CEDAR CITY, Utah - A new-look Southern Utah men's basketball team opens the 2026-27 season Monday night, hosting West Coast Baptist at 8 p.m. MT at the America First Event Center. The game streams on ESPN+, with live stats at suutbirds.com.
Monday's opener begins Southern Utah's first season back in the Big Sky Conference. The Thunderbirds bring back five players and add 10 newcomers, including six transfers and four freshmen. SUU tuned up with a 78-51 exhibition win over Ottawa (Ariz.) on Oct. 12.
SCOUTING WEST COAST BAPTIST
West Coast Baptist enters 1-1 in its first season under head coach Richard Salgado, who previously coached at Azusa Pacific and Life Pacific. The Eagles, an NCCAA program from Lancaster, Calif., beat Cal Miramar 139-85 on Oct. 27 and fell at La Sierra 121-87 on Oct. 29. They also played an exhibition at Utah Tech on Oct. 24.
Aaron Blake and AmenEL Tadesse share the team lead at 23.5 points per game. Tadesse scored 36 points against Cal Miramar, going 6-of-9 from 3-point range, and Blake added 34 on 15-of-17 shooting in that game. Isaiah Dolosso scored 22 off the bench at La Sierra, and Cayden Penha is averaging 18.0 points. Senior point guard Isaias Salgado leads the Eagles with 11 assists.
West Coast Baptist is averaging 113.0 points per game and shooting .560 from the floor (84-of-150) through two games. The Eagles have made 19 of 52 3-point attempts (.365) and 39 of 52 free throws (.750), and they are allowing 103.0 points per game.
West Coast Baptist lists nine guards among its 12 players, and its tallest player is the 6-foot-6 Penha. Southern Utah has six players who are 6-foot-8 or taller. Monday's game starts a stretch of two Division I road games in three days for the Eagles, who play at Boise State on Wednesday, Nov. 4.
SERIES HISTORY
Southern Utah is 4-0 against West Coast Baptist, with all four meetings in Cedar City. The Thunderbirds have scored at least 109 points in every meeting, outscoring the Eagles by an average of 119.8-52.8.
The 126 points SUU scored on Nov. 29, 2019, and the 124 points on Dec. 1, 2025, are two of the Thunderbirds' three highest scoring games since 2000-01. In last season's 124-59 win, Dylan Jones scored 26 points and Logan Stephens added 17.
That game produced two school records. SUU made 23 3-pointers on 52 attempts, both single-game program bests. Lorenzo Abellar added 10 assists, the most recent 10-assist game by a Thunderbird.
The series also holds SUU's record for margin of victory. The Thunderbirds beat West Coast Baptist 120-49 on Dec. 6, 2022, a 71-point win. That is also the last time SUU held an opponent under 50 points.
Four current Thunderbirds played in last season's meeting. Jaiden Feroah had 11 points and six rebounds, Zeplin Kidd had five points and seven rebounds, Cale Barclay had five rebounds and five assists, and Brayden Johnson scored three points.
OPENING NIGHT
Southern Utah is 10-16 in season openers since 2000-01, but the Thunderbirds have been nearly perfect when they open at home. SUU is 8-1 in home openers in that span and has won its last five (2013-14, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2021-22 and 2024-25). The lone loss came against Cal Baptist in 2010-11.
The Thunderbirds' last opener was a win, 96-68, over Western New Mexico on Nov. 4, 2024. SUU opened last season with an 81-64 loss at Arizona State.
Under Jeter, Southern Utah is 13-2 in home nonconference games and 8-2 at home in November.
YEAR FOUR FOR JETER
Rob Jeter begins his fourth season at Southern Utah with a 32-62 record in Cedar City. Earlier this month, Jeter was ranked No. 95 among all 365 active Division I head coaches by college basketball and NBA Draft analyst JPR (@Scouting_Col), ahead of high-major head coaches such as Maryland's Buzz Williams, Georgia's Mike White, Wisconsin's Greg Gard, Nebraska's Fred Hoiberg and Kentucky's Mark Pope.
Jeter is the winningest coach in Milwaukee's Division I history, going 185-170 from 2005 to 2016. He led the Panthers to two NCAA Tournaments, including a first-round win over sixth-seeded Oklahoma in 2006, and won Horizon League regular-season titles in 2006 and 2011 and tournament titles in 2006 and 2014.
He also served as head coach at Western Illinois and was an assistant at Wisconsin under Bo Ryan, at UNLV and at Minnesota. As a player, he captained UW-Platteville to the 1991 NCAA Division III national championship.
Two Thunderbirds are from Wisconsin. Freshman guard Rashaad Davis is from Milwaukee, where Jeter coached the Panthers for 11 seasons, and Juok Riak is from Madison, where Jeter was a Badgers assistant from 2001 to 2005.
