BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State University's men's basketball team was picked to finish seventh in the annual 15-team Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll released on Thursday.
 
Minnesota Duluth was chosen as the preseason favorite earning 195 points, with 13 first-place votes (coaches can't vote for their own team). Minnesota State was selected second with 177 points (two first-place votes), followed by Northern State (160), MSU Moorhead (154) and Augustana (135).
 
Bemidji State (125) was picked to finish sixth, ranking ahead of SMSU (117), Sioux Falls (107), Minot State (80) and Winona State (80) rounding out the top 10. Wayne State was chosen 11^th (74), followed by Concordia-St. Paul (73), UMary (50), St. Cloud State (27) and Minnesota Crookston (17).
 
Senior guard Drew Blair from Minnesota Duluth was chosen as the NSIC Preseason Player of the Year.
 
The NSIC regular season championship will be based on a 22-game conference schedule. Each team will play eight teams twice and another six teams once. An NSIC champion will be awarded to the team with the highest win percentage in the 22 games played.  
 
The 12-team NSIC Men's Basketball Tournament quarterfinals, semifinals and championship games are set to take place March 2-5 at the Sanford Health Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. The top four seeds will receive a first-round bye. First round games will be played on campus on Feb. 28.
 
SMSU senior center Jake Phipps was named a 'Player to Watch' in the NSIC this season. A native of Anoka, Minn., Phipps was named All-NSIC second team last season after starting all 28 games, while averaging 13.3 points per game and leading SMSU in rebounding (7.0), field goal pct. (55.1) and blocked shots (38). He scored double figures in 17 games, including five 20-point games. He has scored 1,057 points in 95 career games.
 
"Jake is a great success story. His development over his career has been fun to watch," said Brad Bigler, SMSU head coach. "He truly is a guy who had to earn everything. Proud of how much work he put in during the offseason. He has always been a reliable person on and off the floor. Any recognition is well deserved."
 
SMSU returns seven letter winners and four starters from last season's 16-12 team that placed fourth in the NSIC South Division with a 12-10 league mark.  
 
The Mustangs return six players that started four or more game last season. Joining Phipps as a returning double-digit scorer from a year ago is junior guard Dunwa Omot, who averaged a team-high 16.6 ppg and led the team with 52 3-pointers, while earning All-NSIC second team accolades. He shot 37 percent from 3-point range (52 of 140), while his 87 percent (80 of 92) shooting from the free throw line ranks eighth in team single-season history. He scored 20 or more points eight times, including a career-high 30 in an NSIC Tournament first round loss to Minot State.
 
Senior guard Cliff Cofield (formerly McCray) has started all 93 games in his career and last season led the squad in both assists (87) and steals (40), while ranking third on the team in scoring at 10.8 ppg.
 
Sophomore guard Jakob Braaten played in 25 games last season with 17 starts and averaged 5.9 ppg with 55 assists. Also returning is senior forward, Noah Chamberlain, who played in 22 games with four starts a season ago, while averaging 3.9 rpg and 1.8 ppg. Sophomore guard Mason Lund had a promising start to his rookie season in 2022-23, averaging 7.7 ppg with 17 3-pointers in 13 games (six starts) before suffering a season-ending injury. Senior guard Lance Mosley also returns after seeing limited time last season.
 
"This year's team should have high expectations. With the number of upper classmen we have, it gives us a chance to be one of the older teams in the league." Bigler said. "The fall went by fast. Like everyone, we are excited about the early practice start. We set up a tough non-conference schedule so that will test us before we enter into the NSIC. We look forward to another competitive season in the NSIC. There's never a dull moment."
 
The 2023-24 roster features a pair of four-year transfer players in senior guard Kyle Luedtke and sophomore forward Caleb Schlaak. Luedtke appeared in 81 games with six starts at Division I Omaha, scoring 287 points with 53 3-pointers and 55 assists. Schlaak comes to SMSU after spending two seasons at Division II Truman State. The roster also includes redshirt freshmen guard Mekhi Shaw and center Matt Thompson, along with true freshmen forward Aeron Stevens, guard Nathan Fenske, forward Calvin Buss, guard Buay Koak and center Ethan Koltz.
 
Bigler, a two-time NSIC Coach of the Year and the program's all-time leader in victories, begins his 15th season with a career record of 221-177. During his time as head coach, SMSU has made three NCAA Tournament appearances, won a pair of NSIC South Division championships, won two NSIC Tournament championships and has played in five NSIC Tournament championship games.
 
SMSU will have a scrimmage versus its Alumni Team as part of Andy Wiersma Day on Oct. 20. The team will host two exhibition games—Oct. 26 versus Gustavus and St. Olaf on Nov. 1.
 
The Mustangs open the regular season on Nov. 10-11 competing at the Missouri Western State Hillyard Tip-Off Classic to face Southeastern Oklahoma State and Northwest Missouri State. SMSU will play its first seven games of the regular season along with one exhibition game at Division I Drake on the road before opening its 11-game home scheduled on Dec. 8 versus Concordia-St. Paul.