WEBSTER GROVES – Webster University is set to tip-off its shortened 37th season of men's basketball competition this Wednesday, Feb. 24 as the Gorloks travel to Greenville, Ill., for a 7:30 p.m. St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest against Greenville University at H.J. Long Gymnasium on the Greenville campus.
 
Wednesday's opener will feature the two winningest teams in the league over the past three seasons as Webster and Greenville have combined to win 81 league games and 102 overall games since the beginning of the 2017-18 season. Since 2017-18, Webster has posted a 52-28 overall record and a 41-13 mark in the SLIAC and are the two-time defending regular season league champions and won the SLIAC Tournament title in 2020, while Greenville has gone 50-31 overall and 40-14 in the league and captured both the regular season and SLIAC Tournament titles in 2018.
 
"We are tickled to death to just be playing basketball and I think our players are ready to get after it," said Webster head coach Chris Bunch, who is entering his 19th season with the Gorloks in 2020-21. "We are going to try and be competitive and win as much as we can, but right now, we are trying to stay healthy, COVID-free and keep it going."
 
This basketball season will look different for Webster than any other season in the program's history due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as the SLIAC decided to play a non-traditional season of basketball during the 2020-21 school year. The league moved the season from a November-February format previously to a February-April format this year. In addition to changing to a February-April format this season, each school in the league will play just 10 league games as opposed a slate of playing each school twice during the regular season and all eight teams will qualify for the SLIAC Tournament, which is scheduled for April 6-10.
 
With the switch to a 10-game schedule this season, Webster will play five home and five away games and will play each team in the league once with the exception of Greenville, Spalding and Westminster, who they will each face twice during the abbreviated regular season thanks to the closure of MacMurray College at the end of the 2019-20 school year and Principia College opting out of the 2020-21 season due to the pandemic.
 
Despite the changes to the way this season will be played and the adjustments that will have to be made doe the COVID-19 regulations and guidelines, Bunch says his team has handled the changes well so far.
 
"Our guys have handled things well. We practiced for two months in the fall and when the COVID situation got a little worse in late October and early November, we had to kind of shift around a little bit in the way we were practicing, but our guys have been very upbeat and things in the fall went better than I had hoped," Bunch said. "I think we have a really good group of guys and since we've been back in January, we've been working really hard and they're excited to finally get to play and we'll see how it goes from there."
 
The Gorloks, who advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in school history and first time since 2014 a season ago, return just two starters and eight lettermen from last season's 19-9 squad that repeated as the regular season SLIAC champion and won the SLIAC Tournament title and fell 77-73 to seventh-ranked Nebraska Wesleyan in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Basketball Tournament. Over the past seasons, the Gorloks have compiled a 39-16 overall record and a 31-5 mark in SLIAC play.
 
In the preseason poll that was voted recently on by the league's eight head coaches, Webster was tabbed to finish tied for third with Greenville. In the poll, the Gorloks and Greenville each earned 36 points, while Greenville also received two first place votes. The coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams in the poll.
 
Despite only having two returning starters, these two returning starters might just be two of the top players in the league. The two returning starters are senior forward Rodson Etienne (West Palm Beach, Fla./Royal Palm Beach) and sophomore guard Wynne Brown, Jr. (Memphis, Tenn./Bartlett). Etienne has been a two-time All-SLIAC performer as he earned third team honors in 2018-19 and was a second team selection a season ago, while Brown was named the SLIAC Newcomer of the Year and took home the SLIAC Tournament MVP honor last season as a freshman.
 
In 2019-20, Etienne was the team's second leading scorer as he averaged 16.3 points per game and was tied for third on the team in rebounding at 4.7 rebounds per game and shot a team-best 61.5 percent from the field and comes into this season needing just 14 points to become the 14th member of Webster's 1,000-Point Club, while Brown, Jr., made an immediate impact last season as he averaged 12.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game and shot 49 percent from the field, 45 percent from the 3-point line and 87 percent at the free throw line and scored 20 or more points in five games, including tallying 34 points in Webster's 121-112 win over Greenville in the championship game of the SLIAC Tournament.
 
Etienne, who was named to the SLIAC Preseason Watch List the past two seasons, and Brown, Jr., are now the elder statemen on this year's Gorlok team with the graduation of five seniors from last season and Bunch says the transition for them to their new leadership roles has been seamless.  
 
