UAA men’s basketball hosts Evergreen State in season opener
Led by new head coach Cameron Turner, the Alaska Anchorage men’s basketball team tips off the 2026-27 regular season on Friday, Nov. 6, by hosting NAIA opponent Evergreen State for a pair of games at the Alaska Airlines Center, goseawolves.com reported.
The opening game features a special 11 a.m. start time designed to accommodate more than 2,800 fifth-graders from the Anchorage School District for the Slam Dunk Into Higher Education event, which is sponsored by Premera. The weekend series concludes on Saturday, Nov. 7, with a 4:15 p.m. tipoff in Anchorage.
Cameron Turner Takes Over the Bench After Two Decades
The arrival of Turner marks the first time in 22 years that the Seawolves enter a season with a new head coach. Turner steps in as just the seventh head coach in 48 years of program history.
He arrives in Anchorage following a successful four-year run leading the men’s program at Eastern Arizona College, where he compiled a 95-32 record and captured back-to-back Arizona Community College Athletic Conference and NJCAA Region I championships. Turner is no stranger to the Seawolves program, having previously served as an assistant coach under Rusty Osborne from 2011-17.
UAA finished the 2025-26 campaign with a 21-11 record and reached the NCAA Tournament. The program returns just one starter and three total letterwinners from that squad, leaving Turner to integrate a roster featuring 11 newcomers, including nine transfers.
Sylas Williams Anchors Returning Core for Seawolves
Senior forward Sylas Williams anchors the returning core for the Seawolves. Williams earned GNAC Newcomer of the Year and Second Team All-GNAC honors last season while leading the GNAC in rebounding with 7.7 rpg and pacing UAA with 13.3 ppg. Coaches picked the Seawolves to finish fourth out of 10 teams in the GNAC preseason poll.
To fill out the rotation, Turner brought in a mix of talent from the Division I, Division II, and junior college ranks. Division I transfers include guard Will Kuykendall from Arizona and Baylor, guard Karim Elgizawy from Tarleton State, and forward Walker Timme from McNeese State and Northern Arizona. They join junior college standouts and players familiar with Turner’s system from Eastern Arizona, setting the stage for a heavily revamped lineup.
Evergreen State Plays Exhibition Games in Anchorage
Evergreen State enters the weekend series out of Olympia, Washington, returning five players from a 4-18 squad last year. The Geoducks will treat both games in Anchorage as exhibitions, while the contests count toward the Seawolves’ record. UAA leads the series 2-0, having swept a weekend series 85-58 and 80-48 last year at the Alaska Airlines Center.
Fans unable to attend the games at the Alaska Airlines Center can watch live video streams through the GNAC Network portal at Hudl. Single-event passes, 30-day subscriptions, and yearly packages are available through the platform, with live statistics provided via GoSeawolves.com/sidearmstats/mbball.