CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina University men's basketball program will open the 2024-25 season by hosting Western Michigan on Monday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. ET. The game is part of the MAC-Sun Belt match up to open the season. It is also the beginning of the
Justin Gray Era for the Chanticleers.
Gray spent the past three seasons as the head coach at Western Carolina, where he fashioned a 51-47 record. After winning 11 games in his first season, he had a 40-26 record over his last two seasons, including a 22-10 record in his final season.
THE SERIES
The two teams have never met on the hardwood.
ABOUT THE CHANTS
The Chants are coming off a season which saw them go 9-22 overall and finished 13th with a 5-13 in Sun Belt Conference action. CCU was 7-12 in home games last season and will enter the new campaign with 13 new players on its 15-member team.
Senior
Henry Abraham and sophomore
Braeden MacVicar are the lone returners from the 23-24 season and will join the 13 newcomers in opening the 24-25 season.
The Chants added plenty of size and have one of the tallest teams in recent memory. The Chants have two players that stand over seven feet in
Noah Amenhauser (7'2") and
Mabor Majak (7'1"). Add that with MacVicor's 6'11" frame and
Colin Granger, who stands 6'9", and the Chants have a solid team of height around the basket.
ABOUT WESTERN MICHIGAN
The Broncos are coming off a season which saw them finish 12-20 overall and 9-9 in the MAC. WMU finished tied for sixth with Miami (Ohio) in the MAC, and were 7-7 at home, 3-12 on the road, and 2-1 at neutral sites.
After spending 25 seasons as an assistant coach, Dwayne Stephens was hired prior to the 2022-23 season and enters his third season overseeing the Broncos. He spent the prior 19 seasons at Michigan State, including his last 10 seasons as the associate head coach and has a 20-43 record over his two seasons as head coach.
WMU played in the MAC-SBC Challenge last season, losing at home to Georgia State (77-70) and losing at Southern Miss (86-54).
The Broncos return Owen Lobsinger, who started all 32 games last season and was fourth on the team in scoring at 8.9 points per game and tied for the team-lead in rebounding at 6.3 per game. They also return JaVaugn Hannah, who started 11 of the 30 games he played in and was the team's third-leading scorer, averaging 9.2 points per game to go along with 3.3 rebounds per game. In all, the Broncos have six players returning this season who were on the roster for the 2023-24 season.
The game with the Broncos can be heard on WRNN Hot Talk 99.5 FM and can be watched live on ESPN+. Links for both along with live stats can be found at
www.GoCCUSports.com.
For complete coverage of CCU men's basketball, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalMBB (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), CoastalMensBasketball (Facebook), @CoastalMBB (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com.
