Despite coming off a fifth straight Mountain East Conference regular season title and their third MEC Tournament championship, head coach Ben Howlett and his West Liberty University men's basketball team aren't looking to rest on their laurels in the 2022-23 campaign.
   
"A lot of good things happened a year ago, but we want more for this year," said Howlett, who heads into his sixth season at the WLU helm with the highest winning percentage (128-21, .859) of any active NCAA men's basketball coach. "We play for championships here. Anything less than that falls short of what we expect as coaches and what our fan base expects."
   
Howlett's high-powered Hilltoppers ranked No. 2 in the final NCAA D2 coaches' poll a year ago after leading the nation in scoring for the 14th time in the last 17 seasons. The Black and Gold earned their NCAA-best 13th consecutive NCAA Tournament bid but hopes for another deep tourney run were dashed by an overtime loss in the Atlantic Region quarterfinal.
   
Even with last season's early exit, West Liberty is no stranger to the national spotlight. Dating back to the 2009-10 season, the West Liberty men have the highest winning percentage (374-46, .890) in NCAA basketball.
   
When it comes to post-season play, the Hilltoppers have advanced to 9 of the last 12 Sweet 16s, made 6 Elite Eight trips and played in 3 Final Fours. West Liberty teams have won 6 of the last 12 Atlantic Region titles, are 24-6 all-time in Atlantic Regional play and 29-13 in NCAA Tournament action.
   
Once again installed as the pre-season favorite in voting by the MEC coaches, West Liberty also checked in at No. 9 when the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC) released its 2022-23 preseason Top 25.
           
There's a good mix of old and new on the hilltop this season. All-American Bryce Butler – the reigning Atlantic Region and MEC Player of the Year – leads a strong returning nucleus of seven players with seven new faces rounding out the 14-man roster for a 50-50 mix.
   
Already a 1,000-point scorer, the 6-5 Butler averaged 18.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game during his All-American season last year. The returning junior tuned up for the 2022-23 season over the summer by playing for Team USA's Under-23 Team that won the FIBA 3x3 Nations League Americas title in Santo Domingo, P.R. "It has been fun seeing Bryce grow as a player and leader," said Howlett. "He is like having another coach on the floor and knows the ins and outs of our program better than any player we ever had here."
   
Malik McKinney (8.8 ppg., 57 steals) begins his fourth season in the program and will look to continue his strong play. Another 1,000-point scorer, the 6-3 senior guard has played in all but one game since 2019-20 and averaged 9.0 points per game with a 42.9% mark from beyond the arc over the previous three years. "Malik has elevated his game every year he's been here and he's continued that hard work heading into this season," said Howlett.
   
Sophomore sharpshooter Zach Rasile (7.7 ppg., 58 3FGs) is coming off a 46% three-point shooting season. "Zach has expanded his game on the defensive side of the ball and we feel confident with him on the court in any situation," Howlett said.
   
Veteran point guard Christian Montague (7.0 ppg., 3.4 apg.) returns for his second year in Black and Gold after seeing action in all 32 games a year ago. "Christian has really devoted himself to getting more familiar with our system," Howlett said. "He's had a very good fall."
           
Ben Sarson (7.3 ppg., 4.0 rpg.), a 6-6 sophomore leaper, started 22 games a year ago and showed a knack for making his presence felt at both ends of the floor while fellow sophomore Austin Webb (1.9 ppg., 1.5 rpg.), a 6-3 guard, earned multiple starts as a true freshman. Former Pennsylvania all-stater Dante Spadafora had to redshirt a year ago due to injury but is back at full speed as part of the veteran core.
   
"Even with the seven newcomers, we're still a pretty mature team," Howlett said. That maturity is a continuing theme with the new faces on the WLU roster as four of the seven are transfers that have seen success at the collegiate level. Steve Cannady, a 6-0 guard and 1,000-point scorer, is a graduate transfer from Mercyhurst. A key figure on back-to-back NCAA Tournament teams with the Lakers, he earned All-PSAC West honors as their second-leading scorer (11.5 ppg.) last season.
   
Alek West comes to the hilltop after two seasons at Ohio Dominican. A 6-4 junior, the All-GMAC shooting guard had 22 double-figure scoring games a year ago while stuffing the stat sheets at a 16.0 ppg., 6.2 rpg. and 5.7 apg. clip.
   
Michael Sampson started every game the last two seasons at Notre Dame (Ohio). The 6-4 forward shot 63 percent (215-of-341) from the floor and ranked among MEC Top 5 in Offensive Rebounds, Defensive Rebounds and Steals while posting multiple double-doubles.
   
Junior college transfer Chaz Hinds, a rugged 6-8 forward, figures to add a physical presence in the paint after posting 15.1 points and 7.0 rebounds a game at Olney Central (Ill.) last year.
   
Howlett is expecting big things from the transfer class and likes what he's seen in the preseason. "These guys have been working really hard to pick things up," he said. "We expect all four to have a significant impact this year."
   
A trio of freshmen round out the new faces on the Hilltoppers' 2022-23 roster. Finley Woodward is a 6-7 southpaw wing from Bristol, England. He was a double-figure scorer for the Scottish National U-16 Team and is coming off a strong prep year at Spire Institute. Grant Barnhart, a 6-3 guard, is a 3-time first-team all-stater who averaged nearly 25 points a game at St. Marys (W.Va.) High School as a senior. Vidan Dronjak is a 6-6 forward from Serbia who averaged double-figures for the Serbian National U-18 Team.
   
The sideline crew remains intact for Coach Howlett, with assistant coaches Mike Lamberti, Dr. Aaron Huffman, and student assistant Connor Harr all returning. "I'm really appreciative of my great staff; they have a terrific relationship with the players and bleed Black and Gold," Howlett said.
   
West Liberty will tip its season off inside the friendly confines of the ASRC on Friday (5:30 pm) and Saturday (8:00 pm) as part of the Atlantic Region Crossover. The MEC title defense begins on the road November 19 at Alderson Broaddus.

Follow Hilltopper basketball all season online at HilltopperSports.com and on Twitter (@WLU_Hoops | @WLathletics), Instagram (@wlu_mbb | @wlu_athletics), and Facebook.