HONOLULU – There were some high expectations for the Chaminade University men's basketball team in 2025-26.
Unfortunately, those expectations fell short.
Picked to finish in the upper half of the Pacific West Conference standings in the preseason coaches poll, the Silverswords got off to a great start, winning 10 of their first 12 conference games but fizzled with a 3-9 mark in the final two months. That resulted in the team finishing out of the PacWest Tournament for the third straight year, the longest streak since the tournament began in 2013.
Despite the sour end, there was plenty of exciting moments for 15th-year head coach
Eric Bovaird including a return to Lahaina for the Southwest Maui Invitational, their first appearance there since 2019, thrilling victories and milestone achievements.
There were eight seniors on the team, four of them returning starters in
Roland Banks II (Bakersfield, Calif./Fullerton College/Cathedral HS),
Kent King (Washington, D.C./Vincennes University/Fork Union Military Academy),
Kris King (Washington, D.C./Vincennes University/Fork Union Military Academy) and
Fletcher MacDonald (Wollongong, Australia/Lubbock Christian Univ./Newington College HS).
Brycen Shackelford (Folsom, Calif./Folsom) and
Mykiah Wyche (San Jose, Calif./Foothill College/Piedmont Hills HS) were other senior returnees.
The addition of transfers
Brandon Haddock (Southlake, Texas/University of Utah/Carroll HS),
Nathan Medina (Long Beach, Calif./Biola University/Valley Christian HS),
Nate Sasser III (West Palm Beach, Fla./Casper College/Suncoast HS) and
Pejan Slater (Lancaster, Calif./Citrus College/Santa Clarita Christian HS) helped to back the returnees. Haddock and Medina helped to round out the senior class.
The King twins and Medina achieved personal milestones by reaching the career 1,000-point marks. Medina gained celebrity status with his 30-point outburst against Texas on Maui wowing a national television audience, enroute to finish as the 'Swords' top scorer at 16.1 points per game and 70 3-pointers.
Kent King earned All-PacWest Third Team honors after posting 15.7-point and 7.3-rebound averages with seven double-doubles. He also finished second in the PacWest in steals at 2.1 per outing.
Banks ended his career as one of the top assist players in the conference, ending the year third in average (3.8) and second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9).
Sasser was the 'Swords' top bench scorer at a 6.9 per game clip and also had one of the highlights of the season with a game-winning alley-oop in a one-point overtime win over Vanguard at McCabe Gymnasium. Haddock was a spark off the bench to help spell Medina and hit 26 triples, the third-highest on the team.
Shackelford, the team's lone four-year player, ended his career with 176 points and 135 rebounds during his career. Wyche played all 26 games in his final year as a Silversword.
Payton Lambrecht (Milwaukee, Wis./Sauk Valley CC/Whitefish HS) and
Jett Lehmann (Minden, Nev./Douglas) made the most of their appearances, especially on Maui, where both hit field goals on ESPN.
Bruce Carpenter (Fayetteville, Ga./Gannon University/McIntosh HS), a first-year transfer, suffered a season-ending injury prior to the start of the season.
