IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine men's basketball associate head coach Ryan Badrtalei and Director of Recruiting Ali Ton were named to Silver Waves Media Most Impactful lists.
 
The list was compiled after research and consultation with AD's, Presidents, Search Firms and numerous influencers in the basketball space.
 
Badrtalei was selected to the prestigious Silver Waves Media 75 Rising Stars: Impactful Men's Mid Major Assistants list for the second time in his career, first receiving the honor in 2020.

In his 18^th season at UC Irvine, Badrtalei helped lead the Anteaters to their eighth 20-win campaign over the last 10 seasons and seventh Big West regular season title.

"Ryan is worthy of this recognition and I'm happy to see him being recognized," remarked head coach Russell Turner. "We couldn't have the program we have without him, and he's a great representative of UC Irvine."
 
Badrtalei has been an integral part of the program that has won 265 games over the last 13 seasons, averaging over 20 wins a year. He helped the Anteaters reach the postseason seven times including two NCAA appearances (2015, 2019) and an NCAA first round win in 2019. Since being at Irvine, Badrtalei has helped develop over 44 All-Big West Conference performers including the Conference Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year (7 times), Best Sixth Man (2 times) and Freshman of the Year (3 times).
 
 
Ton landed on the Silver Waves Media 50 Next Up list proving to be a talented support staff coach.

Making his return to UC Irvine this past season, Ton was tasked with drawing upon his expertise in recruiting and player development.
 
Ton was instrumental in the recruitments of Anteater greats in Will Davis II, Johnathan Galloway, Luke Nelson, Ioannis Dimakopolous, Evan Leonard, and Eyassu Worku during his previous tenure at UCI.

Ton spent three seasons at Fordham as an assistant coach and founded Global Edge Basketball in 2019 where he served at the Executive Director before rejoining the UCI men's basketball staff in September 2022.

"Ali has worked really hard to earn this respect and I'm grateful to have him back with us," said Turner.
 
 
UCI concluded its season with a 23-12 overall record and 15-5 Big West mark. The 'Eaters were the No. 1 seed in the Big West Tournament and advanced to the NIT First Round after winning the regular season title.