Ferris State Men's Basketball Tips Off 2019-20 At Home With Preseason Action This Weekend

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad tips off the 2019-20 season with a pair of preseason tilts at home this weekend inside FSU's Jim Wink Arena.

The Bulldogs will host Muskegon Community College in exhibition play on Saturday (Oct. 19) night starting at 7 p.m. (ET) and then take on the stars from the past with their annual Alumni Game on Sunday (Oct. 20) beginning at 3 p.m.

Ferris State will once again enter the year with lofty expectations after notching its fifth consecutive season with 20 or more victories last season.

The Bulldogs return seven letterwinners from last year's squad and welcome a strong recruiting class that features a few key transfers and a group of freshmen that could make a quick impact as FSU opens its seventh season under head coach Andy Bronkema.

Last season, following a historic 2017-18 season in which FSU went 38-1 overall and won the school's first NCAA Division II National Championship, the Bulldogs compiled a 20-12 overall record and placed second in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) North Division standings.

Along with the second-place league finish, the Bulldogs also reached the GLIAC Tournament for the fifth consecutive year and earned the right to host a quarterfinal-round home contest. Overall, FSU went 12-3 at home last season inside Jim Wink Arena. The past five years with 20 or more wins ranks as the greatest five-year stretch in program history.

FSU is expected to be led by a veteran trio of seniors in guards D'angelo Hughes and Greg Williams along with center Cole Walker. Three other regulars from last year's rotation are also back in wings Jaylin McFadden and Michael Peterson along with post Mason Pline. Junior college transfer Walt Kelser, who redshirted last year along with wing Ben Davidson, should make a big impact along with Minot State (N.D.) D2 transfer Dorian Aluyi and NCAA Division I addition Logan Ryan from Colorado State in addition to several promising freshmen.

Sunday's Alumni game will then be followed by a second exhibition outing versus Calvin at home on Tuesday (Oct. 22) evening at 7 p.m.

The 2019-20 men's basketball regular season will tipoff on Nov. 1-3 when FSU gets an early start by taking part in the D2 Tip-Off Classic in Anaheim, Calif. The Bulldogs will face Wayne State (Neb.), Texas Permian-Basin and Concordia (Calif.) in the event with all three outings slated for 8:30 p.m. (ET) tipoff times. The regular-season home opener is Saturday, Nov. 9, against Davis & Elkins at 12 p.m. (ET).