WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – William & Mary men's basketball tips off the home portion of it schedule when it welcomes American to Kaplan Arena on Friday night. The match-up of former CAA rivals is slated for a 7 p.m. start.
Friday's opener will be streamed on
FloHoops. Tribe fans can catch the men's basketball action over the Tribe Sports Network with Jay Colley and
Bobby Dwyer on the call. Locally in Williamsburg, fans can listen in on The Tide 92.3 FM.
Catch up with the Tribe through social media. Fans can keep up with W&M men's basketball by following the program on social media as well. Be sure to check out the Tribe on
Twitter (@WMTribeMBB),
Facebook (WMTribeMBB), and
Instagram (WMTribeMBB).
- W&M and American are former Colonial Athletic Association rivals and founding members of the league. The Tribe and Eagles meet for the second time in three years after not having met since AU left the CAA in 2001. American leads the all-time series at 34-12, but the Tribe has won three of the last four meetings. In 2019, the Tribe rallied from a 16-point deficit to win at American, 79-70.
- In the opener at Wake Forest, the Tribe dished out 17 assists on 22 made field goals. According to KenPom.com, the Tribe's 77.3% assist rate ranks fourth in the country.
- Sophomore
Ben Wight enjoyed a career night in the Tribe's first game of the season at Wake Forest. Wight tallied a career-best 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including a 3-pointer, and 7-of-8 at the free throw line. His 18 points bested his previous career high of 10 set twice last season against George Washington and Delaware.
- Freshman
Tyler Rice had an impressive debut at Wake Forest. Rice dished out nine assists which are the most for a Tribe freshman in a debut in program history. He had seven assists compared to zero turnovers in the second half against the Deacs. Overall, his nine assists were the second most for a Tribe freshman in school history, trailing only Randy Bracy's 11 in 1996 against George Mason.
- W&M turned in a strong second half at Wake Forest, outscoring its ACC foe 41-31. The Tribe shot 53.5% from the field, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range, while holding Wake Forest to just 41.4% from the floor and 2-of-11 (18.2%) from 3 in the final 20 minutes.
- Like last season, W&M expects to be one of the youngest teams in the country in terms of minutes played by underclassmen. In 2020-21, W&M ranked as the 34th youngest team in the country according to KenPom.com. In total, the Tribe started three freshmen in 11 of 17 games last season and rookies comprised 45.5% (1559-of-3425) of the minutes played. In the opener at Wake Forest, W&M started four freshmen and sophomores and the two classes accounted for 78% of the team's minutes (156-of-200) and 79.7% of its scoring (47-of-59).
- The Tribe will play seven of its first nine games away from Williamsburg. It has been a common theme for W&M over the last three years. Over head coach
Dane Fischer's first three seasons, the Tribe has played or is scheduled to play 23 of its 34 nonconference games away from Williamsburg. The Tribe has won 15 road games over the last two seasons, including a school-record 10 in 2019-20.
- Sophomore
Connor Kochera was selected to the Preseason All-CAA Second Team by vote of the league coaches, SIDs and media. Last year, Kochera became the fourth Tribe player to be named the CAA Rookie of the Year and just the second to be voted the VaSID State Rookie of the Year. He ranked 13th in the CAA in scoring (13.4) and 16th in rebounding (4.8). His scoring average was the 19th-highest among freshmen nationally and he became just the second rookie since 1992-93 to average at last 15 points and five rebounds per game in CAA play.
- As a team, the Tribe was picked 10th in the preseason standings for the second-straight year. Delaware was the preseason pick to win the league. Last season, W&M finished seventh. In 2019-20, W&M was picked seventh in the preseason and finished second with a 13-5 league mark.
- Senior
Quinn Blair is one of two double-digit returning scorers for the Tribe in 2021-22. Last season, Blair ranked 22nd in the CAA at 11.7 points per game, which was third on the team. He tallied double digits in 11 of his 16 games last season, including nine of the final 11 contests. Blair was also second on the team and 11th in the CAA at 5.8 rebounds per game. He was also 15th in the league in free throw % (76.8). Blair tallied a career-high 19 points in a win at Towson last season.
- Four former W&M players are either playing or coaching in the NBA. Nathan Knight '20 signed his second two-way NBA contract and is with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He saw action in 33 regular-season games, averaging 3.8 points and 2.2 rebounds per game for the Eastern Conference Finalist Atlanta Hawks in 2020-21. Jim Moran '01 is an assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons. Sean Sheldon '16 is the San Antonio Spurs head video coordinator, and Daniel Dixon '17 is the Charlotte Hornets' assistant video coordinator.
