The Gustavus Men’s Basketball team starts their season on Saturday, Nov. 14 against the University of Northwestern-St. Paul. This year the team is lead by four senior captains: Gary Cooper, Brian Jacobs, Chad Poppen and Chris Narum.
Last year the Gusties advanced to the semi-finals of the MIAC tournament before falling to Saint Thomas in over-time. Their overall record for the season was 16-11.
“We had a season of highs and lows. There were definitely some good games where we felt we accomplished what we should, but it left some hunger to come back this year and build on the good and try to limit the lows,” Narum said.
With talented first-years and transfer students, combined with a strong group of returning players, the players and coaches believe the team is in a good position to be successful.
“We aren’t a team that has a lot of goals. Our mindset is that we should always be fighting for a championship at the end of the year. We would rather make it our goal to focus on continually getting better each day, both as players and a staff.
Through pushing one another and focusing on the process of what it takes to be better, it is our expectation that good things will come from it,” Assistant Coach Justin DeGrood ‘07 said.
This year is not about doing things differently than last year but continuing to build on the momentum of their previous success and limit mistakes.
“The goal is always a MIAC Championship and this year is no different. As long as we keep making progress every day I believe we put ourselves in a good position to accomplish that goal,” Narum said.
Gustavus is in a conference full of other competitive schools. It will take dedication and determination to make it all the way to the MIAC Championship. The players have been working hard over the summer and recently in practice so they can be a competitive team this year.
“The men have put in a great deal of off-season work. Coupled with the work we are currently putting in, our work ethic and discipline will help put us in a great position throughout the course of the year,” DeGrood said.
“The goal is always a MIAC Championship and this year is no different. As long as we keep making progress every day I believe we put ourselves in a good position to accomplish that goal.”
—Chris Narum
Gustavus has won the MIAC Championship seventeen times in the school’s history. Head Coach Mark Hanson ’83 knows about the tough division the team plays in.
Hanson became Head Coach in 1990 after playing on the team as a student and serving as an assistant coach. He was indicted into the Gustavus Hall of Fame in 1998. As a student, Hanson amassed 1,774 points in 94 games from 1979 to 1983. To this day he holds the Gustavus Men’s record of all time leading scorer. He is the only Gustavus player who has been named to the all-conference team four times.
“Unfortunately, this is a very tough and balanced conference and there are several other teams that have the same potential,” Coach Hanson said.
Tough competition in the conference only motivates the team to work harder.
“I expect us to be a very competitive team every game. We have good depth and our players are battling hard to put us in a good position to be successful,” Coach Hanson said. “We are capable of winning the conference and playoff championships which would get us into the national tournament.”
Come cheer on the Gustavus Men’s Basketball team at their first home game Friday, Nov. 20 as they take on Buena Vista University.