WICHITA, Kan. — With a bulk of newcomers entering the fray, the Newman men's basketball team will look to get back in the middle of a competitive Heartland Conference race in the 2016-17 season.
The Jets, who went 17-13 overall and 9-11 in league play last season, finished eighth in the regular season standings, but showed just how level the conference was by beating second-seeded Lubbock Christian in the first round of the expanded Heartland Conference Championship.
With plenty of experience returning in the backcourt, and promising additions to go with key returners in the frontcourt, head coach Mark Potter is excited about the team's potential.
"We feel like this could be a team that keeps getting better," Potter said. "Defensively, I feel like we're a lot better, rebounding we've worked hard at every single day. It's weird for me to say we're a little bit behind offensively. Hopefully I'm not still saying that come Christmas time."
The Jets open up play this weekend at the Lone Star/Heartland Challenge in Commerce, Texas, facing Cameron Friday at 6 p.m. and Texas A&M-Commerce Saturday at noon.
Season Breakdown (2015-16 Statistics in Parentheses)
Guards
Returners: Taylor Schieber, Sr. (30 GP, 16.7 min., 7.5 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 0.5 apg); Daniel Nwosu Jr., Sr. (30 GP, 20.6 min., 10.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.1 apg); Christian DeYoung, So. (19 GP, 8.7 min., 3.0 ppg, 0.4 rpg, 0.2 apg); Kyle Mazza, So. (7 GP, 2.7 min.); Kyle Harris, So. (8 GP, 2.4 min.).
Newcomers: Pierre Hayden, Sr. (At Hampton: 8 GP, 1.9 min.); Matthew Green, Fr.; Allen Wilson, Fr.; Anthony Harvey Jr., Fr.; Damien Akao, Jr., (At Butler County CC: 33 GP, 13.7 min., 5.2 ppg, 2.1 rpg).
Coach Speak: "We have two returners in Taylor and Daniel we we're looking to have play well for us, especially early on, and our guys coming off the bench, Damien and Christian are good too. With our guards, it's absolutely imperative that we take care of the basketball. We have guys that can shoot it and guys that can drive it, and we're figuring it out."
Forwards
Returners: Aaron Samuels, So. (7 GP, 2.4 min.); Kevin Bryant, Jr. (29 GP, 3.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 0.7 apg).
Newcomers: Malik Abdur-Rahim, Jr. (At Redlands CC: 28 GP, 4.5 min., 13.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.0 apg); Grant Meininger, So. (redshirted at Pratt CC); Brandon Smith, Fr.; Jacob Birnbaum, Fr.; Daniel Green, Sr. (At Arkansas-Little Rock: 21 GP, 6.9 min., 1.1 ppg, 1.6 rpg).
Coach Speak: "We have to do a better job of getting the ball inside and getting more post touches. We've been a team that has always put up a lot of threes, just because of our personnel, and this year won't be different necessarily, but we have a couple of guys down low that can play, if we don't get the ball in there some more, it's certainly going to affect our offense."
