New head coach, same goal

A strong returning core fresh off a third-place finish at the NJCAA Div. II tournament back in March is carrying the way for the Southwestern Spartans men’s basketball team this season, leaving SWCC with a lone goal of getting back to Danville, Illinois.

First-year head coach Blake Peterson and assistant coach DJ Jenkins – both of whom were assistants last season – lead a Spartans program that is all-to-familiar with success in recent memory.

A 29-8 run last year bookends a 37-1 national title campaign from the year before.

Peterson replaces former head coach Todd Lorensen, who is now the head basketball coach at Buena Vista University.

The play style of the Spartans under Peterson will not vary much from a year ago as a base five-out offensive look that is looking to score and score again.

Early in the season Southwestern has proved to have no trouble scoring the ball and will make its money on crucial defensive stops followed with a quick score on the other end.

“We’ve made progression throughout the preseason and as long as we keep making that progression and we peak at the right time I still have high expectations for what we can accomplish this year,” said Peterson.

“Defensively, we’ve made some mental errors so far in these preseason games so we have to clean that up and we will and when we do it should be a pretty exciting year for us,” Peterson said adding that repetitions will answer any early issues.

The SWCC defense will play man-to-man 95 percent of the time, according to Peterson, who added that the Spartans will dabble in zone looks along the way.

Player leadership played a monumental role in Southwestern’s success last season as three starters, Khallid Edwards, Terence Shelby Jr. and Alijah Thomas pushed the Spartans to defend their 2017 national title.

SWCC enters the 2018-19 campaign as the No. 6 team in NJCAA Div. II and is built around a number of players who were not only part of the team that took third a year ago, but provided key roles in their success as a team.

Lineup mainstays

It’ll be a starting five that’ll adjust throughout the year, but as of late October, early November it is six players who were a part of the team a year ago that will be seeing the bulk of the minutes.

Chad Moran, a Lewis Central graduate, could do it all last season as a guard/forward and proved it against some of the best teams in the nation by averaging 16 points per game at the national tournament. He also finished as the team’s second-leading rebounder behind Shelby Jr.

Moran is now a bigger presence, both mentally and physically, as he has taken a leadership role for the new players and has clearly spent time in the offseason building his body to handle any battles around the hoop.

Ryan Warren was the No. 3 guard option last year behind Edwards and Thomas, but saw plenty of reps as the season progressed and showed his dynamic ability to get to the hoop and create plays in the open space.

Warren, who is from St. Louis, Missouri, averaged 6.8 points per game last year and had an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.6.

D’Marqueyon Whittington missed the first semester of the season last year, but by the time he saw the floor in January he put the rest of the ICCAC on notice as a spot-up shooter.

Whittington – a Saginaw, Michigan native – averaged 8.6 points per contest in 26 games last season who shot 41.2 percent from behind the 3-point line.

Forward Rasheed Barze was also a second semester product who can electrify any crowd at any given moment with a momentum-altering dunk.

The redshirt sophomore, from Chicago, Illinois, put together a clip of 7 points per game and 3.6 boards per contest.

Also a candidate for starting five is 6-7 forward Gatdoar Kueth, a Des Moines product, who averaged 9.7 points per game a year ago while shooting a team-high 52.7 percent from the floor.

Noah Persich is another member of last year’s team, but the first who did not see the floor after redshirting his in 2017-18.

Persich – a Peoria, Illinois native – has been highly regarded by both coaches and has already made an immediate impact as a starter in the preseason.

“So far he has started every preseason game for us. Just a really high IQ basketball player,” said Peterson of his redshirt freshman guard. “We’re going to lean on him a lot.”

First off the bench

Southwestern has a huge advantage in the bench depth that has consistently sparked the team when need be over the past few season.

Tre’Vonte Diggs returns as a redshirt sophomore, a leader and as a member of the national championship team.

Peterson expects the 6-4 forward to continue to be a leader both on and off the floor.

