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Oct. 9, 2019Feature | Basketball

MIAA Basketball Media Day Broadcast

(Photo courtesy Colin McDonough, Northwest Athletics)

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KXCV-KRNW's Media Coverage presented by Nodaway Valley Bank, Rogers Pharmacy, Greater Maryville Chamber of Commerce, A&G Restaurant, and the Maryville License Bureau.

The MIAA released its preseason rankings for men's and women's basketball Wednesday morning during the conference's media day activities.

Northwest was picked to defend their title on the men's side in both the coaches and media polls, garnering all but one first place vote in each.

The Bearcats return four of five starters, including All-American Trevor Hudgins and MIAA Defensive Player of the Year Ryan Hawkins.

Head coach Ben McCollum is excited about the guys he has coming back, but it can come with its own challenges.

"That's a blessing and a curse all at once. I think sometimes when you don't have a lot, those guys are hungry and naturally excited. Now you have to manufacture that a little bit. You have to be more careful in how you're coaching them in the preseason making sure that you stay process-focused, but yet there's still a level of fun. At the Coaching U deal, I was fortunate enough to be able to call Billy Donovan who had won two in a row (at Florida). That was the first thing he mentioned, was making sure that your kids have a lot of fun."

On the women's side, Northwest landed 10th in the league's coaches poll and 11th in the media poll.

Head coach Austin Meyer brought in six freshmen and one transfer to the program to go along with the foundation he established in his first year.

Size was emphasized throughout the recruiting process, and the team has four new additions standing 5-foot-11 or taller.

Meyer says the height will mix well with a talented backcourt.

"With our newcomers, we do have a lot more length out there. We had a time in practice where we have 6-2, 6-3, 5-11 out there, which we never had last year. That definitely helps, but just continuing to get better, pressuring the ball, because we're going to have to be good defensively. Obviously two of our best offensive players, Jaelyn Haggard and Kendey Eaton, are 5-5 smaller guards, where there's not a lot of length out there with them, so they have to get up and pressure and be able to move their feet and cause havoc."

The Northwest women open with an exhibition game October 29 against UMKC, while the men's team plays at Duke on October 26th.