Men's Basketball October 30, 2021 Sarah Zetlmeisl

2021-22 Men's Basketball Season Preview

Coming of its ninth-straight winning season, the UC Irvine men’s basketball team will look to continue its prominence atop the Big West as the 2021-22 Anteaters will pursue their sixth Big West regular season title, third Big West Tournament crown and third NCAA Tournament appearance under 12th-year head coach Russell Turner.

“We’re excited for the opportunity to play this season and especially for the opportunity to play again in front of fans because college basketball is so much about that, being a part of your community. I am hoping we will generate a lot of interest from our campus community to be a part of games because that is such a fun part of college basketball.”

Head coach Russell Turner

The Anteaters are coming off an 18-9 season (.667) and a 10-4 record in the Big West, marking their ninth-straight season with double digit conference wins. For seven-consecutive years, UCI has finished in the top three of the Big West standings, ending last season in second place.

UCI returns 12 players and welcomes four newcomers. Among the returning talent includes two all-conference selections, the Big West Freshman of the Year, and the ‘Eaters leading scorer and rebounder. Overall, UCI returns 81 percent of its scoring offense and four starters from a year ago.

Turner, the winningest coach in UCI history, has averaged 20.6 wins per season with 227 career wins and currently ranks fifth for the most wins in Big West coaching history.

Under Turner, UCI has been a dominant force on the defensive end, consistently ranking among top defensive teams in the nation. The Anteaters have claimed the Big West regular season title five times in the last eight years and have made two NCAA Tournament appearances in the last six years (2015, 2019).

“I think we have a good team, a team that should continue to improve throughout the season, and have a chance to be really good at the end of the year. We have real talent on this team, we have a bunch of guys who care, and we have chance to be good. We have a long way to go but we are excited about the opportunity.”

The 2021-22 Anteater squad is loaded with talent and ready to compete. Here is what you need to know before UCI officially tips off on Nov. 9.

Collin could have gone elsewhere at the end of last year after the success he had but he chose to stay. I think he’s one of the great stories in college basketball this year, the guys who chose to stay, who chose to be committed, and who chose to continue to have an impact on the community that they’ve become a part of. I’m excited for Collin. He wants to be here, he wants to lead this team and he is doing just that. It won’t be easy for him because he is a marked man, everyone knows how good he is. However, he is up for the challenge and he is ready to lead this team. As a coach you hope to have teams where your hardest workers, your most committed guys are your team leaders, and that’s what we have with Collin. I am excited to see how this year unfolds for him.

Welp, a two-time All-Big West first team selection and NABC District 9 All-Region player, led UCI in scoring (15.1 ppg), steals (1.2 spg), minutes (26.1 mpg) and tied for first in rebounding (7.6 rpg) last season. He led the Big West in defensive rebounds (6.52) and in double-doubles (7). He reached career milestones of 1,000 points and 500 rebounds last season and shot 47.8 percent overall from the field and 33.9 percent from three-point range.

Dawson Baker is a proven commodity in the big west, and now he needs to prove just how good he can be. I don’t think there is a limit on that but he has to go out there and do it.

As a freshman, Baker played in 25 games with 17 starts averaging 23.5 minutes per game. He finished second on the team in scoring (10.7 ppg) and led the ‘Eaters in three-point field goal percentage (.396). His success led him to be named the Big West Freshman of the Year. He also averaged 2.3 rebounds per game, had 33 assists and 24 steals.

JC is a proven guy. He played in the NCAA Tournament and was a contributor and a factor on an NCAA Tournament team that won a game.

Butler, a redshirt junior, played in all 27 games last season with 15 starts. He averaged 5.1 points per game and 2.3 rebounds per game. He shot 48.2 percent from the floor overall and totaled 22 steals and 20 assists.

“Isaiah Lee is as good of a perimeter defender as any we’ve had in this program. He’s a career 40% three point shooter, and I know there is a lot of growth opportunity for him on the offensive side.”

Lee will enter his junior year after he played in all 27 games with 26 starts last season. He led the team averaging 2.0 assists per game and topped the squad in free-throw percentage (.857). He averaged 5.0 points per game and 1.9 rebounds per game.

DJ Davis is a high level player who needs to perform consistently to get the respect that I know he can earn.”

As a true freshman, Davis played in 25 games, averaging 20.3 minutes per game. He averaged 9.1 points per game and 1.2 rebounds per game. He was second on the team with 49 assists and grabbed 19 steals. Davis made 25 three’s and shot 39.4 percent (76-193) from the field overall.

Justin Hohn has a chance to really assert himself this year. He did not play as much as I think now that he should have last year so we are expecting big things from him this season.”