Taron Pickford was the first name Peterson mentioned and expects the redshirt sophomore to have an instant impact after transferring from Lamar.

“He’ll play a big role for us and bring us stability off the bench,” said Peterson.

Jadon Payton, a 6-1 guard from Peoria, Illinois received a lot of praise from the head man, coming into the season.

“Very, very talented freshman, who I think will have an opportunity as he figures it out and catches up with the speed of the game to be a Division I player,” Peterson said.

Other names to keep in mind will be redshirt sophomore Brandon Reed who redshirted last season with SWCC, sophomore Jordan Doss and freshman Jaihon McCaleb.

Creston’s Evan Jacobson is featured as a freshman on the Southwestern lineup, who is expected to suit up for the season and will wear No. 21.

“Evan has worked very hard throughout our preseason, he has picked up our system quickly and as we progress forward in the season I imagine his role will continue to grow,” said Peterson.

Cole Higgins, also of Creston, will serve as the team’s manager this season.

Conference slate

The ever-challenging ICCAC has a new scheduling quirk this season with two conference games being played before the Christmas break.

Southwestern will get pre-holiday tests against Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) and North Iowa Area Community College.

DMACC was receiving votes in the first Div. II poll released on Oct. 29.

“We got to be ready to go right away,” said Peterson. “Any given night in this league, it doesn’t matter what their record is, they’re talented enough to beat anyone.”

Anyone familiar with the Spartan program knows the challenges that lie in arguably the toughest conference in the nation, including the likes of No. 5 Kirkwood, No. 20 Iowa Lakes, Iowa Central, NIACC and others.

Little Priest Tribal College is a new addition to the ICCAC this season, a team that beat the Spartans a season ago.

“There are four to five natural progressions you have to take throughout the season,” said Peterson on the potential to get back to the national tournament. “The key that was really evident last year is that we peaked at the end of the season. ... If we’re clicking on all cylinders as we enter the last month, I like our chances.”

UP NEXT – Southwestern opens the season Saturday in Creston at 3 p.m. against Kansas City Kansas Community College, which is coming off an 8-23 year.

Schedule

Nov. 3 – Kansas City Kansas CC, 3 p.m.

Nov. 6 – Quakerdale Prep Academy, 7 p.m.

Nov. 8 – St. Mary’s (KS) JV, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 13 – at North Central Missouri College, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 16 – vs. Southeast Community College at Central CC, 5 p.m.

Nov. 17 – at Central Community College, 1 p.m.

Nov. 21 – North Central Missouri College, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 24 – at Kansas City Community College, 4 p.m.

Nov. 27 – Central Community College. 7 p.m.

Dec. 1 – Iowa Western, 3 p.m.

Dec. 5 – at Des Moines Area, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 8 – North Iowa Area, 3 p.m.

Dec. 11 – at Indian Hills, 7 p.m.

Dec. 15 – at Johnson County, 4 p.m.

Dec. 16 – at Highland (KS), 2 p.m.

Jan. 8 – at Southeastern CC, 7 p.m.

Jan. 12 – Kirkwood CC, 3 p.m.

Jan. 16 – at Iowa Lakes, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 20 – Simpson College JV, 3 p.m.

Jan. 23 – Ellsworth CC, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 26 – at Little Priest Tribal College, 3 p.m.

Jan. 30 – Iowa Central CC, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 2 – at North Iowa Area CC, 3 p.m.

Feb. 6 – Des Moines Area CC, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 9 – Little Priest Tribal College, 4 p.m.

Feb. 13 – at Ellsworth CC, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 16 – at Iowa Central CC, 3 p.m.

Feb. 19 – at Marshalltown CC, 7 p.m.

Feb. 23 – Iowa Lakes CC, 3 p.m.

Feb. 27 – at Kirkwood CC, 7:30 p.m.

March 5 – Region XI quarterfinals, TBA