2024-25 WAC Men's Basketball Release - Tournament Week First Round

GCU COMPLETES THE WAC TOURNAMENT THREE-PEAT
No. 2 seed Grand Canyon secured a historic three-peat on March 15 at the Orleans Arena, hoisting the WAC Men’s Basketball Tournament hardware once more in an 89-82 win over No. 1 seed Utah Valley. GCU became the second men’s basketball team in WAC history to officially win the league tournament in three straight seasons (2023-25), joining New Mexico State (2012-15, 2017-19). JaKobe Coles captured 2025 WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors after averaging 19.7 points on 55.6 percent shooting over three tournament games. Fellow GCU players on the all-tournament team were Tyon Grant-Foster (14.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.7 blocks) and Ray Harrison (15.0 points, 55.2 percent shooting, 3.0 assists). Utah Valley’s Tanner Toolson (20.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 57.9 percent shooting) and Carter Welling (15.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.3 blocks) joined the GCU trio on the all-tournament squad.

LOPES BOUND FOR NCAA TOURNAMENT WEST REGION
Grand Canyon received the No. 13 seed in the West Region of the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. The Lopes will collide with No. 4 seed Maryland in the first round on March 21 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington. The game will air on TBS with an expected 1:35 p.m. PT tip time, featuring Lisa Byington, Robbie Hummel, Jalen Rose and Andy Katz on the call.

WAC TEAMS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Historically, teams from the WAC have combined to win 68 NCAA tournament games all time, with schools representing the WAC appearing in six Sweet 16s. The most recent WAC NCAA tournament qualifier, Grand Canyon, won a first round matchup as a No. 12 national seed against No. 5 Saint Mary’s 75-66 last season in Spokane, Washington. GCU then took eventual Final Four qualifier Alabama to the limit in a 72-61 second round showdown during the 2024 NCAA tournament.

MORE BASKETBALL TO BE PLAYED FOR UTAH VALLEY
WAC regular-season champion Utah Valley clinched the conference’s automatic bid into the 2025 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and will open tournament play on March 19 in California against No. 1 seed San Francisco at 8 p.m. PT on ESPNU. WAC teams have compiled a 96-81 (.542) aggregate record in the NIT throughout the conference’s history, with Utah Valley making the most recent appearance in the tournament in 2023. The Wolverines defeated New Mexico, Colorado and Cincinnati to reach the semifinals of the 2023 NIT at the Orleans Arena, losing a heartbreaking 88-86 decision to UAB in overtime.

UVU’S NELSON NAMED 2024-25 WAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Utah Valley’s Dominick Nelson captured 2024-25 WAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year accolades on March 10, voted on by the conference’s nine head coaches as part of end of season awards presented by University Credit Union. Nelson highlighted five major award winners representing three different institutions from across the WAC. Other top award winners included Utah Valley’s Carter Welling (WAC Defensive Player of the Year) and head coach Todd Phillips (WAC Coach of the Year), Tarleton State’s Keitenn Bristow (Freshman of the Year) and Grand Canyon’s Lök Wur (Sixth Player of the Year). WAC regular-season champion Utah Valley led the way with three total players on WAC all-conference teams, including Nelson on the first team and Welling and Tanner Toolson on the second team. Grand Canyon also boasted three all-conference performers in JaKobe Coles and Tyon Grant-Foster on the first team and Duke Brennan on the second team. California Baptist’s Dominique Daniels Jr. and Seattle U’s Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe rounded out the five-man all-conference first team, while Southern Utah’s Jamir Simpson and UT Arlington’s Lance Ware capped the five-man all-conference second team.

CBU’S DANIELS, SEATTLE U’S MONCRIEFFE CLAIM NABC All-DISTRICT RECOGNITION
California Baptist guard Dominique Daniels Jr. and Seattle U forward Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe were named to the 2024-25 NABC Division I Pacific All-District Second Team that was unveiled on March 18. Daniels led all WAC scorers with 19.6 points per game across 29 starts this season, with his 36-point game against Utah Tech on Feb. 15 and his 33-point outing against Central Florida on Dec. 1 the top two scoring performances in the conference during the regular season. Daniels also paced all WAC players with 15 different performances scoring 20 or more points. In his lone season at Seattle U Moncrieffe averaged 15.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, ranking second in the conference in rebounding and third in scoring. Moncrieffe registered 11 double-doubles during the year to tie UT Arlington forward Lance Ware for the top spot in the conference.

NATIONAL RANKINGS IN THE NCAA
Abilene Christian entered the postseason tournament week as the NCAA Division I leader in turnovers forced per game with 17.09. The Wildcats also ended their season first in the country with 10.3 team steals per contest. Tarleton State was second behind ACU in turnovers forced per game (16.66), Utah Valley ranked fourth in blocks per game (5.8) and Grand Canyon was fifth in free throws made (19.0).