The 2026–27 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team will represent the University of California, Irvine in the 2026–27 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They will play their home games at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, California as a member of the Big West Conference. The Anteaters are led by 17th-year head coach Russell Turner. The Anteaters were invited to compete in the William Jones Cup during the offseason. In it, they went 7–1, falling in the championship game 78–98 to Wonju DB New Generation South Korea. They finished as runner-up.
Previous season
The 2025–26 UC Irvine Anteaters went 23–12 overall, and 15–5 in Big West play. They received the one seed in the Big West tournament. After losing to Hawai'i in the championship game, the Anteaters were not chosen for the NCAA tournament. As the Anteaters won the Big West regular season, they were offered an automatic bid and four seed in the NIT. This was the fourth year in a row the Anteaters participated in the NIT, and second year in a row with the opportunity to host at least one game. Their season ended with their loss to UNLV in the first round. With the loss, the squad officially failed to improve upon the prior year's record.
Offseason Preseason Polls The Big West Coaches' Poll has not been released yet.
Departures Six players from the 2025–26 roster departed Irvine, including one graduate and four transfers. Andre Henry graduated. Derin Saran transferred to Richmond, Kyle Evans transferred to NC State, Jurian Dixon transferred to Virginia, and Akiva McBirney-Griffin transferred to Northern Illinois. Meanwhile, Tishan Ahir, a walk-on for two years, was cut due to a lack of roster space.
DeparturesNameNumberPos.HeightWeightYearHometown Reason for departure 4 G 6'4" 190 Graduate La Cañada Flintridge, CA Graduated 13 G 6'5" 190 Redshirt Sophomore Istanbul, Turkey Transferred to Richmond<ref name="Richmond" 14 F 6'10" 210 Redshirt Senior Aliso Viejo, CA Transferred to NC State<ref name="NC State" 24 G 6'4" 195 Redshirt Sophomore San Diego, CA Transferred to Virginia<ref name="Virginia" 27 G 6'0" 150 Sophomore La Cañada Flintridge, CA Cut 43 F 6'9" 225 Redshirt Junior Hamilton, NZ Transferred to Northern Illinois<ref name="NIU"
Incoming transfers On April 30, 2026, UC Irvine announced the addition of the tallest player in college basketball history, Olivier Rioux to the roster, a center from Terrebonne, Quebec, transferring to UC Irvine after two seasons with Florida. On May 19, 2026, Irvine announced the addition of Nils Cooper to the roster, a guard from Santa Monica, California, transferring after previous seasons with Pepperdine and UC Davis.
Incoming transfersNameNumberPos.HeightWeightYearHometownPrevious School 2 F 6'7" 207 Redshirt Junior Menlo Park, CA Colorado 13 G 6'5" 190 Redshirt Sophomore Istanbul, Turkey Stanford
Recruits
Roster
Schedule and results
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!colspan=12 style=""| Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=""| Regular season
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Source
Awards and honors
References