SEATTLE – Two hundred and seventy days, or nearly nine months, after Seattle U last played a basketball game, the Redhawks return to the hardwood, opening the 2020-21 season at the U.S. Bank Portland Invitational, hosted by the University of Portland. Seattle U will officially tip off on Wednesday, Nov. 25 at 8 p.m. against the host Pilots. The Redhawks will break for the Thanksgiving holiday before returning to action on Friday, Nov. 27 with a 12 p.m. tip-off against William Jessup. Both games can be heard on KTTH 770 AM in the Seattle area, and online at mynorthwest.com. Live stat links are available at GoSeattleU.com. A live stream of Wednesday's season opener versus Portland is available on the WCC Network.
LATE START
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the 2020-21 NCAA DI basketball season was pushed back two weeks to Nov. 25. This marks the latest start to a season for Seattle U since tipping off the 1984-85 season on Nov. 26.
SEASON OPENERS
Seattle University will be seeking its second consecutive season-opening win when the season begins Wednesday versus Idaho. The Redhawks won their 2019-20 season-opener in convincing fashion, 98-64, over Pacific Lutheran. The last time Seattle U won a road or neutral-site game to open the season was on Nov. 9, 1996 with a 72-65 victory at Concordia (Ore.).
ABOUT THE SERIES VS PORTLAND
While the series dates back to the 1940s, Seattle U and Portland have a storied history as Pacific Northwest rivals. Seattle U holds a 75-31 all-time record over the Pilots. The teams have six meetings in the Redhawks' modern day Division I era, including three straight wins over the last three seasons for SU. Most recently, it was a 73-71 victory for the Redhawks on Dec. 7, 2019 at the accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash. Terrell Brown led SU with 20 points and 10 boards while Morgan Means added 18 points and Delante Jones had 16 points on four triples.
The last meeting at the Chiles Center resulted in a 67-56 win for the Redhawks on Dec. 17, 2018. Seattle U used a 15-0 run to open the game, and never trailed again in road victory. Terrell Brown (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Myles Carter (11 points, 12 rebounds) each tallied double-doubles to lead four Redhawks in double-figure scoring.
Portland won the first three meetings of the modern-day DI era, the last being on Feb. 5, 2011 – a 71-55 win for the Pilots at KeyArena. In 2017, Seattle U notched its 73rd all-time win over the Pilots in an 89-76 victory on Dec. 16 at KeyArena. The Redhawks shot better than 60 percent in the second half and poured in a season-high 16 three-pointers in the game. Jordan Hill led four players in double figures with 23 points. Matej Kavas added 18.
ABOUT THE SERIES VERSUS WILLIAM JESSUP
This marks the first all-time meeting between the Redhawks and Warriors.
NEW-LOOK REDHAWKS
- Seattle U returns just four letterwinners to its squad in 2020-21, with just four known programs in the nation to have fewer returners (Kentucky, Arkansas, East Tennessee State, Georgia Southern). Eight additional programs are known to also have four returning letterwinners. Among the four Redhawks, junior forward Riley Grigsby stands as the lone returning starter, while senior guard Aaron Nettles was also a significant contributor in 2019-20.
- All told, the Redhawks lost 78.8 percent of their scoring from one season ago, the 11th most in the nation.
- The addition of 11 newcomers, including two graduate transfers, four junior college transfers and five freshmen, also ranks among the most in the nation as three other schools equal 11 newcomers (Alcorn State, Arizona, South Dakota) while Arkansas tops the list with 12.
WINNING WAYS
While the Redhawks' squad features 11 new faces, they are not all new to each other including a trio of junior college transfers from City College of San Francisco. Nate Robinson, Darrion Trammell and Emeka Udenyi spent the 2019-20 season as teammates for the Rams, who went a perfect 30-0 while averaging more than 100 ppg.
PRESEASON HONORS
Junior forward Riley Grigsby earned the first league recognition of his career, being named to the Coaches Preseason All-WAC Second Team. The San Jose, Calif., native is the Redhawks' lone returning starter and is coming off of a sophomore campaign that saw him average 9.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Grigsby led Seattle U in scoring twice and collected three double-doubles, including career highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds in a win over Grand Canyon on Feb. 20.
WAC PRESEASON POLLS
The Redhawks were selected to finished fifth in the Western Athletic Conference in both the WAC 2020-21 Preseason Coaches Poll and Media Poll. Reigning WAC champion NM State was selected to repeat the feat in 2020-21, earning eight of nine first-place votes in the Coaches' Poll. Coaches could not vote for their own team or players. The Aggies were also the first-place pick by the media. Grand Canyon was picked second in both polls, followed by UTRGV in third and California Baptist in fourth.