By CAYDEN SANDERS
The Fort Hays State University men’s basketball team waited to start its season as it has not seen an open-door scrimmage or competition since the abrupt finish in the 2021-22 season when conference opponent Washburn snuck into the NCAA Division II tournament over the Tigers.
With the new season comes a new team.
“Yeah, I mean, it was frustrating,” said FHSU head coach Mark Johnson. “These guys did everything they did. They did everything they possibly could to get to the NCAA tournament.
“It’s a new year. But I think this group understands how hard you have to play each and every night and how good men’s basketball is right now. Obviously, Northwest (Missouri State) is the premier program in the country, but we also feel like we have the best middle and the best bottom of any league in the nation.”
Returner Kaleb Hammeke will lead the team this season. Hammeke has been in the program for three years, with one of those years being a redshirt. During Hammeke’s time at Fort Hays, he earned freshman of the year honors in 2020-21 and an honorable mention for point guards in the MIAA. Last season, Hammeke earned second-team all-MIAA honors, only behind the Houston Rockets’ Trevor Hudgins – who starred at NWMSU.
“It’s always good to earn awards, but I know, and the team knows, it’s not just me doing that. I mean, I couldn’t go do that without Jared. I mean, he gets so much attention. He got so much attention and, last year, I also had Nyjee with me in the backcourt.” Hammeke said
Another player the Tigers will rely on is Bjarni Jonnson. The Icelandic native has seen valuable minutes in a Tigers’ jersey and has been a key part of the defense – earning 2021-22 All-MIAA defensive team honors.
“Arguably one of the top players in the MIAA defensively. And, you know, they sometimes don’t get all the accolades because they’re not doing all the scoring. … I think they’ll give us a little more offense this year than they did last year, but just guys that are tremendous winners.
Elijah Nnanabu will look to pick up valuable minutes from last season. Nnanabu played in all 29 games of the season last year but never made it into the starting lineup. The sophomore from Seattle will give Hammake a rest from being a high-flyer with speed, as Nnanabu can do the same.
“Yeah, Elijah will be a big part of the team,” Johnson said. “He was gonna be a big part of the team last year. I would have said before our first scrimmage of the year he probably earned the right to start. He got hurt in our first scrimmage and missed about five weeks. So it was his first year playing college basketball. So it was hard for him to come into the middle of the season, and he could never gain enough confidence or footing or comfort. I think now he’s comfortable. And we expect a really big year from him.”
The team looks to carry the defensive scheme this season, as the Tigers were one of the best in the nation last season.
“Yeah, I think the No. 1 goal is to get right back to where it was (defensively) and make teams think about us when we come in. We need to make them think it’s not going to be easy.” Hammeke said
The team was picked third in the preseason coaches’ and media polls.
The Tigers are on the road to Weatherford, Okla., to take on Southwestern Oklahoma State, a team that made it to the NCAA tournament last season, and Arkansas Tech. The first game is Friday at 5 p.m.