MBB: Seattle U Redhawks: 2024-25 Team Preview
MBB: Seattle U Redhawks: 2024-25 Team Preview
The Seattle U Redhawks have reloaded for one last run at a second WAC Championship. Can the Redhawks write the storybook ending this season?
The Seattle U Redhawks have a long history in college basketball.
Many, though, quickly point out that their “glory days” are well in their rearview.
However, folks in Seattle have been treated to a cultural revival of sorts in the Redhawks program.
The team enters the 2024-2025 season as reigning College Basketball Invitational Champions.
It was a tremendous four-game performance in Daytona Beach, FL, that was culminated by a 10-point victory over the tournament’s No. 1 seed High Point in the championship game.
As one of the WAC’s oldest members in the league’s post-FBS football era, Seattle U will make their departure next summer for familiar pastures.
Between their talented head coach, strong returning core & amazing recruiting class, the Redhawks have what it takes to make their last season in the WAC a memorable one.
Head Coach:
Chris Victor, Fourth Season (66-35 Overall, 36-20 WAC)
Coaching talent in the Pacific Northwest has been in prime supply in years past.
Shantay Legans (EWU—>Portland) & Kyle Smith (Wazzu—>Stanford) and more recently David Riley (EWU—>Wazzu) have all made jumps up from schools in the region.
Next up could be the man who has guided the Seattle U Redhawks program back to their winning tradition at the Division-I level in “fourth” year coach Chris Victor.
Victor has done a tremendous job of stabilizing the Redhawk program since taking over in 2021.
In just three years as a Head Coach, his squads have posted three straight 20-win seasons, including above .500 conference records in each. Along with the record, the Redhawks also won a share of their first-ever WAC regular season title in 2021-22.
It’s easy to make the argument that Seattle U Redhawk basketball is in it’s greatest form since reentering the Division I ranks back in 2009.
A form that has helped them regain membership to the WCC starting in the summer of 2025. They return to what was once called the WCAC, after a 45-year absence.
The Final WAC Roster
The Redhawks will look a lot different this coming season with a fair share of roster turnover this past spring.
Gone is three-level scoring maestro Cameron Tyson, and former D-II transfer turned All-WAC selection Alex Schumacher.
Not to leave out Seyi Reiley, one of Chris Victor’s first off of the bench, who all ran out of eligibility.
In a world of college basketball where players could play at four or more schools in four years of eligibility, having multi-year players around like Tyson is a big contributing factor in Seattle’s success.
“It’s been huge for us, no doubt about it. Having some continuity in your roster, in the locker room has been one of our strengths,” Victor told WAC Hoops Nation’s Kyle McDonald.
While the transfer portal came knocking, and only took two Redhawks with it, one being starting center Brandon Chatfield, who will return to the high-major ranks at Iowa State this fall.
That is a huge loss in the paint considering Seattle’s lack of size in the front court traditionally, and only incoming freshman Houran Dan standing taller than 6-8.
But, let’s be real…having only two players transfer out seems like a big win in this day and age.
Chatfield is indeed a high-major caliber player holding it down in the post for Seattle these past two seasons, offensively and defensively.
Victor will return two surefire starters from last year’s squad. Big East transfer, and hometown sharpshooter John Christofilis returns after a strong first campaign back in the Emerald City.
After having in-season surgery on a fractured right hand after dropping 18 points in Seattle’s opener against Prairie View A&M, Christofilis became a perfect compliment to Tyson and Schumacher on the perimeter.
Joining him in the starting lineup is fifth year Redhawk Kobe Williamson.
Williamson is using his Covid year to cap a great Seattle career. He’ll leave as the all-time leading shot blocker in Seattle history, and will be a huge piece to this year’s puzzle as a veteran leader and great communicator.
“We’ve had some pretty good defenses the last few years and he’s the anchor of them. His intelligence, basketball I.Q. & instincts are special,” Chris Victor said of Williamson
Another key returner from last season is third-year Redhawk Paris Dawson. The 6-2 floor general was a great Sixth Man for Seattle. Dawson’s efficiency numbers could see him challenge for the starting role come fall.
Regardless of where Dawson lands on the depth chart though, his return is huge for a Redhawk program with seven new faces.
Predicted Starting Lineup:
F Kobe Williamson 6-8 225, Sr.
F Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe 6-8 220, Gr.
G John Christofolis 6-3 195, R-So.
G Maleek Arington 6-3 205, Jr.
G Brayden Maldonado 6-0 170, Jr.
