This week, the Wright State Raiders men’s and women’s basketball teams will both kick off the 2024-25 season on the road against opponents from Power 5 schools.
On Monday, November 4, the men’s team will travel down south to Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY to face the 23rd-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, the winningest program in the history of college basketball (2,377). The game will tip-off at 7ET/6CT and will be televised on SEC Network. Kentucky has won all 4 meetings lifetime against Wright State.
The Raider men finished last year tied for 3rd with Wisconsin-Green Bay in the Horizon League standings with an identical 18-14 record (both were also 13-7 in conference play) and lost to Northern Kentucky in the Horizon League Tournament Quarterfinals, but they are picked to finish 5th this time around.
The Wildcats finished second in the 2023-24 SEC standings with a 23-10 record (13-5 in the SEC), but they lost in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinal Round to Texas A&M and got knocked out in the 1st Round of the NCAA Tournament by defending Horizon League Champion Oakland – who was a 14-seed in the South Region. This season with a wholenew coaching staff, Kentucky is picked to finish tied for 8th with Ole Miss in the Southeastern Conference standings. One Kentucky fun fact is that transfers Amari Williams and Andrew Carr played against each other in the Coastal Athletic Association (named Colonial Athletic Association back then) three times during the 2021-22 season when Williams was at Drexel and Carr was at Delaware, with Delaware winning two of those three meetings.
On Tuesday, November 5, the Wright State women’s team will head up north to face the Wisconsin Badgers at the Kohl Center in Madison, WI. That game will start at 7:30ET/6:30CT and will be shown on Big Ten Network Plus. It’s the first-ever meeting between these two programs.
The Raider women finished last year 4th in the Horizon League standings with an 18-15 record (11-9 in conference play) and lost to Cleveland State in the Horizon League Tournament Semifinals, but they are picked to finish 6th this upcoming campaign.
The Badgers finished the previous reason 10th in the Big Ten standings (15-17 overall, 6-12 in the conference) and made the WNIT Great 8 Round where they lost a close game to eventual WNIT Champion Saint Louis. This go-around, Wisconsin is picked to finish 14th with 4 new schools from the Pac-12 (Oregon, USC, UCLA and Washington) joining the conference.
Men’s coaching profiles
- Wright State: Clint Sargent enters his first season as the head coach of the Raiders, succeeding Scott Nagy, whom Sargent played for at South Dakota State (2007-11). As a player, Sargent left the Jackrabbits program as the 5th all-time leading scorer with 1,505 points. For the past 8 seasons on the Wright State coaching staff, he was the team’s assistant coach before becoming their Associate Head Coach.
- Kentucky: After making two NCAA Tournaments in 5 seasons as the head coach at BYU, Mark Pope enters his first season as the man in charge for Big Blue Nation after John Calipari left for SEC foe Arkansas. Pope began his head coach career at Utah Valley, where he spent 4 seasons (2015-19) and led them to 3 straight College Basketball Invitational appearances. As a player, he started his NCAA career at the University of Washington, where he was the 1992 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year before transferring to Kentucky and winning a National Championship with them in 1996. Pope then got drafted in the 2nd Round of the 1996 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers before also suiting up for the Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, and Milwaukee Bucks.
Women’s coaching profiles
- Wright State: Kari Hoffman (CARE-ee) enters her 4th season as the head coach of the Raiders, where her squad has improved year after year and have now become one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country. As a player at Cedarville (2001-05), she is not only still the program’s 2nd all-time leading scorer (2,275 points); but she is also the school’s all-time leader in 3-point field goals made (338), 3-point field goal percentage (45.8 percent), and career games played (142).
- Wisconsin: Marisa Moseley (MOHZ-lee) enters his 4th season as the woman in charge of Badger Nation. She spent her first 3 seasons as a head coach at her alma mater, Boston University (2018-21), where she was the 2019 Patriot League Coach of the Year. Before her head coaching career started, Moseley spent 9 seasons at Connecticut as an assistant coach under the legendary Geno Auriemma, winning 5 National Championships and making the Final Four every year she was there. As a player with Boston University (2000-04), Moseley led the Terriers to their only NCAA Tournament appearance in 2003 and finished 3rd all-time in school history with 114 blocked shots.
Wright State men’s projected starting lineup
Brandon Noel (noll), F (6-8/235, R-Jr.); Noel was picked as this year’s preseason Horizon League Player of the Year on the men’s side. Last season, he started 31 of 32 games, averaging 14.5 points and 8 rebounds (3rd in the Horizon League). He also shot 40 percent on 3-pointers (32-of-80) and 79.8 percent from the charity stripe (8th in the Horizon League). With Calvin and Holden now graduated, expect Noel’s numbers to go up. That spells trouble for opponents who, at any given moment, will take an unexpected trip to Ginger Island. A 5th-year redshirt junior, Noel will be now known as the team’s main guy and vocal leader.
