Coming off a national tournament berth last season, UAA men’s basketball looks to reload

The UAA men’s basketball team is coming off a season in which it qualified for the NCAA Division II tournament for the first time in a dozen years.

Seawolves head coach Rusty Osborne doesn’t want to wait that long for the team’s next trip and doesn’t think they will have to.

Despite having an influx of new faces and only one returning starter from the team that the Seawolves put on the floor at the end of last season, Osborne thinks this year’s edition can be even better.

The Seawolves get their first test this weekend, hosting a pair of games against Warner Pacific at the Alaska Airlines Center. Friday’s game is set to tip off at 6 p.m. and Saturday’s matchup gets underway at 5 p.m.

“We filled in with some other guys that are really talented, plus guys in our own program who were going to be better this year than they were last year,” Osborne said. “I think once we were there, and once everything was finished, these guys had it in their mind that not only did they want to go back to the NCAA tournament, they would like to try to host the NCAA tournament.”

A Great Northwest Athletic Conference title would likely put the Seawolves in a position to do just that, and one of the UAA players expected to be among the best in the conference is guard Dillon Barrientos. Barrientos was one of two UAA players named to the GNAC preseason all-conference team.

The 6-foot-1 senior guard played a key role for UAA last season, especially down the stretch for the 22-11 Seawolves. He averaged 11.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists for UAA in his first year after transferring from College of the Canyons.

“I really think Dillon should have been at least an honorable mention all-conference guy last year,” Osborne said. “I mean, he was really good at the end of the year.”

The other preseason team nod went to a player who was with the team last year but missed most of the season due to injury. Bishop Tosi injured his finger early in the season and missed all but three games.

Tosi, a 6-foot-6 forward, was a star at Bartlett High who returned to Anchorage to play at UAA last year. Before his injury, Tosi averaged 13 points and nearly eight rebounds per game.

Other returners expecting to have big roles this season are senior Luke Devine, junior Hasaan Herrington and sophomore Sloan Lentfer.

Add in other players like freshmen Parker Kroon and Jaylin Scott — who are coming off redshirt seasons — and a few key transfers, and Osborne believes his team will compete for the conference title.

“We’re lucky in that I think we’re more talented than we have been over the last five or six years,” he said. “We’ve got better balance at each position, but it’s still yet to be seen how they come together and how the guys accept roles.”

There’s a trio of transfers expected to make an impact early in the season as well.

Senior guard Sean Evans (Nebraska-Kearney), junior guard Tyler Burraston (Green River CC) and junior forward Jesse Stines (Irvine Valley College) are among the likely starters for this weekend’s series.

Osborne said Evans had a solid year as a sophomore, and after a tumultuous year for the Nebraska-Kearney program, he believes the fresh start will be good for the guard.

“He can play multiple positions,” Osborne said. “He’s big and strong for a guy who can play the point guard, and so I expect that Sean will have a really good year for us.”

Osborne called Burraston “maybe one of the best shooters in the country” coming off a season where he led the junior college ranks in 3-pointers made last year.

Osborne said Stines and junior John McFadden give the team flexibility at the power forward spot, providing shooting, passing and physicality in the post.

The games will act as exhibitions for Warner Pacific but will count as regular-season contests for the Seawolves.

“We’re looking forward to it after two months of just playing against each other,” Osborne said.