The Missouri Southern men's basketball team will open the 2019-20 season ranked 10th nationally as the National Association of Basketball Coaches released their poll today.
Southern is ranked fourth in the Street and Simth Preseason Poll, while the Lions were ranked 19th in the Division II Bulletin Poll. The Lions have started the season ranked in the national poll four times since the team went Division II. The highest the team has been ranked to start the season was No. 2 in the 2011-12 season. This will mark the 63rd week Southern has been ranked in the poll in the program's history.
The Lions return all five starters, four of which earned some type of All-MIAA honors last year. Cam Martin was a first-team All-MIAA and All-Region selection, while also earning All-American honors. Elyjah Clark was a third-team All-MIAA selection, while Braelon Walker and Kinzer Lambert earned honorable mention All-MIAA. Reggie Tharp will return to run the point for the Lions as he averaged 8.6 points per game and 5.0 assists per contest a season ago.
In total, the Lions return nine letter winners from a season ago. Ted Brown (2.5 points, 1.9 rebounds), Parker Jennings (6.4 points, 1.3 rebounds) and Dexter Frisbie (3.1 points 2.2 rebounds) all saw action, while Christian Bundy averaged 4.8 points and 3.0 rebounds as a freshman in 2017-18 but sat out last season with an ankle injury.
The Lions welcome in five new players to the fold for 19-20 including Division I transfer Stan Scott who comes to Joplin after two seasons at Oakland University. Also new to the program are freshmen Martin Macenis (13.1 points/6.2 rebounds) from Stagg, Ill., Winston Dessesow (16.7 points/6.0 rebounds) from Faragut (Fla.) High School and Tyriqe Jackson a 6-6 swing man that was a three-time All-Conference player and a 1,000 point scorer at Lonoke (Ark.) high school. The final new piece to the puzzle for the Lions is Aleksa Markovic, who hails from Prodgorica, Montenegro, but prepped at Bloomfield (Ind.) High School.
Northwest Missouri is the defending National Champion and is ranked No. 1 to start the season. Washburn and Fort Hays State are also receiving votes in the poll. Other teams from the Central Region ranked in the top 25 include Southern Nazarene (9) and Northern State (15).
Southern opens the season at the MIA/ NSIC Challenge in Kansas City, where the Lions will take on Winona State at 2:15 pm on Friday, November 8 and Minnesota State at noon on Saturday, November 9. Both games will be played at historic Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City.
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