WISE – It's that time of year again as the UVA Wise men's basketball team takes the court for the first time Saturday evening. They are opening the 2024-25 campaign in the SAC/Conference Carolinas Challenge against host Lees-McRae Saturday at 7:30 p.m., followed by a game vs. King Sunday at 1 p.m.

Due to the heavy damage at Lees-McRae from the remnants of Hurricane Helene, the games have been moved a few miles away to Boone, North Carolina, to the Holmes Convocation Center on the Appalachian State campus. Admission to all four games in the Challenge this weekend is free, but they will be accepting donations in support of hurricane relief efforts in Western North Carolina. Also, the Holmes Convocation Center has a clear bag policy, which is strictly enforced.

The team returns eleven players from last year's squad and has another key returner from two years ago in 2022-23 South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year Bradley Dean, returns to Wise after a season at Miami (Ohio). In his last season in Wise, he averaged 21.4 points and 4.8 rebounds a game while leading the Highland Cavaliers to the SAC Tournament Finals and defeating ninth-ranked Lincoln Memorial University in the semifinals.

The leading scorer from last season returns in Zy'Ever Wingfield, who averaged 14.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 0.9 blocks a game. Lav Cvetkovic' (10.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg) and Patrick Shelley (9.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg) are also key returners. Calen Lightford also averaged a team-high 3.0 assists a game last season along with Wingfield.
Filip Brkic', Brad Halvorsen, Josh Newland, Zachary Owens, along with Dante Worley, Jake Hatch, and Evan Ramsey (all of whom redshirted last season) are all back for this season.

Six newcomers join the squad this season - Ty Campbell, Anderson Cummins, Gunner Garrett, Max Lidman, Kolier Pruett, and Hensley Ward.

The team will face a challenging non-conference schedule as they open this weekend in the SAC/Conference Carolinas Challenge and also have trips to North Georgia and George Washington University (Dec. 22) in addition to the always-tough South Atlantic Conference schedule.

The SAC campaign begins on Nov. 20 when they make the short trip to Emory & Henry, followed by home games against Coker (Nov. 23) and Catawba (Nov. 26). They close out the month with a trip to Lenoir-Rhyne on Nov. 30.

The Highland Cavaliers will have three home SAC games in December – Carson Newman (Dec. 4), Newberry (Dec. 11), and Mars Hill (Dec. 18) with a trip to Anderson on the 14^th mixed in.
January features four home games vs Lenoir-Rhyne, Anderson, Tusculum, and Emory and Henry as well as road games at Wingate, Limestone, Carson-Newman, and Coker.

February starts with a trip to LMU on the fifth, followed three days later with a home rematch against Limestone. They travel to Mars Hill on Feb. 12 and play at Newberry on Feb. 15. LMU returns the favor with a trip to Wise on the 19^th, followed by Wingate coming to town on the 22^nd. February 26 will see a trip to Tusculum, followed by a trip to Catawba on March 1 to round out the regular season.

The SAC Tournament will be held March 4-7 in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

The full schedule can be found, along with rosters, stats, and all things UVA Wise men's basketball, on www.UVAWiseCavs.com.