Seattle University Men’s Basketball finished their four-game homestand 3-1, defeating Denver, Eastern Washington and Idaho State with scores of 84-73, 94-67 and 83-74, respectively, and falling to Cal Poly on Homecoming night, 71-73.
In these four games, two players led the way for the Redhawks: Senior guard Brayden Maldonado and redshirt Sophomore small forward Will Heimbrodt.
Maldonado hails from Anchorage, Alaska, and spent his first two collegiate seasons at Metropolitan State University of Denver. At MSU Denver, Maldonado earned RMAC Co-Freshman of the Year in 2023 and an everyday starter role. He transferred to Seattle U during the 2024-25 season and immediately earned himself a spot in the starting five. Maldonado appeared in all 32 games last season, starting in 23. This season, Maldonado has started all four games and amassed three 20+ point games, including a career high 28 in the season opener versus Denver. He also has been perfect from the free throw line, going 15-15.
Heimbrodt, a Bay Area native, went the postgrad route after graduating, reclassifying and attending Southern California Academy, where he spent time developing his game. After redshirting his freshman year, Heimbrodt saw 27 games last season for the Redhawks, all coming off the bench. This season, the forward earned a starting role, seeing himself in the starting five for three out of four games so far. In his first two starts, Heimbrodt scored a combined 44 points, including a career high 24 in the season opener, more than doubling his previous high of 11.
The following is an excerpt from a Nov. 18 interview. Initials indicate speaker.
DD: When did you start playing basketball? What got you into it?
WH: I have two older brothers, so they got me into basketball early on… I was actually a baseball player until I was about 16. When COVID hit, I had to choose between baseball and basketball, and I ended up choosing basketball.
BM: The first time I picked up a basketball, I was three or four years old. It was a little local league, and I think you had to be four years old to join, so my dad coached my team and lied about my age… I just always had a basketball in my hands since I could remember.
DD: At what point did you know you could play basketball at the next level?
BM: I always wanted to play at the next level. Obviously, it’s everyone’s dream to go play Division 1, but for me, I just wanted to go somewhere where I know I would be able to play and I would be able to work my way up… I always wanted to play basketball, I didn’t know where. I didn’t know if I was able to play D1, but I always worked hard and I never gave up on it.
WH: It wasn’t until after my first college camp. I went to Sonoma State, about 40 minutes away from my house, and I didn’t really have any expectations; it was just something I was excited to do. I played really well at the camp, and the coaches offered me right after we finished, and that was pretty eye-opening for me.
DD: What brought you to Seattle U?
WH: Seattle U is one of the first, it might have been the first college I ever talked to. It was my sophomore year of high school, because coach Alex Pibble…he was the assistant and associate head coach here, he went to Sir Francis Drake High School, where I graduated. So he called me my sophomore year and was like, ‘Hey, we’re going to keep an eye on you.’ It’s been kind of a dream ever since then to come here.
BM: After my sophomore year, I had a pretty solid year and there was some movements in the coaching staff [at MSU Denver]… there was a lot of movement in the program as a whole and I kind of felt for me that it was a good time to try something new and test my luck in the transfer portal, and I ended up coming here with this staff, Coach Vic, D’mo, Bryce, all the guys. They really believed in me, and I was super happy with my visit… Seattle was my first visit, and I ended up committing at the visit.
DD: What do you like to do off the court?
BM: I’m a big video game guy because we’re always on our feet, always in the gym. I like to just kind of relax when I’m done with practice. There’s so much to do in the city… I like to explore. I like to go down to the pier, especially on nice days, and just chill.
WH: I read a lot of books. I’m big into fantasy. I’ve read probably ten books in the last couple months. Other than that, just hanging around the house with my friends, my girlfriend. Don’t really go out too much, but if I’m not in the gym, I’ll probably be at home.
DD: [Will] What’re you reading right now?
WH: I just finished the sixth book in the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown. It’s sci-fi, so a bit new for me, but it was really, really good… if anyone needs book recommendations, you can come to me for sure.
DD: What’re your goals for the rest of the year?
BM: Just keep building. Every game we’ve seen some sort of improvement from our team, and that’s always a positive for us… I think when we’re moving in the right direction, everyone’s individual game will elevate. So for me, just every game showing improvement, learning and getting better as a unit.
WH: Staying healthy for the rest of the year, not missing too many games. Being able to look back on my year and say that I reached what I could have… Team-wise, we haven’t discussed any objective goals, but finishing out non-conference strong is really important going into conference because it’s such a tough schedule. It’s going to be really fun, and I think we’re going to surprise a lot of teams this year.
