The 2023-24 Augustana men's basketball campaign began on a high note with a 23-point home win over Knox. A total of 13 Vikings scored in the win, with three reaching double figures. The team endured a bumpy road over the course of the next few weeks, battling through a seven-game losing streak before picking up a 15-point road win over Millikin to earn its first conference victory of the year.
Nearly two weeks later, the Vikings fought through a back-and-forth affair with Lake Forest, winning in overtime by a point. Two days after the win, it was announced that head coach Tom Jessee would be taking a leave absence, naming assistant coach
Jordan Delp the Acting Head Coach for the remainder of the season. In Delp's first game at the helm, the Vikings enjoyed a double-figure advantage over No. 23 Illinois College, but narrowly fell in over time by a score of 82-78. The team bounced back for its first win under the guidance of Delp nine days later, knocking off Benedictine at home to close out the 2023 calendar year.
Kicking off January, the Vikings earned their second win of the conference slate with a three-point victory over Wheaton at home, but suffered losses in six of their next seven. During that span, four of those games were decided by four points or fewer, and two others decided in overtime. On February 3, the Vikings righted the ship, defeating Carthage at home in overtime to set up a three-game winning streak that included wins over North Central and Millikin. Despite an overtime loss at Carroll in the finale, the Vikings clinched the No. 6 seed in the CCIW Tournament. Augie traveled to Kenosha for the opening round against the No. 3 seeded Firebirds and fought back from a double-digit halftime deficit to eventually take the lead late, but Carthage took control down the stretch and held on for the four-point win to end Augustana's season.
Following the season, Director of Athletics Mike Zapolski officially named Delp the program's 18th head coach.
Tyler Knuth was named to the CCIW's First Team All-Conference list and two members of the team--
Chase Larsen and
Mike Hamilton-- were awarded College Sports Communicators Academic All-District. Statistically, Knuth's 89.2 percent mark from the free throw line and 47.9 percent effort from behind the three-point line placed him in the top seven in both categories all-time for best percentage in a single season.
Knuth
was the recipient of the Most Outstanding Player Award after leading the team in scoring at 15.3 points per game. He hovered around the top of the nation shooting the ball from deep and finished the year third in the CCIW in scoring, first in three-point percentage, and second in free throw percentage.
Larsen earned a pair of awards, notching the Best Defender and Leading Rebounder accolades for Augustana. Larsen led the Vikings in boards with 7.1 per game for 185 total on the year. He sat third in the conference in rebounding. Defensively, he racked up 36 steals and five blocks on the year.
Eli Aldana, a freshman from Streamwood, Ill., was named the Junior Varsity MVP. He also appeared in six games at the varsity level this season.
Brett David was this year's recipient of the CCIW's RESPECT Award.
2034-24 Men's Basketball letter winners
- Evan Ambrose (Jr., Cary, Ill./Stevenson)
- Dani Romero (So., Malaga, Spain/EBG Malaga)
- Matt Hawkins (Jr., Glenwood, Ill./Mount Carmel)
- Colton Gillingham (Jr., Greeley, Colo./Greeley West)
- Anthony Cooper (Jr., Ottawa, Ill./Ottawa Township)
- Brett David (Sr., Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland)
- Chase Larsen (Jr., Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect)
- Nicolas Giliberto (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz./Paradise Valley)
- Mike Hamilton (Jr., Elmwood Park, Ill./St. Patrick)
- Tyler Knuth (Sr., Rockford, Ill./Rockford Guilford)
- Zach Anderson (Fr., Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain)
- Andrew Ayeni (Fr., Chicago, Ill/St. Patrick)
2023-24 CCIW Academic All-Conference
