MEET THE MTE
TEAMS
Atlantic Slam is joining NCAA DI College Basketball in 2023. The event is held in Moncton, New Brunswick. Plans are in place to deliver a unique experience for each of the participating teams and fans.
WEBER STATE
Second-year head coach Eric Duft is no stranger in Ogden. He spent several years on the bench with retired legend Randy Rahe. Coach Duft made strides in his first year, leading the Wildcats to a 12-6 record in Big Sky play and they picked up an opening round win over Sacramento State before falling in a double OT thriller to an uber-talented, and eventual NCAA rep, Montana State team. That loss represents a few important areas. One, these Wildcats were playing well enough to make the NCAA’s last year in Coach Duft’s first season. Two, that loss has got to be driving this Wildcat program all off-season in preparation for the season. The biggest news came recently when NBA prospect Dillon Jones announced he would withdraw from the NBA Draft and return to Weber State. This has some pundits picking the Wildcats to win the Big Sky this season. They will come to compete at the Atlantic Slam.
YALE
Yale is currently in the midst of the most successful era in the long history of the program which dates back to 1895-96. Over the last eight seasons, Yale has posted an 84-28 (.750) Ivy League record, won five Ivy championships, two Ivy League Tournament titles and earned four NCAA Tournament berths, including notching the first NCAA victory in school history – over Baylor in 2016.
The architect of that success is James Jones, the longest tenured head coach in the Ivy League. Jones is the winningest men’s basketball coach in school history and the second winningest coach in Ivy League history.
The Bulldogs are coming off another highly successful season. Yale won 21 games, captured a share of the Ivy League regular season title, advanced to the championship game of the league’s tournament and participated in the postseason National Invitation Tournament.
COLGATE UNIVERSITY
Colgate's 13th-year head coach Matt Langel and the Raiders are still rolling. Langel has been in the mix for several high major job openings in recent years but is clearly comfortable in Hamilton, New York, where he is leading one of the more successful runs in Patriot League history. The Colgate program has won the Patriot League Tournament in four of the past five seasons, including three straight heading into 2023-24, and the Raiders have a dominant 44-4 record in the league the past three seasons. The Raiders have secured big non-conference wins over Syracuse in each of the last two seasons, but the Atlantic Slam will certainly provide a challenge before their conference slate ramps up. Colgate got excellent news earlier this week with the announcement of Ryan Moffatt’s return. Moffat joins Keegan Records in what looks like a dynamic duo. Colgate does have to replace some quality older players however, and the Atlantic Slam will be right around the time they start to learn a lot about the younger pieces to the puzzle. Especially in the Atlantic Slam’s round-robin format.
