College Hoops Top 50

Last Year: 18-15; Sixth (10-10) in the Horizon League, No Postseason

Head Coach: Scott Nagy (Eighth Year; 149-78 at Wright State with two NCAA Tournament appearances)

Projected Starting Lineup

PG Trey Colvin – 6’0″, 165 – Senior

SG Alex Huibregtse – 6’3″, 195 – Junior

SF Tanner Holden – 6’6″, 200 – Senior (5th) – awaiting NCAA waiver

PF Brandon Noel – 6’8″, 235 – Sophomore

C AJ Braun – 6’9″, 225 – Junior

Projected Starters’ 2022-23 Stats

Trey Colvin: 20.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 3.7 apg, 1.3 spg – 39.0% 3FG

Alex Huibregetse: 8.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.6 apg, 0.6 spg – 39.3% 3FG

Tanner Holden: 3.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 0.5 apg, 0.4 spg – 47.8% FG

Brandon Noel: 13.0 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.0 bpg – 60.9% FG

AJ Braun: 9.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 0.7 apg, 0.7 bpg – 60.9% FG

Experienced Reserves

W Andrew Welage – 6’6″, 180 – Junior

G Keaton Norris – 6’0″, 165 – Junior

W Bo Myers – 6’6″, 200 – Senior (5th)

Experienced Reserves’ 2022-23 Stats

Andrew Welage: 6.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.4 apg, 0.5 spg – 47.7% 3FG

Keaton Norris: 3.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.5 apg, 0.5 spg – 43.3% FG

Bo Myers: 18.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2.1 apg, 0.6 spg – 42.4% 3FG @ Malone University

Freshmen

F Drey Carter – 6’8″, 190 – Redshirt Freshman

G Logan Woods – 6’5″, 180 – Redshirt Freshman

G Dayjuan Anderson – 6’2″, 180 – Freshman

G Kaden Brown – 6’0″, 175 – Freshman

Like nice weather & the weekend or hot peppers & pineapple on pizza, some things are better when they are together. Another example would be Wright State and Tanner Holden. Two years ago, Holden averaged more than 20 points per game for the Raiders, and head coach Scott Nagy’s team made a run to first the Horizon League Tournament title and then a win in March Madness.

Last season, Holden transferred up to Ohio State. He ended up playing less than 14 minutes per contest while scoring 3.6 points per game for the year. Without their two-time all-conference star, the Raiders fell to 18 wins and a sixth-place finish in league play. Now, like having that big project finished and getting to sleep in as well, Holden is back with Wright State. He will need an NCAA waiver to play this year; the great caveat. So are a bunch of his old friends, though, and all of them are hoping and aiming for a return to their greatest hits.

Holden is a prototype Nagy player, a guy who relentlessly attacks the paint and forces the defense to fall back on plans B, C and D whether in transition or the halfcourt. With his aggressive, high-energy style, Holden is a scorer his team can rally around, and after a major disappointment in Columbus, he is hungry for a triumphant return. He’s posted 13 double-doubles so far in his time at Wright State, including a 37-point, 11-rebound performance against Bryant in the NCAA tourney. “He’s got experience. He was in our system three years and knows us well. We already have a pretty experienced team with the players we have. He just adds to that,” Nagy told the Dayton Daily News. “But mostly, we’re happy for him and glad he’s back in a place where he feels comfortable.”

It remains to be seen if Holden will get a waiver from the NCAA in order to be eligible this year, but if he’s able to play, Holden is ready to get back to what he’s done best. Two years ago, Holden took the second-most trips to the free throw line in all of Division I hoops, and he made the second-most foul shots while he was there. With his 57th made freebie this season, Holden will become Wright State’s all-time leader. The two-time All-Horizon first team selection ranks sixth in conference history with a 53.0% career mark from the field, and Holden has scored 1,578 career points. Over his last two years as a Raider, Holden averaged 18.4 points while still helping out with a 14.2% assist rate. He’s a player who makes the whole offense better, and beyond his remarkable efficiency, Holden prevents scoring droughts with all of the free points he earns. Given that Wright State was forced to get better without him last year, Holden’s presence should relax everything around him this season – and allow Nagy to play faster than ever.

“It’s great when you get consistency from players, but he’s been consistently great”

– Scott Nagy on Trey Calvin

Without Holden around, Trey Calvin stepped up as the Raiders’ go-to scoring threat last season, averaging 20+ points of his own in a career year which landed him on the All-Horizon first team. If he ends up having to be WSU’s main main once more, Calvin is a very solid place to start. The high-scoring lead guard has averaged 17.4 points and 3.5 assists with 97 steals combined the past two seasons, and figures to continue that tremendous production with his extra year of eligibility.

