INDIANAPOLIS - As part of the week long men's Basketball Virtual Media Day, we quickly preview the 2013-14 Great Midwest Athletic Conference men’s basketball season as it kicks off tonight with six teams in action. With a much expanded conference field both in numbers and in talent, the upcoming season has an overwhelming amount of questions of who will establish themselves as the conference’s best.
The experts and the coaches have made their guesses and now it is time to either prove the experts where correct, or show them that they underestimated the talent they bring to the court.
Alderson Broaddus - The Alderson Broaddus men’s basketball team was picked to finish third in the G-MAC preseason coaches’ poll as the Battlers will enter their first season with the conference.
AB finished the 2012 season with a 20-9 overall record and a 17-6 record in the WVIAC, earning themselves a spot in the conference tournament. The team advanced to the semifinal round before having their season ended by Fairmont State.
The team lost its two top scorers, but will return a talented core of seasoned underclassmen led by center Adam Kline who earned WIVAC All-Tournament Team honors last season and averaged 7.5 points per game and 6.0 rebounds - numbers he is looking to improve upon as the senior leader.
Sophomores Malcolm Tatum and Richard Lemon look to improve on outstanding freshmen campaigns. Tatum started 28 games and played in all 29 contests in 2012-13 for the blue and gold. He ran point and led the team with 84 assists, while averaging 6.6 points per game. Lemon played in all 29 games as well, and the talented forward provided a strong post presence with the ability to score from beyond the with his mid-range game. The pair averaged 10.7 points per game, but will most likely look to double that in 2013-14.
Cedarville - The Cedarville men’s basketball team was picked to finish second in the Coaches’ Preseason Poll, but it might be a stretch as the team graduated six seniors from its 20-win team 2012-13. It is not impossible for them to find similar success and the team has scheduled like a team thinking it has the talent to go up against the regions best.
The Jackets have won 118 times over the past five seasons under Estepp including its 22-9 mark last season in the school's first active Division II season. The season ended with the team raising Great Midwest Athletic Conference championship trophy. With the expansion of the conference to include four new West Virginia institutions and also Kentucky Wesleyan, which will make the process of repeating that much harder.
Marcus Reineke is the top returning scorer at 7.9 points per game. He will see many more shots in 2013-14 and with his career .447 shooting accuracy from beyond the arc, his scoring average is sure to improve. Teammate Brian Grant averaged 7.5 points and 5.4 rebounds, while Jason Cuffee will join the program after he transferred in from Wright State, where he averaged 7.4 points a game.
Central State - The Central State men’s basketball team, who finished the 2012-13 season at 17-10 and second at 4-2 in the conference, was picked to finish fourth behind two newcomers Kentucky Wesleyan and Alderson Broaddus, and also the defending G-MAC Champion Yellow Jackets.
The team lost its top scorer in DeMarkus Isom-Jones (19.2 points per game), but will look to LeDonte Body who is working and expecting a bigger season in 2013-14. Last season he scored 10.1 points per game and grabbed 4.6 rebounds per game, starting only nine times. With a starting role, Body will more than likely be able to fill the void left by Isom-Jones.
The critical improvement will be depth for the Marauders as last season they played nine deep to score 74.6 points per game., which was second in the conference in scoring.
Davis and Elkins - The Davis and Elkins men’s basketball team, who was slated to finish sixth in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference by the coaches’ preseason poll, will look to Devin Miller of talent to guide the offense in the team’s first season in their new conference.
Miller scored 14.8 points per game last season, and will be joined by Igor Premasunac, who scored in double figures with 10.7 points per game, and Shane Brown, who was also in double figures with 10.0 points per game.
On a team that went 9-17 last season and 8-15 in the WVIAC, the Senators are getting a new start behind a new head coach, Chris Cottrell, for a team that has joined a new conference and even a new region of opponents.
Kentucky Wesleyan - The Kentucky Wesleyan men’s basketball team enters the 2013-14 season with the highest of expectations in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Not only have the Panthers been named a unanimous favorite to win the conference title, but have been ranked by various national preseason polls as high as #3 nationally. They have also made an appearance at #11, and #12 in two other nation polls.
