After four consecutive 20-win seasons, UNC Wilmington’s steady climb culminates with its first NCAA Tournament bid since 2017.
Since taking over in 2020, Takayo Siddle has looked poised to follow in the footsteps of the great UNC Wilmington coaches before him. The Seahawks have hit the 20-win benchmark in all but his first season, and they won the second most games in school history (27) in Year 2, hitting that mark again in 2025. All that was missing was an NCAA Tournament berth.
Well, Siddle can now check that off the list.
UNC Wilmington battled with a suddenly resurgent Delaware squad in Tuesday’s CAA Championship. After building a 15-point advantage in the first half, the Seahawks saw the Blue Hens charge back and take the lead with 15:30 left in the game. But a timely jumper — and some critical free throws — from point guard Donovan Newby sealed the contest in the final minute.
“We could’ve wilted at any point, but we didn’t. We’ve been resilient all year,” Siddle told reporters after the contest. “We are a program that’s prideful. We’re very prideful. We have a championship culture. We always feel like if we don’t win it all, we failed.”
More Heat Check CBB:
- Bracketology: Projected field | Bubble Watch
- Tournament Index: Complete March Madness projections
- Full conference tournament TV schedule
A turnaround on offense
Two year ago, Wilmington fell 63-58 to Charleston in the CAA title game. In that contest, UNCW scored just .91 points per possession and connected on only three 3-point attempts in 14 tries. That game was a microcosm of the Seahawks’ offensive struggles that season — they finished 236th in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency.
Since then, Wilmington has back-to-back top-100 finishes in that category. Much of the credit belongs to Newby, who doubled his scoring average from last season while leading the team in 3-point makes (75) and posting better than a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Bo Montgomery and Nolan Hodge round out a strong perimeter unit, and Harlan Obioha provides a physical presence in the post.
But perhaps the most impressive frontcourt player comes off the bench.
Khamari McGriff averaged just 3.8 points per game as a junior before making the leap to 11.6 during his final year in Wilmington. While not overly explosive, McGriff shows off tremendous footwork in the post. His 67.5 true shooting percentage placed 16th nationally.
Metric of note: offensive rebounding rate
Wilmington paced the Coastal in offense partly because it dominated the boards on that end of the court.
The Seahawks were the only team in the league to have four players rank in the top 20 in offensive rebounding rate, and as a unit, they ranked 29th in Division I in that same metric for the season. (They were no slouches on the defensive glass, either, coming in at 91st in the KenPom ranks.) The massive Obioha led the way, followed by McGriff. But the high ranks of Hodge and defensive ace Sean Moore further illustrate the Seahawks’ collective effort to control the offensive boards.
Wilmington’s ability to extend its own possessions while forcing opponents to cough up the ball could make for a scary matchup for a protected seed.
Similar NCAA Tournament efficiency profiles
Tournament Index evaluation
As it stands, UNC Wilmington is a projected No. 14 seed by our bracketology at Heat Check CBB and on the Bracket Matrix. The Tournament Index rates the Seahawks as being equivalent to the fifteenth-strongest No. 14 seed from the past 10 tournaments (40 total teams). Should the Seahawks move up or down a line, they would be either the twelfth-weakest 13-seed of the last 10 tournament fields, or the seventh-strongest 15-seed.
The TI projects an average of 0.20 wins for UNC Wilmington given its projected seed and strength.
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