Like several other WAC programs, Seattle came out of the transfer window with several potential starters.
The Redhawks added Brayden Maldonado, Maleek Arington, DaSean Stevens, and Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe.
These newcomers join the program along with in-state freshman Ray Adams, and international pickups Houran Dan (China) & Yuto Kawashima (Japan).
Maldonado comes from the Division II ranks, but he could be the program’s next Alex Schumacher who made a similar jump two seasons ago, developing into an All-Conference player. Likely joining him in the backcourt will be Maleek Arington from nearby Idaho State.
Arington is an Auburn, WA native, who like Christofilis and Tyson before him, returns to the Seattle metro to help elevate the Redhawk program.
The 6-3, 200-pound combo guard was a stat sheet stuffer in Pocatello, while also excelling on the defensive side of the ball, averaging 2.3 steals per game.
The dark horse gem of the bunch might be Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe.
Moncrieffe is a former top-100 recruit who was an impact starter as a freshman for an Oklahoma State squad that went dancing back in 2021.
After a two year stint in Stillwater, and that first tremendous season, Moncrieffe made his way to Georgia, where he saw his minutes, and production dwindle over the past two seasons.
Moncrieffe won’t replace Chatfield in the post, but he should compliment Williamson well as a player who can play multiple positions on the floor with high major size.
Chris Victor spoke to his experience, and leadership on the floor, which will go along way for a Seattle U team that lost just a ton of leadership with its veteran departures. Here is some footage of Moncrieffe from the 2022-23 season.
The Non-Conference Schedule:
The official Seattle U non-conference schedule has not been released just yet. But thanks to the great and powerful Rocco Miller, below is the bit of the schedule that has been confirmed in the past few months.
Nov. 6th, @ EWU (Announced by Rocco Miller)
Nov. 14th, @ Cal Poly (Home-and-home series announced by Rocco Miller)
Nov. 26th, vs. Furman at 8:30 PM PT on ESPN U (Vegas Showdown)
Nov. 29th, @ Duke (at Cameron Indoor-Vegas Showdown)
Dec. 7th, UTEP (Home-and-Home series announced by Rocco Miller)
Dec. 30th, hosting Nicholls (Per Nicholls X Page)
There is plenty to like about the schedule so far. Obviously, the big one being a road to trip to one of college basketball’s holy sites, Cameron Indoor Stadium.
That game will be the second leg of the Vegas showdown Multi-Team Event, where a few days earlier the Redhawks face SoCon powerhouse Furman in Sin City.
Newly established road games at Cal Poly and UTEP look like great road wins with home games in Seattle booked for 2025-2026. An in-state road game against a transitioning Eastern Washington program is another great opportunity, and it looks like Seattle could wrap up non-conference play against Nicholls on December 30th.
The full schedule hasn’t been released just yet, but what has been confirmed is a schedule ready to develop a battle tested Redhawks team ready for WAC play.
WAC Play:
In their last trip around the WAC, the Redhawks are looking to secure their piece of the conference pie.
Their path to a possible No. 1 seed in WAC Vegas feels very balanced at first glance.
Seattle U opens up conference play on the road at California Baptist, another team looking to topple current, conference Goliath Grand Canyon.
If the Redhawks can survive a rebuilt Lancers squad, then they have a very favorable three-game homestand with Abilene Christian the toughest test of the bunch.
One thing that’s beautiful about the WAC is the parity.
Even the defending champion Lopes suffered three of their five total losses last season in conference play, one coming at the hands of the Redhawks inside the Redhawk Center.
Arguably the two dates circled on everyone’s calendar this season are January 30, and March 30. Beating Grand Canyon will be everyone’s goal, regardless of their position in the standings.
The Redhawks get their chance in Phoenix in January, and then back at home in March.
In between those two huge dates in conference play, Seattle will also take a three-game road trip in mid-February.
An always dangerous aspect of WAC play, with games against ACU, Tarleton State, and UVU all possible upset-ready squads ready to derail the Redhawks’ regular season title hopes.
The Outlook
The floor for the Redhawks in 2024-2025 is obviously high. Given their track record under coach Victor, the incoming class of players & a good returning core should secure them a top-4 finish.
In a smaller & new look WAC, a top-4 finish may mean something different to some. But the Redhawks are one of the few programs with the potential to dethrone Bryce Drew’s Antelopes.
Who themselves have retooled & upgraded this offseason. Anything less than that will be a sendoff fans in Seattle will gladly put in their rearview as they return home to the WCC.