LAKELAND, Fla.—A strong core of returning players and an exciting group of newcomers could set the stage for an exciting year of Fire men's basketball.
Randy Lee steps in as head coach after serving two separate stints on the SEU bench next to R-Jay Barsh and Kevin Lubbers as an assistant coach. Lee takes over a program in his hometown that is coming off of a 22-8 record and an appearance in the NAIA National Tournament.
"There's always transition year to year, but it's nice to have 10 guys back from last year's roster," said Lee. "I like the individuals as a whole and they're continuing to build chemistry. The culture has been great."
Highlighting the group of returners is the reigning consensus Sun Conference Player of the Year and NAIA All-American
Riley Minix. The Vero Beach native set a conference record by winning nine conference player of the week honors and averaged 22.7 points and 11.2 rebounds per game last year. Minix was also an Academic All-America selection and posted 22 double-doubles.
The Fire also return SUN Freshman of the Year
Joshua Blazquez and Second-Team All-SUN guard
Reggie Mesidor. Blazquez dished out 44 assists and had 16 steals in 29 games last season and Mesidor connected on 52 3-pointers averaging 10.7 points per contest.
"I think the greatest strength is the team as a whole, our depth, and guys that can do multiple things," said Lee.
Mykhailo Yagodin is also back in the mix after posting a 41.7% success rate from 3-point range and averaged nine points per game in 28 appearances with 25 starts.
Riley Matticks is back after starting 26 games last year and
Sean Shore started eight of the 22 he played in a year ago.
Among the newcomers are graduate transfer
Jalan Mull from the University of Saint Francis (Ind.) and
Chris Sodom from Delaware State. Mull had 10 points, seven rebounds, and four assists against SEU last year when he played at The Furnace with the top-ranked Cougars. Sodom was the MEAC Defensive Player of the Year last season with 54 blocks and averaged almost six rebounds per game.
The season begins Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Florida College Classic where the Fire will meet Fisher College, then will play Middle Georgia State on Friday at 5:30. The first home game is against Florida National on Saturday, November 5
th.
"The key to success is the little things and buying into that, continuing to work on the defensive end, and continuing to improve from there," said Lee.
