by Eric Willuweit

Chicago, Ill. – The Illinois Tech men’s basketball team is set to tip-off their 2022-23 season, as they travel to California for a pair of non-conference games this week to begin the season.

On November 3rd, the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) released the men’s basketball preseason poll. Illinois Tech was voted to finish 5th with 208 points. The Scarlet Hawks received three first place votes. St. Norbert led the poll with 306 points, narrowly edging out Marian, who finished with 303 points. 

Head coach Terrence "TJ" Gray provided his thoughts on the upcoming season.

“I’m very optimistic where we are as a program right now” said Gray. “Even though we’ve had some injuries take place here early, I still think we have a solid core group that is experienced, and ready to take on the challenges of the year. I know as a staff we are feeling pretty confident about the team and some of the things we feel we are capable of accomplishing this year” Gray said.

Among the returning core players that Coach Gray was speaking of include fifth-year seniors Milos Dugalic and Otis Reale, graduate student Ahmad Muhammad and sophomore Caden Gigstad.

Last season, Dugalic averaged 15.3 points per game, while pulling down 8.3 rebounds per game. Reale poured in 16.8 points per game, including 43% from the three-point range. Muhammad battled through injuries but came back to finish the season strong, averaging 9.6 points per game. Gigstad added 9.0 points per game to go along with 36% shooting from behind the arc.

Gray also feels he will get contributions from his newcomers this season, including transfers Desmond Price and Zack Davis, and first-year players Garrison Carter and Cole Whipple.

In total, the Scarlet Hawks have 11 returning players and 10 incoming players.

Coach Gray feels the conference will play out like last year, with tough competition night in and night out, especially against the top half of the conference.

“It is going to be very competitive. It’s going to be a fight to the top, and I think that is great for the league” Gray said.

Last season, the Hawks finished in fourth place, and won their first-round conference tournament game against Dominican before falling to eventual conference champion Marian University in the second round.

The Scarlet Hawks open the 2022-23 campaign on Thursday, November 10 at Cal Lutheran, with a 9:00 PM CT tip-off. The Hawks will conclude their California trip on Saturday, November 12, with a 6:00 PM CT date at Cal Tech.