Men's Basketball Set For An Impactful 2017-18 Season

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University men's basketball team are ready to get its 2017-18 season underway and turn some heads throughout the year.

Heading into this year, the Griffins bring back two key starters who'll look to guide the team back up the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) standings.

Jack Lake, a senior, had a career season in 2016-17 where he averaged a team-high 12.3 points and shot 57.5 percent from the floor. Kris McCann also returns and he's coming off a campaign where he averaged 11.4 points and dished out 1.7 points per game.

"(Jack) Lake and (Kris) McCann along with James Wiggins are three guys we will look to for leadership," said head coach Lance Thornhill. "How much ownership they take of this as upperclassmen will be one of many factors to our success this year."

The Griffins will be welcoming plenty of fresh faces to the program that look to make an impact right away on the court.

"Luke DeLine will finally wear a Griffin uniform after sitting out a year with an ACL injury," added Thornhill. "His return is long overdue but with hard work, patience, and a lot of rehab he should be ready to go."

Thornhill continued, "Other new players to the program that should help are Jared Woodcock, Noah Coddington and Kalin Mitchell. This is probably the best incoming class of talent our team has seen since the 2006 class. Others looking to play major roles will be Trevor Alberternst, Tristan Baker, Jahmad Wilburn, Garrett Goodnight, Maguire Scheer, Preston Wuebker, Brian Wacha, Luke Darst and Braden and Bryson Dankert."

Fontbonne gets its 2017-18 season underway on November 15^th at Illinois Wesleyan. Just four non-conference games later, the Griffins already jump into St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) play.

"Conference games start in November this season and that makes preparation very import with each practice having a sense of urgency," Thornhill said. "The main thing I want to see is the older guys accepting the accountability and responsibility of being an upperclassmen, and the first year guys adjusting to college basketball as quickly as possible."

"The speed and size at the next level can be a tough adjustment for young guys," added Thornhill. "As long as we are playing hard and guarding with our defensive principles we will be fine. When our guys start to gel on the offensive end and play together is the time when I foresee us having a chance at doing something special."

Fans make sure to stay updated throughout the year on fontbonnegriffins.com for full updates and recaps on the men's basketball team.