WAYNESBURG, Pa. (November 7) – The Waynesburg University men's basketball team looks to contend for a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship in the 2024-25 season. The Yellow Jackets begin their campaign at Stevenson on Nov. 9.

2023-24 Season Review: Waynesburg enjoyed the largest year-over-year improvement in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) in 2023-24 and finished with its best overall record (14-12), conference record (11-9) and league finish (fourth) since 2014-15.

The Jackets notched an impressive road win over PAC runner-up Saint Vincent during the regular season and recorded sweeps over Grove City, Bethany and Franciscan in conference play. Waynesburg won four of its final five regular season games to secure a top-four league finish.

The Jackets clinched their first home PAC Tournament game since 2015 as the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament. 

"We made great strides last season," said sixth-year head coach Tim Fusina. "We had a minor blip the year before due to some major injures, but we have been consistent since we came out of the pandemic in 2020. We have continued to recruit high quality student-athletes to our program who want to not only be here, but want to win here and win at a high level here."

Waynesburg was especially tough in the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse where the squad went 9-5 and won seven of their final eight home games to close the regular season. The Jackets' nine home wins were the most since 2014-15 and fourth-most in the PAC.

The successful 2023-24 campaign was predicated on a strong defense. Waynesburg finished second in the PAC in scoring defense (68.2) and field goal percentage defense (.414), and the Jackets led the league and finished No. 32 in the nation with 4.7 blocks per game. Waynesburg held opponents under 60 points eight times and went 7-1 in those contests.

Anton Baker became the first player in team history to win PAC Defensive Player of the Year honors and became the third Yellow Jacket in the past four seasons to earn All-PAC First Team honors.

2024-25 PAC Preseason Poll: The Jackets were tabbed fourth of 11 teams by the conference's coaches in the PAC Preseason Poll.

# School (first-place votes) - points - 2023-24 record (PAC)
1. Geneva (10) - 100 - 24-4 (18-2)
2. Saint Vincent (1) - 85 - 23-5 (17-3)
3. Chatham - 75 - 18-9 (15-5)
4. Waynesburg - 67 - 14-12 (11-9)
5. Washington & Jefferson - 63 - 9-16 (8-12)
6. Grove City - 58 - 14-13 (9-11)
7. Bethany - 46 - 9-17 (8-12)
8. Thiel - 31 - 8-17 (7-13)
T9. Franciscan - 28 - 8-16 (5-15)
T9. Westminster - 28 - 10-14 (8-12)
11. Allegheny - 24 - 6-19 (4-16)

Key Returners: Waynesburg returners its top two scorers and rebounders and four players who appeared in at least 20 games last season.

"Our returners know what it takes to win games in the PAC," said Fusina. "This league is very deep and even from top to bottom and our older guys know that it takes a commitment to defense and a commitment to playing hard each night. They hold each other and themselves accountable every day in practice and that has rubbed off on our new guys."

Graduate forward Antone Baker (Maple Heights, Ohio / Maple Heights) returns as the reigning PAC Defensive Player of the Year and an All-PAC First Team honoree. He averaged 17.9 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.9  blocks per game. He led the league and ranked 41st in the nation with 49 blocked shots. He was 48th nationally and second in the PAC with a 56.1 percent field goal percentage and 35th in the country with 197 field goals made. He finished third in the conference in scoring, sixth in rebounding and seventh in steals and free throw attempts.

"Antone continues to grow as a player and is in my mind the best overall player in the PAC," said Fusina. "He has the athletic ability to score on and guard anyone and works as hard as anyone I have been around. He cares about winning and doing his absolute best in any situation and he expects the same from the people around him."

Baker scored in double-digits 22 times, had 13 20-point outings and nine double-doubles. He scored a season-high 30 points in a win over Allegheny.

Senior forward Jaylen Davis (Cleveland Heights, Ohio / Cleveland Heights) led the Jackets and finished fifth in the PAC with 8.2 rebounds per game last year. He was third on the roster with 9.6 points per game and shot 61.8 percent from the field. He scored 20-plus points twice, had 11 double-figure scoring outings and had seven double-doubles. 

"Jalen was a great post presence last season and we expect the same this year," said Fusina. "He has a great ability to score in the post but has also developed the ability to score from further out. Defensively, he rebounds almost everything near him and makes it hard to score at the rim."

Senior guard/forward PJ Suggs (Twinsburg, Ohio / Twinsburg) started 13 games and averaged 5.0 points and 1.9 rebounds. He scored in double-digits five times, including a season-high 16 points at Bethany.

Senior guard Korey Mitchum (McHenry, Md. / Southern Garrett (Md.)) served as a key reserve in his first year at Waynesburg after a two-year career at Garrett College. He played in all 26 games and averaged 4.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 steals per game. Mitchum finished third on the team in steals and fourth in assists and scored in double-digits twice.

Junior guard Scott Bilovus (Imperial, Pa. / West Allegheny) averaged 3.2 points in 14 games off the Jacket bench last season. He made 11 three-pointers and scored in double figures twice. Sophomore guard Mikey Smith (Medford, N.Y. / William Floyd) played in 14 games.

Newcomers: The Jackets' varsity roster features 17 newcomers with seven freshmen and 10 transfers joining the squad for 2024-25.

"We are excited about our roster," said Fusina. "If there was a deficiency we had last season, it was that we did not shoot the ball well enough on the perimeter. I feel we addressed this by bringing in some transfers along with freshmen who will develop in our program and get on the floor this year."

Looking at the Schedule: The Jackets play a 20-game conference schedule with home-and-home dates against the other 10 teams in the PAC. Waynesburg has five nonconference games, including a meeting with future conference member Hiram on Dec. 30.

The Jackets begin league play at Grove City on Nov. 23 with the conference home opener against Bethany on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving (Nov. 26).

The Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse will be the site of five of Waynesburg's seven January games. Alumni Day is scheduled for Feb. 8 against Westminster and Senior Day is set for Feb. 22 verses Thiel in the regular season finale.

The top six teams qualify for the conference tournament with the top two seeds hosting a semifinal. The PAC Tournament runs from Feb. 25-March 1 with each game hosted by the higher seed. Waynesburg has made the conference tournament in two of the last three seasons. The Jackets advanced to the conference semifinals in 2022 and hosted a quarterfinal matchup last winter.

Last Word: "I feel we have the talent and depth to compete at the top of the PAC on a nightly basis," said Fusina. "We have the chance to have a great year, just like everyone else. Our success will come down to how well we defend, how well we are all willing to accept our roles and how well we are together in our collective purpose, which is to compete for PAC championship. The PAC is very deep conference with great players and coaches. If you are not prepared to compete at your absolute best in this league, you're going to get run over. We feel we have the group that can win at a high level this season."