AMHERST, N.Y. -- The 2026-27 Daemen University men's basketball season gets underway on Monday, Nov. 9 on the road in Manchester, N.H. at Saint Anselm in a rematch of the 2026 NCAA Div. II East Region Championship game. Prior to the start of the season, head coach Ryan Grandits spoke about the brand new team and what it's been like for Grandits to get ready for the first season as the bench boss of the Wildcats.

"It's been exciting. I think we kind of knew regardless that it was going to be a little bit of a different year just with the success we've had over the last couple of years, really look back at the last two years and the number of seniors we've graduated and the number of good players who have transferred up, so we knew it was going to be a little bit of a challenge, but we also knew we had a lot of guys back who have been a part of all the success. It's really been bringing the newer guys along, we have a lot of new guys this year that have earned their way to play a little bit, so just trying to get those older guys to step into a new role of leadership and kind of bring those younger guys along, but it's been exciting." Grandits said.

"We've had a couple of scrimmage opportunities and an exhibition game to go out there, I think we've gotten a lot better since then in a short amount of time, it's only been like two, three weeks since some of them, but really have started to kick it into overdrive a little bit after we finally got on the court with each other. I'm excited to see what next week brings."

Picked first in the East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Poll and No. 15 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Preseason Rankings, the Wildcats have had an incredible run over the past two seasons, putting together a 61-3 overall record, going undefeated in ECC play and winning the ECC Tournament title in both the 2024-25 and 2025-26 campaigns and catapulting into the top five of the NABC Division II national rankings, including a stint as the No. 1 team in the nation.

Last season, the Wildcats went 33-2 and won their second straight ECC championship with wins over #5 seed D'Youville (73-59) and a big 20-point victory over #6 seed Roberts Wesleyan (86-66) in the conference championship game. The Wildcats hosted the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row and cruised through the region, dominating in all three games, 111-78 over #8 seed Goldey-Beacom, 85-62 over #5 seed Saint Michael's, and 94-73 over #3 seed Saint Anselm, en route to hoist the program's second East Region trophy, first since 2021, and punch their ticket to the Elite Eight. Daemen entered as the #4 seed and played #5 Lander in an instant classic in the Elite Eight, trading points throughout the game before the Wildcats fell in a three-point heartbreaker, 74-77, to the eventual national champion runners-up Bearcats. 

The Wildcats return seven players from the 2025-26 campaign. Named the ECC Preseason Player of the Year, redshirt senior forward Phil Nwugwo (Rochester, N.Y.) highlights the returners after a breakout redshirt junior season where he finished sixth on the team in scoring, averaging 8.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game along with shooting an impressive 61.9% from the field and totaling 38 blocks defensively. With Nwugwo as a key member of the Wildcats starting lineup this season, he had a standout performance in Daemen's exhibition game against St. John Fisher on Oct. 17, finishing with 32 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks while shooting 66% from the floor and pulling down a game-high seven offensive boards.  

2025-26 Daemen newcomers Nakyhi Harris (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Jaiden Harrison (Buffalo, N.Y.) also return to the team after playing solid minutes in their first season with the Wildcats. In his rookie season, Harris averaged 15.3 minutes playing in all 35 games and finished seventh on the team in scoring, averaging 5.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. Harrison also appeared in all 35 games last season and averaged 3.6 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. He scored a season-high 13 points in Daemen's 85-62 victory over Goldey-Beacom in the NCAA Div. II East Region Quarterfinals.

Grandits rounded out the roster by adding 10 new players, eight incoming freshmen along with junior transfer Kenny Freeman (Rochester, N.Y.) who spent his first two seasons at Herkimer County Community College and redshirt junior transfer Trevor Barrett (Cary, N.Y.) who comes to Daemen after playing his first two years as a starter at the University of Charleston in West Virginia. In Daemen's exhibition game against St. John Fisher on Oct. 17, Barrett started the game and played 36 minutes and totaled 21 points after shooting 55% from the field and 43% beyond the arc.

The Wildcats open the 2026-27 campaign on Monday, Nov. 9 at Saint Anselm in a 7 PM tipoff. Daemen returns to Lumsden Gymnasium to make their home debut next weekend at the East Region Challenge where they will face Saint Michael's on Friday, Nov. 13 at 7 PM and the reigning national champions Gannon on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 2 PM.