"I think the transition has been seamless. Rodson is a very positive guy and understands what it looks like here when it's right. He has been really good at telling the guys that's not the shot we need to take right there and he can do it in such a positive way and he's very good for the young players," Bunch added. "J.R. (Wynne) works as hard as anybody I've had in my 33 years of coaching and he is just like Josh (Johnson) in the regards of his individual work ethic. He gets in the gym and shoots two or three hours a day and when we get in practice, he is going as hard as he can go in any of our drills. When your best players work the hardest everybody else just kind of goes, that's how it's supposed to be done around here and it make your job a lot easier.
 
"I couldn't be happier with how Rodson and J.R. have been leadership-wise this year."
 
While Etienne and Brown, Jr., return, the Gorloks will need to find replacements for the five seniors from last season's team. The seniors last season were guard Josh Johnson, guard Jordan Clay, guard Blake Ferrell, guard Aron Hopp and forward Enrique Tankins. Johnson and Tankins were both First-Team All-SLIAC selections a season ago and they also were named the SLIAC Player and SLIAC Defensive Player of the Years respectively. Clay was named to the SLIAC All-Defensive Team in 2019-20.
 
During the 2019-20 season, those five seniors accounted for nearly 1,320 points, 700 rebounds, 298 assists, 146 steals and 3,245 minutes of action as the Gorloks welcome back just 40.4 percent of its scoring, 25.5 percent of its rebounding and 37.8 percent of its minutes played, with Etienne and Brown, Jr. combining for 82.6 percent of the scoring, 72.3 percent of the rebounds and 71.7 percent of the minutes played returning.
 
Along with the two returning starters, Bunch also has five other players that saw action last season returning, along with the addition of 11 newcomers, including eight freshmen and three transfers.
 
Those five returners are senior guard Lance Hatten (Greenacres, Fla./Berean Christian), senior forward Ethan Hughes (Union, Mo./Park University), sophomore guard Javane Nugent (Kingston, Jamaica/Piper), sophomore forward Jadis Smith (Little Rock, Ark./Estem Charter) and sophomore guard Nick Wagner (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South).
 
"I think that some guys are performing much better than last year," Bunch said about his other returning players.
 
Bunch said that two returners – Hughes and Nugent – have the chance to make the biggest jumps this season.
 
"I think Ethan and Javane are probably making the biggest leaps. I think they'll play a ton and I think there are a lot of new guys in the mix," the Webster coach added. "I think Ethan is going to be much better and is going to be relied on more and I think he's ready for that. Javane has looked good in practice and he is one of the best rebounders we may have ever had in this program for his size. He is also a good defender and can handle the ball some."
 
Among the new additions this season, several players have the chance to step in and contribute this season according to Bunch and those newcomers expecting to contribute include sophomore forward Connor Diecker (Freeburg, Ill./Bethel University), freshman guard Jason Coleman (Memphis, Tenn./Overton), freshman guard Mark Moore (Hillsboro, Mo./Hillsboro), freshman forward Markus Becton (Bellwood, Ill./Westchester St. Joseph) and freshman guard/forward Bryce Woolridge (Flower Mound, Texas/Coram Deo Academy).
 
"Conner is a transfer from Bethel and he has looked really good. He gives us some size and some inside scoring and rebounding. Mark and Jason have looked good in the guard spots. Markus and Bryce have look really good. Marcus and Bryce are both long-armed and give us some length, speed, rebounding and defense," added Bunch.
 
One of the biggest concerns for Bunch as the season gets underway is how is team of both veteran and newcomers will play without the benefit of playing any non-conference games leading into conference play like Webster plays normally.
 
"I think we have a nice mix of players this season, but I know as a coach sometimes you worry a little bit. There are those nights when you're playing a lot of new people and it looks really good and then there are those nights they might not look as good," added Bunch. "The talent level is there, but can we put it all together. This is an interesting situation this year and I'm feel better where we'd be conference-wise if we had nine nonconference games to figure things out like we normally do. Now, this year, our first game is a conference game and you worry that you could get off to a bad start and put yourself in a back spot, but it's not really about that this year. We're just excited to play."
 
Bunch says playing Greenville in the first game will be a little scary because of the style and the way Greenville plays is hard to replicate, but also hard to make players understand no matter how much film you show or how much in practice to try to simulate what they do.
 
"As Josh was saying in practice the other day, 'You know coach, you don't know what it's like until you've played it one time.' It's a very different style and is a daunting task to play them first this season," the Webster coach said. "They have a slight advantage as they've played some games and have faced some good teams. It is what is, but we've got to be ready to play them Wednesday."
 
