By MAYAN PAZ
Tiger Media Network
NCAA DII basketball season is ready to begin, and the Fort Hays State University men’s basketball team is starting the season with a trip north to Minnesota. The Tigers will play two games this weekend: Southwest Minnesota State on Friday and Concordia-St.Paul on Saturday. Both games will be played in Marshall, Minn., home for the Southwest Minnesota State basketball team.
The Tigers start the season ranked No.16 in the NABC Preseason Top-25 and, along with No. 10 Washburn, are the only MIAA team to be ranked preseason. For FHSU Head Coach Mark Johnson, being ranked this early in the season does not mean too much.
“I don’t think the preseason polls matter a whole lot. And each year is a new team. We have a solid group back, so we have a good experience,” he said.
Fort Hays usually starts their season with a couple of neutral-site games, but this season, they are jumping right into a true-road game, playing two Minnesota teams in Minnesota and starting with Southwest Minnesota State, a team that made it to the NCAA tournament last season and retained most of their leading players.
“We are starting with a true road game, which is kind of unusual. Usually, you start with some neutral site games,” Johnson said. “We’re opening up with probably two of the harder games we have in quite some time. Southwest Minnesota, on their home floor on Friday, is a returning NCAA tournament team. They made the NCAA tournament. They have five of their top seven back. Concordia-St Paul’s is a very talented team. So it will be a great challenge away.”
The Tigers will field many new faces this season and have to replace 2024 MIAA Defensive Player of the Year Bjarni Jonsson and the team’s second-leading scorer, Elijah Nnanabu. Johnson still has a group of players who played meaningful minutes last season, including All-MIAA selection Kaleb Hammeke, and he will rely on them to lead the team at the beginning of the season.
“We have a good group back, but we’ve lost two of the more important players on our team. So we’ll have to make an adjustment there,” Johnson said. “But I think anytime a new season comes around. You really have to rely on your returners to hold you through till your new guys get up to speed and comfortable in their new surroundings, settings, and everything you’re doing.”
Hammeke, a graduate student in his sixth year of school, led the team in scoring last year and is a two-time All-MIAA first-team selection. He was also selected for the 2023-24 D2CCA All-Central Region Second Team and was on the NABC All-District Second Team for Central Region twice in a row.
“He [Hammeke] has got a motor that never stops,” Johnson said. “I mean, he’s going to be one of the most important guys on our team, and he sets the tone for our team. He’s the leader of our team. And I have plenty of confidence in him to continue to be successful.”
FHSU will tip off the 2024-25 season at 7 p.m. on Friday against Southwest Minnesota State and will play at 4 p.m. on Saturday against Concordia-St. Paul. The Tigers will play their first home game on against South Dakota Mines on November 19.