Head coach Mike Magpayo returns for his fifth season with the UC Riverside basketball program.
The team has added seven players to the squad and looks to return to a winning season. Last year, the Highlanders posted a 16-18 record. It was a disappointing finish after four straight winning seasons, including a 22-win season in 2022-23. Can the squad return to those ways?
Mid-Major Basketball is previewing all Big West teams for the 2024-25 season. Up next is the Highlanders.Â
Last season
The Highlanders finished the 2023-24 season sixth in the Big West with a record of 16-18, going 10-10 in Big West play.
The team was the fifth seed in the Big West Tournament due to UC San Diego’s transition period to Division I.
The Highlanders beat Cal State Bakersfield in the first round of the conference tournament, 83-78. UC Riverside’s season ended at the hands of tournament winner Long Beach State in the quarterfinals, 86-67.
Players
The Highlanders will have two of their leading scorers back for the 2024-25 season.
Guard Barrington Hargress won the Big West Freshman of the Year award, averaging 12.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game last season. Hargress was a 2023-24 All-Big West Honorable Mention team member.
Also back for the Highlanders is redshirt junior guard Isaiah Moses. The guard averaged 12.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game last season.
Magpayo added center Joel Armotrading to the roster, an addition from within the Big West Conference. Armotrading played for Cal Poly last season, averaging 4.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.
Schedule
This season, UC Riverside will face multiple schools that played in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
The program will start the new college basketball season on Monday on the road when they play Oregon. The team will travel to Utah four days later to play BYU.
On Dec. 18, UC Riverside will face 2024 Big Sky tournament winner Montana State.
In a rematch of last year’s conference tournament quarterfinal contest, Riverside will travel to Long Beach State and take on first-year head coach Chris Acker’s squad.Â
The Highlanders will play in the Big West Tournament March 12-15 for an opportunity to dance in March Madness.
Prediction
UC Riverside has one of the hardest non-conference schedules in the Big West this season.
The Highlanders will play multiple teams who played in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. If the team has a strong non-conference performance, the team can carry that momentum into the regular season and make strides in the Big West standings.
Magpayo and his squad have been selected third in the 2024 preseason coaches poll heading into the season.
