DAVIS, Calif. (November 1, 2026) – Basketball season has arrived!
The University of North Alabama men's basketball program will get things started Monday night as one of 180 basketball games on the opening day of NCAA Division I Men's Basketball. The Lions will start on the road against UC Davis with a late night opening tip set for 9 p.m. CT.
The game will air on Mountain West + on a subscription basis. Scott Marsh and Cal Aggie Hall of Famer Sandy Simpson will have the broadcast call. Fans can also follow along with live stats at RoarLions.com.
GAME INFORMATION
Game: North Alabama vs. UC Davis
Date: Monday, November 2
Time: 9:00 p.m. CT
Location: Davis, California
Venue: University Credit Union Center
Capacity: 6,003
Watch: MW+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets: Click Here
Game Notes: Click Here
Social Media: @UNA_Basketball
NOTES
NEW ERA: UNA will begin its ninth season of Division I basketball on Monday and its first as a member of the United Athletic Conference. The Lions spent eight seasons as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, then the league announced a partnership with the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) to create a consortium called "Unisun Sports." The WAC rebranded as the UAC and includes North Alabama, Austin Peay, Eastern Kentucky, West Georgia and Central Arkansas as former members of the ASUN, Abilene Christian, Tarleton State and UT Arlington as former members of the WAC and Little Rock as a former member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).
SCOUTING THE LIONS: UNA finished 9-21 last season and went 4-14 in conference play, falling in the first round of the 2026 ASUN Tournament. UNA returns just three players from last year's team while bringing in 12 newcomers, including 10 transfers and two freshmen. The Lions return just eight percent of its starts from last season with rising sophomore Braylon Patton accounting for all of that. Another rising sophomore is Cortez Graham-Howard who played in 27 of 30 games off the bench last season.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES: UC Davis finished 19-14 overall last season and wrapped up its final season in the Big West Conference with an 11-9 conference record and a second round appearance in the conference tournament. Rising senior guard Connor Sevilla will look to lead the group after earning Big West Conference Honorable Mention last season and leading the team with 13.3 points per game. The top rebounder returning is junior forward Isaiah Chappell with 4.6 RPG and 8.5 PPG. UCD also added a familiar ASUN foe from Central Arkansas two seasons ago in senior guard Brayden Fagbemi. He had 7.0 PPG last season for the Aggies. They are coached by Jim Les who enters his 16th season and has over 200 career wins.
SERIES HISTORY: This will be the first all-time meeting between UNA and UCD. UC Davis is one of eight new opponents for the Lions this season. The other seven are Oklahoma, Miami (FL), DePaul, Charlotte, Abilene Christian, Little Rock and UT Arlington.
CALIFORNIA DREAMING: Last season on December 3, UNA traveled to San Francisco and brought home one of the most memorable wins in program history. The Lions trailed by 18 at one point before coming back to win 65-63 over the San Francisco Dons. At the time, USF was the No. 20-ranked team in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25. Playing nearly 2,000 miles away from Florence, the Lions appeared about 2,000 miles away on the scoreboard with an early 24-6 deficit. UNA proceeded on a remarkable 18-2 run before the half and then took its first lead of the game early in the second half. A go-ahead basket with 16 seconds to go allowed UNA to escape with the win.
MOUNTAIN WEST SUCCESS: In the 2024-25 season opener, UNA traveled to Air Force and brought home a 73-57 victory. This was one of two "buy games " UNA won that season along with East Carolina. Air Force is the only current member of the Mountain West that UNA has faced in school history, giving UNA a 1-0 record against the league. The Air Force win set the tone for a 24-11 season for North Alabama that included a trip to the NIT.
NEW FACES: Last year, UNA had 10 returning players to the roster with only two freshman newcomers. This year is completely opposite, as the Lions brought in 12 newcomers with three returners. Two of the three returners were the two freshmen from last season, Cortez Graham-Howard and Braylon Patton
NEW STAFF WITH SOME ANCHORS: Tony Pujol enters his ninth season at the helm of North Alabama's men's basketball program and has been with UNA since the beginning of the Division I era in 2018. When he accepted the job, one of his first hires was Ahmad Smith, one of his former players from his assistant coaching stop at Appalachian State. Smith has been with the program for all nine seasons since then and was elevated to Associate Head Coach in 2023.
CHAMPIONSHIP ADDITION: Coach Pujol made a splash in the basketball world this offseason with the hiring of Drew Stutts as an assistant. Stutts is a 2011 graduate of UNA and was recently the head coach at Freed-Hardeman. He led Freed to a record of 174-52 over eight seasons and won the NAIA National Championship in both 2023-24 and 2025-26.
