Eags men's basketball releases 2024-25

CHENEY — A new era for Eastern Washington men’s basketball has begun as head coach Dan Monson enters his first season leading the Eagles.

Monson announced the full schedule for the 2024-25 season, with 14 home games. The Big Sky officially announced the conference schedule for all its affiliated members earlier.

Eastern’s regular season begins on Nov. 4 with a road test against Colorado, who advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season. EWU’s home opener is slated for Nov. 6 against Seattle.

A highlight of the non-conference schedule will be a matchup against Washington State on Nov. 21 at the Spokane Arena. Eastern will face off against its former head coach David Riley, who departed for the Cougars in March.

Eastern will play four additional games at Reese Court in non-conference including games against Cal Poly (Nov. 17), North Dakota (Dec. 4), Lincoln (Dec. 21) and Eastern Oregon (Dec. 30).

The road schedule has the Eagles in power-5 matchups against Missouri (Nov. 11), Utah (Nov. 30) and Washington (Dec. 10).

The other road contests include Cal Baptist (Nov. 23), UC Santa Barbara (Nov. 26) and South Dakota State (Dec. 7).

Following the conclusion of non-conference, the Big Sky schedule begins with games against Montana (Jan. 2) and Montana State (Jan. 4) at Reese Court. The team will play nine total conference home games.

The ‘24-’25 conference slate features two matchups against Idaho, working as a double-header with women’s basketball. The first double-header will be in Moscow on Jan. 18, with the second in Cheney on Feb. 15.

EWU closes out the regular season on March 1 against Idaho State.

Eastern Washington won its second-consecutive Big Sky regular season championship in 2024, carrying a 15-3 conference record and 21-11 overall.

Monson was hired in April as the 20th head coach in Eastern Washington history.

Previously, Monson spent the past 17 years as the head coach of Long Beach State, becoming the program’s all-time winnings coach with 275 victories.

This past season, Monson led Long Beach to a Cinderella run, winning the Big West Tournament and advancing to the NCAA Tournament.

Eastern’s roster has six returning players and eight newcomers for Monson’s inaugural season.

The returning group includes guards Mason Williams, Nic McClain and Sebastian Hartmann. In the front court, forwards Jackson Seale, Emmett Marquardt and Vice Zanki also return.

The newcomers to the back court include Tyler Powell, Jordy McKenzie, Elijah Thomas, Andrew Cook and Maddox Monson. Forwards Angelo Winkel, Pavlo Dziuba and Shaumba Ngoyi add more depth to the front court.