SAINT PETER, Minn. — The Gustavus men's basketball team tips off the 2023-24 season Friday night at UW-Whitewater, looking to improve from a 2022-23 season that ended with a 9-16 overall record and eighth place finish in the MIAC. 

In his second year at the helm of the program, Head Coach Justin DeGrood is looking forward to a sense of familiarity after his debut season behind the bench. 

"I'm excited for a level of consistency that we didn't have last year. We have a better idea of what to expect of the ebbs and flows of the season. It's year two of our new offense, our new defense, our systems, structures, and philosophies, so I'm looking forward to not having the 'newness' we had last season."

DeGrood will lean on the veteran leadership of his four captains, Wyatt Olson, Spencer Swanson, Evan Wieker, and Adam Biewen, both on and off the court.

"We're excited about this captain group – they have a good amount of leadership experience in playing and practice, and they're just overall seasoned college athletes. They're four of our hardest workers and most dedicated players, in and out of season, and that's exactly the kind of group we want leading this program."

Swanson returns for his junior year after leading the 2022-23 team in scoring and rebounds last season, averaging 19.9 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. His points per game ranked fifth in the MIAC, while his rebounding average ranked fourth. Swanson shot 48.8 percent from the field, and led the conference in minutes per game (36.8). Olson will be playing in his first full season in a Gustie jersey, after transferring last winter from Bemidji State. In 16 games last year, Olson averaged 8.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and shot a team-high 51.9 percent from the field. Seniors Wieker and Biewen ranked second and fourth in scoring on last year's team, respectively.

This year's roster includes 11 returners and seven newcomers. DeGrood expects his first-year players to make an instant impact in their first season of college basketball.

"This is our first recruiting class with this staff, and we're looking forward to those guys pushing us and making us better this season. They love the game, they're gym rats, and constantly want to work at and hone their craft. They're already incredibly comfortable, and have a desire to be coached. Ultimately, with any first-year class, we expect them to grow as better basketball players individually, and help us as a group move the needle forward, and they're certainly already starting to do that. They're a really talented group that is fitting in nicely with the kind of program we want to build."

The Gusties are on the road for their first five games of the season, and open play with two national notables this weekend, facing No. 2 UW-Whitewater Friday and UW-Platteville Saturday, which received 62 votes in the latest D3hoops.com national poll. 

"Overall, our scheduling philosophy is to try to intentionally pick strong regional games and opponents for the big picture of our season, but also to help prepare us for our very talented conference. We have high expectations to compete and win this weekend, but we want to make sure that when we drive away Saturday, we believe and know we can be a better team in week two than we were in week one. The best way to do that is to challenge ourselves with difficult opponents like Whitewater and Platteville, who will make us a more competitive team in the long run."

The Gusties begin MIAC play on Nov. 21 at St. Olaf, and host their home opener on Nov. 29 against Carleton.