PORTLAND, Ore. – University of Portland basketball fans will get a chance to hear from head coaches Shantay Legans and Michael Meek, as well as Vice President for Athletics Scott Leykam, on the Pilots Basektball Season Preview Show tonight on the radio home of the Pilots, 910 ESPN Portland (KMTT). The show will air from 7-8 p.m. and out of region fans can listen live online or through the Audacy App.

Jason Swygard will host the program and preview the upcoming season. Swygard is returning for his seventh season as the Portland radio play-by-play announcer.

All Portland men's basketball games will once again be aired live on 910 ESPN Portland with a 30-minute pregame show and post-game coverage.

PORTLAND MEN'S NOTES
Head coach Shantay Legans was hired last March after he led the Eastern Washington Eagles to the NCAA Tournament and nearly upset Kansas in the First Round. Legans compiled the best overall (.605) and conference (.726) winning percentages in school history in four seasons at the helm of EWU. He also guided the Eagles to an NCAA Tournament appearance, earned Big Sky Coach of the Year honors and won two conference championships.

Portland won its lone exhibition contest against Division III Lewis & Clark College on Monday, Nov. 1 by a 93-67 margin. Chris Austin scored a team-high 20 points and Mike Meadows added 19 points. Freshman Vasilije Vucinic recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds while starting at center. Tyler Robertson filled the stat sheet with 9 points, five rebounds, seven assists and three steals in his first time on the court for the Pilots. Freshman Matija Svetozarevic added nine points and four rebounds off the bench.

Portland returns just three players from last year's roster and added seven transfers and seven true freshmen. The seven incoming transfers this season are fourth most in the nation, while Portland's 8.5 percent returner scoring production is second lowest nationally. Portland and Arizona are tied for the most international players (8) on a roster among all NCAA Division I schools.

The Pilots were picked 10th in the WCC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Portland opens the season Tuesday at Arizona State at 4 p.m. (PT) on Pac-12 Network before returning home for a pair of doubleheaders with the UP women on Thursday and Saturday. Other notable non-conference road games on the schedule this year are at Portland State (Nov. 23) and Oregon (Dec. 15), while the team will host seven non-league home games before opening WCC play at home against BYU on Jan. 1 at 7 p.m.

PORTLAND WOMEN'S NOTES
The Portland women are coming off of back-to-back postseason appearances in the first two years of the Michael Meek era. Last season the team finished with a 14-13 overall record and reached the title game of the Women's Basketball Invitational. Meek's first year saw the Pilots win the WCC Tournament Championship, but the team was unable to compete at the NCAA Tournament after the event was cancelled due to COVID.

The Pilots will be led by All-WCC Preseason Team selections Haylee Andrews and Alex Fowler. Andrews led the league in both scoring and assists during WCC play last season, while Fowler contributed 16.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.

Portland returns its top eight scorers from last year and ten players overall. The team features seven players that hail from Australia, the most in NCAA Division I basketball.

Picked to finish fifth in the WCC Preseason Poll, Portland will play several tough non-conference matchups, including a Nov. 16 road match against the defending national champion Stanford Cardinal and a Dec. 4 home game against the Oregon Ducks.

The regular season opener is on Thursday, Nov. 11 against the UC San Diego Tritons at 5 p.m.