Portal Craziness, Gabe Slams It Home One Final Time, and More
Portal Craziness, Gabe Slams It Home One Final Time, and More
The offseason is here and things are crazy, as always, around the Western Athletic Conference.
A few weeks ago, UTRGV announced it was leaving the WAC to join the Southland Conference.
The transfer portal opened up before the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
And a hometown hero impressed in the College Basketball Slam Dunk Contest on his home floor.
Those are just a few things we will focus on in this newest of newsletters by WAC Hoops Nation.
Yes, we haven’t put out a newsletter since before the WAC Tournament a little less than a month ago.
I apologize for that. Life catches up with me after the WAC Tournament ends. I was unable to go to Spokane for GCU’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win.
But, the guys from Win the WAC 2.0 podcast were up there representing WAC Hoops Nation and they did a helluva job.
With that being said, it is time to get back to providing the subscribers with their weekly dose of the WAC Hoops Nation Newsletter.
Two newsletters per week will go out to the subscribers.
If you aren’t a subscriber, consider becoming one to show your support for WAC Hoops Nation and the coverage we provide.
You can become a free subscriber or if you are feeling generous, become a paid subscriber. We love all the support for the brand.
As the offseason goes along, we will also be putting out content over on wachoopsnation.com. Feature stories, top-10 lists, and other great content about this league. In August, we ramp up with the usual team previews. If you have any suggestions on making those better. Please let us know.
But, we look forward to bringing you the content you are searching for. Even though there will be a lot of new faces in the WAC in 2024-25.
Transfer Portal Craziness
Is announcing a player entering the transfer portal even news anymore? Seems like 75-80 percent of college basketball players enter the portal nearly every year.
In the WAC, it’s not quite that, depending on the program.
On Wednesday, Utah Valley guard Drake Allen entered the portal. Seattle U center Brandton Chatfield has already committed to Iowa State. Tanner Christensen is moving on from Utah Tech to join Hawaii. Day Hall went from East Texas to the West Coast to join CBU.
And so it goes.
The only team in the WAC that doesn’t have more than three players in the portal is Seattle U.
Everyone else will feature a bevy of new faces.
Although…some good news came for GCU and SFA fans. Matt Hayman, Chrishawn Christmas, and Myles Jenkins will all return for the Lumberjacks.
And 2023—24 WAC Preseason Player of the Year Ray Harrison is set for another run with GCU.
In all reality, portal moves are really newsworthy anymore except for perhaps when a player decides to take their name out of the portal.
That is why we have been pretty quiet about it. Sorry if that upsets the fans. But, the way the transfer rule is right now, multiple transfers from EVERY school in America is the norm, not news.
Hometown Hero Goes Out With a Bang
Nearly every game he has a different hairdo. Prior to a lot of home games, he out hanging with the GCU Havocs, even delivering pizza or quite possibly a sermon from one of the various books of the bible.
Whatever it is, Gabe McGlothan has had a helluva career at GCU since coming back to Phoenix prior to the 2020-21 season.
Two regular season titles. Three WAC Tournament titles. And three trips to the NCAA Tournament. Not bad over a four-year span.
McGlothan, in his final salute to the GCU Havocs at GCU Arena, went out with a bang in the 2024 King’s Hawaiian College Slam Dunk Contest.
McGlothan went up and over someone, then in what some might consider a 360…others might consider a reverse..it didn’t matter. Gabe McGlothan did what he does best and threw down another monster dunk at GCU Arena.
"Everybody loves March with the buzzer-beaters, so why not add it to the slam dunk contest?" said McGlothan.
"I'm just blessed for the opportunity," McGlothan said. "It was a so-be-it moment. That peace and giving it to Him turned out like that. It's why the first thing I grabbed was by Bible. Because this is literally everything to me."
A Look Behind the Scenes of the 2020-21 New Mexico State COVID Year
2020-21 was pretty wild for all teams. The amount of COVID testing that took place, the amount of times a game was cancelled or postponed, and trying to figure out schedules on the fly.
For most teams, they got to practice together on the regular and even got to play home games in their own arena.
For the New Mexico State Aggies, that was not the case. There were literally no practices as a team throughout the offseason. Players had to stay in separate housing, and be tested regularly. There was the wild trip to Phoenix where the Aggies stayed for nearly three months due to a decision by New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, and then still a chance to win the WAC Tournament.
Well, we have been going behind the scenes with former player and now Southern Utah assistant coach Tennessee Owens to learn more about what went on.
Here is the first part of this saga that you can listen to.
In part two, we go more in depth of what it was like to begin WAC play. There was a postponed series against UTRGV to start league play. Then a trip back to Phoenix to take on GCU. And from there it went until the final few series of the regular season where the Aggies got their groove back.
We actually added another Las Cruces legend in Bryce Rewalt to part two. Give it a listen.