The Wildcats men’s basketball team celebrated senior night by taking down Saint Martin’s University 87-70 to become the 2024-25 Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) regular-season champions. Senior Center Mitch Brizee celebrated his special night, however, he knows there are bigger goals in front of the ‘Cats.
Already with the crown of reigning GNAC champions, the Wildcat’s 13-3 conference record was good enough to solidify them as conference champions with still two matchups left in the season. They have won eight out of their last ten games, as they look to keep up the hot streak going into the GNAC tournament.
Brizee, the lone senior on the team, played a pivotal role in anchoring the team from down low in the painted area as the season aged. With his 6-foot-9 inch frame weighing in at 225 pounds, he uses his strength and height to protect the rim making it difficult for opposing teams to score. While he might not be the focal point of the offense, teams still have to look out for the big guy as he leads the GNAC in field goal percentage making 68% of his shots.
At this point in the season, he is averaging 8.4 points per game and 5.2 rebounds up from his 5.1 points per game and 3.8 rebounds a game last season. His play does more than just show up on the box score, he is the primary screen setter for the team and when on the floor, is guarding the biggest player the opponent has.
Brizee originally went to Weber State University before transferring to CWU because he was previously coached by CWU’s Head Coach Brandon Rinta.
“As soon as I hit that transfer portal he reached out to me,” Brizee said. “Academics is a big thing for me and obviously he has built a culture here where academics are important … what he wanted to build here was another thing I looked for.” What Coach Rinta was looking to build was a winning culture and he did just that winning the Wildcat’s first GNAC championship since 2011.
As for the future, Brizee detailed what it will take for this year’s team to match last season’s success. “With Saturday’s game, I feel like if we can bring that same defensive intensity we had in the first half, we will have a pretty good chance of winning it [GNAC Championship],” Brizee said. “And then obviously we’ve got to shoot well, which really hasn’t been a problem. I think those are the two biggest things, defensive intensity and shot selection.”
Family and friends made their way to Ellensburg to see Brizee show out one more time in front of the Wildcat faithful. “It was nice, but I mean it was weird. Like dang, I’m almost done. Only a couple games left in my last year playing college basketball,” Brizee said. “It was relieving, but at the same time, it’s the end of a chapter.
While Brizee admits that he is not the most outgoing guy, he still knows how to set an example that the younger players will follow. “He is the one that provides the most energy and positive energy all the time,” junior guard Xavier Kamalu-Vargas said. “He doesn’t even need to say things and we will still follow his lead. That’s the type of leader he is.”
The statistically best game of the season for Brizee was in a 92-75 home win vs Alaska Fairbanks. Totaling 22 points, five rebounds and shooting seven of ten from the field and eight of ten from the free throw line.
His minutes have risen every year with CWU and with that, so has his play. What comes with being a starter is that you’re putting a lot more work on your body. Last season he averaged 15.3 minutes per game serving as the backup center only starting one of the 31 games played. This season he has seen that number skyrocket to 24.2 minutes per game and has started in all 25 games he has appeared in. “It’s more conditioning,” Brizee said. “I’ve been dealing with injuries so I’ve kind of got to find the balance between conditioning and staying healthy.”
“Coming into my freshman year he was coming off the bench, low minutes type of guy,” Kamalu-Vargas said. “Throughout the past three years, I’ve been here, he’s been here, I’ve seen significant improvement overall as a leader, overall as a player, I see he is a lot more comfortable being vocal now than he was back then. Playing-wise, I think he has improved way more. It’s fun to see because he’s made a big impact for us.”
The Wildcats season is far from over, as the GNAC tournament will be hosted in Lacey, Wash. starting on March 6 extending through March 8. The winner of this tournament is awarded the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA West Region Championships. Before they get there to defend their throne, they have two road games ahead of them with one against rivals Western Washington University, then they cross the border to take on Simon Fraser.
