DETROIT -- The 2024-25 season is finally here for the Wayne State University men's basketball program.  The Warriors will open with back-to-back non-conference road games for the first time in nearly eight years when they travel to Lincoln (Mo.) on Friday night (8 PM ET) and UIndy on Sunday afternoon (3:30 PM).

STORYLINES
The Wayne State University men's basketball program begins year three under head coach and Warrior alum Bryan Smothers this Friday at Lincoln University of Missouri before a Sunday contest at Indianapolis.  Through his first two campaigns as a collegiate head coach, Smothers has an overall record of 22-32, including a GLIAC mark of 12-24.

Last season, Smothers led WSU (14-15 overall, 7-11 GLIAC) to a victory in five of the final seven regular-season games before his first appearance in the GLIAC Tournament as a head coach.  Wayne State won 75-74 on the road at Saginaw Valley State in the regular-season finale on a Carmelo Harris last-second buzzer beater in order to qualify.  Then, playing as the seventh seed, the Warriors knocked off second-seeded Lake Superior State 87-78 in Sault Ste. Marie.  That triumph meant Wayne State had won its first GLIAC Tournament game since 2012, and its first opening round GLIAC Tournament game either on the road (or neutral site) since Feb. 25, 1999.

Fast forward to this season as Wayne State return three of its five starters, including 2023-24 Second Team All-GLIAC member Harris (team-leading 12.9 PPG), 2023-24 GLIAC All-Defensive Team member Ray Williams, Jr. (9.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG) and Tamario Adley (8.8 PPG, 3.1 APG).  Also back are the reigning GLIAC Freshman of the Year Rob Lee, Jr. (12.6 PPG in GLIAC play), Jordan Briggs (played in all 29 games) and Kareem Aburashed (squad-best 20 blocks).  All in all, the Warriors bring back 10 players, eight of which were letterwinners a season ago.

THE SERIES
Wayne State and Lincoln (Mo.) will be facing off for the first time ever.  As for UIndy, the Warriors have seen the Greyhounds three times in their history, most recently in 2006, each of which resulted in a victory for WSU.  

SCOUTING THE BLUE TIGERS
Following 14 seasons as a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA), Lincoln embarks on its first year in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC).  Lincoln became the GLVC's 15th member this past July.

The Blue Tigers are coached by Jimmy Drew who, like Smothers, begins his third season at the helm.  In his first two campaigns, Drew led LU to overall records of 17-10 (13-9 MIAA) and 15-15 (9-13 MIAA), respectively.  Adding on to that 2022-23 season, Drew turned Lincoln into a 17-win team after just four victories the year before.  The Blue Tigers qualified for the MIAA Tournament for the first time since 2019-20 and won 13 league games, a new program record.

No stranger to Missouri, Drew began his collegiate career by playing two seasons for Southeast Missouri State University.  He then transferred to DePaul University, where he started 17 games as a senior.

Fast forward to this fall and Lincoln was picked to finish 11th in the 15-squad GLVC.  The Blue Tigers return their third-leading scorer in junior forward Franck Yetna, who averaged 10.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 30.7 minutes per game, while totaling 23 blocks in 29 games played, 28 of which were starts.

SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS
UIndy is coming off a 2023-24 campaign in which it went 23-9 overall, 17-3 in GLVC play, won a second straight GLVC Regular-Season Championship and hosted the NCAA Midwest Regional.  The Greyhounds would lose to GLIAC member Ferris State in the regional semifinals, the regional's eventual champion and Elite Eight representative.

In 2024-25, the program will be coached by a UIndy alum in his first season, Scott Heady.  Heady takes over after spending the last seven years as the head coach at Marian University, another Indianapolis institution at the NAIA level.  There, he compiled a 168-56 (.750 winning percentage) overall record with at least 20 wins and an NAIA Tournament berth each of those seven seasons.  That run included the school's first-ever national semifinal appearance in 2019.

This fall, UIndy was slotted sixth in the GLVC Preseason Poll with one of the 15 available first-place votes.  The Greyhounds return a pair of key performers in senior forward Dylan Ingram and fifth-year guard Zac Szul.  Ingram played in 30 games, while averaging nine minutes per outing in 2023-24.  Szul appeared in all 32 of the team's games off the bench, while ranking second on the team in three-point percentage, converting 25-of-59 (42.4%) attempts from long range.

GLIAC PRESEASON POLL
Wayne State was picked to finish fifth out of 11 schools in the 2024-25 GLIAC Preseason Poll.  Sophomore guard Rob Lee, Jr. (Flint, Mich. / Beecher), the league's reigning Freshman of the Year, was named Preseason All-GLIAC Second Team.  Each head coach ranked the other 10 teams with Lake Superior State taking nine of the 10 first-place votes and 98 total points.  The other three squads in front of Wayne State included Ferris State in second (one first place, 88 points), Northern Michigan in third (one first place, 80 points) and Grand Valley State in fourth (77 points).  Trailing the Warriors were Michigan Tech (50 points), Parkside (50 points), Saginaw Valley State (41 points), Purdue Northwest (32 points), Davenport (17 points) and Roosevelt (15 points).

SCHEDULE OUTLOOK
Looking at the 2024-25 schedule, the 28-game slate features 26 contests against NCAA Midwest Region foes, 20 games within GLIAC play and 14 home dates inside the Fieldhouse.  The Lincoln contest is one of eight out of conference play for the Warriors as well as at Indianapolis (Nov. 10), vs. Findlay (Nov. 17), vs. Tiffin (Nov. 23), at Lewis (Nov. 26), vs. Michigan-Dearborn (Dec. 11), at Northwood (Dec. 19) and vs. Redeemer (Dec. 21).  WSU will embark on its league schedule beginning at home with Davenport on Thursday, Dec. 5.  The GLIAC schedule as a whole includes 20 games with a home contest and road date against each of the other 10 schools.  In league action, the Warriors will play more than twice in a row at home or on the road only once, a four-game road swing from Feb. 13-22.  Wayne State will play the GLIAC's newest member Roosevelt University in a pair of Monday contests - Jan. 27 at the WSU Fieldhouse and Feb. 17 at the Goodman Center in Chicago.

2024-25 BROADCAST CREWS
All men's basketball regular-season contests (both home and away) will air live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM), except the two non-Division 2 games (Dec. 11 vs. Michigan-Dearborn and Dec. 21 against Redeemer).  Fans can also stream the action online at PatriotDetroit.com.  This will be the 23rd consecutive season WSU basketball has been aired on 1400 AM.  Kevin Brechmacher returns for his ninth season calling the WSU men's games on WDTK.  He will be joined on the broadcast of home games by either Chuck Key (2014-18), Marcus Moore (2014-18) or Andy Dold (1998-2002), all former Warriors/Tartars.  In addition, every GLIAC contest will be televised on FloSports (flohoops.com) per the GLIAC agreement with FloSports.  In addition, all home non-conference games for the men will also be on FloHoops, including the two aforementioned contests on Dec. 11 and Dec. 21.