FAIRBANKS - The Nanooks men's basketball team opens up their 2023-24 season with Hawaii Pacific and Chaminade in the 2023 GNAC/PacWest Challenge sponsored by Mt. McKinley Bank.
Friday, Nov. 10
vs. Hawaii Pacific | 7:00 p.m.
Alaska Airlines Gymnasium
Saturday, Nov. 11
vs. Chaminade | 5:30 p.m.
Alaska Airlines Gymnasium
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Tickets
Last Time Out
This is the 'Nooks first regular-season matchup. They held their Blue/Gold and Alumni games in late-October before scrimmaging the Seattle Mountaineers on back-to-back nights.
#NookNotes
- Alaska enters this season under the direction of Greg Sparling - his sixth season as the head coach of the Nanooks.
- He's joined on the bench by second-year assistant Drew Hedman. Hedman has spent the past five seasons with the Nanooks and enters his second season as a full-time assistant.
- Milo Griffin joins the Nanooks bench as a volunteer assistant. The Nanooks former all-time leading scorer will assist on the bench with player development, individual workouts and community outreach.
- The 'Nooks welcome five newcomers and return 10.
- Three starters return; Abdullahi Mohamed, Bryan Nguyen and Nick Hopkins. Mohamed averaged 13.1 points, 5.0 rebounds per game and dished 39 assists, blocked 18 shots and had 14 steals. He was a 2022-23 GNAC MBB Second Team All-Conference selection. Nguyen averaged 9.3 points and grabbed 2.5 rebounds per game while dishing out 74 assists, picking up 41 steals and blocking two shots. Hopkins was the final starter to return, posting 7.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. He added 20 assists, 17 steals and five blocks.
- Jaycson Bereal, Jr. headlined the other key returners as the senior averaged 10.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. He added 30 assists, 27 blocks and nine steals while shooting 48.8% from the floor.
Juco Connection
All newcomers for the Nanooks are joining from junior colleges with
Trey Anderson (Green River College),
TJ Doman (Clackamas Community College),
Jordan Gill (San Jose City College),
Tyriq Luke (Everett Community College) and
Cortarius Mingo (Lewis & Clark Community College) ending up in the blue and gold this season.
Preseason Poll
The 'Nooks were predicted to finish ninth in the GNAC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll. They received 31 points in votes after finishing 11-15, 6-12 GNAC a season ago. Saint Martin's received nine first-place votes and were named the preseason favorites. Northwest Nazarene took the other first-place vote and ended up second in the preseason poll.
That's a Doozy
Abdullahi Mohamed was selected to the GNAC MBB Preseason All-Conference Team. He was the lone-Nanooks selected to the preseason team and earned it unanimously after being named to the Second Team All-GNAC last season. This is his second-straight preseason award. The big from Seattle, Wash. joined the Nanooks for the 2021-22 season and is the last remaining player from their Sweet 16 run.
GNAC/PacWest Challenge
This weekend's challenge, sponsored by Mt. McKinley Bank, features the Alaska Nanooks, the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves (GNAC), the Chaminade Silverswords (PacWest) and Hawaii Pacific Sharks (PacWest).
Day One
Alaska Anchorage vs. Chaminade - 4:45 p.m.
Alaska vs. Hawaii Pacific - 7:00 p.m.
Day Two
Alaska Anchorage vs. Hawaii Pacific - 3:00 p.m.
Alaska vs. Chaminade - 5:30 p.m.
All games will be available for free on the Alaska Nanooks YouTube page.
WATCH HERE
Tickets
Tickets are availabe on the Alaska Nanooks athletics website through the "Buy Tickets" tab. You can click here to purchase tickets to this weekend's challenge.
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