AMES, Iowa - The Green Bay men's basketball team will begin the 2023-24 regular season on the road Monday night. The Phoenix will travel to Ames, Iowa to take on the Iowa State Cyclones on Monday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. CT.
Eight other Horizon League teams will tip off their season on Monday, including NKU, IUPUI, Cleveland State, Oakland, Milwaukee, RMU, and Youngstown State.
Monday, November 6 – AMES, Iowa – Hilton Coliseum
Green Bay (0-0) vs. Iowa State (0-0)
7:00 PM
Follow the action: Watch (ESPN+) | Listen (WDUZ The Fan) | Live Stats | History
ABOUT THE CYCLONES
Led by third-year head coach T.J. Otzelberger, a Milwaukee native, the Cyclones finished 19-14 overall and 9-9 in the Big 12 last season. However, the Cyclones will look different this season as they lost seven players from last year's team, including their top four leading scorers.
One player sure to feature heavily for Iowa State is sophomore Tamin Lipsey. Lipsey started all 33 games as a freshman and averaged 4.4 assists per game, the fifth-most in the Big 12. Iowa State is set to see debuts from three transfers - Jackson Paveletzke of Wofford, Curtis Jones of Buffalo, and Keshon Gilbert of UNLV.
Last season, Iowa State entered their Big 12 Conference Tournament as the 5 seed, upsetting number 4 Baylor before eventually falling to top-seeded Kansas. Iowa State has only lost three of their last 16 home games and boasted the league's best defense (62.6 PPG). The Cyclones led the Big 12 in Offensive Rebounds (11.5 RPG) and allowed the fewest opponent rebounds of the conference (30.5 RPG), with the league's second-best overall rebounding margin (3.2).
OFFSEASON RECAP
A lot happened during the 2023 offseason. Let's get you caught up:
March 14 - Sundance Wicks was named the ninth head coach in Green Bay men's basketball history.
March 30 - The rest of the coaching staff is announced. Pat Monaghan, Zach Malvik, and Nic Reynolds are added as assistant coaches and Adam Owens is retained as the Director of Basketball Operations.
April 19 – Will Eames, David Douglas Jr., Preston Ruedinger, and Rich Byhre are added to the roster.
May 1 – Noah Reynolds, Elijah Jones, and Foster Wonders join Green Bay.
June 2 – Rahmon Fletcher joins the staff as the Director of Player Development.
EXHIBITION SEASON
Green Bay won their lone exhibition game on Monday, Oct. 30 against St. Norbert (D-III) 65-63.
IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN GB
Green Bay hired Sundance Wicks as the program's next head coach on March 14, 2023. Wicks comes to the Phoenix after three seasons as an assistant coach at Wyoming. In his first season with the Cowboys, Wicks helped revamp an offense that led the Mountain West in scoring at 76.5 points per game. Prior to his time with the Cowboys, he spent two highly successful years as the head coach at NCAA DII Missouri Western State in St. Joseph, Missouri. The Gillette, Wyo., native, led the Griffons to 18 wins in 2019-20, which was the most by the program in 10 years. In his first season at the helm of the program, his team doubled their win total from the year before. In his two seasons, Wicks mentored six All-MIAA players and an NABC All-District selection.
NEW LOOK ROSTER
The Phoenix underwent a roster transformation this past offseason. Of GB's 15 rostered players, three are returners, six are transfers, and six are incoming freshmen.
FAMILIAR FACES
Two of Green Bay's six transfers have played for coach Wicks prior to his time in GB. Will Eames played under coach Wicks at Missouri Western State in 2019-20 when he was the MIAA Freshman of the Year and All-MIAA honorable mention. Another Phoenix that has played for coach Wicks is Wyoming transfer Noah Reynolds. Reynolds was the second leading scorer on Wyoming last year, averaging 14.5 points per game in 19 games played.
BROTHERLY LOVE
The aforementioned Noah Reynolds' older brother Nic Reynolds is an assistant on the coaching staff at Green Bay. The two are from Peoria, Ill., but have many family members in the Fox Valley area. Nic played four years at Columbia College and has had coaching stints at Columbia, Illinois-Springfield, Purdue Northwest, Denver, Southern Arkansas, and now Green Bay.
MAKING THE JUMP
Another name fans should look out for is Rockhurst transfer Rich Byhre. A Delafield, Wis., native, Byhre led Rockhurst in scoring (17.9 ppg), rebounding (8.1 rpg), blocks (22), minutes (33 mpg), and shooting percentage (50.5%). At the conclusion of the season Byhre was named an NABC Division II All-American.
PRESEASON #HLMBB POLL
PL. Team (1st-place votes) – PTS.
1. Northern Kentucky (18) - 435
2. Milwaukee (10) - 397
3. Wright State (12) - 392
4. Cleveland State (1) - 362
5. Youngstown State (3) -342
6. Oakland - 280
7. Robert Morris- 186
8. Purdue Fort Wayne- 166
9. Detroit Mercy- 132
10. IUPUI - 116
11. Green Bay - 96
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