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Piscataway, NJ - The defending Northeast Conference (NEC) champion Wagner College men's basketball team will open the 2024-25 season at #25 Rutgers on Wednesday, November 6, with tip-off set for 6:00 pm at Jersey Mike's Arena.
Season-Opener Magic
Wagner will be looking for a win on opening night for the third time in the last four seasons. Two seasons ago, 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.
Three years 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. Last year, Wagner led 31-23 at the half, but it wasn't enough, as the Seahawks fell 68-64 in overtime at Fordham.
The 2016 lid-lifter remains one of the most memorable games in Wagner history, as the Seahawks knocked off No. 18 UConn 67-58.
Wagner In The Preseason Poll
Wagner was picked as the NEC preseason co-favorite, the league announced as part of its virtual Media Day. Wagner was last installed as the preseason favorite in 2021-22.
Wagner and CCSU share the top place in the annual poll conducted by the league's head coaches, with Wagner picking up four first place votes. FDU, Le Moyne, and LIU are predicted to round out the top five of the poll, with newcomers Chicago State and Mercyhurst coming in sixth and seventh, respectively. Saint Francis U and Stonehill complete the poll.
The eight-team NEC Tournament is scheduled for March 5 (quarterfinals), 8 (semifinals) & 11 (championship), with each game hosted by the higher seed. All eight eligible teams will participate in this year's NEC Tournament. Starting in the 2026-27 season, Mercyhurst will be eligible to compete in the NEC postseason.
The Returners
Wagner returns nine players who were with the program during the 2023-24 season.
Senior Javier Ezquerra and junior Keyontae Lewis started all 33 games a season ago. Ezquerra led the NEC with 4.4 assists per game and eclipsed 250 career assists in Wagner's win over Howard. Ezquerra scored in double figures 11 times, including a career-high 22 points against Central Connecticut.
Lewis returns to Grymes Hill as Wagner's leading rebounder at 5.4 boards per contest. The junior scored in double figures 11 times, including both NCAA Tournament games. Lewis added 12 points and nine rebounds in the NEC semifinal against CCSU and finished with double-digit rebounds on three occasions.
Senior Tyje Kelton appeared in all 33 games last season and will build on a 2023-24 campaign that saw him score in double-figures seven times. Kelton connected on 45 three's a season ago, which includes two clutch makes from long range in the NCAA Tournament against Howard.
Four veteran players who are expected to return from injury and make a significant impact this season are graduate student Rahmir Moore, seniors Rob Taylor II and Zaire Williams, and redshirt junior Di'Andre Howell-South, who all missed a majority of last year due to injury after starting the season strong.
Graduate students Zae Blake and Churchill Bounds will look to make an impact during the 2024-25 season after missing the entirety of last season due to injury.
The Newcomers
The Seahawks welcomed four newcomers in the offseason in R.J. Greene, Ja'Kair Sanchez, Makhai Anderson, and Zavier Fitch.
No stranger to the NEC, Greene joined the Seahawks after spending two seasons at crosstown rival LIU. During the 2023-24 season, Greene led the NEC with eight rebounds per game, including a league-leading six defensive rebounds per game. The Bronx native was 12th in the NEC in minutes played with 30.64 per game and was 13th in the league with 0.68 blocks per game. In two years at LIU, Greene scored in double figures 22 times and has averaged 8.7 points during his two-year collegiate career while starting 44 games.
Sanchez transferred to Wagner after two years at Division II Roberts Wesleyan and most recently Minnesota State University Moorhead. In 2023-24, Sanchez earned Second Team All-NSIC honors after playing in all 31 games for MSUM with 14 starts. Sanchez averaged 12.5 points per game and 4.3 rebounds a contest while shooting 42 percent from the field, including a 42.2 connection rate from long range. Sanchez earned second-team All-East Coast Conference honors in 2021-22 after leading Roberts Wesleyan in scoring at 15.3 points per game.
Fitch arrived on Grymes Hill after a standout career at Brother Rice High School in Chicago, where he participated in the The Illinois Basketball Coaches Association All-Star game and was named an All-CCL Second Team selection. The athletic 6-7 freshman hails from a basketball family, as his father Steve played basketball at Illinois State, while his sister Isis played at Bradley. At the AAU level, Fitch starred for Y&R.
Anderson comes to Wagner from the Solebury School in Pennsylvania. At the AAU level, Anderson played for We R 1. Known as an explosive athlete, Anderson averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds per game as a sophomore in high school.