Michael Imariagbe (eh-mar-ee-bay), F (6-7/215, Sr.); A big pickup in the transfer portal, Imariagbe is an undersized post player, but he is strong and brings some physicality that Sargent is looking for. He started 26 of Houston Christian’s 29 games last season, averaging 11.4 ppg and finished 3rd in the Southland Conference in rebounding at 8.5 boards a night. However, he shot 55.7 percent at the foul line.
Logan Woods (6-5/180, R-Soph.); As a redshirt freshman, Woods played in 27 of 32 games, averaging 2.3 points in 11.1 minutes a contest. His best game came on January 22 at Detroit Mercy, dropping 11 points off the bench. In Wright State’s exhibition game on October 24 against Wilmington, it turned out that he was now a starter, so expect him to get career-highs across the board statistically.
Alex Huibregtse (HUE-bricks), G (6-3/185, R-Sr.); Huibregtse is coming off the best season of his career with numbers up all across the board (started 31 of 32 games, 12.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.3 apg, 41.7% 3-pt FG, 82.9% FT (34/41)), but look for this Wisconsin kid to do even better as a 5th-year senior.
Keaton Norris, G (6-0/165, R-Jr.); In the 2022-23 season, Norris played all 33 games (13 starts) and averaged 3 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per contest. But before last season begun, Norris made the choice to redshirt last season. Now this season, Norris has secured the starting point guard spot. In the offseason, he has improved his shooting and is considered as a guy who doesn’t make a lot of mistakes.
Wright State men’s key reserves
Andrew Welage, G (6-6/180, Gr.); Welage enters his 5th year in Raider Country and originally entered his name in the transfer portal, but returned to Wright State after Sargent was named the new head coach. Welage is a true sniper from long distance as he averaged 5.1 points per game in 26 games (one start) and shot 45.2 percent (28-of-62) from downtown last season with his best game of his career coming at Indiana on November 16, where he dropped 25 off the bench. But later on, he missed 7 games due to an illness. With Welage now 100 percent healthy, expect him to bounce back and go out on his terms.
Drey Carter, F (6-9/200, R-Soph.); Carter is slender with an athletic build. His versatility and 7-5 wingspan gives him the ability to guard almost anybody you put in front of him. Last season, he played all 32 games (4 starts), averaging 4.2 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. He also scored a career-high 12 points on two different occasions.
Ben Southerland, F (6-7/215, R-Soph.); Big Ben played in 26 of Liberty’s 32 games last season, averaging 1.6 points and 1.5 rebounds. But since things “Flamed out” over, expect this kid to get better in a Raider uniform now that he’s playing only an hour away from his hometown of Cincinnati.
Solomon Callaghan, G (6-2/195, R-Fr.); Despite redshirting last season, what we know about Callaghan is that he is left-handed, loves being in the gym, and has a great combination of strength and speed. Expect him to contribute when he’s out there.
Jack Doumbia, W (6-6/210, R-Sr.); This kid played in 24 of 35 games (2 starts), averaging 5.1 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.6 steals a game last season at Norfolk State. He is very athletic, has hops, is coachable, and will play whatever role the coaches want him to.
Kentucky’s projected starting lineup
Amari Williams, C (7-0/250, Gr.); Hailing from Nottingham, England, Williams comes to Lexington after a record-breaking 4-year career at Drexel where he became the first men’s player and third player overall in CAA history – male or female – to win the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year Award for three consecutive seasons (Rochelle Luckett, VCU; Breanna Bolden, College of Charleston). Williams recorded 1,081 points and 732 rebounds all while finishing with the 5th-most blocked shots in school history with 186.
Andrew Carr, F (6-11/235, Gr.); Carr is coming off the best season of his career where he averaged 13.5 points and 6.8 rebounds a game for Wake Forest while starting all 35 games. He even reached 1,000 career points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks all within the first month of last season, too. Carr spent his first two NCAA campaigns at Delaware where he made the 2022 All-CAA Tournament Team.
Koby Brea (BRAY-uh), G (6-7/215, Sr.); One of the top-tier shooters in the nation, Brea transfers into Big Blue Nation from the University of Dayton, where he was just the second 2-time Atlantic-10 6th Man of the Year in conference history (joining James Posey of Xavier). Last season while averaging a career-high 11.1 points a game, Brea led the country in 3-point percentage regardless of gender at 49.8 percent – which was the highest mark in the NCAA in six years – and even had starts in both of the Flyers’ NCAA Tournament games back in March.
Jaxson Robinson, G (6-6/202, Sr.); Robinson is playing for his 4th school in 5 seasons (Texas A&M, Arkansas and BYU) and was picked as a preseason All-Southeastern Conference 3rd Team. Last season with BYU was the best of his career, where he was not just an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention and the conference’s 6th Man of the Year, but he became the first bench player in program history to lead the team in scoring (14.2 points per game).
