Last Monday, Oct. 28, the Point Loma Nazarene University men’s basketball team traveled to Tucson, Arizona, to play the University of Arizona in an exhibition game. Arizona won the game, 113-64. The Wildcats are ranked no. 10 in the country at the Division 1 level, and though they haven’t been to a Final Four since 2001, they’re consistently a top seed in the bracket come tournament time. The process for scheduling games against prestigious programs like Arizona and San Diego State University (SDSU) is simpler than one would expect.
The reason I mention SDSU is because PLNU played an exhibition game against them at the start of last season, a team that made the national championship in 2023 and the Elite Eight in 2024. After playing against Arizona, this marks two consecutive seasons that PLNU has led off their season against juggernaut Division 1 programs. Though the opponents are among the best teams in the country, the mentality stays the same for PLNU.
“My mindset is no different than any other game,” said fourth-year forward Wynton Brown. “Of course it’s on a bigger stage and you want to enjoy the moment, but we have the approach that we are coming in to play our best and win.”
In terms of scheduling the game, Interim Athletic Director Jordan Courneya said the process is started by simply running into other coaches and forming relationships with other schools. These can be formed through camps, recruitment, etc.
“It’s a mutual conversation,” Courneya said. “In athletics, your coaches … you see each other on the road recruiting, you develop relationships and then you kind of have a conversation in the gym in the summer like, ‘Do you have an exhibition game lined up? We’d love to play.’ And they would say, ‘Oh, let me look into that. That might be an opportunity.’”
The main reason PLNU’s basketball teams get these exhibitions scheduled and other sports don’t is because most other sports don’t really play exhibitions like this before the season starts. The soccer teams start their seasons as soon as students are back at school, leaving less time for those conversations to be had. The same thing can be said about volleyball. Baseball teams don’t play exhibition games against lower opponents. The parity is also a contributing factor. With sports like football and basketball, where there’s an influx of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) money and a clear talent gap, there’s no real risk for a team like Arizona to play PLNU. Low-major Division 1 programs typically don’t want to play official exhibition games against Division 2 schools, since they’re at risk of losing.
“In addition, being an elite Division 2 program, some of the smaller Division 1 [schools], … those teams don’t want to play because you can possibly lose the game,” Courneya said. “We’ve had a lot of closed-door scrimmages where we’ve beaten those opponents.”
Aside from recognition for the program and the ability to play in front of bigger crowds at bigger arenas, the exhibitions can help with recruitment. Being able to tell possible players that the team gets to play some of the best teams in the country can go a long way. Also, the games can serve as a reality check for the team.
“You kind of have a measuring stick of where you are as a program against elite Division 1 basketball programs,” Courneya said.
Second-year forward Luke Smith said it was especially cool playing at SDSU last year, when the game was tight and the tension could be felt in the arena.
“It was late in the first half and we had brought the game to within 6 points,” Smith said. “Then on the defensive end, we had created an offensive foul that SDSU fans were not happy about. This caused the arena to erupt in boos, the loudest I have ever heard while playing basketball. On the court it felt like the whole stadium was against us. That type of environment is just something I love playing against and always brings out the best in me.”
PLNU’s next home game is on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. against Cal State San Marcos.
Luke Mallery