BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston men’s basketball team was picked to finish 16th in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Preseason Coaches’ Poll released Thursday by the conference office.
The Golden Eagles are looking to continue
to build with a solid core returning heading into Head Coach Dan
Weisse’s third season leading the ship for the Golden Eagles. Weisse is
looking to build the Golden Eagles the right way with high achieving
players and hard-working young men.
The leading returnee for UMC is point guard Kobe Critchley, who averaged 9.2 points and 2.7 assists per game in his first season with the Golden Eagles. Critchley is the Player to Watch for the Golden Eagles coming into the season.
In
addition to Critchley, UMC also returns forward Gable Smith, who was a
force on the block with 51 on the season. He also averaged 5.4 points
and 4.5 rebounds and looks poised to improve on those numbers as a
redshirt sophomore.
Minnesota Crookston also returns a third starter in post Nate Lorenz, who averaged 5.2 points and 3.3 rebounds. Key reserves Chase Knickerbocker, Jim Warmack and Xavier Hall will look to build upon what they did last season for UMC.
The Golden Eagles also return Riley Rice, Aaron Hollcraft and Darin Viken. Newcomers Chase Johnson, Benjamin Rounds, Harrison Cleary, Josh Lanasa and Gabrys Sadaunkyas along with redshirt Connor Gamble, will look to make an impact for Minnesota Crookston this season, as the Minnesota Crookston continues to figure out their rotation and personnel through practice and exhibition games.
Minnesota
State University was picked to win the league with 11 first-place votes
and 220 points. Defending NCAA Division II National Champion Augustana
University was picked second with 190 points and two first-place votes.
The Mavericks were picked to win the NSIC South, while Minnesota State
University Moorhead was picked to win the NSIC North.
Gage
Davis of St. Cloud State University was selected as the NSIC North
Preseason Player of the Year, while Jon Fuqua of Minnesota State was
picked as the NSIC South Preseason Player of the Year.
The
Golden Eagles will open up exhibition play Nov. 4 at College of St.
Scholastica at 7:30 p.m. They will commence regular-season play Nov. 11
at Southwest Baptist University at 4 p.m. in Bolivar, Mo.
| Overall | Points | North Division | Points | |
| 1. Minnesota State (11) | 220 | 1. MSU Moorhead (4) | 46 | |
| 2. Augustana (2) | 190 | 2. St. Cloud State (4) | 44 | |
| 3. MSU Moorhead (1) | 183 | 3. Northern State | 39 | |
| St. Cloud State | 183 | 4. University of Mary | 28 | |
| 5. Winona State (1) | 174 | 5. Minot State | 21 | |
| 6. Sioux Falls (1) | 172 | 6. Minnesota Duluth | 20 | |
| 7. Northern State | 151 | 7. Bemidji State | 18 | |
| 8. Southwest Minnesota State | 124 | 8. Minnesota Crookston | 8 | |
| 9. Upper Iowa | 102 | South Division | Points | |
| 10. University of Mary | 96 | 1. Minnesota State (5) | 47 | |
| 11. Concordia-St. Paul | 73 | 2. Augustana (2) | 42 | |
| 12. Minnesota Duluth | 72 | 3. Sioux Falls (1) | 36 | |
| Minot State | 72 | 4. Winona State | 35 | |
| 14. Bemidji State | 57 | 5. Southwest Minnesota State | 23 | |
| 15. Wayne State | 29 | 6. Upper Iowa | 20 | |
| 16. Minnesota Crookston | 22 | 7. Concordia-St. Paul | 14 | |
| first place votes in ( ) | 8. Wayne State | 7 |
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