UMC Men's Basketball Picked 16th in NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll

BURNSVILLE, Minn. - The University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team was picked to finish 16th in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll. The poll was released by the conference office Thursday afternoon.

UMC is in their second season under Head Coach Dan Weisse and feature a young squad that includes 10 newcomers to a program and just two players who saw the court last season, along with two players who redshirted. The Golden Eagles have a lot of young talent that is yet to tested as Weisse looks to build a new culture at UMC after graduating six seniors from the 2014-15 roster.

The team returns just one senior, Derrick Redd, Jr. (Sr.., G, Menifee, Calif.), but Redd was the team's leading scorer last season, averaging 11.4 points and 3.7 rebounds. Redd is a five-year player for the Golden Eagles and will provide strong leadership to a young squad. Jim Warmack (So., F/C, East Grand Forks, Minn.) will also be a player who brings experience, after appearing in all 27 games off the bench as a freshman, averaging 3.6 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.
In addition to Redd and Warmack, the Golden Eagles have a lot of young talent that with Redd and Warmack will battle it out in the pre-season to look for playing time. The Golden Eagles have six true freshmen with Kobe Critchley (Fr., G, Roseville, Minn.) Connor Gamble (Fr., G, Stillwater, Minn.), Aaron Hollcraft (Fr., G,Crookston, Minn.),  Chase Knickerbocker (Fr., G/F, Annandale, Minn.), Nate Lorenz (Fr., F/C, Breckenridge, Minn.) and Darin Viken (Fr., G, Fosston, Minn.). The class includes some of the top talent from the Minnesota High School ranks and should provide a strong foundation for the program for years to come.
Meanwhile, several junior college players will also battle it out for playing time on the fresh-look Golden Eagles as Ben Grygiel (Jr., F, Rockford, Ill.), Xavier Hall (Jr., G, Woodbury, Minn.), C.J. Polk (So., G, Milwaukee, Wis.) and Riley Rice (Jr., F/C, Mullen, Neb.) join the ranks and will all compete to make an impact for the Golden Eagles.
Two players who redshirted for UMC last season and have a year learning Weisse's system in Gable Smith (R-Fr., F, Lodi, Wis.) and A.J. Walton (R-Fr., G, Oak Hills, Calif.) also will look to find their way on the court.
The Golden Eagles went 7-20 (5-17 NSIC) in Weisse's first season in Crookston, as the team put up the best conference win total since the 2000-01 season. Redd was chosen as UMC's Player to Watch for the 2015-16 season after leading the team in scoring last season. He had a season-high 26 points against Sioux Falls and St. Cloud State. Redd
also notched 22 points versus Jamestown. He started 23 of 27 games for Coach Weisse last season.
A stacked Augustana University squad will look to defend their crown from last year as they return most of their roster after tyining the regular-season NSIC Championship and winning the conference tournament. Minnesota State University Moorhead graduated some big players, but will also look to contend as they were the only other team to receive a first-place vote in the poll.
MSU Moorhead forward/center Isaac Sevlie is the NSIC North Preaseason Player of the Year after helping the Dragons to the NCAA Elite 8 last season, while NSIC and Region Player of the Year Daniel Jansen of Augustana was named the nSIC South Preseason Player of the Year.
The Golden Eagles will open up exhibition play Nov. 1 as they take on the University of Minnesota at 4 p.m. UMC will begin regular-season play Nov. 13 at Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa and will open NSIC play Nov. 28 against Bemidji State University.

For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics website at www.goldeneaglesports.com.
OverallPointsNorth DivisionPts1. Augustana (15)2251. MSU Moorhead (7)492. MSU Moorhead (1)2102. Northern State (1)433. Minnesota State1983. St. Cloud State344. Winona State1654. Minnesota Duluth335. Northern State1615. Minot State226. St. Cloud State1506. University of Mary177. Upper Iowa1287. Bemidji State 158. Southwest Minnesota State1278. Minnesota Crookston119. Concordia-St. Paul118South DivisionPts10. Minnesota Duluth1101. Augustana (7)4911. Minot State782. Minnesota State (1)4312. Sioux Falls723. Winona State3613. Bemidji State 534. Southwest Minnesota State2514. University of Mary485. Concordia-St. Paul2415. Wayne State45 Upper Iowa2416. Minnesota Crookston327. Sioux Falls14first place votes in ( )8. Wayne State9