“He’s really been our rock,” Nagy told reporters of his point guard last winter. “I’m proud of him because the start of the season didn’t go well (Calvin was pulled from the starting lineup for five games in December), but he was able to get himself righted and has been super solid for us…It’s great when you get consistency from players, but he’s been consistently great.” Calvin can create for himself or others nearly anywhere on the floor, and with Holden also capable of getting a look whenever he wants it, defenses are going to have to pick which poison they prefer. Calvin doesn’t shoot as many outside jumpers as most guards who can score like he does, but he owns a 38.6% mark from distance over the past two years. His proven threat from deep means that any defender has to close out whenever Calvin gets some space on the perimeter, which stretches out gaps in the defense for his teammates to fill. With his experience, talent and the reputation he’s earned, Calvin is a star in his own right, and gives Wright State the best 1-2 punch in the conference.

Nagy has developed some very good post players over his coaching career. He’s even been called ‘the Big Man Whisperer’. During his seven seasons in Dayton, the Raiders have seen former stars Loudon Love and Grant Basile combine for six appearances on the all-conference first team and two Player of the Year awards. Now, Nagy may have his best big yet in Brandon Noel, the Horizon League’s Freshman of the Year last season.

After redshirting two years in a row before starting his career, Noel was finally healthy last year, and he had a more impactful season than almost any first-year big guy in the country. “He led the league in rebounding – that’s incredible for a freshman to do that,” Nagy told reporters ahead of the voting for the Horizon League end-of-season awards. “We put him up for the all-defensive team. He was our anchor defensively. When you think back to our very good teams, like when we had Loudon in the middle, Brandon is going to be at the level very soon.” Noel is also a talented scorer; at the basket, from the elbow, or out to the three point arc. He ranked second on the team in points last year, and as the training wheels came off, Noel showed the wealth of talent he possesses. He was in the starting lineup for good by the second week of December, and shot a slash line of 61/36/77% while posting ten double-doubles for the season. Noel is an exceedingly poised big guy, with great passing instincts and overall awareness, especially in the halfcourt. It’s hard to speed him up, and he’s got the clean footwork at both ends of the floor to remain highly effective despite the range of opposing bigs which opponents are surely going to throw at him. If Noel can stay healthy, he’s got as much potential as any of the stars to come before him – and Nagy can’t wait to find out how much more his talented sophomore can accomplish.

Though Noel stole a bit of his thunder last year, AJ Braun also returns up front, and has yet to reach his own ceiling. Having started 46 games already through his first two seasons, Braun gives the Raiders another very useful young veteran in the post, which is twice as many as most teams in the Horizon. “Most people are going to guard him (Noel) with their 4. And in our league, most 4′s are wings,” Nagy said last year. With Braun’s length at the pivot and Noel causing mismatches beside him, Wright State can bully smaller teams. Braun shot 64% at the rim last season and 49% on all other 2FG’s, using the glass and a solid turnaround jumper to his advantage – and he tied Noel with a 60.9% rate from the floor overall. While he hasn’t racked up many assists yet, Braun can keep the ball moving effectively at the top of the key or in the lane, and like all of Nagy’s bigs, Braun understands spacing and positioning at both ends of the floor. Now that defenders will be more focused on Noel – and more spread out overall – Braun is hoping to take a big step in his third season.

There is tremendous depth and experience on the perimeter. Besides Holden, Alex Huibregtse and Andrew Welage return, having played 138 career games combined for the Raiders. Huibregtse, maybe the team’s top threat from distance, led the Raiders in made three’s last year. Coming off of a redshirt two years ago, Huibregtse stepped right into a vital role in his second full season. Nagy loves to focus his offensive attack inside the arc; last season, the Raiders made 25 2FG’s per game, best in all of Division I, but Wright State ranked 301st out of 363 teams in made triples. Calvin and Huibregtse are the heavy lifters on the outside, and Nagy is counting on them to help space the floor. A strong passer and smart defender, Huibregtse saw nearly 24 minutes per contest last year. Without do-it-all veteran Tim Finke and his 34+ minutes per game this this time around, Huibregtse will likely play an even bigger role.

Welage only attempted 65 triples last year, but he splashed 31 of them: good for 48%, an outstanding figure if he can maintain that efficiency. Like Huibregtse, Welage is a sweet-shooting perimeter player who can really pass the ball; Welage actually ranked third on the Raiders in assist rate last season. He’s also a bigger wing, and can defend a few different types of players. He’s not as solidly-built as Finke, but Welage picked up a couple two-tree things from his experienced counterpart over the last couple of years. With Holden, Calvin and Noel to lead the offense, Huibregtse and Welage can continue to do whatever else is needed on a given day.

