Beavers new additions, returning starters fuel hopes for 2024-25 season

BEMIDJI The NSIC features some of the strongest teams in Division II college basketball.

The reigning national champions, Minnesota State, headline a conference chock-full of teams returning plenty of experience.

But the best opponent on the Bemidji State mens basketball teams schedule this season isnt a fellow conference team its a Big Ten squad.

Back on Wednesday, Oct.

19, the Beavers traveled down to Minneapolis to take on Minnesota in an exhibition WIlliams Arena, also known as The Barn.

Bemidji State trailed by just a point entering halftime, though the Golden Gophers ultimately took care of business in the second half for a 90-65 victory.

The most important result for the Beavers, though, was the opportunity to test out a variety of lineups and see how the team would fare against such a talented opponent.

I think we came in wanting to win for sure, but also testing lineups, playing some people to see who mesh well together, junior guard Tate Olson said.

We do have a lot of new people, just seeing how the chemistry goes with different lineups, just seeing how it goes with that.

Featuring a host of transfer portal additions, Bemidji states top-scorers at Minnesota werent even on the roster a season ago.

We went 12 deep into the first half, we normally dont go that deep, head coach Mike Boschee said.

We wanted to enjoy the experience of playing the Gophers, (we) also want to try to get better and see what we have and see who can function at a high level under the lights ,so to speak, and we were able to do that.

Five players scored seven or more points for BSU at Minnesota.

Each of those players were brand-new additions to the Beavers.

Leading the way was guard Christian Koonce, who notched 11 points shooting 50% from the field.

Koonce, a fifth-year guard, is a transfer addition from Georgia Southwestern.

He averaged 12.7 points per game with the Surge, playing just over 27 minutes a night on average.

Senior guard Jalen Patterson, a transfer from Chadron State, was the only other player to finish with a double-digit point total.

He tallied 10 points in just 13 minutes on the court.

Junior guard Peyton Newbern, junior guard Jareon Mayo and senior guard/forward Malang Athian all new transfer portal additions rounded out the tip-five scores for the Beavers.

(It was a) long offseason, Boschee said.

Got a chance to find a few more pieces to add to this group, then weve been going at it now for a couple months now, so it's obviously time to get out on the court and see what we have, see what we need to work on.

With some minor injuries including Bemidji States NSIC Player to Watch, John Sutherland hitting the team early, BSUs new additions should play an important role in nonconference as the team kicks off its season on Friday in the Central Region Challenge against Central Missouri.

We probably wont be at full strength, but its a really good test to find out what you need to work on, Boschee said.

Keep building and building and trying to get better every single week, and obviously, thats what were going to try to do.

The Beavers brought in a wave of new players in the offseason, but theres a few known commodities returning from the 2023-24 campaign.

Sutherland is the clear standout of that group.

The Grand Rapids native led the team in scoring a season ago, averaging 20 points per game.

He also averaged four assists and 7.9 rebounds per game.

Its definitely nice having a guy like that come back and play for us, junior guard Brayden Williams said.

Hes one of a kind, his game is just different from everyone elses.

Being able to play with him is very enjoyable.

That impressive junior-year showing gave Sutherland a host of accolades, including a spot on the All-NSIC First Team.

Hes been in the league for a number of years now and he knows what it takes to be successful, Boschee said.

He has been successful individually and hopefully we can use his talents to help us have a really good season as well.

The Beavers also have a pair of productive junior guards in Williams and Olson returning to the team.

It helps out a lot, just because youve got your point guard, shooting guard in control of the game a little bit, Williams said.

Being vocal, being leaders, that helps a lot.

Williams was slotted in primarily as a shooting guard, averaging 33.6 minutes and 8.7 points per game a season ago.

Standing at 6-foot-7, Olson is more of a lengthy wing archetype who can step in as a forward or center, if need be.

He earned 6.6 points per game last year, averaging 22.2 minutes per game.

When you have more pieces to a puzzle it gives you more options and more things that you can potentially do offensively and defensively, Boschee said.

It helps when you sustain an injury here or there to keep playing at a really high level.

But ultimately, I think that iron sharpens iron, and when you have good players in the practice setting, competing against each other, hopefully it makes everybody better.

Between that productive trio and the injection of talent from the transfer portal, the Beavers are entering the 2024-25 season with a roster that looks to have some real depth to it.

This is my third year, I think its the most in-depth team that weve had, Olson said.

You cant ever go wrong with depth.

I like how many guys we can play, Williams said.

I think theres nine to 10 guys that we can play on the floor.

Its shaping up to be another strong year in the NSIC.

Standards are high for Bemidji State, but game-to-game focus will be pivotal in a conference without many breaks.

We certainly have expectations that we want to have a really good season and be one of the best teams in the conference at the end of the year, but it has to be game by game, Boschee said.

You cant look ahead against anybody, this (league is) too good top to bottom.

Even the teams that have lesser records (are) still really good teams with really, really good players on it.

And if you don't play to the level of your ability, you can be beat by anybody.

Plus, Bemidji State wont be easing into its schedule.

The Beavers are in Kansas City, MO.

this weekend to take part in the Central Region Challenge, taking on Central Missouri and Arkansas-Monticello.

Were going to be facing really good competition early, Boschee said.

Its not like division Is this past week, where theyre playing a lot of cupcake teams.

Were going to be playing really good region games, its a region challenge between three conferences in our region.

Nothing but good things for what this opportunity can do for our team moving forward..

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