2022–23 Utah Valley Wolverines men's basketball team

The 2022–23 Utah Valley Wolverines men's basketball team represented Utah Valley University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Wolverines, led by fourth-year head coach Mark Madsen, played their home games at the UCCU Center in Orem, Utah, and competed as members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). They finished with an overall record of 24–7, 15–3 in WAC play, to finish in first place. In the 2023 WAC tournament, they defeated Tarleton in the quarterfinals before losing to Southern Utah in the semifinals the following day. As the conference leader who didn't win their tournament, they were offered an automatic bid to play in the NIT. They defeated New Mexico, Colorado, and Cincinnati to reach the semifinal round (their first time advancing to semifinals), where they finally fell to UAB in overtime, 86–88. With a final record of 28–9, the 2022–23 season marked the Wolverine's most successful season to date as a D-I program.[1]

2022–23 Utah Valley Wolverines men's basketball
WAC regular season champions
NIT, Semifinals
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference
Record28–9 (15–3 WAC)
Head coach
Associate head coachTodd Phillips (4th season)
Assistant coaches
  • Todd Okeson (4th season)
  • Ken Moses (1st season)
Home arenaUCCU Center
(Capacity: 8,500)
Seasons
2022–23 WAC men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
Utah Valley153 .833289 .757
Sam Houston144 .778268 .765
Southern Utah126 .6672413 .649
Grand Canyon117 .6112412 .667
Seattle117 .6112012 .625
Stephen F. Austin117 .6111913 .594
Tarleton*99 .5001717 .500
California Baptist810 .4441716 .515
Abilene Christian711 .3891317 .433
UT Rio Grande Valley612 .3331517 .469
UT Arlington612 .3331121 .344
Utah Tech*513 .2781419 .424
New Mexico State**216 .111915 .375
* Ineligible for the NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II
** Season cancelled on February 11, 2023.
Conference tournament winner

On March 29, 2023, head coach Mark Madsen announced that he would be departing Utah Valley to become the head coach at California.[2]

Previous season

The Wolverines finished the 2021–22 season 20–12, 10–8 in Western Athletic Conference play to finish in seventh place. As the Number 7 seed in the WAC Tournament, they defeated number 10 seed Chicago State 69–47 in the first round.[3] In the second round, UVU lost to number 6 seed Abilene Christian 74–82.[4]

Offseason

Departures

NamePositionHeightYearReason for departure
Fardaws AimaqC6'11"JuniorTransfer to Texas Tech[5]
Connor HardingG6'6"SeniorGraduation
Trey FarrerF6'9"JuniorTransfer to Westminster[6]

Incoming transfers

NamePositionHeightYearPrevious school
Tahj SmallG6'5"SeniorTarleton State[7]
Aziz BandaogoC7'0"SophomoreAkron[8]
Cam AlfordG6'1"JuniorJohn A. Logan College[9]
Cache FieldsG6'6"JuniorGavilan College[8]

Roster

2022–23 Utah Valley Wolverines men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
G0Justin Harmon6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)180 lb (82 kg)SrCurie HS
Barton CC
Chicago, IL
G1Le'Tre Darthard6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)180 lb (82 kg)JrDenton Guyer HS
McCook CC
Denton, TX
F2Tim Ceaser6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)210 lb (95 kg)JrMarion HS
Coastal Carolina
Marion, AR
G3Blaze Nield6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)185 lb (84 kg)SrBYU
USU-Eastern
Lehi, UT
G4Trey Woodbury6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)200 lb (91 kg)SrClark HS
UNLV
Las Vegas, NV
F/C5Tim Fuller6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)235 lb (107 kg)RS SrHighland HS
Weber State
Gilbert, AZ
G10Cam Alford6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)205 lb (93 kg)JrBrownsburg HS
John A. Logan College
Indianapolis, IN
C11Tahj Small6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)195 lb (88 kg)SrWord of God Academy
Tarleton
Durham, NC
G12Raul Freire Del Tio (W)5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)165 lb (75 kg)FrIES Virgen de ValmeSeville, Spain
G13Jaden McClanahan5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)175 lb (79 kg)JrSalesian HS
Independence CC
Vallejo, CA
G15Cache Fields (W)6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)210 lb (95 kg)JrPinewood HS
Gavilan College
Palo Alto, CA
G20Trevan Leonhardt (W)6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)175 lb (79 kg)FrDavis HSKaysville, UT
G21Brenden Crowther (W)6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)200 lb (91 kg)FrAlamosa HSAlamosa, CO
G22Jordan Battle6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)200 lb (91 kg)SoHargrave Military AcademyChesapeake, VA
F34Joao Das Chagas6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)240 lb (109 kg)FrNBA AcademyNiquelândia, Brazil
F35Ethan Potter6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)205 lb (93 kg)FrLayton HSLayton, UT
C55Aziz Bandaogo7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)230 lb (104 kg)SoNBA Academy Africa
Akron
Dakar, Senegal
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: November 4, 2022