Hohn played in 20 games averaging 9.7 minutes per game last season. He averaged 2.8 points per game and 1.0 rebound per game.

Andre Henry is a young player that I think has great promise for us as he continues to improve and get better

Henry played in 25 games with one start as a true freshman, averaging 12.5 minutes per game. He averaged 2.8 points per game, 1.6 rebounds per game and added 28 assists and 17 steals.

Ofure has worked incredibly hard in the off-season and has been elected captain by his teammates. His leadership and commitment have been excellent.”

Ujadughele played in 26 games shooting 32.6 percent from the field overall. He averaged 1.6 points per game and 1.7 rebounds per game.

We have a young group of talented perimeter players. I am excited about that group and now we have to figure out how that group is going to best fit together. And how that group is going to assert themselves against high quality opposition early in the year. We’ve got a lot of work to do but I think they are up for the challenge.

The front court group we know starts with Collin, since he’s such a proven commodity. We know we have to replace Brad Greene, which is no easy replacement. Brad Greene had such an incredible impact during his time at UC Irvine. But we do have depth and talent at the center positon. We will have to see how that unfolds because we have a lot of guys who will be competing for a start.

Austin Johnson is an incredible athlete for us at UCI and in the Big West. He has a chance to have an incredible season. I do think he can be a defensive, rebounding force, in addition to being an offensive threat.

Johnson, a junior, led the team in field goal percentage (.524) last season after appearing in all 27 games. He averaged 5.2 points per game and 3.8 rebounds per game. Johnson totaled 18 blocks and seven steals.

Emmanuel has been a part of our program for a long time and he has made a different level of commitment this year and fans will see that. He will look different in his uniform and I am really proud of the progress he has made. I do expect he can be outstanding player in the Big West.

As a redshirt freshman, Tshimanga saw action in every game last season, averaging 9.8 minutes per game, 2.6 points per game and 2.8 rebounds per game. He shot 46.3 percent from the field overall.

Dean Keeler is a young man who has been a part of this program for a couple of years. I expect him to have a great year and continue to improve.

Keeler played in 12 games in his second season with the ‘Eaters averaging 1.6 points per game and 1.2 rebounds per game.

Hunter Ruck has gotten better and continues to improve and he is going to try to assert himself as part of this group. He wants to be part of this championship team

Ruck made eight appearances for the Anteaters as a true freshman. He averaged 1.3 points per game and 1.5 rebounds per game.

NEW FACES

UCI welcomes four new faces to the roster including three freshman and one sophomore transfer from UNLV.

Devin Tillis – “Devin Tillis is a guy who has the potential to have an impact this season and we are excited for him and to see what he brings.”

Tillis is a transfer from UNLV. As a freshman at UNLV, he played in 24 games with eight starts. He averaged 3.7 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game and 1.2 assists per game. He shot 53.4 percent from the floor. He graduated from Windward high school in 2020 where he averaged 15.0, 9.0 rpg and 4.0 apg as a senior.

Langston Redfield – “Langston is a winning player – he elevated his high school team at Capo Valley and he has outstanding court vision and defensive talent.”

Redfield is a Capistrano Valley high school graduate where he was a four-time first team All-League selection, an All-CIF Division I first team selection and a third team All-State player.

Bent Leuchten and Avika McBirney Griffin – “Bent and Avika are two talented freshman who will also provide us with depth in the front court.”

Leuchten comes to Irvine from Karlsfeld, Germany where he competes on the U20 German National Team. With the National Team, Leuchten averaged 12.8 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game last season.

McBirney-Griffin also joins the Anteaters international core as he hails from Hamilton, New Zealand. He played on New Zealand’s U15, U17 and U19 National Teams and averaged 5.2 ppg and 2.3 rpg with the national team last season.

“All these guys are talented but they need to go out and prove it and perform and produce and it’s not easy to do that. “

THE SCHEDULE

“Our non-conference schedule is challenging. All the teams that we are playing are high level teams and teams that would be in the top part of the Big West. We are putting ourselves at risk playing this tough of a schedule but I like that for this group. I do think we will be able to find out a lot about this team in preparation for the Big West Conference games that start at the end of December. Our job is to get our guys prepared for that. I do think we are playing some entertaining games especially on Saturday nights for our fans.”

UCI hosts CS Dominguez Hills in an exhibition Friday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. The official start to the 2021-22 campaign begins on the road at New Mexico State Tuesday, Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. The Anteaters home-opener is set for Saturday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. against Boise State.

The Big West season begins at home on Dec. 30 against CSUN. The Big West Tournament will be held from Mar. 9-12 in Henderson, Nevada.

We have a chance to compete for a conference championship.