Men’s Basketball Debuts 2026-27 Season with Visit to San Francisco Monday Night

Monday, November 2

San Francisco, CA

10:00 PM (ET) / 7:00 PM (PT)

Radford University

San Francisco

11/1/2026 11:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

RADFORD, Va. – The Radford men's basketball program opens their 2026-27 season on the west coast this week with their first of two games in the San Francisco Bay area beginning on Monday night against the Dons of San Francisco.

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SCOUTING THE DONS
San Francisco enters the 2026-27 season with strong expectations in the West Coast Conference, being picked to finish third in the preseason poll voted on by the conference's coaches. Ndewedo Newbury was tabbed for preseason all-conference honors despite missing most of last season due to injury. Before that injury, he averaged 8.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 24.1 minutes per game over 11 starts. Newbury leads a roster that features 14 newcomers as head coach Chris Gerlufsen enters his sixth season at the helm. The coaching staff also features a pair of assistants Jay Duncan and Frankie Ferrari who were named 2026 Silver Waves Media Top Most Impactful Mid Major Assistant Coaches.

BACK OUT WEST
Opening week marks Radford's first trip to California since 2017. Radford visited San Francisco for the two teams' only match up as a part of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic. The Dons came out victorious in that meeting 52-41. Radford was able to rebound and grab the crown in their half of the bracket of that Classic, defeating North Carolina A&T and UC Davis.

YEAR TWO OF THE CHU ERA
Radford Head Coach Zach Chu will be looking to build off a strong start to his head coaching career during the 2025-26 season. He became one of just four Radford coaches to ever begin their career with a .500 or better season. That came after a 3-7 start to the season before ending it on a 13-9 run that saw the team finish third in the Big South standings. Former Highlanders Dennis Parker Jr. and Del Jones were tabbed to Big South all-conference selections with the pair transferring into the power scene during the offseason. At the end of the year, Chu was named a Joe B. Hall Award finalist, an award given out to the top first-year head coach in Division I. He was one of two Big South coaches on the list, joined by High Point leader Flynn Clayman.

FAMILIAR FACES
The Highlanders return five players from the 2025-26 season, the second most in the Big South. Frederik Erichsen returns the most minutes from last season after being named to the conference's all-freshman team after averaging 13.3 minutes and 5.6 points per game. Zion Walker will also look to slot back up into the lineup for Radford after red shirting last season. In his freshman year of 2024-25, Walker averaged 11.2 minutes and 5.9 points per game despite missing the last part of the season due to injury.

Gabriel Ferreira and Warren Keel Jr. will also look to step into bigger roles for their sophomore seasons after promising signs in their debuts last year. Rounding out the returners for Radford going into this season will also be Diogo Alves who redshirted the previous season.

MEET THE NEW GUYS
Radford will bolster their roster this season with 10 newcomers. While Radford will see no players on the roster from last season who averaged more than 15 minutes per game, the team will look to replicate their success of developing unproven players from last season. Ja'Corey Robinson joins the team after impressive showing last year as a freshman at Austin Peay. Tristan Gross will provide some much-needed leadership to the young squad for his senior season with an added NCAA Tournament experience from his time at Stetson.

From the power ranks, Radford adds exciting names to watch in Jordyn Kee (Miami and Georgia) as well as Mathieu Grujicic (Ohio State). The Highlanders added local with Narrows, Va. native Kolier Pruett and a pair from southern California in Alex Nokes in Kye Davis. Cameron Jackson provides more experience after playing consistently with UT Arlington last season along with Parby Kabamba who transferred in from an elite defensive squad from last year in Marist. Rounding out the newcomers will be one of two true freshmen on the squad in Dallas, Texas native Caden Cantrell.

STAY SOCIAL WITH RADFORD MEN'S BASKETBALL
For all the latest on Radford men's basketball, be sure to follow the team on X (@RadfordHoops), Instagram (@radfordhoops), and "like" the team's official Facebook Page (Radford Men's Basketball).

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