Defending National Champion Pointers Earn Men’s Basketball Preseason Nod
MADISON, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, the defending national champion and winners of three straight league titles, has been pegged to win the 2016 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) men’s basketball championship, according to a preseason poll conducted by the league’s head coaches and sports information directors.
The Pointers secured the fourth national title in program archives – and 12th by a conference program – a season ago, while adding the 29th WIAC regular-season championship in school history. UW-Stevens Point enters the 2015-16 campaign ranked No. 9 in the D3hoops.com preseason poll. Senior guard Stephen Pelkhofer is the lone starter back after starting 27 games a season ago and ranking third on the team with 11.6 points per game, 47 three-point field goals made and 66 assists. Head coach Bob Semling enters his 11th season at the helm of the squad with a .817 winning percentage – a mark that is the highest among active NCAA Division III head coaches. The Pointers have registered nine straight seasons of at least 20 victories and will play five of their first eight games at Quandt Fieldhouse this year.
UW-Whitewater is slotted for second in the eight-team league derby after sharing the regular-season crown with the Pointers and establishing a program record with 15 conference victories last season. The Warhawks also won their second WIAC tournament title in the last three years and made the program’s 20th NCAA appearance. Eight letterwinners return from that group, including junior guard Drew Bryson, who played in all 28 games and averaged 3.4 points. Head coach Pat Miller became the fastest active coach in NCAA Division III to reach 300 career wins last season, doing so in 385 games. He was the third-fastest coach in league history to reach the 300-win plateau (Ken Anderson – 355, Bo Ryan – 374). Gone from last year’s squad is Quardell Young, who claimed WIAC Player of the Year recognition.
The Warhawks are followed in the league predictions by: UW-Oshkosh; UW-River Falls; UW-Platteville; UW-Eau Claire; UW-La Crosse; and UW-Stout.
UW-Oshkosh, ranked No. 23 by D3hoops.com, brings back all five starters from last year’s squad that recorded the highest victory total for both overall (16) and conference (8) play since the 2008-09 season. Five of the team’s 12 losses were by five points or less. Senior guard Alex Olson returns after starting 53 of 54 games the past two seasons. Last year, he ranked fourth in the league with 15.3 points per game, while ranking second with 57 steals. Junior forward AJ Mueller (45) and senior center Andre Wallace (40) also own at least 40 career starts. UW-Oshkosh reached the title game of last year’s WIAC tournament and has recorded at least 16 wins in 13 of the past 20 years.
UW-River Falls has four starters back from a year ago when they recorded 10 of their 12 overall wins in conference play to finish third. The last time a range (or ratio) of conference wins to overall wins was so close in the WIAC was 1992 when UW-Oshkosh won 10 league games and recorded 14 overall victories. Eight of the 14 overall losses during the 2014-15 campaign were by four points or less. Senior forward Jon Christensen started all 26 games a year ago and led the squad with 12.9 points, while ranking second in the WIAC with 7.1 rebounds per contest. Junior guard Grant Erickson was second in the league with 112 assists and third with 51 steals, while adding 10.1 points per game. The Falcons will square off against the University of Wisconsin in an exhibition contest for the second time in program history (2005).
UW-Platteville embraces the return of three starters, including senior guard Boston Johnson, who had a team-high 75 assists and 47 steals a season ago, while adding 10.0 points per game. Gone from last year’s squad are Jim Stocki and Jake Manning, who each tallied over 1,000 points in their career. The Pioneers will play five of their first eight games at home before playing six of the next seven on the road. UW-Platteville has finished at least .500 in the league in each of the last six seasons under head coach Jeff Gard, who is four victories away from reaching 100 in his career.