FEROAH LEADS THE RETURNERS
Graduate forward Jaiden Feroah is SUU's top returner after averaging 13.5 points and 6.7 rebounds in 2025-26. He shot .554 from the floor, .415 from 3-point range and .865 from the free-throw line and led the team with 52 blocks. He scored an SUU career-high 35 points at Utah Tech on Jan. 24, 2026, and blocked eight shots against UTRGV on Nov. 8, 2025. Both are the most recent games of their kind by a Thunderbird. Feroah began his career at Green River and spent 2024-25 at Holy Cross before coming to Cedar City.
Cale Barclay played 31 games with eight starts last season, averaging 4.6 points and 2.8 rebounds. Juok Riak, who averaged 13.1 and 12.6 points in two seasons at Drury, returns after missing 2025-26 with an injury.
RECORD AND MILESTONE WATCH
Feroah enters 2026-27 with a chance to climb several SUU career lists:
- His 52 blocks in 2025-26 rank No. 7 on the program's single-season list. With 16 more, he would pass Cal Hanks (67) for a spot in the career top 10. Sean Allen holds the school record with 113.
- His .865 free-throw percentage would rank No. 2 in program history, behind Jeff Monaco's .870, once he reaches the 125-attempt minimum. He needs 36 more attempts.
- His .554 field-goal percentage would rank No. 6 on the career list once he reaches 375 attempts. He needs 90 more.
- His .415 3-point percentage would rank No. 9 on the career list once he reaches 150 attempts. He needs 56 more.
Feroah also nears several NCAA Division I career milestones. Counting his season at Holy Cross, he needs 349 points for 1,000, 96 rebounds for 500, 15 blocks for 100, nine assists for 100 and 36 3-pointers for 100.
Jajuan Nicholls needs one rebound to reach 250 for his Division I career.
NEW FACES
Ten of the 15 Thunderbirds are new to the program. The five returners account for 600 of SUU's 2,442 points (24.6%) from last season.
The transfer class brings plenty of scoring:
- Chase Degraffenried averaged 20.7 points and 5.7 rebounds at Green River in 2025-26, shooting .505 from the floor, .374 from 3-point range and .863 at the line. He averaged 18.1 points as a freshman there in 2024-25.
- Anthony Breland averaged 17.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists at Miami Dade last season, shooting .527 from the floor, .403 from 3-point range and .849 at the line.
- Dylan Sanders averaged 11.3 points at CSU Pueblo in 2025-26, making 56 3-pointers at a .403 clip, after averaging 10.5 points at Pearl River in 2024-25.
- Jajuan Nicholls averaged 10.8 points and 5.1 rebounds at Tennessee Tech last season, shooting .612 from the floor with 25 blocks.
- Jordan Brown comes from UNC Greensboro, and Jalik Nicholls played at Pensacola State before spending 2025-26 at Butler.
The freshman class includes 7-foot-1 center Mikhail Protsenko of Belgorod, Russia, the tallest Thunderbird, along with guards Rashaad Davis and DeZhon Hall and forward DJ Smith.
ROSTER NOTES
- Utah roots: Three Thunderbirds are Utah natives. Feroah played at Corner Canyon High School in Draper, Barclay at Herriman High School and Degraffenried at Salem Hills High School.
- Pennsylvania pair: Jajuan and Jalik Nicholls are both from Scranton, Pa., and both played at NC GBB High School.
- Wide reach: The roster includes players from nine states and one country outside the U.S.
- Size: SUU averages 6-foot-6 across its 15 players. Six Thunderbirds are 6-foot-8 or taller, and Protsenko is the tallest at 7-foot-1. Davis is the shortest at 5-foot-10.
- By class: The roster has four freshmen, six sophomores, four juniors and one graduate student.
BACK IN THE BIG SKY
Southern Utah returns to the Big Sky Conference this season after four years in the WAC. The Thunderbirds last played in the Big Sky in 2021-22, going 23-12 overall and 14-7 in league play. A season earlier, SUU went 20-4 overall and 13-3 in the conference.
Since 2000-01, Southern Utah is 17-9 against Idaho State, 16-6 against Idaho and 8-6 against Utah Tech. Montana State (3-17), Montana (4-17) and Northern Colorado (4-15) have given the Thunderbirds the most trouble. The league plays a 20-game double round-robin, and SUU opens conference play Dec. 3 against Idaho State at the America First Event Center.
A DEMANDING NONCONFERENCE SLATE
After three home games to open the season, Southern Utah plays at High Point on Nov. 12, at Wake Forest on Nov. 14 and at Texas on Nov. 19, then plays three games in the FIU MTE from Nov. 23 to 25. In December, the Thunderbirds visit Washington (Dec. 8), San Jose State (Dec. 12) and Utah (Dec. 22).
UP NEXT
The Thunderbirds stay home for two more games this week, hosting Grace (Calif.) at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, and Bethesda at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7. SUU then travels to High Point on Thursday, Nov. 12.
TICKETS
Season tickets and single-game tickets will be on sale soon and can be purchased here.
FOLLOW US
Stay up to date during the 2026-27 Southern Utah Men's Basketball season by following @SUUBasketball on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the Southern Utah Basketball page on Facebook.
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