Season Preview: Mens Basketball

The Lions will be without five seniors off of last year's roster but return five key contributors from last year's roster.

The Lions are coming off of a 9-18 year where they were 6-10 in conference play. The Lions also upset the number one seed Sisseton-Wahpeton College in the first round of the conference playoffs to end the season on a high note.

The Lions are returning three players who averaged above 10 points last season, and will look to these players to lead the way offensively this next season. Logan Klitzke who appeared in all 27 games last season averaged 13 points a game along with 5.7 rebounds per game and 2.1 assists per game. Parker Stemen who played in 21 games last year averaged 11.7 PPG, 4.6 RPG and 2.6 assists per game. Josh Bauska also is returning for his senior year and averaged a career high 10 points per game last year along with 5.6 RPG and 2.2 assists per game. 

The Lions will also return sophomores Avery Parrish and Tommy McIntosh. Avery Parrish came in at semester last season and played in 10 games and added 3.5 PPG and added over 1.4 RPG. Tommy McIntosh played in 23 games last season playing about seven and a half minutes a game. 

The Lions will also get a much-needed boost from Jamal Williams, he played two seasons ago and he played in 29 games and averaged 16.4 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 2.3 APG, and 3.2 SPG. Jamal will be able to help the Lions both offensively and defensively.

The Lions will also add Alex Wattley, Jordan Lucas-Freeman, Kenny Cross, and Jeremy Blanchette to the roster. Cooper Nofziger is also joining the coaching staff, as this is his first season as an assistant coach.

I had a couple of questions for the head coach about the upcoming season.

What has you the most excited about this upcoming season?

I'm excited to start my 13th season!  Each season offers a new journey and I'm excited to take it with this team.  We have a lot of new guys this year and to see them learn and develop this year is something I am looking forward to.  

What will be your biggest challenges replacing 5 seniors off of last year's squad?

That's going to be very difficult in general because of the leadership that we graduated from last year's team.  But, a major challenge is the fact that we aren't going to be very tall.  We will have a good amount of quickness, so hopefully that can help hide what we lack in height.  

What will be the keys to having a successful season?

The keys will be rebounding and shooting.  We aren't tall so rebounding is going to be a battle every game.  We are actually pretty good at creating open shots so hopefully we can knock down enough shots to be successful this year.  

The Lions will play an alumni game this coming Friday, at 7 pm. They will kickoff their regular season against Leech Lake Tribal College at 8pm on Friday, November 9th.

 Tanner Twigg SID