It’s hard to believe, but college basketball season is almost here. This week, we’ll preview Michigan’s 11 NAIA schools.

By Patrick Hayes

At a glance

• Coach: Noel Emenhiser, fourth season
• Last year: 18-13, 12-6 WHAC
• Conference: Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC)
• Key losses: Mitch Cieslak, Tyler Coker, Mike Clark
• Key additions: Dayshon Daniels (freshman from Inkster), Zak Lewis (freshman from Petoskey), Jack Ocobock (freshman from Kingsley), Tyler Stewart (freshman from Salem)
• Team roster
• Team website
• Madonna news on BallinMichigan

Overview

Finishing in the top four of the WHAC is no easy task to repeat, considering how competitive the league is. Fortunately, Madonna gets to try and improve on that fourth place finish with a returning All-American leading the way.

Strengths

Not only does Madonna return All-American point guard Bobby Naubert, 15 points and 6.4 assists per game as a sophomore last season while shooting 47 percent from the field, the team returns its top three leading scorers.

Travis Schuba, a junior sharp-shooting guard, averaged 15.2 points per game while shooting 43 percent from three last season. Fred Williams, a junior forward, averaged 7.6 points and 2.6 rebounds in less than 20 minutes per game off the bench last season. Starters Matt Jenkins and Eoghann Stephens also return this season. Coker is the only starter who was lost to graduation.

The team was a good shot-blocking unit and Stephens led the way, averaging nearly two blocks per game.

Madonna is a good shooting and passing team. They shot 37 percent from 3-point range as a team and had 382 total assists.

Weaknesses

The team didn’t fare well on the glass last season. Opponents out-rebounded the Crusaders 1,204-1,152 and Coker, the team’s leading rebounder, only averaged 5.1 boards per game. The good news for Madonna is that while they had no dominant rebounder, virtually everyone in their lineup, including guards, contributed some on the glass.

Madonna also turned the ball over 15 times per game.

Circle these dates …

• Nov. 8 and 12 – Madonna gets an early chance to assert itself among the league’s, playing back-to-back games against Cornerstone and Davenport, the top two teams in the WHAC, in the first month of the season.
• Nov. 14 and 15 – The team follows up those tough conference games by hosting its own tournament.
• Feb. 6, 9 and 13 – After playing Davenport for the second time Feb. 2, Madonna gets a good chance to end the season strong with games against newcomer Lawrence Tech and last year’s bottom feeders Siena Heights and University of Michigan-Dearborn.

Outlook

Madonna returns as much talent as any team in the league. How fast its newcomers can establish themselves will likely determine how far they can advance in the standings.

Previously

• Lawrence Tech Blue Devils prepare for reboot
• Marygrove makes move to Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference
• Siena Heights tries to turn around fortunes with new coach
• Bolstered by strong recruiting class, University of Michigan-Dearborn looking to escape WHAC cellar
• First-year coach hopes to help Concordia build on .500 WHAC finish
• Aquinas must replace a couple key players after solid season

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