Winter sports are about to begin at Emporia State and the men’s basketball team is ready to go after a “productive preseason” and “some awesome scrimmages with good results,” according to head coach Craig Doty.

The Hornets recently lost the team’s top scorers Jumarii Turner and Tray Buchanan (who was the nation’s leading scorer) after they graduated last May. This means the team loses over 45 points per game, according to Doty. However, they will have nine returners and have added in “key recruits.” 

“I think coach said it best when he said that we have a lot to prove. We lost a lot of points, but we also lost some leadership,” said forward and senior business administration major Gage McGuire. “So I think, you know, we have a lot to go, but we also put in a lot of work this summer, so I think that’s gonna result in some positive things this season.”

Some of the Hornets’ key returners are Mayoum Boom, Mason Thiessen, Peyton Rogers-Schmidt, Gage McGuire and Kaden Evans, said Doty. 

Losing those high scorers means the team has to find two more players that can put points on the board and coaches have decided that Alijah Comithier and Owen Long are the men for the job. Doty expects them to be “high impact guys” alongside transfer Atavian Butler. 

“We got the right guys on the roster,” said Thiessen, center and senior business management major. “I know coach works hard to recruit the right kind of people, the guys that will mesh well with us and mesh well as a team. Not only on the court but off the court, so we definitely have the guys to do it.” 

The team expects Northwestern Missouri, Washburn and Central Oklahoma to be competitive games.

“There’s just a lot of teams that you have to show up every game ready to play absolutely,” Thiessen said. “There is no bye week, there is no easy team to play. It’s you show up to play and if you don’t you’re probably going to get beat.”

Coach Doty said the league is loaded with new faces and will be looking different than it has in the past. Doty isn’t looking for “one-star” to shut down from a team, he is expecting balanced scoring. Even with the Hornets, he expects four or five guys averaging double figures this year. 

The team’s first home game of the season will be against Rockhurst University at 6 p.m., Nov. 16 in the William Lindsay White Civic Auditorium.