LRSC Men's Basketball: 'Buzz in the air'

Article by David Perry, Devils Lake Journal Sports, Thursday, October 26th, 2017.

Songs and books have been written about it. If you listen, you can hear it. If you know it's there, then you can feel it. With the LRSC men's basketball season approaching, there is something 'in the air' about this 2017-2018 team.

"If you talk to the alumni, people that have seen us play, there is a little bit of a buzz around our team; having all these guys back, " Head Coach Jared Marshall said. "We lost one starter from last year."

Coming off a 20-11 record, second in the conference and hosting a playoff game that came down to the wire, the Royals had a great '16-'17 season. Couple that with only losing three players, one starter, for this season, last year's great season should be a prelude of what is to come, not more of the same but greater, quite possibly greatness...and maybe a little pressure. "Whenever you are returning eight guys, two all conference players in Cedric Boone & Jordan Bolton, a D1 big man in Harvey Barr and you have that much talent coming back, I think there is always going to be pressure," Marshall said. "We have four or five starters back and we only lost two of our top ten scorers."

The Royals' goals are simple, straightforward, cut and dry. "Twenty wins is always a goal, hosting a playoff game and making the regional championship," Marshall said. "Last year was the first time in about seven or eight years since we hosted a home playoff game. We haven't hung a banner in ten. So having a very freshman heavy team last year and winning that many games was a really good thing. The goal is to always hang a banner." Goals don't simply stop when players leave the court. It's easy for athletic programs to get caught up in strictly 'on the court' performances but LRSC has proven themselves with an 'off the court' academic swag also. "Every single one of our athletic programs made the NJCAA top list academically," Marshall said. "We finished fifth in the nation in team GPA. Every year we have the most MonDak academic all-conference. That is an important thing. It's such a good program. My job is not to develop it. My job is to keep it going and recruit the right type of kids."

"I'm fortunate enough to be in charge of a program that already has such a great history and tradition. Danny Mertens (Athletic Director) and Dr. Darling (LRSC President) know it is important so we need to make sure that it is important to us too." With the 'buzz' around the Royals, there are still teams that need to be closely monitored and focused on for the season to be a success.

"It's always Wahpeton. They've won it three straight years and they are always the team to beat. They've been the powerhouse in the conference the last few years so that's the team we have to get by to measure where we are. Williston is always tough too. They are the team that beat us hear last year. Gillette is going to start the year top 25. They were top ten last year. Two years ago we gave them fits and this last year we struggled. They had more sophomores and were pretty athletic. I am excited to see how we hold up against them."

On paper, the '17-'18 LRSC Royals look to be an exciting team to watch. With a lot of home games this year, there will be plenty of opportunities to see some local faces and names. Players like Alex Weston, Kyle Henningsgard, Jake Hanson and Drew Thielges are all native to North Dakota. "I know that is important to the fans," Marshall said. "Guys that they know and can get behind. I know they will see a lot of familiar faces." 

"We are a fun brand of basketball. There will never be a shortage of points being scored. We can do a lot of funn stuff."