Lamont Butler, G (6-2/200, Gr.); Butler is a grad transfer from San Diego State, where he was a 2-time Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year and appeared in the NCAA Tournament in all 4 of his seasons, including being the 2023 National Runner-Up. Butler is known for hitting the game-winning shot in the 2023 Final Four against Florida Atlantic. He is just the second Aztec ever, joining Brandon Heath, with at least 1,000 points, 330 assists, 300 rebounds and 175 steals in his career.
– Here are Butler’s career rankings at San Diego State:
- 5th-most steals (183)
- 6th-most conference victories (52)
- 9th-most victories (100)
- 10th-most assists (338)
- 12th-most games played (131)
- tied for 13th in games started (102)
- 17th in minutes played (3,061)
- 18th-most 3-point field goal attempts (324) and field goal attempts (888)
- 36th in career points (1,008)
Kentucky’s key reserves
Ansley Almonor, F (6-7/244, Sr.); He not only averaged a career-high 16.4 points per contest in 32 games (31 starts) last season at Fairleigh Dickinson, but he left as the program’s 23rd all-time points scorer (1,097) and 4th in made 3-pointers (180). Almonor also tied Manny Ubilla (YOU-bee-UH) for the FDU school record with the most 3-pointers made in a single season (93), but it’s a question whether he will redshirt this upcoming season or not.
Brandon Garrison, F/C (6-10/250, Soph.); Garrison’s hometown is Oklahoma City and his freshman season at Oklahoma State was one of the best in the program’s history (7.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG in 32 games (29 starts)).
– Here are Garrison’s other stats at Oklahoma State:
- 5th in the Big 12 in blocks per game (1.47)
- 47 total blocks, 5th-most ever by a Cowboy freshman
- 58.9 percent field-goal percentage, 4th-best all-time among Cowboy rookies with at least 80 makes
Kerr Kriisa (KREE-suh), G (6-3/185, 5th Year); The young Estonian started his career at Arizona where he played in the NCAA Tournament in his sophomore and junior years and led the Pac-12 with 5.1 assists per game in the 2022-23 season. Last season at West Virginia, Kriisa played and started in 23 games, averaging a career-high 11.4 points per game while also averaging 4.7 dimes a night as well.
Otega Oweh (oh-WAY), G (6-4/215, Jr.); Oweh transferred from Oklahoma, where he averaged 11.4 points per contest last season in his sophomore campaign. His best highlight was when he tipped in the game-winning shot over USC in the Rady Children’s Invitational Championship game and ended up making that event’s All-Tournament Team. His weakness is his foul shooting, which was 64.3 percent last year as well.
Wright State women’s projected starting lineup (according to fellow WSU basketball columnist Blake Schumaker)
Amaya Staton, F (6-1/Gr.); The only graduate student on the roster, Staton comes over from Northeast Conference school Merrimack, where she averaged career-highs in points and rebounds per game (10.9 PPG, 5.7 RPG) in 20 games (16 starts last season. Staton brings the physicality that Hoffman is looking for in a post player and will be a solid replacement for Rachel Loobie, who transferred to Long Beach State. Ironically, Staton began her NCAA career at fellow Horizon League school Cleveland State and played in 9 games as a freshman.
Claire Henson, G (5-10/Jr.); One of three local kids on Hoffman’s roster, Henson played in 21 games last season as a sophomore, averaging 3 points and 1.7 rebounds in 12.2 minutes per game off the bench. In her junior year, Henson’s role may grow along with her numbers.
Makiya Miller, G (5-7/Jr.); Miller made the Horizon League All-Freshman Team recipient in her first year, but her sophomore season was shortened since she tore her ACL on January 11 at IUPUI. Now as a junior, Miller is looking for an injury-free campaign and will be expected to play more minutes. She is versatile with a nice jump shot in her arsenal and is also not afraid to drive to the rim.
Lauren Scott, G (5-7, Jr.); Playing all 33 games last season and starting 13 of them, Scott is the only remaining part of the team who received starter’s minutes during last season and did not do a bad job, averaging 6.9 points per game with a solid 3-point clip of 39.4 percent. A player who works hard and has enough energy that can last the whole game, Scott will be called upon to be one of the team leaders as a veteran.
Rylee Sagester (5-7/R-Fr.); For Coach Hoffman and the Raiders, the history of highly-regarded players at the point guard position started with Channing Chappell, followed by Emily Chapman and Alexis Hutchison, and now it continues with Rylee Sagester. The second of three local products on the squad, Sagester redshirted her first year with the green and gold. But before signing with Wright State, Sagester was a 4-year starter at Tri-Village High School in West Alexandria, Ohio, which is one hour apart in driving distance from the Nutter Center. There, she totaled 2,001 points and broke an OHSAA record with 401 career made 3-pointers. With this pedigree, Sagester should not have a problem thriving and succeeding in Hoffman’s 3-point offense.
