Seattle University is no stranger to basketball excellence. Since the emergence of the program in 1948, Seattle U has been recognized at the national level for its success on the hardwood court. From producing talent such as Elgin Baylor, the number one overall pick in the 1958 NBA Draft and Basketball Hall of Famer, Johnny and Eddie O’Brien, twin brothers who led the team to an 84-81 upset over the Harlem Globetrotters, and many more individuals who played or are currently playing at the professional level, Seattle U basketball has a prominent history.
It’s old news that Seattle U is now an official member of the West Coast Conference (WCC). With this comes stronger competition for Seattle U Men’s Basketball; the Redhawks join the likes of Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine and Gonzaga University. Senior Small Forward Junseok Yeo spent the past three years at Gonzaga, one of the most prominent men’s basketball programs in the nation, and brings WCC experience to the Redhawks squad.
“It was really competitive, it was pretty tough… I think our team is ready for it, ready for the WCC. I think I’m pretty confident,” Yeo said when reflecting on the competition in the WCC.
Along with the new conference, Men’s Basketball also has a lot of new faces on the team this year. Of the 15 total players, seven remain from the 2024 roster, and only five saw time on the court last season.
The Redhawks also see the return of many core players such as Brayden Maldonado, Maleek Arington, Houran Dan and John Christofilis, all of whom played in all 32 games last season.
Another key returner to this Seattle U team is Redshirt Sophomore Forward Will Heimbrodt. The California native appeared in 27 games last season off the bench, having multiple performances that showed his ability to compete at a high level. Heimbrodt got the start this past weekend during the team’s exhibition game versus Utah State, where he put up 23 points and six rebounds.
This year, fans will also be able to see the talents of Ray Adams and Yuto Kawashima on display. Both players redshirted their freshman year, so they did not see any action last season.
Before Seattle U, Kawashima spent time representing Japan at the international level, playing for the Japan National Senior Team for the 2024 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, as well as the Japan FIBA World Cup U19 team. Adams, a Washington native, was a standout athlete at North Thurston High School, where he was named the MVP of the South Sound Conference, as well as the Defensive Player of the Year.
Seattle U hit the transfer portal hard this offseason. Out of the eight new faces on the team this year, six of them are transfers. The only true freshmen on this Redhawks squad consist of a top Washington Prep talent in Jeremiah Hershman, along with a standout player at the international level in Stratos Papastavrou.
Hershman led the Annie Wright Gators (Tacoma) to a 1A WIAA State Championship this past March, completing a standout Prep career. Papastavrou has represented his home country of Greece at the U16, U17, and U18 levels, where he helped the U17 team earn second place in the Bucharest Balkan Tournament and was named MVP, Best Scorer and Best 5 in the tournament.
For the transfers, familiar faces can be seen in Austin Maurer and Brock Felder. Maurer spent his freshman season at former rivals, Grand Canyon University (GCU), while Felder also spent time in the WAC, playing his last two seasons at Southern Utah University.
Both originally hailing from the Bay Area, Miles Amos and JoJo Murphy are two more transfers to join the Redhawks this year. Amos spent two years at City College of San Francisco, being the sixth player from CCSF to wear a Seattle U jersey. Murphy was a standout at the DII level, where he racked up multiple accolades, being named the CCAA Male Athlete of the Year, a National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-American, and led the league in scoring, averaging 20.7 points per game.
In a time where the transfer portal is so prominent, it’s hard for teams to maintain strong chemistry despite turnover in the roster. This doesn’t seem to be an issue for the Redhawks, seeing as this team has been gelling since the start of practices in June.
“We’ve been together on and off since the end of June, so we spend a lot of time together and this group’s been really fun to coach. They’ve come together as a team really well, they’re getting along really well off the court,” head coach Chris Victor said.
Though a lot of new things come with this 2025-26 season, the mission of the team remains the same as years past: win games.
“Our main goal and main priority is to win. We practice hard to prepare ourselves to win everyday,” Christofilis said.
Seattle U Men’s Basketball starts their season off with four non-conference games at home, the first being against Denver Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.