Under new head coach, Happy Osborne, the Panthers will look to replace Dazmond Starke, who led the team in scoring, rebounds and assists last season. The grouping of Lucas Baker, Dominique Dawson, Rico Ferguson, and Donovan Johnson will carry this team in attempt to exceed already high aspirations.
Baker will return after leading the team with 128 assists, and his 10.1 points per game and 7.5 rebounds are the best returning numbers on the roster. Dawson brings back 8.4 points per game along with a team-high 25 blocked shots. Also joining the roster will be transfers from San Jose Stats (Alex Brown), and University of Illinois (Devin Langford).
The expectations are the same season for the Panthers every year for the past 50-plus years at and that is to win 20-plus games, secure a conference title, and play for the NCAA Championship. KWC will be a challenger for the G-MAC title with three full-time and two limited starters returning from a 20-8 squad in 2013, along with greater depth and a new experience and successful coach.
Ohio Valley - The Ohio Valley University men’s basketball program was selected to finish last in the G-MAC men’s Preseason Basketball Coaches Poll. Under Head Coach Mike Snell, who is entering his sixth year, are looking to make a vast improvement upon its 2012-13 campaign. Last season the team went 3-21 overall, including a 2-16 record in their previous conference.
In what will be a fresh start for most of the G-MAC members, OVU only faced two opponents last year that they will face in conference this season. Joining them from the former WVIAC, is Alderson Broaddus and Davis and Elkins - which accounted for two of the Fighting Scots losses.
Last season the team was led by Ashton Brown’s 18.7 points per game. He was the only player in double-figures as Osvaldas Gaizauskas, Jerry Macon Jr., and David Sinickas each averaged between eight and nine points a game. Brown definitely paced the offense almost doubling the rest of his team in field goals made, being among the leaders from beyond the arc (44 made three’s), and making 45 more free throws than any other person even attempted on the team.
The trio of Povilas Dambrauskas, Mustafa Helal, and Brown each average around five rebounds a game and totaled over 125 to 157 rebounds on the season. Brown also led the team with 95 assists (3.8 per game) and 28 steals.
With the senior leadership of Brown gone, a new group will have to step up and take control. This year’s roster features just one senior and seven juniors. The team welcomes in four freshman and returns of group of sophomores that will look to earn starting roles on the team.
Salem International - The Salem International University men’s basketball program was selected to finish seventh in its first season as a member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Coming into 2013-14 off a year in which the team went 10-16 overall as an independent institution and ran an up-tempo style of playing, which led them to their #1 ranking in the NCAA (Divisions I & II) in steals per game at 12.6 steals per game.
The experience returning will allow the team to continue to run the ball in a full-court game, while trying to limit its turnovers and easy baskets for the opponent when pressing. Under Head Coach Randy Unger, the Tigers will return four seniors, Walter Brock, Darius Roper, Jamel Pettiway, and Freddy Edauard. Junior Jamal Robinson is also expected to make a big impact on the court. With the style of play it is likely that the Tigers will be required to play 10-12 deep, meaning junior transfers David Atkinson and Courtney Pitts will play a large role.
SIU will look to build off of its regular-season finale, a upset come from behind win over Notre Dame College to get to double figure wins. This season the schedule features 16 home games, starting with four of their first five at home.
Trevecca Nazarene - The Trevecca Nazarene men’s basketball team, which finished with an overall record of 11-17 in 2012-13 as they are making the transition for NAIA to the NCAA DII, will look to improve upon its 3-3 record in conference, which has doubled in size and talent with the additions of four schools from West Virginia and the official addition of Kentucky Wesleyan from the GLVC.
Last season the team averaged 67.5 points per game, led by Marquise Rudolph's 14.1 points per game. The Trojans will be rebuilding as they lost all three of their top scorers. Nick Drake is the leading returning scorer at 8.2 points per game and will a larger role and more experience, he should improve upon his statistics. One stat he won’t need much improvement on is his passing and long range shot. Last season he led the team in made three-pointers and was second to Rudolph in assists.
One major change for the Trojans, in a long list of changes as they entered into their provisional year of the move from NAIA to NCAA DII. Other than the three conference opponents the Trojans faced last season, TNU did not face any of the new additions to the G-MAC, meaning this will be the first time they have seen a majority of their conference opponents and vice versa.