Oct 28, 2009

Men's Basketball Picked To Finish Fifth In GLIAC North Division

BAY CITY, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State Uinversity men's basketball team has been selected to finish fifth in the GLIAC North Division.

The head men’s basketball coaches of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) chose University of Findlay senior guard Marcus Parker as the league’s preseason “Player of the Year.”

Selected members of the media and the GLIAC’s Sports Information Directors were asked to choose the Conference’s Basketball Preseason Polls. The 24-member group tabbed Grand Valley State University and the University of Findlay to win the league’s North and South Division titles, respectively.

Grand Valley State, which received 17 of the 24 possible first place votes, returns four starters and seven letterwinners from a team that went 21-10 in 2008-09 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season. Sixth-year head coach Ric Wesley (131-30 career record) fields a team that features no seniors, five juniors, and 10 sophomores and freshmen. The pair of juniors are the team’s two leading returning scorers as Justin Ringler and Toreau Brown lead the Lakers into the 2009-10 season. Ringler, a 6-4 guard/forward, averaged 12.2 points and a team-best 5.8 rebounds per contest in 2008-09, while Brown, a 6-5 forward totaled 10.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.

Findlay finished last season with a 36-0 record, claiming the 2009 NCAA Division II National Championship in the process. The Oilers lost five key players off of their team from last year but will return experienced veterans along with a number of talented newcomers. Findlay has claimed seven GLIAC South Division titles in the past eight years and has captured four GLIAC Tournament titles in the past six years. Head coach Ron Niekamp, who has a 550-174 record during his 24 previous years with Findlay, will undoubtedly have his team ready for another run during the 2009-10 campaign.

Joining Parker on the preseason All-GLIAC South Division Team are: senior guard Chris Johnson of Northwood University; senior forward Luke Laser of Hillsdale College; senior forward Jerry Oden of Wayne State University; and junior forward Kale Richardson of Ashland University.

The 2009-10 preseason All-GLIAC North Division Team includes: junior guard Darien Gay and junior forward Justin Keenan of Ferris State University; senior guard Scott Perkins of Lake Superior State University; senior guard Avery Stephenson of Saginaw Valley State University; and junior guard/forward Justin Ringler of Grand Valley State.