UW-Eau Claire brings back four of its top-five scorers from last season’s squad that qualified for the WIAC tournament for the first time since 2009 and posted its first tournament victory since 2008. Senior guard Tyson Kalien led the conference with 80 three-point field goals made and was sixth with 14.7 points per game, while junior guard Jack Martinek contributed 8.2 points per contest and senior forward Jacob Kohner added 8.1 points per game. Senior guard Adam Hjelter is back after missing most of last season due to injury. He started all 25 games during the 2013-14 campaign, registering a team-high 15.5 points per game. The Blugolds will play seven of their first 12 games at Zorn Arena.
UW-La Crosse has 10 returning letterwinners, including senior guard Jared Staege, who topped the team with 51 assists last year, while ranking second with 4.1 rebounds per game and third with 8.6 points per contest. Senior forward Lucas Collom is back after missing last season due to injury. He has started 78 of 79 career contests and reached double figures in scoring in 16 contests in 2013-14. UW-La Crosse has at least one three-point field goal made in 224 consecutive games and 351 of the last 352.
UW-Stout returns eight of its top-10 scorers from last year, including junior guard Brett Ahsenmacher who was second on the team with 8.9 points per contest. The roster includes two seniors, seven juniors, seven sophomores and 10 freshmen – of the newcomers, four are transfers. Due to injuries last season, the Blue Devils had only three players that participated in all 25 games, and utilized 12 different starting lineups. UW-Stout will play just four of its first 10 games at Johnson Fieldhouse.
2015-16 Preseason Predictions--Voted on by WIAC Head Coaches and Sports Information Directors
|
2014-15 Record |
| 1. UW-Stevens Point |
27-5 overall, 15-1 WIAC |
| 2. UW-Whitewater |
24-4, 15-1 |
| 3. UW-Oshkosh |
16-12, 8-8 |
| 4. UW-River Falls |
12-14, 10-6 |
| 5. UW-Platteville |
16-10, 9-7 |
| 6. UW-Eau Claire |
11-16, 6-10 |
| 7. UW-La Crosse |
11-14, 6-10 |
| 8. UW-Stout |
3-22, 0-16 |
Team Tidbits
UW-Eau Claire
Head Coach: Matt Siverling; 6th season (4th at UWEC); 60-70 (overall) / 31-46 (at UWEC)
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 10/9
Starters Returning/Lost: 2/3
Returning All-WIAC: Adam Hjelter, Sr., G (2014-Honorable); Tyson Kalien, Sr., G (2015-First)
UW-La Crosse
Head Coach: Ken Koelbl; 13th season at UWL; 171-142
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 10/7
Starters Returning/Lost: 1/4
Returning All-WIAC: Lucas Collom, Sr., F (2014-Honorable); Jared Staege, Sr., G (2015-Honorable)
UW-Oshkosh
Head Coach: Pat Juckem; 11th season (4th at UWO); 140-123 (overall) / 35-44 (at UWO)
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 10/6
Starters Returning/Lost: 5/0
Returning All-WIAC: Alex Olson, Sr., G (2015-First)
UW-Platteville
Head Coach: Jeff Gard; 7th season at UWP; 96-64
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 9/9
Starters Returning/Lost: 3/2
Returning All-WIAC: None
UW-River Falls
Head Coach: Jeff Berkhof; 10th season at UWRF; 107-127
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 12/6
Starters Returning/Lost: 4/1
Returning All-WIAC: Jon Christensen, Sr., F (2015-First); Grant Erickson, Jr., G (2015-First)
UW-Stevens Point
Head Coach: Bob Semling; 11th season at UWSP; 242-54
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 9/4
Starters Returning/Lost: 1/4
Returning All-WIAC: Stephen Pelkofer, Sr., G (2015-Honorable)
UW-Stout
Head Coach: Eddie Andrist; 27th season (16th at UWST); 436-390 (overall) / 186-199 (at UWST)
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 8/3
Starters Returning/Lost: 4/1
Returning All-WIAC: None
UW-Whitewater
Head Coach: Pat Miller; 15th season at UWW; 315-87
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 8/9
Starters Returning/Lost: 0/5
Returning All-WIAC: None
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