2022 Offseason

5. Portland: Head coach Shantay Legans led Portland to its most successful season in over a decade and has managed to keep most of his young roster intact. Chris Austin, Tyler Robertson, Moses Wood and Michael Meadows are all back after each scored in double digits last season. Chika Nduka is also returning for his sophomore season after displaying some clear promise as a freshman. Add in some solid transfers and the Pilots could finish as a top-half team in the conference.

Sleeper team

Portland: The chances that a team other than Gonzaga wins the WCC is slim. Therefore, any sleeper conversation should be centered on possible contenders for the second-place spot. In Shantay Legan’s first year as head coach, Portland went on a 5-1 run to end the regular season and finish .500 in the WCC for the first time since 2011. Returning his top six scorers and adding Joey St. Pierre (Milwaukee), Wyatt Lowell (BYU) and Alden Applewhite (Mississippi State), Coach Legans could do even more damage this season. Don’t be surprised if the Pilots finish with their first winning record in WCC play since 2010.

NoPoNeighbor wrote:This unbalanced schedule is blatantly unfair, no matter how you assign the matchups. Can't Gonzaga just go to the Pac-10 and leave everyone else to play in a fair and balanced league?

Sound Voltex wrote:https://wccsports.com/news/2022/7/1/wcc-announces-2022-23-mens-basketball-conference-matchups.aspx

A New Day in Portland

For the first four seasons that the WCC operated with a 16-game, unbalanced schedule, the Portland Pilots have been kept as far away as possible from the league’s traditional powers. In 2019, the Pilots were scheduled to play Gonzaga once and Saint Mary’s once. Same in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

That’s because the Zags and Gaels are the league’s two best teams, and the Pilots have been the exact opposite. But last season, in Shantay Legans first season, the Pilots didn’t finish 10th, 9th, 8th or even 7th. They went .500 and finished in 6th. A game against the Pilots is no longer seen as a blemish on the resume of an NCAA Tournament contender. Sure, a win against Portland might not move the needle much this upcoming season, but simply having the Pilots on the schedule isn’t a lose-lose scenario for the Zags or Gaels.

Which is why for the first time since 2018, the last season the WCC played a double round-robin schedule, the Pilots will host the Zags and the Gaels as well as travel to Spokane and Moraga in the same season. Congrats on your best season in recent memory, Pilots! As a reward, enjoy the opportunity to face a pair of teams you’ve lost 14 and 10 consecutive games to not once, but twice!

As a reward, enjoy the opportunity to face a pair of teams you’ve lost 14 and 10 consecutive games to not once, but twice!

NoPoNeighbor wrote:This unbalanced schedule is blatantly unfair, no matter how you assign the matchups. Can't Gonzaga just go to the Pac-10 and leave everyone else to play in a fair and balanced league?

StudentPilot wrote:

Some have said …

up7587 wrote:Scott Leykam interviewed in the Tribune.  Not just about basketball, but there are some interesting comments.

"Scheduling men's basketball this year has been an incredibly humbling experience. The previous couple of years, people did not want to play us because our RPI and our NET was seen as hurting other teams' numbers. This year, folks at schools we really would like to play were honest and said, 'You pose a risk.' I'm glad I scheduled as much as I did before January. Once we had that hot finish at the end of the year, nobody was returning my scheduling calls (laughs). The University of Oregon has been great. We didn't play them my first eight years here and this will be the third year in a row where we're driving down to Eugene. I still want to play as many regional teams as we can."

Sound Voltex wrote:Portland radio play-by-play announcer Jason Swygard swung by a summer practice and chatted with newcomers Wyatt Lowell and Joey St. Pierre in the latest Portland Pilots Podcast.

https://portlandpilots.com/podcasts/portland-pilots-podcast-summer-check-in/178

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Four University of Portland men's basketball players were named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Court this week. The NABC announced the recipients of the 2021-22 NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards and NABC Honors Court, representing outstanding achievement in the classroom by collegiate men's basketball teams and student-athletes.

Mike Meadows, Jack Perry, Tyler Robertson and Kristian Sjolund earned recognition for the Pilots. The NABC Honors Court includes junior, senior and graduate student men's basketball players who finished the 2021-22 year with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher.

up7587 wrote:Good info for those who's seats are worn out.

Scott Leykam @sleykam wrote:Seating project at the Chiles Center is underway.  New risers and seats below the walkway on both sidelines - expecting completion in early August.

NoPoNeighbor wrote:I’m worried about these new seats. Do more comfortable seats mean that fans will be less likely to stand and cheer when the Pilots need a defensive stop late in the second half?!

DoubleDipper wrote:I'm told Matija Svetozarevic is leaning toward playing for money in Serbia, but is also considering college ball opportunities in the US.

up7587 wrote:An around the world journey.

DoubleDipper wrote:

up7587 wrote:An around the world journey.

Apparently Matija was originally content with going only halfway around the world and verbally committed to St. Francis in New York before discovering the beaches of Waikiki and North Shore...

A Pilot is landing in Manoa.

The University of Hawaii men’s basketball team has signed Matija Svetozarevic, a 6-foot-8, 215-pound transfer from the University of Portland. Svetozarevic, who grew up in Serbia, played one season with the Pilots before entering the NCAA’s transfer portal.

“I’m excited about coming,” said Svetozarevic, who signed a scholarship agreement and will join the Rainbow Warriors this month. “I know Hawaii has its own culture. I know it’s famous for its beaches and nature.”

Svetozarevic played in 28 games for the Pilots, starting one, as a freshman last season. He averaged 9.7 minutes but connected on 93.8% of his free throws (15-for-16). With the Pilots bringing in several older transfers, Svetozarevic was expected to again have a reserve role this coming season.

“I started looking at other options,” Svetozarevic said of entering the NCAA’s transfer portal. “I got in touch with (UH associate head coach) John Montgomery. We started talking more and more. Then they offered me, and I accepted the offer.”

Svetozarevic could fill the role vacated by wing/post Jerome Desrosiers’ completion of his NCAA eligibility. Svetozarevic also can play — and defend — the three and four, as well as provide long-range shooting.

Svetozarevic’s parents were both professional athletes — his father in volleyball, his mother in table tennis. Svetozarevic played youth volleyball until he saw a flyer for a basketball club. “I switched over to basketball, and my interest didn’t stop,” he said.

Svetozarevic was involved with the Serbian Youth National Team, helping the U16 team place fifth in the 2018 FIBA European Championships. He also has trained as an amateur with KK Dynamic, a club team. At the urging of friends and teammates, Svetozarevic decided he could advance his basketball skills better in the United States. Through several contacts, he received offers from colleges. “Portland was the best option at the time,” he said.

The ’Bows fill their 13 scholarships with Svetozarevic’s signing.