Men's Basketball | 10.14.2021

LEWISTON, Idaho – Coming off a national championship game appearance, the Lewis-Clark State Men's Basketball team returns one starter, welcomes a handful of new faces, and looks for returners to build on what has come before them.
 
This will be the program's first full season as a member of the Cascade Collegiate Conference, as it has 22 Cascade Conference games on its schedule. After kicking off the season with four home games, the Warriors will travel to Spokane to take on NCAA Division I Gonzaga on Nov. 5. LC hosts former Frontier Conference foes Providence (Mont.) and Montana Western on Nov. 12 and 13 as part of the Clearwater River Casino and Lodge Classic. Its first pair of CCC home games come on Dec. 3 and 4 when LC State takes on Northwest and Evergreen State. The Warriors match up against in-state rival College of Idaho at home on Friday, Feb. 4.
 
No team in the conference lost more on-court production than LC State from last season and the Warriors look forward to competing against the conference's best.
 
LC will be led by key returners Khalil Stevenson, Nathan Fromm, Silas Bennion, and Oreon Courtney who will see their roles increased this season.
 
Stevenson, the lone senior, was the Warriors' top scorer in the NAIA National Championship game as he enters his fourth go-around with the program. He was one of two Warriors to start all 24 games last season while averaging 8.2 points per game.
 
"No one has been through more battles than Khalil," Head Coach Austin Johnson said. "We'll lean on him a lot, this is a great opportunity for him to grow as a person, a competitor, and a man. He knows the ups and downs you go through as a player and the expectations of being at LC. We will learn from him because of his past experience of being involved in achieving great things."
 
"Nate and Silas both need to take big steps, they both got tremendous experience during last season," Johnson said. "Nate, we believe, can be a pretty high-level scorer. He had a couple of games in double-digits in the national tournament, we anticipate him taking a step confidence-wise with the ball in his hands, being a bigger option than he was last year".
 
Fromm is an athletic 6-5 wing from Alaska who appeared in 19 games during the previous campaign and averaged 7.2 points per game.
 
"Silas, for a true freshman, played a lot of minutes," Johnson recalled. "We need him to be efficient and be a threat offensively. He is a solid on-ball defender who can dictate stuff for us defensively. We look forward to him being a complete player for us". 
 
Courtney led LC in field goal percentage (.718) during 2020-21, the second-best in a single season at LC State.
 
"We want him to continue to be efficient and a more versatile defender," Johnson said of Courtney. "Oreon does a lot of little things for us so we want him to continue on the trajectory he is on and capitalize on mismatches at different positions".
 
Incoming graduate transfers Kevin Baker and Al Sommerfield will be counted on for immediate contribution. In their previous seasons of competition, Baker and Sommerfield averaged 9.0 and 7.0 points per game, respectively. The duo played together at Green River College before moving on to NCAA DII schools.
 
"Both of those guys need to be impact players and have an impact in regards to their leadership, they can't have bad days," Johnson explained. "We knew we wanted to get a couple of experienced transfers that could help space the floor and play with some IQ and Kevin and Al were those guys".
 
Stevenson, Baker, and Sommerfield have the most collegiate experience and will be heavily relied on.
 
Additional newcomers freshman Teagen Hoard, along with junior college transfer Kai Warren, are anticipated to add a spark to the Warriors rotation.
 
"Teagen is one of the more dynamic high school players we've signed," Johnson said. "Physically and athletically he can play right away. I expect Teagen, as a true freshman, to find himself in some big moments. Kai is an athletic wing that is continuing to learn our system. He has shown flashes of being a high-level defender and a very hard to guard one-on-one scorer".
 
LC State will also look for returners Will Abram, Brennen Newsom, Colton Spencer, Grant Ellison, and Sam Stockton to grow on the court and contribute in their roles. All saw a good amount of action in 2020-21 as each appeared in at least eight games for the Warriors.
 
Johnson has seen promising improvement in Abram.
 
"Will has started to figure out how to use his size and athleticism," Johnson said. "As he continues to utilize his natural abilities he makes himself a better rebounder, a better target in the post. He creates a lot of space screening and rolling as well as on the block which makes it easier for the other four guys on the court."
 
"We expect Brennen to take a big jump," Johnson explained. "We think he can be a very good five-man in the future for us. He has already made some strides in the present in terms of being a rim-running big, an active rebounder, and someone who is mobile defensively. We need and expect Brennen to carve out a role".
 
"Colt and Grant have both had a good fall," Johnson said. "Both have taken some big steps in terms of being more than just a scorer. They have taken steps in understanding how we do things."
 
"Sam has improved his shooting," Johnson explained. "He is a swiss army knife in the mold of Khalil Stevenson in terms of I think we can play Sam at different spots. He can do a lot of different things from the guard spots".
 
Aiding in the Warrior effort are a pair of freshmen, 7-footer Joel Meske and Australian Kalani Sapwell.
 
Lewis-Clark State opens its season with an exhibition against the Seattle Mountaineers on Oct. 17 at 2 p.m. in the Activity Center, followed by a pair of regular-season games at home against Yellowstone Christian on Oct. 27 and 28.
 
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.