By: Jeff Evans, Assistant AD for Athletic Communications
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's basketball team opens the upcoming 2025-26 season tied for fourth in the annual GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll.
The Vikings checked in with 67 points in a vote of the conference's 10 head coaches, tied with Saint Martin's. WWU received one first-place vote. Defending regular-season champion Central Washington topped the preseason poll with 90 points and gathered six of the 10 first-place tallies. CWU is followed by Northwest Nazarene (85 points) and Montana State Billings (75 points) to round out the top three prior to the Vikings and Saints in fourth.
WWU went 19-10 overall in 2024-25 advancing to the GNAC Championships following an 11-7 record in league play. The Vikings had a strong finish to the regular season winning 11 of their final 13 games prior to getting upset on a last-second buzzer beater in the GNAC quarterfinal round vs. Montana State Billings.
The Vikings top returners include sophomore forward Trevor White, junior guard/forward Louis Grante-Halliday, senior forward Garrett Levesque and sophomore guard Aidan Rice. White is the top returning scorer after averaging 10.8 points per game and adding 4.2 rebounds per game, while Levesque's figure of 6.4 rebounds per game led the team a year ago. Grante-Halliday averaged 8.4 points and Rice chipped in 6.6 points as a true freshman. Modesto JC transfer Malachi Miller put up 15.9 points per game last year in the California Community College Athletic Association and South Puget Sound CC transfer Nehemiah Pollard averaged 14.8 points per game in the NWAC.
Head coach Tony Dominguez added an impressive six-player recruiting class and features several players that utilized a redshirt season in 2024-25. Dominguez is beginning his 13th season leading the team, holding an overall record of 233-125 (.651) and a mark of 140-85 (.622) in conference play. His 140 league wins are third-most in GNAC history, he led WWU to regular-season titles in 2012-13 and 2016-17 and conference tournament crowns in 2017 and 2020.
WWU opens its season at the DII Canadian Tip-Off Classic in Langley, B.C. on Oct. 31-Nov. 2 with games against St. Edward's, Cal State San Bernardino and Central Oklahoma. The Vikings host Northwest Indian College in a preseason exhibition game on WECU Court in Carver Gym on Wednesday, October 22 (7 pm) and entertain UC-Colorado Springs in the official home opener November 28.
The conference portion of the 2025-26 schedule gets off to an early start with an opening round of games Dec. 4-6. The rest of the 18-game league schedule will kick off on New Year's Day with a full slate of games. The top-six teams in the GNAC regular-season standings will earn spots in the 2026 GNAC Men's Basketball Championships, which run March 5-7 at Western Washington's Carver Gym in Bellingham, Wash. The winner of the conference tournament will earn the GNAC's automatic berth into the NCAA West Region Championships, which are scheduled for March 12-16 at campus sites. All regular-season games hosted by GNAC schools this season will feature a live video stream available for purchase on the new GNAC Network.
2025-26 GNAC PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Here is a look at the GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll leading into the 2025-26 season:
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2025-26 GNAC PRESEASON COACHES POLL
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Rk
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Team (1st Place Votes)
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2024-25
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GNAC (Place)
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Pts.
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1.
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Central Washington (6)
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22-10
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14-4 (1st)
|
90
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2.
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Northwest Nazarene (2)
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20-8
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13-5 (2nd)
|
85
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|
3.
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Montana State Billings (1)
|
21-12
|
11-7 (T3rd)
|
75
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4.
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Western Washington (1)
|
19-10
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11-7 (T3rd)
|
67
|
|
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Saint Martin's
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19-12
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8-10 (7th)
|
67
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|
6.
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Alaska Anchorage
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12-19
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5-13 (T8th)
|
50
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|
7.
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Seattle Pacific
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18-15
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11-7 (T3rd)
|
43
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8.
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Alaska Fairbanks
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14-14
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10-8 (6th)
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39
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9.
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Simon Fraser
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9-19
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5-13 (9th)
|
20
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10.
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Western Oregon
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5-23
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2-16 (10th)
|
14
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Votes awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis
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