UNCW basketball sends off winningest seniors in program history
When the clock hit zero on UNCW's second-round NIT loss to Dayton on Saturday, March 21, the sellout crowd filling Trask Coliseum for the first postseason game in its famed 50-year history was already more than two hours into its ovation.
The Flyers' 80-61 win wasn't the outcome any Seahawks wanted, but one more chance to play on their home court together and send off a special group of seniors marked an indelible ending to this historic season, after all.
"I was kinda trying to take it all in," senior Noah Ross said of playing his last college game in a sold-out Trask in late March. "I was telling the guys out there, just look around: What a special place. What a special community. What a special group we have."
Coach Takayo Siddle used the words family and brothers when he spoke of his team after the game. It's fitting, since he uses the latter nickname for Ross and Nolan Hodge, both of whom joined Siddle and the Seahawks out of high school and stuck around all four years.
"The Brothers," as Siddle calls them , will graduate with 99 wins during their time as Seahawks — tied with former teammate Khamari McGriff for most wins by any player in school history.
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BOUND BY BROTHERHOOD: UNCW's Noah Ross, Nolan Hodge chase one last run together
"When you talk about leadership, we’ve had some really good leaders here. But those guys, they learned from certain guys along the way and they took different things from all of those leaders and they put it all together and put their little spin on it and they became two of the most impactful leaders in our program," Siddle said of Ross and Hodge.
"Those guys are special."
The pair combine for 23.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, with Hodge averaging a team-high 14.2 points as an All-CAA second-teamer. They've gone 99-35, winning 73.8% of their games over the last four years in Wilmington with a CAA regular-season championship, a conference tournament title, the winningest regular-season in program history, an NIT second-round run and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
"I wouldn’t want it any other way than to finish it here," Hodge said. "What a special place, coaches, teammates, thank you to everybody. The fans here are top in the country."
Those fans were treated to a thrilling start from the Seahawks against Dayton , UNCW spurting to a 7-0 lead and knocking the Flyers on their heels. But Dayton found its rhythm and took a four-point lead into halftime, pulling away after the break with intense defensive pressure, a size advantage, and the scoring of Georgia transfer De'Shayne Montgomery, who finished with a game-high 20 points.
This UNCW team had seven seniors on the roster. Besides Ross and Hodge, Madison Durr, CJ Luster, Greedy Williams, Christian May and JoJo Fullwood make up the Seahawks' Class of 2026.
May came to UNCW after three years at Towson and hit the game-winning 3-pointer to send the Seahawks over Yale 68-67 in their first-round NIT game Tuesday.
He was emotional after the loss to Dayton, clearly moved by his time with this team.
"It’s the most fun I’ve ever had playing basketball in my life," May said. "These guys are my brothers for life. It’s a really special place here. I’ve very thankful to be here."
Williams, who spent two seasons at UNCW after starting his college career at Northwestern State, also expressed gratitude, specifically toward Ross and Hodge. Williams nodded toward them as he said, "Best leaders I’ve ever had in my entire life. Just following them made it an easy job."
Durr, another senior and big contributor, spent one season in Wilmington after two at The Citadel and another at Monmouth. "This place grabs ahold of you and never lets you go," he said.
Siddle can attest. He just signed a contract to keep him in town through the 2030-31 season . And while the winning is wonderful, there are other measures of success.
"Those guys have developed into unbelievable human beings and when you see that as a coach, you feel like you did your job," Siddle said.
"That group of seniors, we’ll be connected for life."
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: UNCW basketball 2026 seniors win 99 games
