- After opening the season at home for just the third time in the last 16 years on Monday vs. Navy, the Tribe plays its second-straight home contest against Mid-Atlantic Christian, a United States Collegiate Athletic Association program that started in 2012-13 and plays in the New South Athletic Conference, on Thursday. It marks the first time the Tribe has played its first two games of the season at home since 2005.
- Thursday's match-up with Mid-Atlantic Christian marks the 15th year in the last 16 that the Tribe has faced a non-Division I opponent. It will be one of two this season as W&M hosts Randolph College in December. Over that stretch, W&M has won those games by an average margin of 38.6 points. The Tribe has scored at a 92.7 points per game clip in those contests, including nearly 100 points since 2014-15 (98.7 ppg).
- In his debut with the Tribe, junior
Noah Collier led the Green and Gold with 17 points, eight rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals. All four statistics were career highs. Collier was 8-of-11 from the floor. The 6-8 forward transferred to W&M after spending his first two seasons at Pitt, appearing in 44 games mainly as a reserve.
- Like Collier, sophomore
Gabe Dorsey made an impact in his first game with the Tribe. The Vanderbilt transfer tallied his first career game in double-figures, scoring 10 points and hitting a pair of 3-pointers in nearly 30 minutes of action against the Midshipmen.
- After playing the majority of its nonconference games on the road in head coach
Dane Fischer's first three seasons, the Tribe has seven nonconference home games in 2022-23. Over the previous three years, W&M played 10 total nonconference homes games. The last time W&M had at least seven home games outside of league play was 2006-07 and the last time it had more was eight in 1991-92.
- Junior
Ben Wight, who has scored in double figures in 14 of his last 17 games dating back to last season, was recognized by the CAA as a preseason all-league honorable mention selection. Wight led the Tribe at 11.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last season. His 61.6% shooting from the floor ranked third in the CAA and was the six-best mark in W&M history.
- While the Tribe was picked eighth in the preseason CAA poll, national basketball analyst Jeff Goodman of Stadium and the Field of 68 noted W&M as the CAA's sleeper team according to a poll of the CAA coaches.
- The Tribe's roster includes 10 new faces in the form of five transfers and five freshmen. Seven of those 10 made their Tribe debuts in the season-opener against Navy. The five transfers -
Chris Mullins (Rice),
Anders Nelson (St. Thomas), Collier (Pitt), Dorsey (Vanderbilt) and
Matteus Case (Providence) - combined for 131 of 200 minutes played and totaled 36 of W&M's 59 points. Two Tribe freshmen -
Jack Karasinski and
Chase Lowe - played in the opener. Karainski tallied eight points off the bench, hitting 2-of-4 from 3-point range.
- One of two returning starters, sophomore
Tyler Rice closed the 2021-22 season with two of his best performances in the final two games of the year. In the regular-season finale, he scored seven points and added a career-high 10 assists at Hofstra. The Columbia, S.C., native followed that performance with a team-high 15 points, including 3-of-5 from 3, to go with four assists in the CAA Tournament vs. Northeastern. His 112 assists last season were the second most for a freshman in program history.
- Graduate students
Chris Mullins and
Anders Nelson were 1,000-point scorers at their previous collegiate stops. Mullins became just the 10th player in Rice history with 1,000 points, 300 rebounds and 250 assists in a career. He started 102 of 116 career games for the Owls. Nelson scored 1,426 points at St. Thomas, which transitioned to Division I in his final season. He scored in double-digits in 73 career games and was named the national Division III Freshman of the Year in 2019.
- 2020 graduate Nathan Knight, who was the National Mid-Major Player of the Year in 2020, signed a two-year NBA deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the offseason. He spent his first two seasons on two-way deals with the Atlanta Hawks and the Timberwolves. Knight is the third W&M player, joining Marcus Thornton (Cleveland Cavaliers 10-day contract in 2018) and Daniel Dixon (Boston Celtics preseason Exhibit 10 deal in 2017) to sign an NBA deal since 2017.
- A trio of former W&M players are currently on NBA coaching staffs. Jim Moran '01 is in his second season as an assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons, while Sean Sheldon '16 joined the Utah Jazz as an assistant coach this offseason. Daniel Dixon '17 is an assistant coach with the Oklahoma City Blue, the NBA G-League program of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
