2023–24 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team represented Wright State University in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Raiders, led by eighth-year head coach Scott Nagy, played their home games at the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio as members of the Horizon League.

Season summary
2023-24 began with high expectations. The return of star shooting guard Tanner Holden to the team alongside point guard Trey Calvin put two eventual 2,000 point scorers in the starting lineup. Brandon Noel returned at power forward following his Horizon League Freshman of the Year season, and junior AJ Braun returned for his third year as starting center. Veterans Andrew Welage and Alex Huibregtse rounded out the main rotation. The only unexpected loss was the physical reserve forward Blake Sisley, who left basketball to concentrate on school.

Funny things happen with expectations, and reality came crashing down as the season began with a 28-point thrashing by fellow mid-major Colorado State, followed by losses to Toledo and Indiana. The remainder of the non-conference schedule was a middling win-one/ lose-one slog.

The Raiders began the Horizon League season in a hole with road losses both to surprising Green Bay and to Milwaukee. When the season might have been salvaged, a tired team fell apart down the stretch at Youngstown. The home court became anything but an advantage with shocking home losses to Green Bay, Youngstown State, Oakland and Purdue Fort Wayne. The season ended with an overtime home loss to rival Northern Kentucky, a rematch just five days after an emotional win on the same court.

All throughout the season, the Raiders could score. They led the nation (363 teams) in shooting percentage (53%) and were top 5 in points per game (86.5). Center AJ Braun led the nation in individual shooting percentage (68.9%). But, as so often the case, as good as they were on offense they were that bad on defense giving up 3-pointers and lay-ups with equal grace finishing 341st in defensive efficiency.

The individual stats followed the team stats as all five starters averaged double-digits, including guard Alex Huibregtse who had a breakout year. Redshirt Freshmen Logan Woods, Kaden Brown and Drey Carter all logged productive minutes off the bench. Andrew Welage’s season was hampered by injuries and illness, but he gave all he had and had a standout game against Indiana.

Aftermath
After the season of high expectations concluded with an opening game home tournament loss, Wright State said good-bye to star guards Trey Calvin and Tanner Holden, as expected. Andrew Welage also hung up his sneakers and graduated. Center AJ Braun decided to test the transfer portal with his impressive stats, and head coach Scott Nagy disappeared to Southern Illinois in a cloud of private-jet smoke.

Previous season
The Raiders finished the 2022–23 season 18–15, 10–10 in Horizon League play to finish tied for sixth place. As the No. 7 seed, they defeated Green Bay, before losing in the quarter finals to No. 2 seed Milwaukee.

Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=| Regular season

!colspan=9 style=| Horizon League tournament



Sources