When Calvin was removed from the starting lineup last year, Nagy turned to Keaton Norris, a promising young playmaker. The younger brother of Loyola point guard Braden Norris, Keaton owns a 114 to 61 assist to turnover ratio through two years and knows how to run a team. He shot just 28% from three last year after making 29 of them at 39% as a freshman, but Norris also made a concerted effort to focus his offensive approach much more around his dribble-drive game. After trying just 14 shots inside the arc in his first year, Norris attempted 61 2FG’s compared to 36 triple tries last winter. Despite younger guards arriving this year, Norris has an inside track as the point guard of the future, and will see the floor often as a junior – maybe even as Nagy’s first guard off the bench.

Five Stats Which Tell The Tale

53.9% – Team 2FG Percentage (38th)

51.2% – Opponent 2FG Percentage (230th)

.240 – Free Throw Attempts Per Field Goal Attempt (350th)

14.6 – Assists Per Game (49th)

8.0 – Opponent Steals Per Game (344th)

Bo Myers is new to the Raiders, but not new to college basketball. He played four years for D II Malone (OH) University, where was a productive scorer and quality rebounder. A strong outside shooter, Myers made 265 triples across his four seasons, at a strong 40% rate. He may not be as physical a player as Finke, but with his clever passing and high motor, Myers hopes to fill a similarly multi-purpose role. “Bo is a proven player with four years of collegiate experience from a very good Division II program,” Nagy says of his new veteran. “We love his skill set, feel for the game, and ability to guard multiple positions. Overall, Bo is a perfect fit for our culture and will be a valuable addition to our program.” If Holden can’t go, Nagy will look to Myers to be a significant part of the offense.

If Holden is back, and with some new shooters arriving, Nagy will hope to see a more diverse offensive approach this year. His offensive system is very much focused upon scoring near the bucket; his Raiders have ranked in the top 25 of the nation’s teams in made two-point shots per game for four consecutive seasons. Last year, though, things became quite imbalanced. Wright State fell to 301st in made triples per game despite shooting a solid percentage, and bottomed out in the 300’s of made freebies per game as well. If Holden returns and returns to who he’s been, the free throw situation will work itself out. The bigger concern is from three; Welage made an outstanding percentage as a junior, but was a 32.4% shooter prior. Myers has racked ’em up at the lower level, but can that production translate up to the Horizon? He is a 79.1% career foup shooter, but will Myers be able to get to the foul line as a Raider? For Nagy’s offense to hum at peak efficiency, it must be a bit more well-rounded.

Five Out-of-Conference Games to Keep an Eye on

@ Indiana – November 16

@ Colorado State – November 10

vs Toledo – November 14

@ Davidson – December 2

N – Gulf Coast Showcase – November 20

There are some freshmen who will vie for roles off the bench, and one of them in particular should also help the shooting conundrum. Logan Woods and Drey Carter are the latest redshirt freshmen who will be expected to make a splash now that they’ve marinated for a season in Nagy’s system. Carter is a highly-regarded talent; a long and athletic forward who can really shoot the rock and can play comfortably on the perimeter. His year off was spent adding strength to a lanky frame, and Carter will be looking to pick up a few pointers from Holden this year before – Nagy hopes – assuming an important scoring role as soon as the new year. Woods is a smaller wing player, but not by much – and he’s quick. Though he doesn’t have quite as polished a jumper as Carter has shown, Woods will help out defensively all over the floor in the years to come.

Some true freshmen will get their feet wet behind the vets, too. Carson Schwieger is a smooth forward who can operate near the lane or outside. His brother Cooper plays for Valparaiso, but Carson figures to provide floor-spacing shooting for the Raiders in the years to come. Dayjuan Anderson is a Dayton local, and starred as a wide receiver for Ponitz High School when he wasn’t getting buckets. Anderson is shifty and can heat it up as a scoring threat. Point guard prospect Kaden Brown held offers from what seems like most of the Horizon League and Mid-American Conference. He’s a good leader with the quickness, shot-making talent and awareness to develop nicely for Nagy.

Wright State’s furnace is stocked up and ready to run this winter, more so than usual. Even if Holden can’t go, Noel will be given an even larger feature role as a sophomore. Last season, the Raiders averaged 75 possessions per game – 17th in all the land – and ranked 28th in the country in Evan Miya’s True Tempo stat. The return of Holden would supercharge Nagy’s attack. The Horizon will feature a hard-charging Milwaukee side, Northern Kentucky is always strong, and Youngstown State will be looking to run up some scores, as well.

If Holden can play, it will make the Raiders dangerous on more than a Horizon League-level. And if everything flows like it did a couple of years ago, well, Wright State has the type of steeds needed to keep out ahead in the race for a conference crown. With the chemistry this core group of Raiders showed in capturing the Horizon tourney title and reaching the NCAA Tournament two years back, Wright State knows that it can be done again.