The 2023–24 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team represented

Wright State University Wright State University is a public research university in Fairborn, Ohio, United States. Originally opened in 1964 as a branch campus of Miami University and Ohio State University, it became an independent institution in 1967 and was named in ...

in the

2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 6, 2023. The regular season ended on March 17, 2024, with the 2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament beginning with the First Four on March 19 and ending with th ...

. The Raiders, led by eighth-year head coach

Scott Nagy Scott Michael Nagy (; born June 7, 1966) is an American college basketball coach and the current head coach for Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball. He had previously served as head coach at South Dakota State for 21 seasons (1995–2016) ...

, played their home games at the

Nutter Center The Nutter Center is a multi-purpose arena located at Wright State University, in Fairborn, Ohio. It mainly serves as the home court of the Wright State Raiders men's and women's basketball teams. It is also regularly used as a music venue for ...

Fairborn, Ohio Fairborn is a city in Greene County, Ohio, United States. The population was 34,620 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb of Dayton and part of the Dayton metropolitan area. The city is home to Wright State University, which serves nearly 12,000 und ...

(with a

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

mailing address) as members of the

Horizon League The Horizon League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the league's eleven member schools are located in ...

Season summary

2023-24 began with high expectations. The return of star shooting guard Tanner Holden to the team alongside point guard Trey Calvin put two eventual 2,000 point scorers in the starting lineup. Brandon Noel returned at power forward following his Horizon League Freshman of the Year season, and junior AJ Braun returned for his third year as starting center. Veterans Andrew Welage and Alex Huibregtse rounded out the main rotation. The only unexpected loss was the physical reserve forward Blake Sisley, who left basketball to concentrate on school. Funny things happen with expectations, and reality came crashing down as the season began with a 28-point thrashing by fellow mid-major Colorado State, followed by losses to Toledo and Indiana. The remainder of the non-conference schedule was a middling win-one/ lose-one slog. The Raiders began the Horizon League season in a hole with road losses both to surprising Green Bay and to Milwaukee. When the season might have been salvaged, a tired team fell apart down the stretch at Youngstown. The home court became anything but an advantage with shocking home losses to Green Bay, Youngstown State, Oakland and Purdue Fort Wayne. The season ended with an overtime home loss to rival Northern Kentucky, a rematch just five days after an emotional win on the same court. All throughout the season, the Raiders could score. They led the nation (363 teams) in shooting percentage (53%) and were top 5 in points per game (86.5). Center AJ Braun led the nation in individual shooting percentage (68.9%). But, as so often the case, as good as they were on offense they were that bad on defense giving up 3-pointers and lay-ups with equal grace finishing 341st in defensive efficiency. The individual stats followed the team stats as all five starters averaged double-digits, including guard Alex Huibregtse who had a breakout year. Redshirt Freshmen Logan Woods, Kaden Brown and Drey Carter all logged productive minutes off the bench. Andrew Welage’s season was hampered by injuries and illness, but he gave all he had and had a standout game against Indiana.

Aftermath

After the season of high expectations concluded with an opening game home tournament loss, Wright State said good-bye to star guards Trey Calvin and Tanner Holden, as expected. Andrew Welage also hung up his sneakers and graduated. Center AJ Braun decided to test the transfer portal with his impressive stats, and head coach Scott Nagy disappeared to Southern Illinois in a cloud of private-jet smoke.

Previous season

The Raiders finished the 2022–23 season 18–15, 10–10 in Horizon League play to finish tied for sixth place. As the No. 7 seed, they defeated Green Bay, before losing in the quarter finals to No. 2 seed

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=12 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Horizon League tournament , - Sources

Awards and honors

Statistics

Source

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2023-24 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team Wright State Raiders men's basketball seasons

Wright State Raiders The Wright State Raiders are the athletics teams of Wright State University in Fairborn, Ohio. The school currently participates in ten sports at the Division I level of the NCAA and are members of the Horizon League. The school's mascot is a wol ...

Wright State Raiders men's basketball The Wright State Raiders men's basketball is the men's college basketball team that represents Wright State University in Fairborn, Ohio. The school's team currently competes in the Horizon League at the NCAA Division I level. The Raiders won t ...