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
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Record	28–9 (15–3 WAC)
Head coach	Mark Madsen (4th season)
Associate head coach	Todd Phillips (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Todd Okeson (4th season) Ken Moses (1st season)
Home arena	UCCU Center (Capacity: 8,500)
Seasons ← 2021–22 2023–24 →

2022–23 WAC men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Utah Valley	15	–	3		.833			28	–	9		.757
Sam Houston	14	–	4		.778			26	–	8		.765
Southern Utah	12	–	6		.667			24	–	13		.649
Grand Canyon †	11	–	7		.611			24	–	12		.667
Seattle	11	–	7		.611			20	–	12		.625
Stephen F. Austin	11	–	7		.611			19	–	13		.594
Tarleton*	9	–	9		.500			17	–	17		.500
California Baptist	8	–	10		.444			17	–	16		.515
Abilene Christian	7	–	11		.389			13	–	17		.433
UT Rio Grande Valley	6	–	12		.333			15	–	17		.469
UT Arlington	6	–	12		.333			11	–	21		.344
Utah Tech*	5	–	13		.278			14	–	19		.424
New Mexico State**	2	–	16		.111			9	–	15		.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

Main article: 2021–22 Utah Valley Wolverines men's basketball team

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

Name	Position	Height	Year	Reason for departure
Fardaws Aimaq	C	6'11"	Junior	Transfer to Texas Tech[5]
Connor Harding	G	6'6"	Senior	Graduation
Trey Farrer	F	6'9"	Junior	Transfer to Westminster[6]

Incoming transfers

Name	Position	Height	Year	Previous school
Tahj Small	G	6'5"	Senior	Tarleton State[7]
Aziz Bandaogo	C	7'0"	Sophomore	Akron[8]
Cam Alford	G	6'1"	Junior	John A. Logan College[9]
Cache Fields	G	6'6"	Junior	Gavilan College[8]

Roster

2022–23 Utah Valley Wolverines men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Justin Harmon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Curie HS Barton CC Chicago, IL G 1 Le'Tre Darthard 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Denton Guyer HS McCook CC Denton, TX F 2 Tim Ceaser 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Marion HS Coastal Carolina Marion, AR G 3 Blaze Nield 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr BYU USU-Eastern Lehi, UT G 4 Trey Woodbury 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Clark HS UNLV Las Vegas, NV F/C 5 Tim Fuller 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) RS Sr Highland HS Weber State Gilbert, AZ G 10 Cam Alford 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Brownsburg HS John A. Logan College Indianapolis, IN C 11 Tahj Small 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Word of God Academy Tarleton Durham, NC G 12 Raul Freire Del Tio (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr IES Virgen de Valme Seville, Spain G 13 Jaden McClanahan 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Salesian HS Independence CC Vallejo, CA G 15 Cache Fields (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Pinewood HS Gavilan College Palo Alto, CA G 20 Trevan Leonhardt (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Davis HS Kaysville, UT G 21 Brenden Crowther (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Alamosa HS Alamosa, CO G 22 Jordan Battle 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Hargrave Military Academy Chesapeake, VA F 34 Joao Das Chagas 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Fr NBA Academy Niquelândia, Brazil F 35 Ethan Potter 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Layton HS Layton, UT C 55 Aziz Bandaogo 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So NBA Academy Africa Akron Dakar, Senegal	Head coach Mark Madsen (Stanford) Assistant coach(es) Todd Phillips (Lewis–Clark State) Todd Okeson (Nevada) Ken Moses (CSU Pueblo) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: November 4, 2022

