BURNSVILLE, Minn. - The Winona State University men's basketball team is set to start the 2025-26 campaign, led by sophomore transfer Ryan Heise, who has been named the Winona State Player to Watch in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). 

The NSIC released the 2025-26 Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll, and the Warriors were picked to finish ninth in the league with 115 points, coming in just behind Sioux Falls (120 points) and right in front of Wayne State (101 points). 

New this year, the NSIC is split into two eight team divisions (North and South). Winona State was picked to finish seventh in the South Division. SMSU was tabbed first overall in the NSIC and the South Division with Minnesota Duluth picked to finish first in the North Division.

Heise joins the Winona State squad following a strong freshman 2024-25 campaign for Upper Iowa University. The former Lake City, Minnesota standout averaged 7.4 points per game to go along with his 3.6 rebounds per contest last year for Upper Iowa. He played in all 30 games with 18.1 minutes a game in his redshirt freshman season for the Peacocks.

Eisner, heading into his 11th season at the helm, said, "Ryan is a skilled big that really fits the way we play offensively. We are excited about his ability to shoot the ball from the perimeter and run the floor in transition. Ryan has been working extremely hard this off-season and in fall workouts. We will need him to be a consistent presence on both ends of the floor for us."

Along with Heise, the Warriors return Johnny Papadakos, Nick Taylor, Tyler Mason, Connor Roffers, and Tyson Keil who all saw minutes last season. Tyler Borowski, Gavyn Hurley, Caleb Johnson, and Jackson Hayes all return as well.

Winona State brings in talent from other programs this season with Joevonn McCottry, Jaron Crews, Kaiden Space, and Kayden Wells all come in as transfers from respective programs.  

Coach Eisner noted this about the Warrior squad this season, "This is the second year in a row that we lost four starters, so we again have a lot of new faces. I have liked what I have seen in fall workouts from our new players, but we will continue to learn more as we start practice in a few weeks. We will need Tyler Mason and Nick Taylor, the two players that played on last year's NCAA Tournament team, to be improved as each moves from their freshman to sophomore seasons. Also, it's good to have Gavyn Hurley back after missing last season with a knee injury."
 
Rounding out the Warriors roster is the freshman group of Alessandro Tonelli, Aidan Bardic, Ryan Watters, and Kellen Little.

Winona State is set to begin their season on Sunday, November 2 when they face off in an exhibition game against Saint Mary's University (Minn.).

The 12-team NSIC Men's Basketball Tournament will begin the first round games on Wednesday, Feb. 25 on campus (top four seeds each receive first round byes). Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Championships rounds are set to take place March 1-4 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.