The Student News Site of University of Louisiana Monroe

The Hawkeye

The Student News Site of University of Louisiana Monroe

The Hawkeye

The Student News Site of University of Louisiana Monroe

The Hawkeye

Men’s basketball selected sixth in Sun Belt preseason poll

Men’s basketball is projected to finish sixth in the Sun Belt following a seventh place finish last year.

Coach Richard said that the team has potential to be better than the preseason ranking.

“I thought we’d get picked towards the middle but we would like to finish in the top five,” Coach Richard said.

The Warhawks this year welcome seven new players along with three starters from last year.

The Warhawks had a strong offseason, according to Coach Richards which began over the summer and continued into their round of 30 preseason games which began Oct. 4.

“We’ve had a great offseason. Our returning players have improved and our two hour practice sessions which we instituted this summer have been a great benefit. I’m very pleased with the progress we’ve made,” Richards said.

Senior forward Tylor Ongwae is one of the team’s returning starters. He was selected second team all-conference  this preseason.

This comes on the heels of all-conference third team selection last year.

Ongwae said that there is s a lot more work to go.

“I feel good, but being named the tenth best player in the conference means there are nine better players. There’s a lot of work I need to do on and off the court to improve,” Ongwae said.

Ongwae along with the other retuning players from last year understand their responsibility to help bring in the new players under their win.

“Coach has simplified the system and we’re more comfortable. We can help them adapt to the system with more ease,” Ongwae said.

ULM will open up the year playing at UAB Nov. 15.

The team’s out-of-conference schedule also includes away games at Florida and Coastal Carolina.

The Warhawks will have their first home game Nov. 17 against Champion Baptist.

The Warhawks home slate features a handful of games against Louisiana schools. ULM will play host to Louisiana College, Northwestern State and  LSU-Alexandria.

ULM’s schedule also features matchups against the usual conference foes such as UL-Lafayette, Arkansas State and Texas State.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

All The Hawkeye Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *