Ball State University Athletics
Men's Hoops Practice Underway for 2016-17 Season
October 01, 2016 | Men's Basketball
The Ball State men's basketball team is six weeks away from its season opener, but the Cardinals are already hard at work inside Worthen Arena.
Last year's Mid-American Conference West Division co-champions held their first official practice Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals open the regular season Nov. 11 at Saint Louis.
"It's exciting for everybody," Ball State fourth-year coach James Whitford said. "We've been waiting a long time for this day, and we can't wait to get started."
The Cardinals made a massive jump in Whitford's third year. Their improvement from seven wins in 2014-15 to 21 in 2015-16 marked the fourth-largest turnaround in the country a year ago. Ball State reached the postseason for the first time in 14 years and advanced to the quarterfinals of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT).
Whitford knows expectations outside the program will be greater this year, but what's most important to him is the confidence within the program.
"I don't think we approach it any different," Whitford said. "We're always locked into the moment, so I don't think we changed anything in the offseason. But I do think our guys expect to win in a way that we probably haven't since I've been here."
Ball State welcomes back six of its top eight scorers from a year ago, led by All-MAC Second Team forward Franko House at 12.2 points per game. Ryan Weber also averaged double figures at 10.5 points per game. That duo joins Kaleb Mallory and fifth-year transfer DouDou Gueye to form this year's senior class.
The Cardinals made 305 3-pointers last year (five shy of the school record) and bring back 81 percent of that production this season. Weber (74 3's) and Francis Kiapway (70) gave Ball State two players with 70 or more 3-pointers for only the second time in program history. Sean Sellers is also a proven commodity from beyond the arc and developed into more of a complete player last season.
Whitford only expects that returning core to be stronger after some productive summer months.
"I thought we made good progress," he said. "I thought Franko House had an incredible offseason. He really worked on shooting the basketball and is in great shape. He led the way you want a leader to lead, and that's by example. Francis Kiapway and Sean Sellers were their usual selves and I thought worked incredibly hard."
Sophomore big man Trey Moses broke out toward the end of his rookie campaign and is expected to shoulder much of the load down low. His classmate Tahjai Teague, who redshirted last year, will make his debut this season and will make an impact with his all-around game.
The Cardinals also welcome the debut of point guard Tayler Persons, the former Atlantic Sun Conference Freshman of the Year at Northern Kentucky, who has three seasons of eligibility left after sitting out last year.
Fans will get their first look at the Cardinals with a Nov. 3 exhibition game against UIndy at Worthen Arena. The team will play its first regular season home game Nov. 15 against rival Indiana State.
