Burnsville, Minn. – The Northern State University men's basketball team has been picked fourth overall and second in the North Division in the 2019-20 NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Wolves earned 177 points overall and 40 in the divisional poll.
The Wolves open the 2019-20 season under the direction of a new head coach in
Saul Phillips. The Wolves are coming off a 26-7 record overall and 18-4 mark in the NSIC a season ago, winning their second straight NSIC Conference Championship. The 2018-19 men won the NSIC Tournament Championship, 72-68 over Southwest Minnesota State and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.
Northern returns ten from the squad this fall, including starters
Andrew Kallman and
Gabe King, as well as key bench players
Mason Stark,
Parker Fox,
Jordan Belka, and
Cole Dahl. King returns for his senior season after an All-Conference honorable mention performance a year ago, where he averaged 11.5 points per game and led the team with 54 made 3-pointers. Fox was the first off the bench for the Wolves averaging 10.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game as a redshirt freshman. He was tabbed as the team's player to watch in 2019-20. In addition to the returners, Northern welcomes four freshman to the program in
Jaylen Robinson,
Tommy Chatman,
Jaden Graham, and
Austin Holt.
NSU opens the season from Oklahoma with two regional contests versus Southeastern Oklahoma State and Southern Nazarene on November 8 and 9.
Overall
| 1. |
Minnesota State (7) |
214 |
| 2. |
Augustana (6) |
208 |
| 3. |
Minnesota Duluth (3) |
196 |
| 4. |
Northern State |
177 |
| 5. |
MSU Moorhead |
169 |
| 6. |
Winona State |
164 |
| 7. |
Minnesota Crookston |
109 |
| 8. |
St. Cloud State |
106 |
| 9. |
Bemidji State |
100 |
| 10. |
Sioux Falls |
96 |
| |
Wayne State |
96 |
| 12. |
Southwest Minnesota State |
91 |
| 13. |
Upper Iowa |
62 |
| 14. |
University of Mary |
59 |
| 15. |
Minot State |
51 |
| 16. |
Concordia-St. Paul |
22 |
North Division
| 1. Minnesota Duluth (7) |
49 |
| 2. Northern State (1) |
40 |
| 3. Minnesota State Moorhead |
39 |
| 4. Minnesota Crookston |
25 |
| 5. Bemidji State |
21 |
| 6. St. Cloud State |
20 |
| 7. University of Mary |
18 |
| 8. Minot State |
12 |
South Division
| 1. Minnesota State (5) |
47 |
| 2. Augustana (3) |
44 |
| 3. Winona State |
37 |
| 4. Sioux Falls |
25 |
| 5. Wayne State |
24 |
| 6. Southwest Minnesota State |
22 |
| 7. Upper Iowa |
18 |
| 8. Concordia-St. Paul |
7 |
