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New York, NY - The Wagner men's basketball team will open its 2023-24 season at Fordham on Monday on ESPN+. Tip-off between the Seahawks and Rams is set for 7:00 pm.

Season Opener Magic

Wagner will be looking for its third straight win on opening night. Last season, Wagner trailed 57-42 with 7:38 to play, but fought back to force overtime before earning a 76-73 overtime win over Temple for the first win of the Donald Copeland era.

Two seasons ago, Wagner earned a wire-to-wire 77-59 victory over Hartford in front of 1,924 fans at the Spiro Sports Center to open the season.

The 2016 lid-lifter remains one of the most memorable games in Wagner history, as the Seahawks knocked off No. 18 UConn 67-58.

The Returners

This year's team features returners Rahmir Moore, Javier Ezquerra, Zaire Williams, Julian Brown, Rob Taylor II, and Keyontae Lewis.

The five returners combined for 74 starts a season ago, with each player appearing in more than 20 games and averaging double-digit minutes. Moore is Wagner's leading returning scorer with 8.3 points per game a season ago.

The Newcomers

Wagner's newcomers include Di'Andre Howell-South, Tahron Allen, Zae Blake, Churchill Bounds, Melvin Council Jr., Seck Zongo, and Tyje Kelton. Zongo is the lone freshman on the 2023-24 roster, with Howell-South, Allen, Blake, and Bounds having played at the Division I level before their arrival on Grymes Hill.

Wagner In The Preseason Poll

The league's head coaches projected the Seahawks to finish fifth behind Sacred Heart, Central Connecticut, FDU, and Merrimack.

On the men's side, NEC coaches have only managed to correctly forecast the eventual league champion three times in the last 24 years, but got it right last season, picking Merrimack to win it all. Over the last 36 years, their predictions have been accurate on only three occasions, or just 14 percent of the time.

Seahawks Take Trip Abroad

The Seahawks went abroad this August, going on a foreign tour to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Wagner played two games against the U.S. Virgin Islands national team, earning a split on consecutive nights.

In game one, the Seahawks earned a convincing 78-68 victory over the Virgin Islands, as five Seahawks scored nine or more points to lead a balanced Wagner attack that converted on 42.9% of field goal attempts on the night.

One night later, a furious comeback came up just short, as the Seahawks fell 82-76 despite outscoring their opponents 27-21 in the final quarter.

Apart from playing two games, the Wagner delegation took in numerous cultural experiences, including a catamaran tour, a swimming session with dolphins and sea lions, along with sightseeing tours of multiple historical venues in Saint Thomas.

Under NCAA rules, teams are allowed to take one foreign trip every four years. This marked Wagner's first trip abroad since 2016, when the Seahawks traveled to Costa Rica. The Seahawks also traveled to Sydney, Australia in 2005.

Morales Re-Signs With Magic

Former NEC Player of the Year Alex Morales recently re-signed with the Orlando Magic. Morales signed with the Magic last year and played in 30 games with the team's G League affiliate in Lakeland, averaging 6.2 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game, 2.0 assists per game and 1.13 steals per game in 21.9 minutes per contest.

Morales re-joins the Magic on an Exhibit 10 contract, which is a one-year deal and gives an NBA franchise the flexibility to convert it into a two-way deal, but the team must ensure that it happens before the commencement of the regular season.

Other recent signings involving Wagner alumni include Raekwon Rogers inking a deal with APOP Paphou in Cyprus and Jahbril Price Noel signing with the Brampton Honey Badgers of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL).

The Series

Wagner and Fordham will meet for the second consecutive season. Last season, Wagner led 35-32 at the half, but it wasn't enough, as the Seahawks fell 72-59. Prior to last season's matchup, the Seahawks and Rams had not met since the 1978-81 season. Monday's game marks the 28th meeting between the two schools.

The Seahawks and Rams also met in this year's season-opening game in football.

Scouting The Rams

Fordham finished the 2022-23 season with a 25-8 overall record and 12-6 mark in Atlantic 10 play. Kyle Rose and Abdou Tsimbila earned selection to the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Defensive Team, with the Rams being picked to finish seventh in the the conference, its highest preseason ranking since the 2007-08 campaign when the Rams came in fourth.  Fordham earned one first-place vote in this year's poll.

New Faces On The Sidelines

Wagner's staff for the 2023-24 season features three newcomers. Kevin Lynch joins the staff as an assistant coach after nine seasons at Big East member Seton Hall.  Former St. John's guard Malik Boothe will serve as the Director of Player Development, while Brett Riley will take over as the Director of Basketball Operations.

The Schedule

Following Monday's season-opener, Wagner will play its first game at the Spiro Sports Center on November 9 againt Molloy University.

Following two road games at Rhode Island (11/14) and Seton Hall (11/18), Wagner will host NJIT on November 25.

The month of December will start with two consecutive road games at Stony Brook (12/2) and Coppin State (12/6). The Seahawks will take on Boston University on December 10 before traveling to Fairfield on December 17.

The Green and White will close out the non-conference slate with a home game against Gwynedd Mercy (12/22) and road contest at Manhattan (12/30).

The first home game in conference action is set for January 6 against Saint Francis U at the Spiro Sports Center.

At home, Wagner will take on Stonehill on January 15, Merrimack on January 25, NEC newcomer Le Moyne on February 1, Sacred Heart on February 17, CCSU on February 22, LIU on February 24, and FDU in the regular season finale on March 2.