The Falcons men’s basketball team will officially kick off their season on Friday with a road tilt against the Drexel Dragons in Philadelphia.
“I think we’re coming along very nicely at this stage,” Falcons head coach Michael Huger said. “The freshmen are coming along very nicely. Learning the system, learning the defense is the biggest thing that I think we need to get adjusted to as freshmen. The physicality of the game, the speed of the game, but defensively they’re doing great and I’m happy with that. Now we’re gelling and meshing and coming together at the right time and now I think we are ready for that outside competition. A couple weeks ago I don’t know if we were quite ready for outside competition but right now they are itching to go. I can’t wait, I’m excited about the start of the season.”
Huger is a Bowling Green alumnus and this will be his third year at the helm. He has a record of 29-37 as the Falcons head coach.
The Falcons look to be lead by junior forward Demajeo Wiggins and sophomore guard Dylan Frye. Last year the Falcons went 13 and 19 with a conference record of its 7-11; however, the team is still looking to establish themselves.
“Very close to having a starting lineup but not close to having a starting lineup I’m ready to share. We have a starting lineup intact and we’re ready to go. Things can change within a week but I don’t think that will happen,” Huger said.
The Drexel Dragons will look upon senior forward Austin Williams and senior guard Sammy Monica this year. The Dragons went 9-23 last year as well as 3-15 in their conference. The team feels that seeing how freshman players react to their first game will also be important.
“The biggest thing now as freshmen coming in, mine in particular, all of them were the man on the team,” Huger said. “They were the best player on the team, so now you’re coming to a situation where a whole team was pretty much their best player and now you need them to play as one and that’s the thing that they adjusted to the best I thought, sharing the ball. They didn’t have a problem with sharing the ball and being a good teammate. Defense is always the toughest thing for freshmen, the toughness. First of all they’re not strong enough coming in so they work very hard. Kenny Goodrich did a good job with them over the summer, putting muscle and bulk on those guys to get them ready for the season. So that part came along well and now the defense.”
