Expectations can be a heavy weight to carry. The Portland State Vikings will take those along with them as they open their 2025-26 season two weeks from today at Stanford, and later as they battle for their first Big Sky Conference title in more than 15 years.
     
The expectations come with good reason. The Vikings had their best overall record in seven years and their best Big Sky finish in 13 years last season. And PSU will return three of the most talented players on their team and in the Big Sky - a commodity in the modern college basketball landscape.
     
"I think there is no doubt we have the ability to win a Big Sky Championship, but we have to go out and prove we are a championship-level team every day," said Coach Jase Coburn. "We have to get better every day, then raise the bar for the next day. I think this team is good enough to win a championship and I don't mind saying that. But just because we say it, or think it, that doesn't mean anything. We have to prove it."
     
Seniors Terri Miller Jr., Jaylin Henderson and Tre-Vaughn Minott represent the Vikings' top two scorers and rebounders from 2024-25, a second team All-Big Sky Conference selection, honorable mention All-Big Sky, and Defensive Player of the Year in one big, talented athletic bundle.
     
That is a great place to start for Coburn, now in his fifth year as Head Coach. The Vikings will go after their first Big Sky title since 2009. That is where the expectations begin. But Coburn says the most important expectations are what come from within.
     
"It's new to us, being in this position," he said "We have always had an underdog mentality, scrapping and clawing our way. Of course, we know that the championship is down the line and that is the ultimate goal but we are not going to focus on that. We are going to focus on our process and our standard every day. We will be focused more on the journey than on the destination. This is a journey, and it should be fun for all of us."
     
But back to the starting point... his three talented seniors.
     
First, Terri Miller Jr., who was second on the team in scoring and rebounding in 2024-25 and led the team in scoring in league play.
     
"Offensively, we need to put him in the best spaces and give him the opportunity to succeed," said Coburn of his multi-talented 6-8 forward. "He has improved his shooting, he can do a lot of things in the post, and his ball-handling and play-making ability mean we will ask a lot of him this season as a facilitator. It's always good to have a guy like him back. Last year we were trying to figure him out. This year, we are just trying to improve on what he can do."
     
Jaylin Henderson, the team's leading scorer for the season and top three-point field goal producer, brought similar thoughts from Coburn.
     
"Last year at this point we were trying to figure him out as well," said Coburn of the 6-3 athletic dynamo. "This year, we know what he can do for us. We know what he is good at and we will put him in those situations to help us a lot more frequently. He has worked really hard and exemplified what a Portland State Viking is."
     
Minott, who led the team in rebounding, blocked shots and nearly set a school record for field goal percentage (.669), returns after being granted another year of eligibility by the NCAA in early September. 
     
"It's huge (having him back). He was Defensive Player of the Year last year for a reason. TV has developed into being an 'eraser' and erasing our defensive mistakes," Coburn said. "He does everything you would want a big man to do. Every day he is going to practice hard and that helps our culture and our standard. Guys look at him and say this is how things are supposed to be done.
     
"I don't think there was any player in the country that was more improved than him last season. He took a big jump in his game and now we want him to take another jump."
     
The Vikings also return emerging guard Kelsey Phipps, a sophomore, and an athletic senior forward in Isaac Brice among their letterwinners. Two redshirts, seven transfers and three walk-ons give the Vikings perhaps the most physically impressive roster the program has ever had.
     
But who among the newcomers will emerge? In early October that was still to be determined. Coburn did have this to say: "The new guys will be different than in the past. We are bigger and have some great shooting. There are some things we knew we needed to shore up and I think we have done that for sure.
     
"(Who plays) will be about who adjusts to our standard and how we do things here. I'm very confident in all of them right now.
     
"Keyon Kensie has taken a huge step since he has been here. He needs to continue to grow, but a guy who is 6-8 and can shoot and handle the ball and is as athletic as Jaylin, and can also really guard, I am excited for him."
     
Most noticeable with the addition of the new Vikings is their physical stature. PSU has eight players that stand between 6-7 and 6-11.
     
"We have a lot of length this season. This is the biggest and most athletic group we have had since I have been here. I think this can be a great defensive team, because I think physically we can match up with anybody," said Coburn.
 

