The exit of UC Riverside women’s basketball from the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) last week concluded the season as a whole for both the men’s and women’s team. With the season now over and the program looking towards next season, both men’s and women’s teams will be more than satisfied with how their seasons went given their expectations at the beginning of the season.
Starting with the women’s team, coming into the season they were slated to finish 10th in the Big West conference according to the preseason poll, but defied all expectations by finishing 18-13 and earning the 3rd seed in the conference come time for the Big West Tournament.
This earned them a bye in the Big West Tournament and a matchup with Long Beach State in the quarter-finals. Unfortunately for the team, they were eliminated in heartbreaking fashion, falling in overtime 83-75 after battling a close one against the Beach.
Despite the loss in the conference tournament, the Highlanders were selected to play in the WNIT, the second most prestigious tournament in NCAA basketball after March Madness.
The Highlanders were led by seniors Jordan Webster and Matehya Bryant, who earned four Big West honors between them. Interim head coach, Brad Langston, led the program to a 12-game turnaround from last season’s record. This marks the largest turnaround in the program’s history, and it would be incredibly smart to make Langston the permanent appointment.
With many key players leaving the next step appears to be a rebuild through recruitment. The program is in a good position to build given the improving culture set by Coach Langston and the development of other key players such as Makayla Jackson.
On the men’s side of the program, expectations were also low coming into the season given the loss of the program’s three best four best players the previous season. Flynn Cameron, Zyon Pullin, Lachlan Olbrich and Jamal Hartwell II all left the program either via transfer, graduation or turning professional. Given the loss of these key players, the goal should have been to develop their young talent looking to build for the upcoming seasons.
The average expectation would have been a near bottom of the conference finish for the Highlanders, however, that turned out to be a way too low expectation as the Highlanders finished tied with the fifth-best record in the conference with a 10-10 record and earned the 5th seed in the conference tournament.
After beating CSU Bakersfield in the first round of the Big West Tournament in Henderson, Nevada, the Men’s team eventually lost to eventual tournament winners Long Beach State in the quarter-finals. Despite the loss, the season went way better than envisioned for the Highlanders led by freshman Barrington Hargress.
Hargress came away from the season and Big West freshman of the year and a finalist for the Kyle Macy Award for the best freshman in the entirety of Division I. Hargress and transfer teammate Isaiah Moses were both also earned honorable mentions for conference teams.
The season also included big strides in development for Nate Pickens, Niyi Olabode, Kaleb Smith and Ben Griscti. Should the Highlanders be able to continue the development of their players in the offseason as well as recruit impactfully in the transfer portal they will be in a great place to improve their record and build towards a potential bid in March Madness.
The basketball program is in a great position to build on an overachieving season, building a fantastic culture under Athletic Director Wesley Mallette as has been done with much of the other programs.
