2017-18 SCHEDULE | 2017-18 FINAL STATS
SEATTLE – (Mar. 20) When Jim Hayford took over the Seattle University men's basketball program just under one year ago, he brought with him a track record of development, leadership and winning, and a goal of returning the program to the NCAA Tournament.
Year one put that foundation firmly in place as the Redhawks finished with their most successful seasons recent history.
Inheriting a program that went 13-17 in 2016-17, Hayford led the 2017-18 Redhawks to finish 20-14 overall, 16-3 on their home court and 8-6 in Western Athletic Conference play. The win total marked a program high since returning to Division I in 2008-09, and marked the first 20-win DI season since 1963-64 when Seattle U finished 22-6. The 16 home victories was also a modern-day DI record, while the eight WAC wins was the most since joining the league in 2012-13. The fourth-place finish ties the best finish during the Redhawks six years competing in the WAC.
The season culminated in the program's third national postseason tournament appearance in the past four seasons - a berth in the Collegiate Basketball Invitational (CBI).
Hayford’s up-tempo style of play saw the Redhawks set numerous modern-day DI program records including total points (2,589), field goals (881), field goal percentage (44.6), three-point field goals (312), free-throw percentage (73.8), rebounds (1,298) and blocks (123).
The team would finish ranked in the top three in the WAC in scoring (2nd, 76. 1 ppg), free-throw percentage (3rd, 73.8), field goal percentage (3rd, 44.6), field goal percentage defense (3rd, 40.7), three-point field goal percentage (2nd, 37.0), rebounding offense (3rd, 8.2 rpg), blocks (3rd, 123), three pointers (1st, 312).
Three Redhawks earned postseason honors from the WAC, including junior center Aaron Menzies (Second Team All-WAC, All-Defensive Team), sophomore guard Matej Kavas (Second Team All-WAC) and graduate guard Jordan Hill (All-Newcomer Team).
Menzies would set an all-time program record with 79 blocks and a modern-day DI record with 302 rebounds. The 7-3 center improved all faucets of his game, finishing with 14 double-doubles while shooting nearly 61 percent from the field (up from 53 percent in 2016-17), nearly 65 percent from the free-throw line (up from 61 percent in 2016-17) and averaging 8.9 rebounds per game (up from 6.1 in 2016-17).
Five Redhawks averaged double figures on the season, including Kavas at 15.2 ppg, Hill at 13.7 ppg, Menzies at 11.3 ppg, Josh Hearlihy at 11.2 ppg and Richaud Gittens at 10.8 ppg, while Morgan Means was not far behind at 8.6 ppg. The squad went 7-1 in games where five players scored in double figures, and 7-0 in games scoring 90 points or more.
While the Redhawks will lose graduate seniors Gittens, Hearlihy and Hill, they will gain a quartet of transfers who spent the 2017-18 season redshirting at Seattle U. Myles Carter, a 6-9 forward from Seton Hall, and Delante Jones, a 6-5 guard from American, will both be redshirt juniors in 2018-19, while Dashawn McDowell, a 6-5 guard from SMU, and Matt Owies, a 6-0 guard from Hawaii, will each be redshirt sophomores.
The Redhawks also signed Trey'von Hopkins (Carl Albert High School, Oklahoma City, OK) and Rip Economou (Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica, CA) back in November. Hopkins was the No. 1 ranked player in Oklahoma by PrepHoops.com, as well as a 3-star prospect by Rivals.com and 247sports.com. Economou was listed a 3-star prospect by Rivals.com.