A look at who’s back, who’s gone, who’s been added to the UTC basketball roster
It’s been a busy offseason for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball season, one that ended in the semifinals of the Southern Conference tournament and a 21-12 final record.
Today the Times Free Press updates where the roster is after quite a bit of turnover to this point.
WHO’S GONE (GRADUATION)
› Jan Zidek : The 6-foot-9 SoCon Sixth Man of the Year is off to the next level of competition after reaching double figures in 21 games and averaging 11.9 points per contest in his one season at UTC after beginning his career at Pepperdine. He also knocked down 47 3-pointers.
› Tyler Millin: The 6-foot-7 Millin came to UTC from Middle Tennessee State and had some solid moments in his lone season with the program, highlighted by a 19-point effort against Milwaukee.
› Demetrius Davis: The 6-foot-9 UTC graduate and two-year member of the program saw his offensive production dip after a solid first season, but did have a feel-good moment with a season-high 19 points against Wofford in the quarterfinals of the SoCon tournament. He finished his career with 388 points in 68 career games.
WHO’S GONE (PORTAL)
› Sam Alexis: The 6-foot-9 third-team AllSoCon selection has already announced his commitment to the University of Florida after averaging 10.8 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per contest as a sophomore.
› Trey Bonham: Bonham, who earned firstteam All-SoCon honors last season, was second on the team in scoring at 16 points per game and also averaged 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. The 6-foot-4 guard will be looking for a new school for the third consecutive offseason, after playing two seasons at Virginia Military Institute before one season each at Florida and UTC.
› Myles Che: The 6-foot-2 freshman entered the portal after an upand-down first season of college in which he hit double figures in five of his first 10 games but only two of his final 18 before missing the last few games with an injury. He averaged 7.5 points and 2.4 rebounds and shot 53% from the field, which was best on the team.
› Randy Brady: A Chattanooga native, Brady hit the portal after three seasons at UTC, which included a redshirt season during the Mocs run to the SoCon championship in 2021-22. He played in all 33 games last season and shot 40% from 3-point range, averaging 3.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
WHO’S IN (TRANSFERS)
› Garrison Keeslar: The 6-foot-7 Walsh University transfer earned first-team all-conference honors last season, primarily playing point guard for the Cavs. He averaged 15.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game and guided his program to the NCAA Division II national tournament. In his last three seasons, he averaged 14.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game and finished his career with 1,209 points.
› Jack Kostel: Kostel, who played for former Mocs coach John Shulman at Division II AlabamaHuntsville, averaged 13.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game for the Chargers and helped the team reach the Division II tournament. Like Keeslar, Kostel has one year of eligibility remaining.
Note: The Mocs return five scholarship players from last season: Secondteam All-SoCon guard Honor Huff (17.4 points, 109 3-pointers), sophomore guard Noah Melson (30 3-pointers, 4.0 points per game); senior guard Rudy Fitzgibbons (16 games due to injury; 11 points against VMI) and redshirt freshman forwards Sean Cusano and Collin Mulholland. Cusanao played in three games before being lost with an injury and had 12 points against Lipscomb on Nov. 29.
High-school forwards Latif Diouf and Isaiah Otyaluk signed with program in November.