UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team finished sixth in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) preseason coaches poll. The Cardinals claimed the sixth spot last season in the league after a 9-9 record in league competition.
Eight players from the 2022-23 squad return this season, led by Second-Team All-GLIAC Preseason team members Tre Garrett and Freddie McIntosh. Garrett is joined by senior returners Maurice Barnett and Jiovanni Miles along with newcomer Dylan West from Missouri-St. Louis. McIntosh heads the junior class that features returner Alijah Harrison and transfers Maurice Anderson (UM-Dearborn), Cadin Augustine (Redlands CC), and D'Juan "Toodles" Seal (Henry Ford College). Redshirt sophomore Kevonne Taylor returns as does Ethan Hill. Curis Jackson joins the squad with Seal from Henry Ford College. Elivs Machul Jr. returns after receiving a redshirt last season. Triston Nichols from De La Salle High School and Christian Zielinski from HH Dow High School complete the team as a true freshman.
McIntosh is the team's leading scorer from a year ago as he averaged 16.3 points per contest. Garrett was second last year at 14.7 PPG. Taylor was the team's leading post player with a team-high 2.1 blocks per game while also averaging 5.7 PPG. Garrett was also one of the defensive returners as he finished with a team-high 2.0 steals per game. McIntosh was third in that category with 1.1 takeaways. The junior guard from Saginaw, Michigan had a 3.2 assists per game clip last season, which was second on the team.
Randy Baruth leads the coaching staff as he heads into his 13th season at the helm of the program. He is assisted by Tommy Twardecki and Barry Huckeby. Tim Inman is on the staff as a special assistant to the head coach and Mason Kochanski is the student assistant coach.
The Cardinals have an exhibition contest against Rochester University before kicking off the season against Malone on Friday, November 10. SVSU has eight non-conference games, highlighted by two big road games at Hillsdale and Indianapolis. A four-game homestand begins with rival Northwood on Tuesday, November 21. The GLIAC season starts with a trip to the Upper Peninsula on November 7 and 9 to face Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan. An exhibition game at NCAA Division I Butler in Indianapolis, Indiana is followed by a second matchup against Hillsdale at home.