Oct. 8—The MIAA released its preseason coaches poll on Tuesday, and Missouri Western men’s and women’s basketball find themselves middle of the pack heading into 2024-25.
The Western men, led by head coach Will Martin in his fifth season with the team, was ranked sixth among 14 colleges competing in the MIAA this season. Western enters this season with key returners such as Julius Dixon, Kiani Saxon and Zion Swader, but will have to fill the void of double-double machine Taye Fields, last year’s leading scorer in JaRon Thames and three-point specialist Reese Glover.
The Griffon men finished ninth in the MIAA last season, earning a bid into the conference tournament last March, but fell in the quarterfinal round to No. 1 seed Northwest Missouri State. The men got off to a hot start last season when they started the year 7-0, but quickly cooled and finished 17-13.
Expectations for the Western women’s program were high heading into last season. The Griffon women were projected to finish second, and ended up winning the conference outright But with the departure of head coach Candi Whitaker, first-year head coach Ashton Feldhaus taking over and a couple of key losses in Connie Clarke and Brionna Budgetts, the women were dealt a huge drop off by being pegged at seven in the preseason coaches poll.
Feldhaus will look to continue the success the women’s program has had, which includes two trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament in the last three seasons. Feldhaus brings back six players from the roster last season, while adding to the roster with talent from Europe including Marie Sepp, Jessica Ford and Matilda Soderlund.
Both Western men’s and women’s basketball will begin their regular seasons in early November. After an exhibition game with the University of Iowa in late October, the women will begin the regular season at the Civic Arena against Sioux Falls (South Dakota) on Nov. 8. The men’s team will not have any exhibition games on its schedule, and will jump into regular season play on Nov. 1 in Canyon, Texas, against Lubbock Christian.
Jacob Meikel can be reached at jacob.meikel@newspressnow.com.
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