Season Preview: New faces have Bruins eyeing return to National Tournament

2019-20 Roster
2019-20 Schedule
2019-20 NSAA Preseason Coaches' Poll
2019-20 NAIA Preseason Coaches' Poll

BELLEVUE, Neb. -- After missing the National Tournament for the first time since the 2001-02 season, the Bellevue University men's basketball team enters the 2019-20 season with a new coaching staff and a roster high on talent.

NSAA Preseason Poll:

Despite a high level of roster turnover, Bellevue was picked to win the NSAA title by the league's coaches on Monday, claiming five of eight first place votes and 55 points. Dickinson picked up two first place votes to place second in the poll with 48 points.

Mayville State grabbed the other first place vote but was edged by Valley City State for third place, 42 points to 41. Waldorf (35 points), Dakota State (32), Viterbo (23), and Presentation (13) rounded out the remainder of the poll.

The NSAA Tournament format remains unchanged from a season ago. The quarterfinal round will be hosted at the higher seeded team's campus on Tuesday, Feb. 25. The four quarterfinal winners advance to the NSAA Final Four, which will once again take place at the Watertown Civic Arena on Saturday, Feb. 29 (semifinals) and Sunday, Mar. 1 (championship) with times to be announced at a later date.

NAIA Preseason Poll:

In the National Poll, the Bruins were ranked No. 22 to open the season, picking up 96 voting points. BU was the lone representative from the North Star in the rankings while Dickinson State (N.D.) was receiving votes.

Defending National Champion Spring Arbor (Mich.) was the unanimous No. 1, picking up all 12 first place votes. Oregon Tech and College of Idaho claimed the No. 2 and No. 3 spots while Morningside (Iowa) and Indiana Wesleyan tied for fourth.

This season will mark the final season of the NAIA's split division format, as the NAIA will combine Division I and Division II into one national division for the 2020-21 season. The final NAIA Division II National Tournament returns to Sioux Falls, S.D. from Wednesday-Tuesday, Mar. 11-17 at the Sanford Pentagon.

Coaching Staff:

After serving two separate stints (2013-14 and 2018-19) as an assistant coach for the Bruins, Lucas Gabriel takes the reigns as the eighth head coach in the program's rich history.

Assisting Gabriel is Nate Geiser, who joins the BU staff after spending the last four seasons as the lead assistant coach at Cal State Monterey Bay.

The staff looks to add to Bellevue's impressive haul of 31 conference championships and 19 NAIA National Tournament appearances over the previous 22 seasons.

The Returners:

Senior guards Connor Dukes (6.5 PPG) and Jaron Dickson (8.0 PPG) are the returning letter-winners off last year's team. Dukes and Dickson ranked second and third on last year's squad with 46 and 45 three-pointers, respectively, while shooting at a combined 41.2 percent clip.

They are joined by junior guards Jemeil King (Modesto JC/Oakland, Calif.) and Matt Blaney (Foothill College/San Luis Obispo, Calif.) as well as with senior forward Amenofis Mitchell (Alaska-Fairbanks/Missouri City, Texas), all of whom redshirted during the 2018-19 season.

The Newcomers:

Bellevue welcomes four new post players and a pair of guards with five of the six new players coming from the junior college ranks and another straight from high school.

Junior 6-3 guards Niamey Harris (CC San Francisco/San Francisco, Calif.) and Jaylen Wiltz (Chaffey College/Corona, Calif.) join the returners to create a deep, and talented, backcourt.

Harris led the City College of San Francisco in assists each of the past two seasons and helped the Rams win the 2017/18 CCCAA State Championship while Wiltz earned first team all-conference honors at Chaffey last season after averaging 10.5 points per game on 38.4 percent shooting from deep which accounted for 61 three-pointers.

Three junior forwards in 6-7 Isaiah Bates (Yuba College/Sacramento, Calif.), 6-6 Lewis Hayes (CC San Francisco/Stockton, Calif.), and 6-5 Vaj Rice (Fullerton College/Cerritos, Calif.) provide experience and depth up front.

Bates was a consistent performer at Yuba College where he averaged 11 points and 6.3 rebounds per game for his career and shot over 60 percent from the floor in each of his two seasons. Hayes averaged 10.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while shooting 62.1 percent from the floor and garnered CCCAA Tournament MVP honors after leading CCSF to the 2017/18 State Championship. Rice averaged 7.3 points and 4.1 rebounds during his career and helped Fullerton College claim the 2018-19 CCCAA State Championship, as the Hornets defeated CCSF to claim the crown.

That frontcourt trio is joined by 6-7 freshman Boomer Jock (Lincoln HS/Lincoln, Neb.) who averaged 12.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game on 68 percent shooting as a senior.

Also new to the program are 6-3 senior forward James Williams (Friends U./Chicago, Ill.), 6-4 junior guard Jonah Brown (Fresno CC/Clovis, Calif.), 6-3 freshman guard Vinny Belcaster (J. Sterling Morton West HS/Chicago, Ill.), and 6-7 freshman forward Deng Jal (Bellevue West HS/Bellevue, Neb.).

Schedule:

Bellevue opened up their season with a 110-68 tune-up victory over Baptist Bible College last Friday. They face their first NAIA test tomorrow when they take on York College at 8 p.m. from the Freeman Center on the York campus.

The Bruins will host a pair of classics on Nov. 1-2 (BU/NCC Classic) and Dec. 29-30 (Fairfield Inn & Suites Bruin Classic) in which they will host Briar Cliff, Haskell Indian Nations, College of the Ozarks, and Graceland.

Bellevue plays four of their first five games at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center before embarking on a run of nine-straight games away from home, including a pair of contests in San Juan, Puerto Rico against Politecnica and Sagrado Corazon.

Following a 12-day layoff, the Bruins will play their next three games at home before closing out the seasons with 13-straight against conference opponents.

Games against Dakota State mark the beginning of league play (Dec. 7 in Madison, S.D.) and the end of the regular season when the Bruins host the Trojans on Friday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Bellevue is slated to face four teams, accounting for five games, that were either ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Division II Preseason Coaches' Poll and two others that were ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Division I Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Coach Lucas Gabriel:

"We are excited to carry on the BU tradition. Despite being a young, inexperienced staff and a team with minimal NAIA experience, we think we have the talent to compete and win the conference. We are excited for the season and the opportunity to prove ourselves."