 | 901 | 928 | 2,045†‡ | 1,565‡ | 999 | 999 | 1,175 | | | | 16,279 | 1,163 | 116% |
| Southern Utah | America First Event Center | 5,300 | 1,718 | 1,534 | 1,173 | 2,116 | 959 | 873 | 1,204 | 2,178 | 1,583 | 2,093 | 4,013 | 1,862 | 4,554† | 1.460 | 1.859 | | | 29,179 | 1,945 | 37% |
| Stephen F. Austin | William R. Johnson Coliseum | 7,203 | 2,610 | 2,049 | 2,128 | 2,339 | 2,023 | 1,939 | 1,841 | 2,814 | 2,644 | 3,286 | 2,180 | 3,303 | 2,180 | 3,488 | 3,554 | 4.189† | | 42,567 | 2,660 | 37% |
| Tarleton State | Wisdom Gymnasium | 3,000 | 1,386 | 1,873 | 776 | 856 | 1,533 | 1,105 | 1,487 | 1,424 | N/A | 2,155† | 1,578 | 2,367 | 2,017 | 1,776 | | | | 20,333 | 1,564 | 52% |
| UT Arlington | College Park Center | 7,000 | 2,466† | 1,429 | 1,475 | 1,011 | 1,931 | 1,419 | 1,017 | 1,052 | 1,663 | 1,271 | 1,691 | 423 | 1,526 | 1,905 | | | | 20,279 | 1,449 | 21% |
| UTRGV | UTRGV Fieldhouse/Bert Ogden Arena | 2,500/7,688 | 678 | 453 | 6,674†‡‡ | 1,355‡‡ | 865 | 644 | 785 | 517 | 723 | 1,121 | 2,606 | 1,018 | 1,837 | 2,788 | 275 | 886 | 1,431 | 24,656 | 1,450 | 58% |
| Utah Tech | Burns Arena | 4,779 | 2,297 | 1,133 | 833 | 465 | 442 | 710 | 1,256 | 1,689 | 1,878 | 3,962† | 1,929 | 1,306 | 2,141 | | | | | 20,041 | 1,542 | 32% |
| Utah Valley | UCCU Center | 8,500 | 1,449 | 2,034 | 1,389 | 1,427 | 1,141 | 1,911 | 2,463 | 2,976 | 2,827 | 2,915 | 1,886 | 5,168† | 2,574 | 2,267 | | | | 32,427 | 2,316 | 27% |
| Total | | 73,523 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 471,378 | 32,514 | 44% |
Bold – At or exceed capacity; capacity ratios for Seattle U and UTRGV computed based on smaller home arena
* †Season high
* ‡Climate Pledge Arena
* ‡‡Bert Ogden Arena