Big goals lie in the vision of the Huntington University men’s basketball team — the biggest one is making a road trip to Branson, Missouri in March for the NAIA national tournament. After finishing 17-16 last season, the Foresters are ready to take their shot at the top of the Crossroads League and extend their season further into March.
Through the school year, there have only been minor bumps in the road with some minor injuries, and pre-season has been pretty good to the team.
“We have a good group of guys with us this season,” head coach Ty Platt said. “There is a lot of experience returning for us, and I feel we can really use that to our advantage.”
Last year’s Forester squad graduated Daniel Woll and Austin Karazsia, both of whom started for and played considerable minutes for HU. The Foresters return senior point guard Mike Bush, senior forwards Tyler Arens, Trevor Lockwood, Kyle Platt and Devon Merder, junior forwards Mason Coverstone and Luke Reust, sophomore guard Konner Platt and forward Andrew Yoder.
Coach Platt’s crew retains much of their offensive explosiveness from last year.
They know that they will be able to score the ball, but Platt said the off-season was focused on the other side of the ball.
“We needed to strengthen our defense,” he said. “We need to make our opponent as uncomfortable as possible and not let anything come easy for them.”
Even though the off-season was dedicated to better defense, senior Mike Bush said he still feels as though their strength lies in the team’s offense.
“We have a lot of guys who are able to score for us this season,” Bush said. “We will be very dangerous on the offensive end.”
This year’s team adds four new-and-talented freshmen to the team — Zac Owens, Jaden Sutton, Junior Scott and Wyatt Hughes.
“Our new guys are full of promise and I can’t wait to see how they will impact our team,” Platt said.
The Forester’s next game will be on November 10 at 8:00 p.m. in Platt arena as they face off against the IU East Red Hawks.
The Huntingtonian 