A Look Back At The Madness
The 2023-24 Seahawks became the second team in school history and first since team 2003 to win the NEC title. Wagner also earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory by defeating #16 Howard 71-68 in the First Four of the 2024 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
With a thrilling, 54-47, victory over #2 Merrimack, the Seahawks became the first NEC team to win three road games en route to a conference championship, running the perpetual gauntlet by defeating #3 Sacred Heart and #1 CCSU before dethroning the reigning NEC Champion Warriors.
With just seven healthy scholarship players, this year's Wagner team tied the 1999 Mount St. Mary's team for the lowest seed to ever win the NEC title after becoming the first team since the 2005 Seahawks to qualify for the NEC championship game as the #6 seed.
The Series
Wednesday's contest marks the 11th all-time meeting between the Seahawks and Scarlet Knights and first since the 2001-2002 season. Wagner's lone win over Rutgers came in 1995, an 80-78 victory under head coach Tim Capstraw.
Scouting The Scarlet Knights
Rutgers enters the 2024-25 season ranked 25th in the country. Freshmen Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey have been named to the Naismith Trophy Men's College Player of the Year Watch List. The Scarlet Knights finished the 2023-24 season with a 15-17 record and 7-13 mark in conference play.
Copeland Agrees To Five-Year Contract
In the wake of a championship season that landed the Seahawks in the NCAA Tournament, Wagner College has made a significant investment in its basketball program.
The college signed men's basketball coach Donald Copeland to a five-year contract in the summer, President Jeffrey A. Doggett and Director of Athletics Brendan Fahey announced. It is the first multi-year contract for a head coach in the history of the Wagner College athletic department.
In just his second season at the helm, Copeland led the Seahawks to their first Tournament in 21 years and coached Wagner to its first-ever Tournament win.
This past season, Copeland was named a finalist for the 2023-24 Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year award. The award is presented annually to the top minority head coach in Division I college basketball.
Morales Re-Signs With Magic
The Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA) re-signed former Wagner standout guard Alex Morales in October.
Morales has played in 64 career NBA G League games with Osceola (previously Lakeland) of the NBA G League, averaging 8.0 points., 5.2 rebounds., 2.9 assists, and 1.22 steals per game, while shooting .509 (206-405) from the field.
Morales re-joined the Magic on an Exhibit 10 contract and joined Osceola in October.
In his three-year career on Grymes Hill, Morales became the 13th player in NEC history to compile 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 250 assists while leading Wagner with 19 points, seven rebounds, and four assists per contest.
The Paterson, NJ native became the fourth player in league history to repeat as NEC Player of the Year while also earning Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-NEC honors. He was voted to the NABC District 15 First Team, earned ECAC Player of the Year and First Team All-Met honors in 2022.
New Faces On The Sidelines
Apart from head coach Donald Copeland and assistant coach Kevin Lynch, the Seahawks will have an entirely new coaching staff going for the 2024-25 season.
Corey Fisher,
Dwan McMillan, and
Kyle Smyth joined the staff as assistant coaches.
Tim Rodriguez joins as the Director of Operations, while
Kenneth Jones joins the staff as the Director of Player Development.
The Schedule
The Seahawks' non-conference slate features seven road contests and six games at the Spiro Sports Center.
Wagner's home opener will take place on November 9 against Manor College.
As part of a three-game road trip, the Seahawks will take on consecutive Big East opponents in St. John's (11/13) and Seton Hall (11/16) before traveling to Boston University (11/19).
Following a home contest against Springfield (11/23), Wagner will close out the month of November at Georgetown (11/26).
Wagner will play host for four of six games in December, starting on December 4 against Coppin State.
After back-to-back road games against Maryland Eastern Shore (12/8) and NJIT (12/14), Wagner finishes its non-conference schedule against Manhattan (12/18), Penn State Fayette (12/ 21) and Penn State Scranton (12/23).
Wagner's NEC title defense will commence with consecutive home games at the Spiro Sports Center against newcomer Chicago State and FDU on January 3 and 5, respectively.
Following a road tilt at CCSU (1/10), the Seahawks will play four consecutive games against Mercyhurst and Saint Francis U between January 18-26, before traveling to Stonehill on January 30.
The month of February will begin with back-to-back home contests against Le Moyne (2/1) and LIU (2/6). Four of the final six games of the regular season will be on the road, with home contests against Stonehill (2/20) and CCSU (3/1).
This year's NEC Tournament is set for March 5-11.
Excellence In The Classroom
Wagner is not just the defending NEC champion on the court, but also in the classroom, as the Seahawks won the NEC's GPA award for men's basketball after posting a 3.413 team GPA. As a department, the Seahawks posted a 3.362 GPA, third-highest in the NEC.
