The Dixie State men’s basketball team was voted to finish fourth in the 2018-19 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men’s basketball preseason coaches’ poll released on Tuesday. The Trailblazers, who will make their RMAC debut this season, return five letterwinners and three redshirts from last season’s school-record breaking (23 wins) and Pacific West Conference championship team.
Defending RMAC tournament champion Regis received eight out of a possible 16 first-place votes to claim the top spot in the poll with 216 points, while Colorado School of Mines collected four first-place nods and 203 points to finish second in the poll. Fort Lewis, which won the 2017-18 RMAC regular season crown, picked up two first-place votes to finish third with 199 points, followed by DSU in fourth with two first-place votes and 185 points, MSU Denver (156 pts) in fifth, Westminster College (141 pts) in sixth, Colorado-Colorado Springs (147 pts) in seventh and Black Hills State (116 pts) in eighth to round out the top half of the 16-team poll.
Dixie State, which opened its fall training camp on Oct. 15th, kicks off the season with an exhibition game at in-state foe Utah Valley in Orem next Tuesday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m. The Trailblazers will officially open the 2018-19 regular season at home inside the Burns Arena against Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday, Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m.
Six-time PacWest Conference Coach of the Year Jon Judkins (Utah State, 1988; 528-245 career record) begins his 14th season on the Dixie State bench where he has compiled a 244-117 overall record, including a 224-105 mark during DSU’s NCAA Division II era.
Judkins has led the Trailblazers to 10-straight winning seasons with seven 20-win campaigns, which includes a school-record 23 victories last season and 22 wins during both the 2010-11 and 2012-13 seasons. He has also guided DSU to six PacWest championships, including four-straight titles from 2009-13 and two more crowns last season and in 2014-15, along with PacWest Tournament titles in 2013 and 2018. In addition, Judkins has led Dixie State to eight trips to the NCAA Tournament in the last nine seasons overall from 2010-18, advancing all the way to the Sweet 16 in the 2011 West Regional final.
Prior to his arrival at Dixie State, Judkins served as head coach at Snow College for 12 full seasons and posted a 284-128 overall record. He led the Badgers to a pair of Scenic West Athletic Conference titles in 1999 and 2000, which earned him SWAC Coach of the Year honors. Judkins played for one season at Dixie State before transferring to Utah State, where he became the first (and only) Aggie to post a triple-double. During the 1987-88 season, he helped lead the Aggies to the PCAA title and an NCAA Tournament bid.
Judkins is joined on the bench again this season by former DSU player and sixth-year assistant coach Kasey Winters (Dixie State, 2008), along with former DSU standout guard Jeremiah Barnes (Dixie State, 2011), who is in his second season on the DSU sideline, and second-year volunteer assistant coach David Foster (Utah, 2013).
2018-19 Dixie State season outlook
Dixie State enters the 2018-19 season with a lot of unknowns as the Trailblazers graduated six seniors, including its five starters, from last season’s record-breaking 23-7 team that swept both the PacWest regular season and tournament titles in its final season in that conference.
DSU returns five letterwinners – all seniors – and three redshirts from last year’s squad, including forwards Julien Ducree (Jr., 6-foot-8, 240; Rancho Cucamonga, California/Rancho Cucamonga HS/CS Monterey Bay, 2017-18 - 5.3 ppg/3.9 rpg), Quincy Mathews (6-7, 205; St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS, 2017-18 - 4.5 ppg/3.2 rpg), Austin Montgomery (6-8, 210; Lilburn, Georgia/Lakeview Academy/Utah, 2017-18 - 5.9 ppg/3.0 rpg), Dub Price (6-7, 215; Draper, Utah/Alta HS, 2017-18 - 5.5 ppg/3.8 rpg) and guard Wade Miller (F, 6-3, 210; Tremonton, Utah/Bear River HS/Umpqua CC, 2017-18 - 3.8 ppg/1.5 ppg).
In addition, redshirt sophomore guard Zach Frampton (6-3, 185; Highland, Utah/Lone Peak HS/BYU) returns after missing most of last season due to injury, along with redshirt freshmen John Gremillion (F, 6-7, 207; Sandy, Utah/Brighton HS) and Josh Newbold (F, 6-7, 215/South Jordan, Utah/Bingham HS).
Dixie State also welcomes 10 new players to its program for the upcoming 2018-19 campaign, including four four-year transfers in junior forwards Cameron Chatwin (6-9, 215; Mesa, Arizona/Desert Ridge HS) from Saint Martin’s and Matt Conway (6-7, 215; Chandler, Arizona/Pleasant Grove HS/Salt Lake CC) from the University of Albany, along with Weber State transfers in sophomore guard Riley Court (6-4, 192; Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove HS) and sophomore forward Eric Patten (6-6, 230; La Crescenta, California/Crescenta HS/Cuyamuca CC).
In addition, this year’s squad features three junior college transfers in guards Jack Pagenkopf (Jr., 6-3, 185; Brooklyn, New York/Blue Valley HS/Howard College), Andre Wilson (Jr., 6-3, 200; Moreno Valley, California/Patriot HS/Riverside CC) and Dason Youngblood (So., 6-2, 190; South Jordan, Utah/Bingham HS/Skagit Valley CC). DSU also has three redshirt freshmen in camp, including forwards Jacob Nicolds (6-5, 210; Gilbert, Arizona/Gilbert HS) and Clayton Southwick (6-7, 220; Palmer, Alaska/Palmer HS) and guard Jason Andersen (6-0, 175; Logan, Utah/Logan HS).
2017-18 Dixie State quick recap
Dixie State finished the 2017-18 season with a school-record 23 wins (23-7) and swept the Pacific West Conference regular season (18-2) and tournament championships. The 23 wins also included a school record 17-game winning streak, which came to an end in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball tournament. That NCAA tournament appearance was the program’s eighth in the last nine seasons overall.
2018-19 schedule
Dixie State’s 2018-19 schedule features 14 home dates, including a Thanksgiving weekend tournament, along with two road exhibitions against NCAA Division I opponents and a 22-game RMAC schedule. Along with the UVU and CPP games, the Trailblazers will host their annual Thanksgiving weekend round-robin tournament, starting with a matchup against former PacWest foe Academy of Art on Friday, Nov. 23, followed by a date against GNAC power Western Oregon on Saturday, Nov. 24.
DSU will then make its RMAC debut with three-straight conference road games, the first coming against in-state rival Westminster College on Saturday, Dec. 1, in Salt Lake City. The Blazers will open their RMAC home slate against New Mexico Highlands on Friday, Dec. 14, followed by a quick turnaround the next night (Dec. 15) with a home game vs. Colorado State-Pueblo. Dixie State will close out its non-conference schedule at Saint Martin’s on Tuesday, Dec. 18, before wrapping up the calendar year with a road exhibition game at Mountain West Conference member Wyoming in Laramie on Saturday, Dec. 29.
The 2019 RMAC Men’s Basketball Tournament will be held March 5-9, with quarterfinal play held at on-campus sites of the top-four seeds (March 5) and semifinal and final games on the home court of the highest remaining seed (March 8-9). The winner of the RMAC tournament will earn the conference’s automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA South Central Regionals, which will be held March 16-19.