BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State University's men's basketball team was picked to finish fourth in the annual 15-team Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll released on Thursday.
 
Minnesota State, the defending NCAA champion, was chosen as the preseason favorite earning 186 points, with eight first-place votes (coaches can't vote for their own team). MSU Moorhead was selected second with 183 points (six first-place votes), followed by Minnesota Duluth (172, one first-place vote), SMSU (152) and Bemidji State (121).
 
Augustana (117) was picked to finish sixth, ranking ahead of Sioux Falls (116), Concordia-St. Paul (105), St. Cloud State (96) and Minot State (90) rounding out the top 10. Winona State was chosen 11^th (84), followed by Wayne State (57), Northern State (52), Minnesota Crookston (24) and UMary (20).
 
Senior guard Kyreese Willingham from Minnesota State 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 tournament quarterfinals, semifinals and championship games are set to take place March 1-4 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 sites on Feb. 26.
 
SMSU returns seven letter winners and three starters from last season's 19-13 team that advanced to the NCAA tournament for the sixth time in team history and first since 2018. SMSU tied for fifth in the NSIC with a record of 14-8.

SMSU's lone senior, guard Dunwa Omot, was named a 'Player to Watch' in the NSIC this season. A native of Mankato, Minn., Omot played in 29 games last season (he missed three games with an injury) with 26 starts, averaging 11 points per game and leading SMSU with 55 3-pointers. He scored double figures in 19 games, including three 20-point games. He shot 46 percent (110 of 242) from the field, while adding 55 assists and 31 steals.  
 
"Dunwa was a low scholarship guy coming out of high school. From the moment he stepped on campus during the COVID year to now he has been one of our hardest workers," said Brad Bigler, SMSU head coach. "He has earned everything and more. We appreciate how he has gone about his business on and off the floor. He has been a joy to coach. He competes daily and is as complete of a player as any guard in the league."
 
The Mustangs return four players that started 12 or more game last season. Joining Omot as a returning double-digit scorer from a year ago is sophomore forward Aeron Stevens, who ranked second on the team with both scoring (11.8) and rebounding (4.9). Stevens shot 46 percent (117 of 252) from the field and set program freshman records last season for free throws made (127) and free throws attempted (174). He scored a career-high 27 points on 11 of 16 shooting with five 3-pointers in a home victory over Winona State.
 
Junior guard Mason Lund started all 32 games last season averaging 7.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, while shooting 47 percent (88 of 187) from the field. Also returning is junior guard Jakob Braaten, who played in 30 games with 12 starts a season ago, ranking second on the team with 78 assists, while averaging 5.9 ppg and 4.5 rpg .
 
Sophomore guard Mekhi Shaw came off the bench in all 32 games last season and ranked second on the team with 37 steals. He shot 47 percent (63 of 135) from the field while scoring 4.9 ppg and dishing out 44 assists.
 
Junior forward Caleb Schlaak and sophomore forward Matt Thompson are returning letter winners that combined to play in 12 games last season.
 
"We have five returning players who were in the rotation last year. All those guys are ready to take on bigger roles," Bigler said. "With the addition of Steven Kramer that gives us another guy who has experience. We have some great competition right now for those last few spots. Calvin Buss will have some highlight dunks this year! Caleb Schlaak and Matt Thompson are veterans ready to crack the lineup too. This NSIC season will be full of entertaining games. We are ready to get started."
 
The 2024-25 roster features one four-year transfer in sophomore guard Steven Kramer, who played 31 games with five starts last season for the University of South Dakota. He averaged 2.7 ppg and 2.4 rpg, while shooting 40 percent (30 of 76) from the field, including 8 of 23 from 3-point range. He scored a season-high 11 points with five assists in a career-high 29 minutes versus Montana and closed the season dishing out 50 assists and recording 10 steals.
 
The roster also includes four redshirt freshmen players in guards Nathan Fenske and Buay Koak, along with forward Calvin Buss and center Ethan Koltz. True freshman include guards Landon Pokorski and Isaiah Schafer and forward Micah Schlaak.
 
Bigler, a two-time NSIC Coach of the Year and the program's all-time leader in victories, begins his 16th season with a career record of 240-190. During his time as head coach, SMSU has made four 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 host an exhibition game on Oct. 30 versus St. Olaf before opening the regular season at home on Nov. 8-9 versus Fort Hays State and Nebraska Kearney. The NSIC season opens at home on Nov. 26 versus Wayne State.