2024–25 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team

2024–25 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball
2024–25 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball
Western Slam Champions
Conference	Big West Conference
Record	13–2 (3–0 Big West)
Head coach	Russell Turner (15th season);
Assistant coaches	Michael Wilder (9th season); Sean O'Donnell (1st season); Ali Ton (2nd season);
Home arena	Bren Events Center; (Capacity: 5,000)
	Seasons ← 2023–24 2025–26 →

2024–25 Big West men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
UC Irvine	3	–	0	1.000	13	–	2	.867
UC San Diego	3	–	0	1.000	13	–	2	.867
Cal State Northridge	3	–	1	.750	11	–	4	.733
UC Riverside	3	–	1	.750	10	–	6	.625
UC Davis	2	–	2	.500	8	–	7	.533
Cal State Bakersfield	2	–	2	.500	8	–	8	.500
Long Beach State	2	–	2	.500	6	–	10	.375
Hawai'i	1	–	2	.333	9	–	5	.643
UC Santa Barbara	1	–	2	.333	9	–	5	.643
Cal Poly	0	–	4	.000	6	–	10	.375
Cal State Fullerton	0	–	4	.000	5	–	11	.313

† 2025 Big West tournament winner As of January 4, 2025

The 2024–25 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represents the University of California, Irvine in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They play their home games at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, California as a member of the Big West Conference. The Anteaters are led by 15th-year head coach Russell Turner.

This year the Anteaters matched their best start since the 1980-1981 season, as both teams won nine straight to open the season.^[1]

This year marks the first time in program history where the Anteaters have been ranked number one in the Mid-Major College Basketball Insider Poll. Additionally, not only did UC Irvine receive two votes for the Week 5 Associated Press Top 25 Poll & one vote in the USA Today Coaches Poll, but came in at twenty-four for the first NCAA NET Rankings of the 2024-25 season, the highest ranking in program history.

Previous season

The 2023–24 Anteaters team finished 24–10, including a 17–3 conference record. They were ousted in the Big West Tournament by Long Beach State, losing 79-83.

Offseason

Departures

Departures
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Dylan Thoerner	0	G	6'6"	200	Graduate	Irvine, CA	Graduated
Derin Saran	1	G	6'4"	190	Freshman	Istanbul, Turkey	Transferred to Stanford^[2]
Pierre Crockrell II	3	G	6'0"	180	Fifth-year	Tacoma, WA	Graduated
Hayden Welling	13	F	6'9"	205	Sophomore	Draper, UT	Transferred to Utah Valley^[3]
Carter Welling	22	F	6'10"	225	Freshman	Draper, UT	Transferred to Utah Valley^[3]
Dean Keeler	31	F	6'11"	240	Fifth-year	Westminster, CA	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Incoming transfers
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Kyle Evans	14	F	6'10"	215	Junior	Aliso Viejo, CA	Colorado State
Myles Che	77	G	6'2"	190	Sophomore	Los Angeles, CA	Chattanooga

Recruits

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight
Torian Lee G	Surrey, BC, Canada	Orangeville Prep	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	158 lb (72 kg)
Torian Lee G	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Berk Can Akin G	Istanbul, Turkey	Ozluce Sinav Koleji	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)
Berk Can Akin G	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Jovan Jester Jr. G	Pasadena, CA	Pasadena HS	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)
Jovan Jester Jr. G	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Tishan Ahir G	La Cañada Flintridge, CA	Crescenta Valley HS	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	150 lb (68 kg)
Tishan Ahir G	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources:

Roster

2022–23 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	1	Torian Lee	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	158 lb (72 kg)	Fr	Orangeville Prep	Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
G	2	Justin Hohn	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)		Tea High School	Sioux Falls, South Dakota
G	4	Andre Henry	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)		Saint Francis High School	La Cañada Flintridge, California
F	5	Ben Egbo	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	RS Fr	Perry High School	Gilbert, Arizona
G	7	Berk Can Akin	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Ozluce Sinav Koleji	Istanbul, Turkey
G	9	Jovan Jester Jr.	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Pasadena High School	Pasadena, California
G	10	Ofure Ujadughele (W)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	215 lb (98 kg)		Chino Hills High School	Long Beach, California
F	11	Devin Tillis	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	RS Sr	UNLV	Los Angeles, California
F	14	Kyle Evans	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Jr	Colorado State	Aliso Viejo, California
C	15	Bent Leuchten	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)	265 lb (120 kg)	Sr	Josef-Effner Gymnasium	Karlsfeld, Bavaria, Germany
G	21	Langston Redfield (W)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	RS Jr	Capistrano Valley High School	Mission Viejo, California
G	24	Jurian Dixon	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	RS Fr	St. Augustine High School	San Diego, California
G	27	Tishan Ahir	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	Fr	Crescenta Valley High School	La Cañada Flintridge, California
F/C	33	Elijah Chol	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	RS So	Forsyth Central High School	Cumming, Georgia
F	43	Akiva McBirney-Griffin	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	RS So	St John's College, Hamilton	Hamilton, New Zealand
G	77	Myles Che	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	So	Chattanooga	Los Angeles, California

Head coach

Russell Turner (Hampden–Sydney)

Assistant coach(es)

