Montana State Men's Basketball Begins Preseason Practices
9/26/2022 7:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Bobcats officially began preseason practices on Monday with a full two-and-a-half-hour practice that marked the start of the team’s Big Sky Conference title-defense campaign.
BOZEMAN, Montana — Kicking off the 2022-23 men's basketball season, the Montana State Bobcats held its first full day of practice in Brick Breeden Fieldhouse on Monday.
For the defending outright Big Sky Conference champions and the other 362 NCAA Division I programs, Monday marked the first time teams could practice up to 20 hours per week. Throughout the offseason, the Bobcats have been working in small groups, doing conditioning and strength training and even playing together for the first time on a European tour earlier this summer. Yet Monday marked the first time the team practiced for the full, two-and-a-half hours.
"I thought the guys competed in practice," Fourth-year MSU head coach and 2021-22 Big Sky Men's Coach of the Year Danny Sprinkle said. "Obviously, going longer than a 45-minute or an hour-long workout is a lot different. But I liked our guys' focus and intensity today."
If one thing is certain in the preseason, it's that the Bobcats won't rest on their laurels from last year. The 2021-22 season saw the Montana State men's basketball team sweep both the regular-season and Big Sky Championship titles, accumulate a 27-8 record and make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996. Individually, forward Jubrile Belo was the Big Sky's Most Valuable Player, Defensive MVP and a unanimous first-team selection, joining senior teammate Xavier Bishop on the All-Big Sky First Team. Senior Amin Adamu was an honorable mention all-conference selection, plus RaeQuan Battle was named the Big Sky's Top Reserve. Of those honorees, Belo and Battle return this year.
But the Bobcats have made a concerted effort to put last season behind them.
"Our motto this year is 'no one cares,'" Sprinkle said. "We don't even talk about last year — in fact, last year put a bigger target on us. We have to be better, cleaner with our execution and tougher than we were last year. That's all a work in progress. But a lot of these guys weren't part of our team last year, so they have something to prove too."
Alongside the returners, MSU brings in three experienced transfers in Darius Brown II (Cal State Northridge), Robert Ford III (Idaho State) and Caleb Fuller (UC Davis), plus two true freshmen in Luca Colceag and Jed Miller. They will join the aforementioned Belo and Battle, plus Tyler Patterson, Great Osobor, Nick Gazelas and Sam Lecholat — all of whom saw time in more than 30 games last season.
"We have to continue to get better at playing more than one possession," Sprinkle said. "In a game, there might be six or eight possessions in transition before the whistle blows. Right now, we have to play good for one possession and transition, then keep building from there. It's always a work in progress, but as long as they're competing and giving their best efforts, then we're going to get there."
Montana State's season-opening Blue-Gold Scrimmage is on Oct. 27, then the Bobcats will take on Montana State University Billings in a home exhibition on Oct. 30. Season tickets for the 2022-23 men's basketball season are available now at msubobcats.com/tickets.
