Wheeling, W. Va. - The air is turning chillier in the Ohio Valley and before you know it, it will be time to get back on the basketball court. On Tuesday, the Mountain East Conference (MEC) will officially begin their 2026-2027 season when they host MEC Basketball Media Day beginning at noon at WesBanco Arena. All 12 conference head coaches will be on hand to preview their upcoming seasons, with Wheeling University Head Women's Basketball Coach Ella Skeens and Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Richardson representing the Cardinals.
After the coaches go through their morning meetings with officials and other aspects of the conference, they will come out into the WesBanco Arena main lobby for the annual preseason press conference. The MEC Men's and Women's Basketball Preseason Polls will be released just before the press conference begins, and MEC Commissioner Reid Amos will give his opening remarks to start the event. Then, each of the conference's 12 women's coaches will take the podium in order of the preseason poll to give their season previews. Following the women's press conference, the 12 men's head coaches will take the podium to give their season previews. The MEC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament is scheduled for March 3-7, 2027 at WesBanco Arena and is presented by The Healthplan.
The Wheeling Women's Basketball program is coming off a season that saw them go 17-12 overall and 12-8 in MEC play. They would earn the #6 seed in the MEC Women's Basketball Tournament, while displaying the conference's top defense. They allowed an MEC-low 59.2 points per game a season ago, while holding the fourth-best margin in the conference. After losing two-time MEC Defensive Player of the Year Kenzie Dalton, the Cardinals will look for a new wave of talent to step up and fill that defensive void. Leading this year's unit will be junior Emilia Sierra Lacosta, fresh off her first career All-MEC honor. She averaged 12.7 PPG while shooting .462 from the floor as the Cardinals second leading scorer on the season. She will be surrounded by fellow returning starters Layla Merriweather and Emma Reynolds who will each look to step up and fill the void on defense.
The Wheeling Men's Basketball team is coming off a breakout 2025-2026 season that saw them go 19-9 overall and 14-6 in MEC play. It represented an eight-win improvement for the program, and saw them post the most wins since the 2017-18 campaign. They would earn the #3 seed in the MEC Men's Basketball Tournament, their highest seeding since the 2017-18 campaign, and placed two on the All-MEC list. They return one of their two All-MEC honorees from a season ago, led by reigning MEC Freshman of the Year Ayden Goll. He was the team's leading scorer, averaging 18.1 points per game while shooting .423 from the floor. The Cardinals also return their defensive leader in graduate student Alex Smith, who led the team with 52 steals while sitting second in assists with 126.
2026 MEC Basketball Media Day is scheduled for Tuesday, October 20, with the Women's Press Conference beginning at noon.