TEAM NOTES

• Head Coach Jase Coburn begins his fifth season leading the Vikings program. He was named Portland State's head basketball coach on April 16, 2021. Coburn is the 14th men's basketball coach in Portland State history and the seventh since PSU joined the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97... Coburn is in his 13th season at PSU after serving as an assistant coach then associate head coach (2013-21)... Coburn's contract runs through the 2027-28 season.
• The Vikings come off a 19-13 season in 2024-25, their best record since going 20-14 in 2017-18. It was their best winning percentage (.594) since 2008-09... the 11-7 Big Sky Conference record and third-place finish was the best (.611) since going 10-6 in 2011-12 (.625).
• PSU has seven players returning from the 2024-25 season, five letterwinners and a pair of redshirts... the roster should be based around three returning starters: SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott (6-10, 7.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.78 bpg, 67% FG), the Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year; SR F Terri Miller Jr. (6-8, 12.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.6 spg, 52% FG), a second team All-Big Sky Conference selection; and SR G Jaylin Henderson (6-3, 13.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 56 3-pt FG), an honorable mention All-Big Sky honoree... also back is SO G Kelcy Phipps (6-2, 9.7 mpg, 2.1 ppg) and SR F Isaac Brice (6-7, 1.7 ppg, 60% FG)... the Vikings will incorporate a pair of perimeter-playing redshirts in JR Sebastian Tidor (6-5) and FR Alex Dupre (6-5).
• Among Portland State's newcomers are five Division I transfers, two Division II transfers and three freshmen... the Vikings will look for long-range shooting from SR TR G Brycen Long (6-2, Arizona State), a player who made 94 three-point field goals at Houston Christian in 2022-23... SR TR G Mozae Downing-Rivers (6-6, Missouri State) brings play-making ability with tremendous size... JR TR G Keyon Kensie Jr. (6-8, San Diego) also has excellent size and athleticism as a perimeter player and ability to score from all over the court... the Vikings also added three forwards in FR Braydon Barron (6-6, All-State at Barlow (OR) HS), JR Charles Chukwu (6-9, Arkansas Little Rock) and SR Isaiah Williams (6-7, Academy of Art). Chukwu brings size and Division I experience, while Williams was an all-around talent at Art U. Barron represents the future but has the physical maturity to play right away... the Vikings also got deeper inside with the addition of SO TR C Kean Webb (6-11, San Diego). A teammate of Kensie at San Diego, Webb has three years of eligibility and will be one of the biggest players in the Big Sky Conference... local FR G Colt Ness (6-0, Tigard (OR) HS), FR C Matthew Beatty (6-10, Roosevelt HS) and SR G Samuel Stewart IV (6-4, George Fox University) are walk-ons to the program.
• SR G Jaylin Henderson ranked 13th in scoring (13.0) and eighth in three-point field goals (56) in 2024-25... SR F Terri Miller Jr. was 16th in scoring (12.1), but ninth in league games (14.6), and 10th in rebounding (5.5)... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott ranked third in rebounding (7.6) and second in blocked shots (1.7). His .669 field goal percentage was just .002 off the PSU school record held by Julius Thomas (.671).
• In 2024-25, Portland State led the Big Sky Conference in scoring defense (65.8), field goal percentage defense (.419), three-point defense (.274), turnovers forced (13.1), steals (7.4) and blocked shots (4.4) in league games.
• With 62 career blocked shots, SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott already ranks in the Portland State top 10 (t8th). He is sixth in career dunks (47).
• PSU gained additional years of eligibility for SR F Terri Miller Jr. and SR G Jaylin Henderson due to their previous stints at the junior college level... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott was also granted an additional year of eligibility by the NCAA Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee on Sept. 3 due mainly to playing only 19 minutes during the 2022-23 season at South Carolina.