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV
Rank#Opponent#ResultRecordSite (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 7, 2022*
7:00 pm, MW Network
at Utah StateL 58–75 0–1
Smith Spectrum (7,430)
Logan, UT
Nov 9, 2022*
6:00 pm, ESPN+
Western ColoradoW 91–64 1–1
UCCU Center (1,449)
Orem, UT
Nov 12, 2022*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Northern Arizona
Native American Heritage Game
W 73–69 2–1
UCCU Center (2,034)
Orem, UT
Nov 15, 2022*
5:00 pm, ACCN
at Wake Forest
Jamaica Classic campus site game
L 65–68 OT2–2
LJVM Coliseum (5,694)
Winston-Salem, NC
Nov 18, 2022*
5:00 pm, HBCUgo
vs. Morgan State
Jamaica Classic
L 72–73 OT2–3
Montego Bay Convention Centre (5,307)
Montego Bay, Jamaica
Nov 20, 2022*
5:30 pm, HBCUgo
vs. Green Bay
Jamaica Classic
W 79–56 3–3
Montego Bay Convention Centre (5,128)
Montego Bay, Jamaica
Nov 26, 2022*
2:00 pm, MW Network
at Boise StateL 69–87 3–4
ExtraMile Arena (8,544)
Boise, ID
Dec 3, 2022*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Long Beach StateW 88–78 4–4
UCCU Center (1,389)
Orem, UT
Dec 7, 2022*
7:00 pm, BYUtv
at BYU
UCCU Crosstown Clash
W 75–60 5–4
Marriott Center (13,925)
Provo, UT
Dec 10, 2022*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Northern ArizonaW 80–75 OT6–4
Walkup Skydome (676)
Flagstaff, AZ
Dec 13, 2022*
6:00 pm, ESPN+
SAGU American Indian CollegeW 100–54 7–4
UCCU Center (1,427)
Orem, UT
Dec 16, 2022*
6:00 pm, ESPN+
Antelope ValleyW 80–54 8–4
UCCU Center (1,141)
Orem, UT
Dec 20, 2022*
8:30 pm, P12N
at OregonW 77–72 9–4
Matthew Knight Arena (5,064)
Eugene, OR
WAC regular season
Dec 29, 2022
6:00 pm, ESPN+
Sam HoustonW 80–64 10–4
(1–0)
UCCU Center (1,911)
Orem, UT
Dec 31, 2022
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Utah Tech
Old Hammer Rivalry
W 71–60 11–4
(2–0)
UCCU Center (2,463)
Orem, UT
Jan 5, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+
at UT ArlingtonW 72–64 12–4
(3–0)
College Park Center (1,017)
Arlington, TX
Jan 7, 2023
5:30 pm, ESPN+
at UTRGVW 75–61 13–4
(4–0)
UTRGV Fieldhouse (517)
Edinburg, TX
Jan 11, 2023
8:00 pm, ESPN+
at Cal BaptistW 71–67 14–4
(5–0)
CBU Events Center (2,611)
Riverside, CA
Jan 14, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+
Seattle UL 80–85 14–5
(5–1)
UCCU Center (2,976)
Orem, UT
Jan 18, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+
Abilene ChristianW 84–54 15–5
(6–1)
UCCU Center (2,827)
Orem, UT
Jan 21, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+
at Grand CanyonW 76–74 16–5
(7–1)
GCU Arena (7,007)
Phoenix, AZ
Jan 26, 2023
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Southern UtahL 67–79 16–6
(7–2)
America First Event Center (4,013)
Cedar City, UT
Jan 28, 2023
2:00 pm, ESPN+
New Mexico StateW 77–72 17–6
(8–2)
UCCU Center (2,915)
Orem, UT
Feb 2, 2023
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Utah TechW 76–69 18–6
(9–2)
Burns Arena (2,424)
St. George, UT
Feb 8, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+
Cal BaptistW 71–55 19–6
(10–2)
UCCU Center (1,886)
Orem, UT
Feb 11, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+
Southern UtahW 90–83 20–6
(11–2)
UCCU Center (5,168)
Orem, UT
Feb 18, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+
at Seattle UW 67–58 21–6
(12–2)
Redhawk Center (999)
Seattle, WA
Feb 23, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+
at TarletonL 58–77 21–7
(12–3)
Wisdom Gym (2,017)
Stephenville, TX
Feb 25, 2023
5:00 pm, ESPN+
at Abilene ChristianW 66–62 22–7
(13–3)
Moody Coliseum (1,951)
Abilene, TX
Mar 1, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+
UT ArlingtonW 78–59 23–7
(14–3)
UCCU Center (2,574)
Orem, UT
Mar 3, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+
Stephen F. AustinW 113–69 24–7
(15–3)
UCCU Center (2,267)
Orem, UT
WAC tournament
Mar 9, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+
(2) vs. (7) Tarleton
Quarterfinals
W 72–58 25–7
Orleans Arena 
Paradise, NV
Mar 10, 2023
8:00 pm, ESPN+
(2) vs. (3) Southern Utah
Semifinals
L 88–89 25–8
Orleans Arena (3,003)
Paradise, NV
NIT
Mar 15, 2023*
8:00 p.m., ESPN+
at (2) New Mexico
First Round – Rutgers Bracket
W 83–69 26–8
The Pit (6,803)
Albuquerque, NM
Mar 19, 2023*
7:30 p.m., ESPNU
at (3) Colorado
Second Round – Rutgers Bracket
W 81–69 27–8
CU Events Center (3,964)
Boulder, CO
Mar 22, 2023*
7:00 p.m., ESPN2
(4) Cincinnati
Quarterfinals – Rutgers Bracket
W 74–68 28–8
UCCU Center (5,289)
Orem, UT
March 28, 2023
7:30 p.m., ESPN2
vs. (4) UAB
Semifinals
L 86–88 OT28–9
Orleans Arena (2,931)
Paradise, NV
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Mountain.

See also

References