Few fans will recognize the Wabash College basketball team when it tips off its season Saturday at the Mike Turner Tipoff Tournament in Albion, Michigan. The Little Giants will replace four seniors in the starting lineup, three of whom earned NCAC honors last season en route to an 18-8 record. The team has already experienced the growing pains of a young roster with only three seniors.

“We've had practices where we look ready, and the next practice we look like we're the worst team in Division III,” Coach Antoine Carpenter said. “That's the way it is with a young team but we keep on preaching work ethic to our guys.”

The team does bring back a few players with major game experience. Senior Jordan Surenkamp provided sharp-shooting at key coming off the bench last year (3.5 ppg). Junior Pete Nicksic will start at center after he consistently logged minutes as the backup last year and averaged 4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. Kasey Oetting, a hybrid guard/forward, provided offense to the tune of 5.7 points a contest last year as a freshman. Also, football players Andy Walsh (7.3 ppg) and Houston Hodges (5.3 ppg, 2.4 apg) will contribute when they finish their transition from the gridiron to the hardwood.

Wabash was picked to finish fifth in the pre-season NCAC coaches poll.

“I think that's a good place for us because we lost a lot of production from last year,” Carpenter said. “We'll have to find ways to make up for that. The teams we play in our conference are very good so we need guys to step up. Wooster, Wittenberg, and Ohio Wesleyan will all be there at the end, and now with the addition of DePauw the NCAC has become one of the top conferences in the college basketball.”

The only way to prepare for a grueling conference schedule is to have a similarly difficult non-conference schedule. The early portion of the  schedule is highlighted by a visit from the eighth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University Titans next Saturday. Other non-conference tilts include games against nationally-recognized programs Rose-Hulman, Hanover, and a late-December tournament at Elmhurst College.

 “We wanted to play something like our conference schedule,” Carpenter said. “I don't want our players to have a false sense of confidence heading into the conference portion of the season.”

“Coaches are as competitive as we are as players and our schedule reflects that,” Surenkamp echoed. “We don't want a cupcake non-conference schedule. We know it will benefit us in the long run.”

The team will lean on Surenkamp and other veteran leaders early and often. In fitting with the youth movement the team is experiencing, Oetting was voted captain as a sophomore. He has already embraced his important role.

“It means a great deal to me [to be captain],” Oetting said. “It shows the team respects me and I'm honored for that. It does bring more responsibility. I have to raise my level of intensity in practice and make sure other guys go that much harder. The role does make me not take things for granted.”

Oetting expanded his scoring arsenal in the offseason. The wing player added 15-20 pounds to establish a stronger post game. He'll look to be even more of a matchup nightmare for opponents this season.

“Our coaches have wanted me to work on a post game if I have a smaller guard on me,” he said. “I can still step out and attack the rim if I have a bigger guy on me. The extra muscle definitely makes post defense much easier.”

The most important post presence for the Little Giants will be Nicksic. The beefy 6-7, 235 pound center will need to anchor the inside of Wabash's defense.

“It's critical he doesn't get into foul trouble,” Carpenter said. “He's had foul problems in the past. He just has to play smart and recognize the situation.”

Playing smart is not something commonly seen in young teams. That will be Carpenter's biggest challenge in his second season as head coach at his alma mater. The challenge begins Saturday at Albion with a 3:00 p.m. tip off. The Little Giants' first game at Chadwick Court will be Saturday, November 24 against Illinois Wesleyan. That game will also start at 3 p.m.