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 7, 2022* 7:00 pm, MW Network		at Utah State	L 58–75	0–1	Smith Spectrum (7,430) Logan, UT
Nov 9, 2022* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Western Colorado	W 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 OT	2–2	LJVM Coliseum (5,694) Winston-Salem, NC
Nov 18, 2022* 5:00 pm, HBCUgo		vs. Morgan State Jamaica Classic	L 72–73 OT	2–3	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 State	L 69–87	3–4	ExtraMile Arena (8,544) Boise, ID
Dec 3, 2022* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Long Beach State	W 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 Arizona	W 80–75 OT	6–4	Walkup Skydome (676) Flagstaff, AZ
Dec 13, 2022* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		SAGU American Indian College	W 100–54	7–4	UCCU Center (1,427) Orem, UT
Dec 16, 2022* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Antelope Valley	W 80–54	8–4	UCCU Center (1,141) Orem, UT
Dec 20, 2022* 8:30 pm, P12N		at Oregon	W 77–72	9–4	Matthew Knight Arena (5,064) Eugene, OR
WAC regular season
Dec 29, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Sam Houston	W 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 Arlington	W 72–64	12–4 (3–0)	College Park Center (1,017) Arlington, TX
Jan 7, 2023 5:30 pm, ESPN+		at UTRGV	W 75–61	13–4 (4–0)	UTRGV Fieldhouse (517) Edinburg, TX
Jan 11, 2023 8:00 pm, ESPN+		at Cal Baptist	W 71–67	14–4 (5–0)	CBU Events Center (2,611) Riverside, CA
Jan 14, 2023 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Seattle U	L 80–85	14–5 (5–1)	UCCU Center (2,976) Orem, UT
Jan 18, 2023 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Abilene Christian	W 84–54	15–5 (6–1)	UCCU Center (2,827) Orem, UT
Jan 21, 2023 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Grand Canyon	W 76–74	16–5 (7–1)	GCU Arena (7,007) Phoenix, AZ
Jan 26, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Southern Utah	L 67–79	16–6 (7–2)	America First Event Center (4,013) Cedar City, UT
Jan 28, 2023 2:00 pm, ESPN+		New Mexico State	W 77–72	17–6 (8–2)	UCCU Center (2,915) Orem, UT
Feb 2, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Utah Tech	W 76–69	18–6 (9–2)	Burns Arena (2,424) St. George, UT
Feb 8, 2023 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Cal Baptist	W 71–55	19–6 (10–2)	UCCU Center (1,886) Orem, UT
Feb 11, 2023 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Southern Utah	W 90–83	20–6 (11–2)	UCCU Center (5,168) Orem, UT
Feb 18, 2023 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Seattle U	W 67–58	21–6 (12–2)	Redhawk Center (999) Seattle, WA
Feb 23, 2023 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Tarleton	L 58–77	21–7 (12–3)	Wisdom Gym (2,017) Stephenville, TX
Feb 25, 2023 5:00 pm, ESPN+		at Abilene Christian	W 66–62	22–7 (13–3)	Moody Coliseum (1,951) Abilene, TX
Mar 1, 2023 6:00 pm, ESPN+		UT Arlington	W 78–59	23–7 (14–3)	UCCU Center (2,574) Orem, UT
Mar 3, 2023 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Stephen F. Austin	W 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 OT	28–9	Orleans Arena (2,931) Paradise, NV
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain.

See also

• 2022–23 Utah Valley Wolverines women's basketball team

References

1. "Men's Basketball All-Time Records". UVU Athletics. Utah Valley University Athletics. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
2. "Mark Madsen Departs Utah Valley to Become Head Coach at California". UVU Athletics. Utah Valley University Athletics. March 29, 2023. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
3. "Chicago State vs. Utah Valley - Game Summary - March 8, 2022 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
4. Roberts, Garner. "Abilene Christian overcomes bigger Utah Valley in WAC men's basketball tournament opener". Abilene Reporter-News. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
5. "Aimaq, former WAC POY, commits to Texas Tech". ESPN.com. April 29, 2022. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
6. "Verbal Commits | Trey Farrer Player Profile, Highlights, Offers, Twitter". www.verbalcommits.com. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
7. Ireland, Kyle (May 25, 2022). "Utah Valley MBB Signs Tarleton Transfer Tahj Small". KSL Sports. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
8. McDonald, Kyle (September 30, 2022). "Utah Valley Wolverines Men's Basketball 2022-23 Season Preview". WAC Hoops Digest. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
9. Ireland, Kyle (May 23, 2022). "Utah Valley MBB Signs Junior College Transfer Cam Alford". KSL Sports. Retrieved November 2, 2022.