IRON LION BACK ON CAMPUS: Another addition to UNA's staff this offseason was Lion Legend Will Soucie. Known as the "Iron Lion," Soucie played at UNA from 2020-25 and played in more Division I games than any other player in program history with 151 appearances over five seasons. He was the ultimate glue guy for the 2024-25 squad that went 24-11, won the ASUN Regular Season Championship and went on to play in the school's first NIT appearance. He scored 1,124 career points and ranks 21st on the all-time scoring list.
PRO PIPELINE: The Lions have had five former players join professional teams overseas the last two seasons following their graduation. One of those is Taye Fields, who finished his time with the Hefte Helfen Bulls and signed with the Philadelphia 76ers for the NBA Summer League back in June. Fields was offered an E-10 contract by the 76ers for training camp, where his locker was next to LeBron James. He is now playing for the Sixers' G-League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats.
NEW WAVE: Just two seasons removed from the 2025 ASUN Regular Season Championship and a 24-win season, UNA will look to develop a new group with players who have won at various levels. This group includes a national champion, lower-level all-conference and player of the year caliber players and veterans with Division I experience.
RE-LAX: This offseason, Pujol hired national championship-winning coach Drew Stutts from Freed-Hardeman to be an assistant coach at UNA. One of his first calls during the transfer portal window was to his former All-American guard at FHU, Quan Lax, who was then at Austin Peay. Lax originally made the jump from NAIA to Division I in 2024 after helping Stutts and company win the NAIA National Championship and earning First Team NAIA All-American honors.
DIVISION I EXPERIENCE: A six-pack of UNA's newcomers come from Division I schools, including Lax from Austin Peay, senior forward Damarien Yates (Alabama State, Memphis), graduate forward Drey Carter (Wright State), sophomore forward Jacobe Whitted (Tennessee Tech), redshirt junior wing Julius Clark (Gardner-Webb) and senior guard Mike Evbagharu (Canisius, Central Arkansas, Siena).
BACK IN THE LEAGUE: Evbagharu, who is originally from Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, is one of two players on the roster to play against UNA during its 2024-25 ASUN Regular Season Championship run. Evbagharu was at Central Arkansas, scoring five points and three rebounds in a 94-65 win for UNA. He led UCA in rebounding nine times that season. The other current Lion to play against UNA that season was Lax at Austin Peay. Evbagharu averaged 9.2 PPG and 7.0 RPG last season at Canisius.
JUCO BALLERS: A handful of new Lions were all-conference selections at the junior college level last season, including Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) Player of the Year and NJCAA All-American Ansar Osman, a junior wing from Snead State. Joining him on that all-conference list was new sophomore guard EJ King, who prepped at nearby Russellville High School and averaged 23.8 PPG at Bevill State. Redshirt junior Julius Clark (aforementioned from Gardner-Webb) was an all-conference player at Tallahassee State College in 2024-25, while junior wing Maf Ndiaye comes over from Ranger Community College in Texas where he was all-conference.
BACK TOGETHER: Before Osman became a standout at Snead State last season, he spent the 2024-25 season at Tallahassee State College along with Clark, who was there for two seasons. Osman and Clark are now teammates again at UNA.
CHOOSING D2 STARS: A couple of new Lions were lauded at the Division II level last season and are proven winners — senior wing Caden Harris and graduate forward Drey Carter (aforementioned from Wright State). Harris was at Point Loma last season, where he won a PacWest Conference Championship and was tabbed the Most Outstanding Player in the tournament. Meanwhile, Carter left Wright State in 2025 and spent a season at Fairmont State where he became a bonafide star and averaged 16.8 PPG and 7.6 RPG. He was first team all-conference and second team all-region, leading Fairmont State to a regional appearance.
RUNNING IT BACK: UNA returns three players from last season, including rising sophomores Cortez Graham-Howard and Braylon Patton. The guards are rejoined by redshirt senior center Mitchell Chaffee, a local product from Muscle Shoals who enters his third season with the team.
ROOKIES: Just like last season, UNA brings in two freshmen with one from Alabama and one from Tennessee. Guard Jarron Talley comes over from Pope John Paul II High School in Nashville, while forward Jackson Gulley is a rookie from Fairhope High School in Alabama. Both were all-region selections, while Gulley was also voted AHSAA All-State Second Team.
ON DECK: UNA will make its home debut inside CB&S Bank Arena on Thursday, Nov. 5 against Union with tipoff set for 6:30 p.m.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
