The 2019-2020 season begins for the Wabash basketball team Thursday evening with high expectations. The Little Giants start the season ranked 14^th in the D3hoops.com preseason poll after a 21-6 campaign last year. The preseason ranking is the first for the Wabash team in the history of the D3hoops poll. The team was also picked as one of the favorites in the North Coast Athletic Conference race after tying for second last year with a 14-4 mark in conference games.
 
Wabash received three first-place votes from the ten NCAC head coaches for a total of 89 points in the NCAC preseason poll. Wittenberg University earned the top spot in the poll by also receiving three first-place votes and total of 91 points. Wabash and Wittenberg tied for second place in the NCAC standings last season. Wooster, the 2018-19 conference champion with a record of 16-2, received four first-place votes and a total of 90 points.
 
"Our preseason scrimmages against Illinois Wesleyan and Franklin confirmed some of the things we had hoped for during the off season," Wabash head basketball coach Kyle Brumett said. "We have a more veteran group of players. The experiences of winning showed in both scrimmages. When you spend time preparing for practice this time of year most everything is structured and organized. You play the scrimmages because you don't know how they will go. We had some unfortunate injuries in the first scrimmage, but nothing serious. That gave other players opportunities to step into different roles.
 
"We played better later in both scrimmages than we did at the start. That is something we need to address. It also showed us the depth of the team and that maybe the experience of winning close games last year kept us together and focused enough to find our way. Our leadership started to show in those scrimmages, especially from our guards."
 
Three seniors will lead the Little Giants on the court in 2019-20. Starting post Harrison Hallstrom earned Second Team All-NCAC honors last year after averaging 12.6 points and 8.1 rebounds a game. Hallstrom ranked third among NCAC rebounders for the season. Forward Alex Eberhard 6.7 points and 4.1 boards a game and started all 27 contests for Wabash last year. He shot 58-of-122 from the field (.475). Guard Colten Garland tossed in 5.5 points a game in a reserve role for the Little Giants in 2018-19 after being named the NCAC Newcomer of the Year and an Honorable Mention All-NCAC selection as a freshman.
 
"It's been a long time since Wabash has had this much in-game experience on the basketball roster," Brumett said. "Our three seniors all bring something different to the table. Harry is extremely talented and has an in-game intensity about him. He also keeps the team light, especially off the court, when he's on the bench, in the locker room, and during pregame and post game. Colten has played every kind of role for us from leading scorer as a freshman to filling different roles in the lineup. Eberhard brings a lot of in-game experience with different ups and downs after having not played as much as a freshman. He's a really good resource for our current freshmen who might not be playing as much as freshmen have in the past. He's a really heady offensive player."
 
 
Jack Davidson leads a talented junior class for the Little Giants. Davidson received First Team All-America honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches last season in addition to being named the Great Lakes Region and NCAC Player of the Year. Davidson was 10th among Division III players in scoring last year with an average of 25.1 points per game, leading all sophomores in scoring in DIII for the season. He was second in the nation in free-throw percentage, hitting 93.1 percent of his attempts. Davidson set the NCAA record for consecutive free throws made with 95 over a stretch of 14 games. He was recently named to the D3hoops.com preseason All-America Team.
 
Junior guard Connor Rotterman played in 23 games with 15 starts with an average of 7.3 points a game. Fellow junior Parker Manges provided key minutes off the bench as a sophomore while playing in 16 games.
 
"Those three juniors collectively are gym rats," Brumett said. "Parker and Connor from day one have helped us build the culture from day one that our program isn't just two hours of practice six days a week if you want to build to a championship level. Both of those guys have grown and battled injuries through their first two seasons here. They're outstanding teammates and are leaders in their own right.
 
"Jack is obviously the guy on the tip of every opponent's tongue. He's already received so many accolades that are so well deserved. I've never coached anyone who is as driven to improve and is as hard working as Jack Davidson is. He is one of a kind regardless of level. His leadership has continued to grow. When you have as much basketball success and you play as much as he has as a freshman and sophomore, as a coach you expect things from him that he might not be ready for. He has tackled that head on. I haven't had to ask as much this year because he's been more prepared to provide that leadership on his own. Seeing our talent continue to improve only gives Jack more confidence."
 
Tyler Watson played significant minutes as a freshman guard in all 27 games for the Little Giants last season. He started 11 games and was third on the team with a 9.4 points-per-game scoring average. Kellen Schreiber earned five starts and played in 27 games. He averaged 19.8 minutes a game and was fourth on the team in scoring at 8.9 points a game. Jayden Edwards averaged 8.5 minutes in 17 games with a 2.9 points-per game average. Sophomore Jack Hegwood played sparingly last season but should see an expanded role this year.
 
A group of nine newcomers have joined the Little Giants' roster for the season. Freshmen Ahmoni Jones and Justin Hensley are expected to play early roles for the Wabash squad in addition to sophomore transfer and local product Cam Chadd. Chadd played high school ball at Southmont prior to attending Bethel University in Mishawaka as a freshman in college.
 
"Ahmoni is an extremely good rebounder. He has a scorer's mentality. He's played at a really high level at Pike High School. He's going to get early opportunities. We knew in recruiting Ahmoni that he'll be able to rebound well enough to carve out some minutes. His shooting and scoring ability has really solidified his spot. Justin is competing with some returning players like Rotterman, Manges, and Edwards. Justin is a really solid player with a high basketball IQ and an extremely good shooter. Cam Chadd is a really good player with a lot of physical style in his offensive game. He's a big, strong kid."
 
Wabash opens the season at home against Centre College Thursday evening at 7 p.m. and will play Earlham College in a home contest at Chadwick Court on Tuesday, November 19 at 7 p.m. The Little Giants open conference play December 4 against Ohio Wesleyan University.