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OREM — Eight months ago, in the midst of one of the best seasons in program history, Utah Valley's men's basketball program found itself one win away from its first WAC title.
Not only did they fall just short to Grand Canyon, who won its third straight title, the Wolverines lost four leading scorers to the transfer portal for a combined seven rotational players who left the program.
Returning just four rotational players, head coach Todd Phillips is no stranger to rebuilding his roster in his third time in three seasons.
"I think this team is talented, but they're young. It is going to be a growing process throughout the year and it won't look the same," Phillips said. "We are trying to go through some of the hard lessons and being in the right spots and continuing to play throughout the possession."
In the first game of the season, UCF transfer Tyler Hendricks, who is the brother of Utah Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks, gave the Wolverines an early boost by connecting on three shots from beyond the arc. It's an area that Utah Valley desperately needed to improve on from its previous two seasons.
Hendricks and the Wolverines set a program record for largest point margin, defeating West Coast Baptist 116-35.
As a team, Utah Valley shot 13-of-33 from beyond the arc, good for nearly 40%, and 47-of-84 from the field. The Wolverines also assisted on 32 of their 47 made baskets.
Through one half, Hendricks, along with returning role player Jackson Holcombe, had 13 points apiece, with Hendricks adding four rebounds and a block in 13 minutes of play.
"It was cool to get on the floor with my teammates for the first time," Hendricks said. "We all played as a team and it was just an amazing game for us."
Holcombe finished with a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds, while dishing four assists. Hendricks poured in 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting and seven rebounds. He later said he appreciated Holcombe for helping him acclimate to Utah Valley's style.
"He took me under his wing a little bit," Hendricks said. "He helped me out with the plays, the whole system, and it showed tonight."
While the Wolverines have had some height in the frontcourt with Trevin Dorius, Ethan Potter, Carter Welling and Osiris Grady in past seasons, this year they'll face some adversity with the tallest player on the roster being Utah transfer Joul Karram, who is 6-foot-11 but is not expected to get much playing time.
"We don't have the size that Carter (Welling) gave us last year, but we have some athletes," Phillips said. "Isaac Hawkins is super bouncy and we have a lot of bigs, we just don't have the 6-foot bruiser that Carter was."
Hawkins impressed in his first game with the Wolverines, and dropped 12 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Wolverines in its season opener.
Utah Valley will take on Boise State on the road Saturday at 2 p.m. MST.
