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LPU Men's Basketball 2022-23 Season Preview
Posted: Oct 27, 2022

LPU Men's Basketball 2022-23 Season Preview

San Dimas, CA - Life Pacific University's Men's Basketball team enter the 2022-23 season, returning nearly their entire roster from last season. In 2021-22, the Warriors finished their season with an overall record of 10-17 and were 6-12 in the GSAC.  They finished the regular season as the #8 seed in the GSAC tournament, as they took on #9 Westmont, which resulted in a 87-70 loss.  This was the Warrior's first time competing in the GSAC tournament, marking a significant achievement in the program's young history.  The 2021-22 season was headlined by historic wins, as LPU defeated both Vanguard and Westmont for the first time in program history.  The Warriors will look to build off a good season last year, in their quest for a bid in another GSAC tournament.

 

As they enter the 2022-23 season, they return notable starters from last year, led by sophomore, Austin Cook, who was 11th in the GSAC in scoring last year with 13.2 points/game.  Other notable starters that are returning from last year include Kyler Villarreal, Kofi Aboagye, Pedro Leal-Cruz, and Ethan Galang.

 

The returners are joined by a recruiting class of four newcomers, with three of the newcomers poised to red-shirt this season.

  • Albert Matute is a 6-5 redshirt freshman small forward, who joins the Warriors after spending his first two years at the Master's University.  He graduated from Los Osos High School.
  • Aaron Hernandez is a 6-4 freshman forward who will be redshirting this season. He joins LPU from Los Altos High School.
  • Anthony Lambert is a 6-3 freshman guard who will be redshirting this season.  He joins LPU from Inglewood College Preparatory.
  • Zach Murphy is a 5-10 freshman point guard who will be redshirting as well this season.  Murphy comes to LPU from Ayala High School.

 

LPU kicks off their season next Friday, with a home game against Bethesda University at 5pm.   Their schedule features multiple non-conference contests against fellow NAIA opponents in the CalPac, but the schedule is headlined with the 4 exhibition games against NCAA DI opponents.  The first exhibition game will be against Loyola Marymount University on November 7th.  LPU is then slated to face UC Irvine on November 21st, and then will make the trip a few days later to Las Vegas, to take on UNLV on the 26th of November.  They round out their exhibition games with a final contest on December 19th, as they will play against the Big West runner-up, Long Beach State.  The conference schedule poses to be rigorous and competitive as it always is, with multiple GSAC programs having high national standing in the pre-season.

 

The Warriors are led by Coach Tim Cook, who is entering his 7th season as the Head Coach for LPU.  When asked to share his thoughts about the upcoming season, Coach Cook stated, "We are very fortunate to have a senior-led group, who know our culture and our program's philosophy.  As you go through the rigorous pre-season with a challenging schedule, and then playing in one of the top conferences in the country, you need to rely and lean on that kind of experience.  I am looking forward to this upcoming season and the great process that we will have with this group."