2025–26 UC San Diego Tritons men's basketball team

The Tritons were in their first year of NCAA Division I postseason eligibility. They finished the 2024–25 season 30–5, 18–2 in Big West play to win the regular season championship. They defeated UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals of the Big West Tournament and won over UC Irvine to win the Big West championship and clinch the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It marked UC San Diego's first NCAA D1 Tournament appearance. They were seeded as the No.12 seed in the South region, where they fell short to No.5 seed Michigan 65-68 in the first round. The Big West named Eric Olen as the conference’s coach of the year for the second time in a row. Senior Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones was selected on the All-Big West First Team alongside senior Tyler McGhie. Tait-Jones was also named Big West Player of the Year. Senior Hayden Gray was named Best Defensive Player as well as part of the All-Big West Second Team. Junior Chris Howell was named Best Hustle Player and redshirt junior Justin Rochelin was named Best Sixth Player. ==Offseason==

Coaching Changes Following the 2024-25 season, head coach Eric Olen left the Tritons to take the head coaching position at New Mexico. Olen was part of the Tritons coaching staff since the 2004-05 season after graduating from Spring Hill College, and after spending 9 seasons as an assistant coach, got promoted to the head coaching position in the 2013-14 season. Throughout his 12 seasons serving as head coach, Olen compiled a record of 240-119, with a 148-60 record in conference play, and has led the team to three CCAA regular season titles, four CCAA tournament titles with four NCAA DII tournament appearances. He has also guided the Tritons transitioning to NCAA DI and led the team to gaining their first ever NCAA D1 tournament appearance in their first year of postseason eligibility, seizing both the regular season and conference tournament titles. Olen has been named Big West Coach of the Year twice and NABC Pacific District Coach of the Year once. Allard played at UC San Diego from 2004-08 as a four-year starter and three-time team captain. Throughout UC San Diego's Division II era, Allard ranks first in steals made with a total of 130, and ranks in the top ten for points, field goals made, three pointers made, three-pointer field goal percentage, rebounds and assists. After graduation, Allard has spent the last 11 seasons as associate head coach under Olen, where he became the main architect for the team's defense. Notably, the Tritons led the nation in turnover margin (+7.2) and steals (345), and has the lowest turnovers per game (8.7) last season. In early June, UC San Diego officially announced the addition of its coaching staff with the hiring of four new assistant coaches: Skye Ettin, Rich Shayewitz, Daniel Eberhardt and Denzel Brito. Ettin most recently worked as an assistant coach for UC Santa Barbara after six years as part of the Princeton coaching staff and helped the Tigers with a Sweet Sixteen appearance. Shayewitz joined from Sonoma State where he was head coach, while Eberhardt, most recently working at Loyola Marymount also brings head coaching experience from Holy Names. Brito came to UC San Diego from George Washington with overseas playing experience. Departures A total of ten players from the 2024-25 roster left UC San Diego, including four graduates and six outgoing transfers. Chris Howell and Milos Vicentic followed Olen to New Mexico, Tyler McGhie signed a contract to play professionally for the Gipuzkoa Basket first team. In August 26, Tait-Jones signed a contract to play professionally for Valmiera Glass Via. Incoming transfers UC San Diego added eight transfers to its lineup: Tyson Dunn from Buffalo, Emmanuel Prospere II from Missouri-St. Louis, Bol Dengdit from Portland, Leo Beath from Lynn, Tom Beattie from Hawai'i, Alex Chaikin from Lafayette, Trap Johnson from Montana State and Dimitrije Vukicevic from Washington State. Recruits ==Preseason==

Big West Conference Preseason Poll The Big West Conference released its preseason coaches' poll on October 16, 2025. The Tritons were predicted to finish fourth in the conference with 69 points. ==Roster==

=== vs Cal State San Marcos (Exhibition) === === vs La Verne === === vs Houston Christian === === at Fresno State === === vs Idaho === === Temple (ESPN Events Invitational Adventure Bracket quarterfinals) === === Bradley (ESPN Events Invitational Adventure Bracket semifinals) === === Towson (ESPN Events Invitational Adventure Bracket final) === === at Nevada === === at Long Beach State === === Tulane (Jack Jones Classic) === === at Loyola Marymount === === vs San Diego === vs Stanton === at Cal Poly === === vs Hawai'i === ==References==