Wright State women’s key reserves
Lexi Bugajski (boo-GYE-skee), F (6-0/Soph.); As a high schooler, Bugajski was ranked as one of Wisconsin’s top players in the entire state. But after playing in only 15 of the Appalachian State’s 32 games as a freshman, she decided it was time for a change and transferred out of the program. Listed as a power forward on the roster, Bugajski is a stretch four who likes to shoot the outside shot, so that would definitely work in Hoffman’s system.
Chloe Chard Peloquin, F (6-3/Jr.); Nicknamed “CCP”, Chard Peloquin is the third player standing at least 6-3 that Kari Hoffman has coached in her time at Wright State. Chard Peloquin started at Metro Atlantic school Canisius (kuh-NEE-shuss) and averaged 3.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 15.5 minutes while playing 22 games (7 starts) as a freshman. But in her sophomore season, she only played two games before a knee injury wiped it all away. According to Schumaker, Chard Peloquin has impressed the coaches in team workouts. If CCP stays injury-free, she could see some quality time in the rotation. Chard Peloquin is a player that can help gobble up some rebounds when she’s out there.
Macie Taylor, G (5-7/R-Soph.); The third local player on the roster, Taylor played in 25 of the team’s 33 games primarily off the bench in her first appearances and only averaged 4.1 minutes a contest last season as a redshirt freshman, but that’s expected to change a little bit as a redshirt sophomore. According to Schumaker, Hoffman has praised Taylor for her hard work in the summer and has called her the most improved player over the offseason.
Wisconsin’s projected starting lineup
Serah Williams (SAIR-uh), C (6-4, Jr.); Arguably one of the most underrated post players in the country, Williams earned the Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Year Award on the media side and even set the new conference record with 16 straight double-doubles, breaking the previous record set by Iowa’s Megan Gustafson (15). Williams has also proven to be one of the Big Ten’s best all-around players. She finished as the conference’s top shot blocker, not only finishing with the conference’s top block percentage (8.4), but she was 12th in the country in total blocks (84) and 8th in blocks per game (2.8). Her main weakness is the turnovers, recording the 6th-most by any Big Ten player last year (108).
– Williams’ other Big Ten rankings:
- 4th in the Big Ten in both points per game (17.4) and player efficiency rating (30.2)
- 2nd in both rebounds per game (10.5) and total rebound percentage (19.7)
- 5th in field goal percentage (.519)
- 13th in free throw percentage (79.52 percent)
Jovana Spasovski (YAH-vuh-NUH spuh-SOFF-skee), G (6-0, Fr.); Spasovski competed for the Serbian National Team, who finished 4th place in the FIBA U-20 Women’s European Championship in the summer of 2023.
Tess Myers, G (5-9, Gr.); The sharpshooting Myers is a grad transfer from her hometown school of Duquesne, where she left as one of the best shooters in school history.
Here are Myers’ career numbers at Duquesne:
- 1,089 career points, 27th all-time
- 279 made three-pointers, tied for the most three-pointers in program history
- 735 three-point field goals attempted, 2nd-most in school history
- 38 percent career three-point percentage, 3rd best all-time
- 80.7 percentage on free throws, 7th-best all-time
- school record holder for most 3-pointers made in a single game on December 14 against Longwood (11)
Natalie Leuzinger (LIE-zinger), G (5-8, Gr.); This young lady has a great story, a former walk-on who earned a scholarship in the middle of her junior year. She became a starter last season, averaging a career-high 7.7 points a night and was tied for 11th in the Big Ten with a respectable free throw percentage of 81.5 percent.
Ronnie Porter, G (5-4, Jr.); Porter, the Badgers’ starting point guard, is a threat at both ends of the floor and pretty much a walking triple-double. Last season, she was named a Big Ten Honorable Mention and ranked second in the conference in minutes per game (35.0), tied for 4th in steals per game (1.9), 5th in total steals (61), and 10th in assists (132 total assists, 4.1 per game). Porter’s main weakness, like teammate Williams, is turnovers since she had 92 of them last year (9th-most in the Big Ten).
6th woman: Carter McCray, F (6-1/Soph.); A familiar face to the Raiders, McCray started her NCAA career at WSU’s conference rival Northern Kentucky, where she was last season’s Horizon League Freshman of the Year and 2nd Team All-Horizon League. McCray was the conference’s leading rebounder at 11.5 per game (female or male), 5th leading scorer (15.7 per game), and also had the 2nd-best field goal percentage (.563) in the conference. In addition, McCray not only led the Horizon League with 17 double-doubles, but she also recorded 20+ rebounds on two different occasions; including a 25-point, 21-rebound outing on November 18 against Marshall.
