Coach Staniger Interview

2011-12 UMAC Preseason Poll

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Coach David Staniger and the Saints men's basketball team comes off of a sub-par season going 9-16 overall and 6-8 in conference play ending in sixth place in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC).  The Saints especially look for conference revenge after leaving last season on a sour note dropping their final four games, two of which were at home.

The Saints are picked to finish fourth in the conference in the UMAC preseason poll, which would be an improvement from last year, but the Saints look to top that prediction in the 2011-12 season.

The team is young heading into the season having just two seniors on the roster, but also returns a lot of players who received significant playing time to make them an experienced team as well.

Who's Gone
The Saints lose three seniors from last year's team in Danny Schmitz (Hinckley, Minn./Hinckley-Finlayson HS), Derek Anderson (Cook, Minn./Cook HS) and Logan Schultz (Perham, Minn./Perham HS).  All three players started every game for CSS last season.  Schmitz and Anderson were second and third on the team with 12.8 points and 11.0 points per game (PPG) respectively.  Schultz finished out the season averaging 4.7 PPG and 4.5 RPG.

Returners
The Saints just have two seniors returning for the upcoming season in Chris Hamers (Onamia, Minn./Onamia HS) and David Walsh (Melbourne, Australia/St. Kevin’s HS (Vermilion CC)).  Hamers was out last season with a medical redshirt, but has played a big role on the team in seasons past.  In the 2009-10 season, Hamers averaged 12 PPG and three RPG as well as being one of the top three-point shooters on the team shooting 33.3% from behind the arc.  Hamers is most remembered for his performance late in the conference tournament championship game in the 2008-09 season.  He went on a tear from behind the arc, scoring 18 of his 20 points in the final 5:26 of the game vs. Bethany Lutheran to complete a 16-point comeback in the second half.  Walsh didn't receive much playing time only playing in nine games, but looks to have a big impact as a senior on this year's squad.

The Saints return six players as juniors on this year's team, one of which is Brett Tester (Andover, Minn./Andover HS).  Tester was first team All-UMAC a season ago after leading the team in scoring and rebounding with 15.8 PPG and 6.9 RPG, also ranking top five in the conference in both categories.  Jonah Dahlman (Braham, Minn./Braham HS) also returns for his junior season after starting every game and scoring 9.4 PPG and leading the team with 3.8 assists per game (APG).  Joining Tester and Dahlman are Pat Franko (Rochester, Minn./Rochester Century HS), Thad Picott (Fridley, Minn./Fridley HS), Woody Balut (Apple Valley, Minn./Apple Valley HS) and Matt Feuling (Foley, Minn./Foley HS), who all played a role for the Saints off the bench last season and look to have a bigger impact this season.

CSS welcomes back four players as sophomores for this year.  The lone player to have an impact last season is Nick Biedakiewicz (Wellsville, N.Y./Wellsville HS) who played in every game and averaged about 1.5 points and rebounds per game.  The other sophomores on this year's roster looking for more playing time are Jordan Smith (Cromwell, Minn./Cromwell HS), Scotty Morgan (Temecula, Calif./Cornerstone Christian HS) and Rob Brooks (Crestview, Fla./Niceville HS).

Newcomers
The Saints have 10 newcomers on this year's roster.  Of those 10, three are transfer students in Tyler Luebbe (Solon Springs, Wis./Solon Springs HS (Finlandia)) who averaged eight PPG and one RPG for Finlandia last season, Craig Buggs (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park HS (Minn.-Duluth)) and MarShaan Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis North HS (Minneapolis Comm. & Tech. College)).  Luebbe is a sophomore and Buggs and Johnson are juniors.

The Saints have seven freshmen, including twins Alec Mortel (Luck, Wis./Luck HS) and Cole Mortel (Luck, Wis./Luck HS).  Alec was All-State honorable mention and both players were two-time all-conference selections in high school.  Both players averaged 14+ PPG and Alec added 12.5 RPG, averaging a double-double per game.  Two other players looking to have an instant impact are Melvin Collins (Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle HS) and Derek Steve (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Apollo HS).  Both were all-conference in high school and Steve was honorable mention all-region as well.  Tyler Simonson (Chisholm, Minn./Chisholm HS) was an All-State selection as a senior, and joining those players as well are Nathan Carlson (Alvarado, Minn./East Grand Forks HS) and Jake Kingston (Long Prairie, Minn./Long Prairie-Grey Eagle HS).  All freshmen on the CSS roster received all-conference awards in high school.

Out of Conference Games
The Saints begin the 2011-12 campaign with 11 non-conference games.  CSS opens with UW-Eau Claire at home, and then travels to the St. Cloud State Tournament to face off with Jamestown College (N.D.) and Saint John's.  A big test comes in the fourth game of the season when the Saints take on a Division II team in the University of Minnesota, Crookston.  Before beginning conference play, the Saints also have two games with border rival University of Wisconsin-Superior, North Central (Minn.) and Finlandia.  CSS faces Concordia-Moorhead before entering conference play.

Conference (UMAC) Play
Coach Staniger and the Saints will have the opportunity to face off with each conference foe twice throughout the regular season. 

As said earlier, the Saints are picked to finish fourth in the conference behind Northwestern, Bethany Lutheran and the University of Minnesota-Morris.  CSS hopes to trump the UMAC preseason poll and finish atop the conference and return to the conference tournament as they couldn't do either last year.

The ultimate goal for the Saints is to win the conference in both the regular season and conference tournament to make it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.