MALIBU, Calif. — Pepperdine men's basketball (0-0) returns on Monday to host Life Pacific (2-1) for the season opener from Firestone Fieldhouse at 6 p.m.

The first 100 fans in attendance will receive a free 2025-26 schedule magnet. Fans can purchase tickets here. The game can be streamed live on ESPN+ with live stats available here.

The Waves open the new campaign off the heels of a WCC Semifinal appearance in the first year in the Ed Schilling era in 2024-25. Schilling retains the same coaching staff entering year two, but brings in 11 new players with just four returners from the 2024-25 squad.

FAREWELL FIRESTONE

• This season marks the 53rd and final season with Firestone Fieldhouse as the home for Pepperdine Basketball.
• The Waves opened the arena on November 30, 1973 with a matchup against Pacific before earning the first win in the building on 12/20/73 versus Chicago State.
• Pepperdine will move into the Mountain at Mullin Park for the 2026-27 season.
• The Mountain is a new 3,600-seat arena that will give Pepperdine a state-of-the-art competition venue, complete with a 360-degree high-definition scoreboard, VIP and hospitality spaces, and custom team locker rooms. 

FAMILIAR FACES

• The Waves return just two players who saw action this past season in Danilo Dozic and David Mager.
• Dozic emerged as a key piece for the Waves down the stretch in 2024-25, starting the final 15 games of the season after missing the first portion of the campaign due to injury.
• In 28 appearances, Dozic logged 22.3 minutes per game with 5.8 points per game and 2.6 rebounds per game.
• Mager leads all returners with 34 career games in a Pepperdine uniform, seeing action in 25 games this past season and nine in 2023-24. 
• In 4.7 minutes per game last season, Mager logged 2.0 points per game and scored a career-high 10 points at UNLV in November.

COOLEY & CLARK RETURN

• Graduate student Javon Cooley and redshirt sophomore Aaron Clark enter the season healthy after each missing the 2024-25 season with Pepperdine due to injury.
• Cooley appeared in 109 games for Marist including 66 starts from 2020-24, featuring as a starter across his junior and senior seasons.
• Cooley averaged 7.3 PPG and 4.4 RPG in his two years as a starter, ranking second in the MAAC with a .475 three-point percentage in 2023-24.
• Clark transferred to Pepperdine following one season at Wake Forest.
• He appeared in seven games for the Demon Deacons in 2023-24.
• Clark was the No. 91 rated recruit from Rivals.com in the high school Class of 2023.

PEPPERDINE VIA THE PORTAL

• The Waves added six players via the transfer portal this offseason including Stefan Cicic, Yonatan Levy, Preston Phillips, Styles Phipps, Pasha Shemirani and Pavle Stosic.
• Redshirt freshman center Stefan Cicic appeared in three games for Tulane this past season before utilizing a redshirt season. 
• Sophomore forward Yonatan Levy joins the Waves after spending last season at Green Bay.
• Levy joined the Phoenix midway through the 2024-25 campaign, eventually making 11 starts in 13 appearances while averaging 7.8 PPG, 6.1 RPG and 2.6 APG.
• Levy scored in double figures four times including a 19-point effort against Cleveland State.
• Graduate student Preston Phillips enters as transfer from Bethel (Ind.), where he helped with Pilots to three wins in the NAIA Tournament over his two seasons.
• Starting all 49 games with Bethel, Phillips registered 11.2 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game.
• Phillips spent his first two seasons at Evansville from 2021-23, making 49 appearances.
• Sophomore guard Styles Phipps came by way of Grand Canyon University where he won a WAC Championship this past season.
• Phipps appeared in 20 games for the Antelopes and averaged 2.0 PPG, 1.2 RPG and 1.1 APG in 7.8 MPG.
• Pasha Shemirani enters as a redshirt freshman, utilizing his redshirt this past season at Fresno State.
•  Pavel Stosic comes to Malibu after redshirting this past season at Utah State.
• Stosic has West Coast Conference experience, playing his freshman season at Gonzaga in 2023-24
• With the Bulldogs, Stosic totaled 14 points and 11 rebounds across 46 minutes of action in 14 appearances.

FRESHMAN CLASS

• The Waves add a mix of local and international talent with its five-member true freshman class featuring Anto Balian, Nikola Radovanovic, Vladimir Sudar, Ty Virgil and Luka Vudragovic.
• Anto Balian joins as a guard from Glendale, California, having finished a storied high school career at Pilibos with 2,980 points which ranks 15th all-time in California High School baksetball history.
• Balian joined to Armenian Senior National Team at the age of 16 and has started at point guard ever since under head coach Rex Kalamian.
• He is the first player to receive a Division I basketball scholarship from an Armenian High School.
• Nikola Radovanovic joins the Waves after a standout junior career in Europe.
• Radovanovic played the past three seasons with Mladost Zemun in the Serbian Pro League, winning the 2023 league championship.
• Representing Serbia at the 2019 FIBA U16 Euros, Radovanovic averaged 15.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG in the tournament among Europe's top young talent.
• Vladimir Sudar comes to Pepperdine having spent the past six seasons with SC Derby Podgorica, playing in the Montenegrin Basketball League.
• Competing with the Montenegrin National Team as well, Sudar averaged 9.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists in seven games of FIBA U20 Eurobasket play in 2024 in Gdynia.
• Ty Virgil enters as a true freshman guard out of Hillcrest Prep in Gilbert, Ariz.
• Virgil averaged over 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists as a senior, after a standout run on the AAU circuit with DreamVision, Team Lillard and Team Dtermined.
• Luka Vudragovic joins as a wing who averaged 8.1 points per game for KK Metalac in the Serbian Pro League in 2024-25.
• Vudragovic has also represented Serbia at the international level, including the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup and FIBA U18 European Challengers.
• Radovanovic, Sudar and Vudragovic join Stosic, Cicic and Dozic as Waves with Serbian ties.

• The Waves non-conference slate features 11 Division I opponents from eight different conferences around the country including the Big Ten, Big Sky, Southland, Mountain West, WAC, America East and The American.
• The lone power-four matchup comes at UCLA this Friday.
• The Waves will take part in the Acrisure Series MTE, matching up with Fresno State on Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 4 p.m. from Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert. 
• Vermont and New Orleans feature as first-time opponents for the program, with each making the trip to Malibu.
• Pepperdine will not leave the state of California until its trip to Spokane (Jan. 21) to take on Gonzaga.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS

• Life Pacific has earned victories over Bethedsa and Providence (MT) to begin the season while falling to Cal Maritime.
• Senior Kyjuan Cannady has led the way with 16 points per game on 56-percent shooting so far.
• The Warriors have done their work on the glass, totaling 12.7 offensive boards per game and 41 total rebounds per contest.
• The 2024-25 campaign saw the Warriors log a 12-10 record including a 4-4 mark away from home.
• The Waves won the lone meeting in the all-time series last season by a score of 119-57.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Pepperdine men's basketball has made 13 NCAA postseason appearances while earning 12 WCC Regular-Season Championships and three WCC Tournament Championships in its history. This success has spanned multiple decades, with the Waves most recently winning the 2021 CBI Tournament. The program has also seen 19 All-Americans along with 19 NBA players, which included a streak of 34 consecutive seasons with at least one alum on an NBA roster from 1976-2011.

TICKETS
For more information on ticket packages and to purchase tickets for upcoming home events, visit here.

FOLLOW
To stay up-to-date on the latest Pepperdine men's basketball news, follow the Waves on social media @PepperdineMBB.