BURNSVILLE, Minn. - The Winona State University men's basketball team is set to start the 2024-25 campaign, led by senior Connor Drew who has been named the Winona State Player to Watch in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).
The NSIC released the 2024-25 Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll, and the Warriors were picked to finish 11th in the league with 84 points, coming in just behind Minot State (90 points) and right in front of Wayne State (57 points).
Drew returns to the floor for Winona State following a strong 2023-24 campaign in which he appeared in all 31 games for head coach Todd Eisner. The former Huxley, Iowa standout is the highest scoring returner at 10.3 ppg last year. Drew also averaged 4.4 rebounds per game while playing 26.3 minutes per contest.
Eisner, heading into his tenth season at the helm, said "Connor has been a three-year starter for our program and has been a valuable contributor on both ends of the floor. His work ethic and competitiveness show up on a daily basis and we will now need him to be a leader for our team with 10 new players on our roster. Connor brings great value to how we play as he is a threat to score in the paint and from the three-point line and he is also outstanding in our ball screen coverage on defense. I look forward to Connor having an outstanding senior year for the Warriors."
Along with Drew, the Warriors return Tyler Borowski, Gavyn Hurley, and Devon Fielding who all saw minutes last season. Tyler Orr, Tyson Keil, Mikail Harmison, and Arius Alijosius all return as well after redshirting last season.
Winona State brings in talent from other programs this season with Johnny Papadakos, Ahmad Artis, Jhei-R Jones, Luke Haetle, and Isaiah Thompson all come in as transfers from respective programs.
Coach Eisner noted this about the Warrior squad this season, "This will be a year in transition as we only return one starter (Connor Drew) and one part-time starter (Devon Fielding) from last year's team. We will need Connor & Devon to make a positive jump in their production as upperclassmen. I am excited about the development of our redshirt freshmen and really like the pieces we have added in this recruiting class to come in and help our program immediately."
Rounding out the Warrior roster is loaded freshman squad in Jackson Hayes, Caleb Johnson, Tyler Mason, Connor Roffers, and Nick Taylor.
Winona State is set to begin their season on Sunday, November 3 where they face off in an exhibition game against Saint Mary's Univeristy (Minn.).