Greenville comes into Wednesday's match-up with Webster having already played seven games this season, including opening the season by four NCAA Division I teams, including Illinois State and Murray State. The Panthers, who play the Grinnell-style of high octane basketball, lost those four games against Division I foes by an average of 65.7 points per game and are sporting an 0-7 overall record on the year. Greenville hasn't played a game, though, since suffering a 148-124 loss at Spring Arbor on Jan. 23.
 
Since Greenville adopted the Grinnell system of play, the Gorloks have proven to be the most successful team in the league against that style as Webster is 8-3 when playing against the system, including going 2-1 last season against the Panthers.
 
"We have had some success against Greenville and playing the system the past few years, but this is a new team and a new season," the coach added.
 
One of the staples of Bunch's teams since his arrival in Webster Groves has been their ability to play defense and he expects his defense will perform well this season despite the losses of both Tankins and Clay, who were both members of the league's All-Defensive Team a season ago.
 
Last season, Webster led the league in scoring defense as they allowed 77.1 points per game and was second in the league in both field goal percentage defense (42.6 percent) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (33.8 percent). In addition, Webster blocked 114 shots, which was third in the SLIAC.
 
"One of the things here again with COVID and everything else we're dealing with, we're probably not doing as much stuff live as we normally do in practice and that concerns me a bit just from the standpoint of we haven't done as much defensive work as we normally do because we're limiting the contact, but our guys understand that there is an expectation that people who defend are going to play," stressed Bunch. "I'm very impressed with the young guys and their effort and desire and I think they're going to go out and try to defend hard. There will be some missteps along the way with every team, but I'm confident that we'll be a good defensive team this season."
 
Perhaps one of the biggest keys to Webster's success this season is its team chemistry and how the new players transition into learning the ropes, according to Bunch.
 
"How well do the new people transition into what we're doing and how well everybody meshes together as our chemistry is big and when you have new people in new roles and how they transition into those roles," said Bunch about one his team's key this year. "I think shot selection and offensive discipline are also keys. That is just not for these guys, but for anyone that's got a lot of new people. The better shots you take is what is going to help you through some tough shooting nights."
 
Much like the last couple of years, the league looks to once again be competitive as the top four teams in the league's preseason poll were separated by a total of nine points as Fontbonne was tabbed the favorite as they earned 45 points and three first place votes, while Westminster was picked second as they earned 38 points and two first place votes.
 
Bunch said that he expects the league to be the same as it has been in the past as every game will be a battle.
 
"I think it is going to be very competitive in the league this season," said Bunch about the league. "Obviously, Fontbonne looks really good and I think Westminster does too. Those two teams both have almost all their scoring back and the guys that have played the most. Greenville and us have both lost a lot, but Greenville is one of those teams that seems to reload each year and are always good. I think Iowa Wesleyan will be better, Blackburn and Eureka here again, along with us and Greenville have lost some people and I think they'll both be good, and I also think Spalding will be better."
 
When the games get going this week for the Gorloks, the season will look unlike any other season they have ever played and that presents unique challenges, not only to Bunch, but to every coach this year and Bunch has been proud of how his team has handled these changes so far this preseason.
 
"It is just a different kind of year and I think I kind of just roll with the punches. I've always lived that way and I think our guys are very much that way. I have been so pleased with just how they handled, accepted and approached everything that has been thrown at them," added Bunch.
 
While the Gorloks welcome back just two starters and six other lettermen from last season's team and have added 11 newcomers, Bunch will also have some new faces on his coaching staff this season as Landon Kurz has moved on and Bunch replaced him with three former Gorloks that were seniors last season – Johnson, Clay and Hopp. The only assistant from last season's team that has returned is Chris O'Connell, who is entering his ninth season in 2020-21.
 
"Josh everyday talks about that now he is on the other side of the fence, it looks completely different from being a player," the coach added. "I think it has been an eye opener for them to be on the other side of things. All three of them have been great to have around and we be a big help to us this season."
 
Wednesday's game will mark the third time in the last four years that Webster is opening the season away from home and it will be the first in the program's history they are opening the season with a league game. Webster holds a 39-23 lead all-time in the series and has won two straight games since Greenville earned a 98-97 win on its home court last season on Dec. 7, 2019.
 
Following Wednesday's game, the Gorloks will take a week off before opening the home portion of its 2020-21 schedule on Wednesday, March 3 against Spalding University at 7:30 p.m. in Grant Gymnasium. Per SLIAC rules due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, fans will not be allowed inside Grant Gymnasium this season at any of Webster's five home basketball games.