Michael Wilder (UC Irvine)
Sean O'Donnell (UC Irvine)
Ali Ton (Davidson)
Patrick Scully (Oregon)
Julius Smith (Jessup)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 30, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Vanguard	W 81–58	–	14 – Tied	9 – Tillis	4 – Tied	Bren Events Center (1,375) Irvine, CA
Regular season
November 4, 2024* 8:00 pm, ESPN+	Chapman	W 82–52	1–0	19 – Leuchten	7 – Tied	3 – Tied	Bren Events Center (1,862) Irvine, CA
November 8, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Loyola Marymount	W 66–51	2–0	17 – Henry	11 – Leuchten	4 – Tied	Gersten Pavilion (1,144) Los Angeles, CA
November 10, 2024* 11:00 am, ESPN+	at Northern Iowa	W 80–60	3–0	18 – Leuchten	9 – Tillis	3 – Hohn	McLeod Center (3,513) Cedar Falls, IA
November 16, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Pepperdine	W 80–62	4–0	25 – Tillis	15 – Leuchten	4 – High	Bren Events Center (2,123) Irvine, CA
November 22, 2024* 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Weber State	W 93–87	5–0	29 – Leuchten	11 – Tied	6 – Hohn	Dee Events Center (3,559) Ogden, UT
November 28, 2024* 4:30 pm, ESPN+	vs. Kennesaw State Western Slam	W 76–59	6–0	15 – Tied	6 – Tied	6 – Hohn	Enmax Centre (704) Lethbridge, AB, Canada
November 29, 2024* 6:30 pm, ESPN+	vs. Kent State Western Slam	W 51–39	7–0	17 – Leuchten	11 – Tillis	4 – Hohn	Enmax Centre Lethbridge, AB, Canada
November 30, 2024* 6:30 pm, ESPN+	vs. Towson Western Slam	W 67–60	8–0	25 – Tillis	7 – Tied	4 – Hohn	Enmax Centre (1,603) Lethbridge, AB, Canada
December 5, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Cal State Bakersfield	W 82–66	9–0 (1–0)	19 – Hohn	7 – Tied	8 – Hohn	Bren Events Center (2,074) Irvine, CA
December 14, 2024* 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Oregon State	L 55–67	9–1	10 – Hohn	7 – Tillis	3 – Che	Gill Coliseum (2,740) Corvallis, Oregon
December 19, 2024* 4:30 pm, ESPN+	at Belmont	W 92–84	10–1	23 – Leuchten	15 – Leuchten	4 – Hohn	Curb Event Center (1,732) Nashville, TN
December 21, 2024* 11:30 am, ESPN+	at Duquesne	L 54–70	10–2	9 – Che	7 – Tillis	2 – Tied	UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (2,010) Pittsburgh, PA
December 30, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at California Baptist	W 71–63	11–2	20 – Leuchten	10 – Leuchten	4 – Che	Fowler Events Center (2,720) Riverside, CA
January 2, 2025 5:00 pm, ESPN+	at Cal Poly	W 98–89 ^OT	12–2 (2–0)	25 – Tillis	11 – Leuchten	4 – Tillis	Mott Athletics Center (1,834) San Luis Obispo, CA
January 4, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	UC Riverside	W 81–57	13–2 (3–0)	17 – Hohn	8 – Tillis	7 – Che	Bren Events Center (3,316) Irvine, CA
January 9, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at CSUN						Premier America Credit Union Arena Northridge, CA
January 11, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPNU	at UC San Diego						LionTree Arena San Diego, CA
January 16, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Cal State Fullerton						Bren Events Center Irvine, CA
January 18, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Cal Poly						Bren Events Center Irvine, CA
January 23, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at UC Riverside						SRC Arena Riverside, CA
January 25, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Hawaii						Bren Events Center Irvine, CA
January 30, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Long Beach State						Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA
February 1, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	UC Davis						Bren Events Center Irvine, CA
February 8, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	UC San Diego						Bren Events Center Irvine, CA
February 13, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	UC Santa Barbara						Bren Events Center Irvine, CA
February 15, 2025 9:00 pm, ESPN+	at Hawaii						Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI
February 20, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	CSUN						Bren Events Center Irvine, CA
February 22, 2025 6:30 pm, ESPN+	at Cal State Bakersfield						Icardo Center Bakersfield, CA
February 27, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Cal State Fullerton						Titan Gym Fullerton, CA
March 1, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Long Beach State						Bren Events Center Irvine, CA
March 6, 2025 TBA, ESPN+	at UC Davis						University Credit Union Center Davis, CA
March 8, 2025 TBA, ESPN+	at UC Santa Barbara						The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA
Big West tournament
March 12, 2025 TBA	vs. TBD						Dollar Loan Center Henderson, NV
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Source^[4]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	RV	—	—	—	—
Coaches	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	—	—	—
College Insider Mid-Major	12	5	3	3	1	1	3	5	6

References

^ "Men's Basketball Ranked No. 1 In CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll; Garners National Attention". UCI Athletics. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
^ "Men's Basketball Announces Addition of Saran". Stanford Cardinal. Stanford University. May 10, 2024. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Welling Brothers Sign with Utah Valley". Utah Valley Wolverines. Utah Valley University. May 7, 2024. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
^ "2024–25 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of California, Irvine. Retrieved October 4, 2024.

[1] "Men's Basketball Ranked No. 1 In CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll; Garners National Attention". UCI Athletics. Retrieved December 3, 2024.

[2] "Men's Basketball Announces Addition of Saran". Stanford Cardinal. Stanford University. May 10, 2024. Retrieved October 4, 2024.

[Welling-3] "Welling Brothers Sign with Utah Valley". Utah Valley Wolverines. Utah Valley University. May 7, 2024. Retrieved October 4, 2024.

[4] "2024–25 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of California, Irvine. Retrieved October 4, 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball
Venues	Crawford Hall (1965–1987) Bren Events Center (1987–present)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25