By Logan Jones
Asst. Sports Editor
With the 2018 Ranger basketball season just days away, there are high hopes for this years’ squad.
Northwestern was ranked sixth in the conference in a preseason poll of all basketball coaches in the Great American Conference.
The Rangers were also the only other team, aside from Southern Nazarene, to receive a first-place vote.
The Rangers earned 78 points in the poll, separated only by 14 points from second-ranked Southeastern Oklahoma State (92).
After being picked 11th in the GAC coaches poll a year ago, head coach Shawn Dirden knows that it is not about where you start the year, but where you finish it that counts.
“To some people, pre-season rankings mean a lot. We could have been picked first or picked 12th and it’s not going to change our mindset,” Dirden said.
Following a 2017 campaign that saw NWOSU go 22-7 with a second-place finish to Southern Nazarene, the Rangers are looking to keep up their winning pace as Dirden enters his third year as head coach.
Northwestern has two key starters returning in 2018 in junior point guard, A.J. Jones as well as GAC Newcomer of the Year, Treyvon Andres.
Other than that, the roster looks completely different with 11 new players added to the Ranger squad.
“I expect big things from those guys. Their focus has been there, and they’re motivated to help lead this team to where it needs to go,” Dirden said. “We’ve done a great job recruiting and I think we’ve put some important pieces around those two returning players to have an opportunity to compete at a high level again in the GAC.”
The Rangers will open the season in Tahlequah, Oklahoma at the MIAA/GAC Challenge.
They are set to take on the University of Central Oklahoma on Nov. 9, followed by a meeting with the Northeastern State Riverhawks on Nov. 10.