BURNSVILLE, Minn. - The University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball team was picked to finish 8th in the NSIC Preseason Poll. Minnesota Duluth was picked to finish first by the league coaches in the NSIC Preseason Men's Basketball Poll. The NSIC regular season championship will be based on the 22-game schedule. Each team will play eight  teams twice and another six teams once. An NSIC Champion will be awarded to the team with the highest win percentage in the 22 games played. The 12-team NSIC Men's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Championships are set to take place March 2-5 at the Sanford Health Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The top four seeds will receive a first-round bye. First round games will be played on campus on Wednesday, Feb. 28.

The USF Men's Basketball team finished last year at 19-11 and 13-9 in conference play. Head Coach Chris Johnson is very excited about his 2023/24 squad. "I am excited about the mix of 4 returning starters and multiple newcomers that will impact our team. We have a lot of size and good depth as well.
We have good positional flexibility and skill both inside and out. This group has worked hard, bought into our culture, and really improved thus far. I am excited to see where this group can go this upcoming year."

Jack Thompson was named USF's Athlete to Watch this season. Jack is a Senior for the Coo from Eagan, MN and has averaged 11 points, 3.6 assists, and 4.1 rebounds. Coach Johnson knows the impact that Jack has on his team stating, "Jack is the heart and soul of our team on both ends of the floor. He has been a great leader since he stepped on campus. We rely on him to guard the other team's best players on the perimeter and this year we will ask him to score even more than in the past. Jack is a great competitor and winner and he will definitely lead our team this year."

The Cougars open their season on Saturday November 11 at 11:00AM. They will be in Kansas City, MO to take on Washburn in the Municipal Auditorium. This game is a part of the Central Region Challenge being held in Kansas City, MO.

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