The 2022-23 season has finally arrived for the UMHB men’s basketball team, and the Crusaders are ready to go. Having reached the Elite Eight in last season’s D-III NCAA Tournament and won the ASC Tournament title, the Crusaders have plenty of confidence heading into Tuesday’s season opener. Led by a strong group of returners, including All-American guard Josiah Johnson, and forwards Ty Prince and Luke Feely, head coach Clif Carroll’s squad has plenty to look forward to in the season that is to come. 

Before tip-off on Tuesday night, here is a look at the three opponents UMHB will face over the next four days, and some of the storylines that are set to unfold. 

This article is presented by The Best of Belton, a proud supporter of UMHB athletics and gold sponsor of True To The Cru

A Look At The Opponents

Tested early on the road

UMHB will battle three of the best teams in the SCIAC in the span of four days, facing Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, who was picked No. 2 in the conference’s preseason poll on Monday, Redlands (fourth in the preseason poll) and Pomona-Pitzer (first in the preseason poll), in that order. Not only will it give UMHB a significant strength of schedule boost, playing such quality opponents on the road, but it will also challenge the Crusaders right out of the gate, and give them a glance at the stamina needed to win the postseason. 

“You always want to give your team a little preview of what’s to come,” Carroll said. “If you’re going to win the ASC Tournament, you have to win three games in three days. The ASC is really good, and really deep. So we’ll go out to another conference [SCIAC] and kind of mimic that. It’s three games in four days, and probably three of the best teams in that conference from what I can see. It’ll be a great challenge.” 

A Top 25 duel

UMHB’s ranking as the nation’s No. 2 team will be tested early in a Top 15 matchup against No. 12 Pomona-Pitzer on Friday. The Sagehens, like the Cru, won their conference and reached the NCAA Tournament last March, with a 76-71 win over Chapman. They return three of their starters from that NCAA Tournament run in Brendan Mora, Joe Cookson and Pete Boyle, and appear to be the SCIAC title favorites once again. 

Challenged the post

UMHB returns a group of stellar post players, including Feely, Prince, and Nathan Stolz. Those players in particular will be challenged on the west coast, as the Crusaders will be faced with their fair share of size in these next three contests. 

CMS’ shortest player is 6’1 senior guard Brian Kenyon, and the Stags return a number of strong post players, such as 6’5, 200 lb forward Matt Meredith, and 6’9, 240 lb senior center Rhett Carter. Pomona-Pitzer has notable size as well, with Boyle, who is 6’8, Mora, at 6’5, and Cookson, who is 6’6. Only Boyle plays in the frontcourt, at forward, as both Mora and Cookson are guards. From that respect, UMHB’s forwards and centers will not be the only ones tested; the stellar group of guards for the Cru will be challenged as well. 

“Claremont and Pomona are both going to be really big,” Carroll noted. “Both can play lineups that are 6’6 and over. It’s going to create some challenges. Both teams are really good rebounding teams. That was one of our weaknesses last year at times in games that we lost.

“It’s going to be a great challenge. But on the other end, they’re going to have to guard us. We’re going to have to dictate the pace of play.” 

Playing positionless basketball

UMHB has positions listed for the players on its roster, but in the system Carroll runs, positions do not matter all that much. Instead, he describes the Cru’s style of play as “positionless basketball”, which is something UMHB has the ability to do, with exceptional shooters from the guards to the wings to the forwards. All five on the floor at any given time have quality shooting range, rebounding skills, and the ability to play fast if the game calls for it. 

“The way we want to play offensively and defensively is somewhat positionless basketball,” Carroll said. “I could care less of what position we give them. We’re just going to put five guys out there that fit. We try to put together a team that is big on certain areas of the floor, but we really don’t care about our top insides. We don’t feel like we need to have the 6’11 kids to be successful because of our overall team size. We can put very versatile lineups out there.”

High-expectations

UMHB is ranked No. 2 in the preseason poll, the highest the program has ever started since 2013-14, and even then, the Crusaders were No. 7. Additionally, Carroll’s squad was picked to win the ASC, with all but one of the first place votes in the ASC Preseason Poll. It goes without saying that the reigning ASC champions have more pressure, and more eyes on them, than ever before, as this season tips off.