 

HOMERS

Portland State has had a remarkable run at Viking Pavilion:

• PSU begins the 2025-26 season with an 11-game home court winning streak.
• The Vikings have won 12 straight Big Sky Conference home games dating back to the 2023-24 season.
• With a 13-1 home record last season, Portland State trailed in only five of the 14 games, winning wire-to-wire in nine games. In a total of 560 minutes played in Viking Pavilion, the Vikings trailed for only 67 minutes and 59 seconds. And the Vikings' lone home loss came by a single point.
• PSU's 13-1 home record last season matched its best record ever at home in the Big Sky era (also 13-1 in 1998-99 and 2007-08).
• The Vikings Big Sky Conference home record was perfect (9-0), something accomplished only three times previously (1997-98, 8-0; 2004-05, 7-0; and 2007-08, 8-0), but never done with a 10-team conference.
• PSU is 24-3 at home over the past two seasons.

 

THE SCHEDULE

• Portland State has a 29-game slate prior to the post-season Big Sky Tournament. PSU plays 14 at home and 15 on the road.
• The Vikings' non-conference schedule features games against teams from six different Division I conferences spread across the nation. The Vikings open at Stanford of the Atlantic Coast Conference on Nov. 4. PSU also plays at San Francisco of the West Coast Conference (Nov. 12).  Western Athletic Conference opponents include Bakersfield (Nov. 17, home) and Utah State (Nov. 25, road)... the Big Sky Conference – Summit League Challenge takes place during the first week of December with a game at South Dakota (Dec. 3) and at home with Omaha (Dec. 6). Non-conference play closes out with games at Colorado of the Big 12 (Dec. 17) and Tulane of the American Athletic Conference (Dec. 20)... PSU will also host three home games against lower division programs: Northwest Indian College (Nov. 7), Evergreen State (Nov. 19) and George Fox (Dec. 13).
• PSU's first-time opponents are South Dakota and Omaha of the Summit League, and Colorado of the Big 12.
• Big Sky Conference play opens on the road on New Year's Day, with the Vikings traveling to Weber State. It marks the fifth consecutive year that Portland State has opened Big Sky play on the road and begins an 18-game league schedule. Featured home games would be Jan. 15 vs. Northern Colorado and Jan. 29 against Montana. Those two schools, at 15-3 last season, were the only league teams to finish ahead of the Vikings. The Griz went on to win the Big Sky Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament.

 

FUN FACTS, MEANINGLESS TRIVIA

• DUNK YOU VERY MUCH: The Vikings had 123 dunks on the season, smashing the school record of 84, set in 2018-19. SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott led the team with a school-record 44 while Jaylin Henderson had 32... Minott had a school-record five dunks against Idaho on Jan. 11.
• STUDENT-ATHLETES: Portland State earned the NABC Academic Excellence Award for team GPA (3.17) last season... the Vikings had four players named to the NABC Honors Court: Jaylin Henderson, Qiant Myers, Sebastian Tidor, and Terri Miller Jr...  five Vikings earned Academic All-Big Sky Conference honors: Henderson, Myers and Miller, as well as Kelcy Phipps and Hayden Curtiss.
• TWO HANDS ARE BETTER THAN ONE: SR F Terri Miller Jr. is ambidextrous and will shoot with both hands during a game. He tends to shoot right-handed from distance and left-handed when playing inside. He said he doesn't think about the hand he shoots with, it just occurs naturally.
• TV ON THE RADIO: SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott can play seven musical instruments and also enjoys producing music. His mixes can be found on YouTube at Tellavision_topic... Minott is also the long-time boyfriend of Aliyah Boston of the Indiana Fever (they met at South Carolina).
• HE CAN ALMOST FLY: SR G Jaylin Henderson has a 47-inch vertical leap.
• CONNECTIONS: SR G Jaylin Henderson and SR F Terri Miller Jr. were teammates at Louisiana Tech in 2023-24... SR F Isaac Brice is the son of a former Vikings assistant football coach, Alundis Brice (2007-08).
• THAT WINNING FEELING: Head Coach Jase Coburn has a 25-22 record in non-conference games in his four years at the helm of the Viking Ship. That includes a respectable 11-15 road record in those games... PSU is 17-9 in non-conference play the last two seasons... Coburn ranks eighth in career wins at Portland State (62) among 14 all-time coaches. Among Big Sky schools, he has had the most success against Northern Arizona (7-1) and Idaho (7-2) and the least success against Eastern Washington (1-7).