STORYLINES
The Warriors open this unique season with a pair of road games at Lake Superior State this weekend.

Last year, with a depleted lineup of only seven players, the Warriors struggled to close out games and finished with a 7-17 overall record.  In 17 of the 24 games, WSU was leading, tied or trailed by less than five points with under five minutes to play.  The Warriors were 2-5 in games decided by three points or fewer, including a trio of overtime games.

The 2020-21 roster for head coach David Greer, who begins his 20th season as the Warriors bench boss, will be the largest in many years.  A healthy Darian Owens-White returns to the active roster, and joins First Team All-GLIAC honoree Brailen Neely giving Wayne State a formidable backcourt tandem.  Owens-White was a Second Team All-GLIAC selection in 2018-19.

THE SERIES
Wayne State leads the all-time series 45-31 vs. Lake Superior State, including an 18-19 mark on the road.  David Greer is 13-15 (4-9 on the road) vs. LSSU in his 19 seasons at the helm.  The Lakers have won four straight, including both meetings last season.  WSU lost six straight at the Norris Center since a 76-54 victory on Feb. 23, 2012.

SCOUTING THE LAKERS
The Lakers are led by head coach Steve Hettinga, the all-time winningest coach in program history, who enters his 14th season leading Lake Superior State.  Malek Adams, a 2018-19 First Team All-GLIAC selection, returns to the lineup after missing last season due to an injury.  As a junior, Adams averaged 16.0 points per game with a 49.0 field goal percentage and a 40.9 percentage from long range.

Other key returners for the Lakers include junior guard C.J. Robinson, sophomore guard Nigel Colvin and junior guard Justin Fischer.  Robinson is the only returning player to have started all 28 games for the Lakers last season and ranked second on the team in assists (87).  Colvin had the most points among all returning players on the Lakers last season with 307 (11.0 PPG).  Fischer led the team in field goal percentage (.510),m while his 97 assists and 124 rebounds are the most among returning players.

WSU BACKCOURT
The guard duo of Brailen Neely and Darian Owens-White should be fun to watch this season.  Neely was a First Team All-GLIAC  honoree last season and Owens-White was a Second Team selection in 2018-19 before missing the 2019-20 season due to an injury.

Neely averaged 19 points, 7.6 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game last season and Owens-White poured in 16.7 points per night along with 2.9 assists per contest, while shooting nearly 47 percent from behind the arc in 2018-19.

A KEY COG
As noted above, Brailen Neely was a key part of the WSU offensive attack last season.  He either scored or assisted on 53 percent of the made field goals in 2019-20 by the Warriors.

ROSTER DEPTH
The Green & Gold roster will be the largest in a long time and will look to assist Neely and Owens-White in bettering the seven wins from a season ago.

The lineup will be bolstered by redshirt sophomore Avery Lewis, who missed all of 2019-20 due to GLIAC transfer rules, plus the addition of transfers Jackie Harris and Kenny Pittman, Jr., from Oakland University.

Two-year letterwinners Antonio Marshall and LJ DeWolf are also back in the fold, along with a quartet of players who earned their first WSU letter a season ago.  Sophomores Nate Talbot and Kylin Grant saw significant playing time last year.  Junior Kris Garrett and junior college transfer Cortez Jackson add further depth to the roster.

Two true freshmen in Mike Robinson and Ray Williams, Jr., will be joined by redshirt freshmen Cadin Augustine (108 minutes played a year ago) and Ryan Webb.

UNIQUE SCHEDULE
The 2021 Wayne State University men's basketball schedule will feature 18 GLIAC contests.

The GLIAC was divided into two divisions with each school playing the other five divisional opponents twice (two at home for a weekend; two on the road for a weekend; along with a home-and-home series with its travel partner).  Each institution will play four of the six opponents in the other division (two at home for a weekend; two on the road for a weekend) for 18 games.

PRESEASON POLL
The GLIAC released its men's basketball preseason coaches poll in December and Wayne State was predicted to finish fifth in the South Division.

Grand Valley State was selected first in the South Division with 10 first-place votes and 60 points.  Both Saginaw Valley State (45 points) and Davenport (43 points) received one first-place vote.  Ashland was fourth with 32 points, while the Warriors (25 points) and Northwood (11 points) rounded out the South Division.

Ferris State was the top-ranked team in the North Division with 10 first-place votes and 60 points.  Behind the Bulldogs were Michigan Tech (1 FPV, 50 points), Lake Superior State (1 FPV, 40 points), Northern Michigan (28 points), Parkside (24 points) and Purdue Northwest (14 points).

GREER BACK FOR 20th SEASON
Head coach David Greer is in his 20th season as the top man on the Warriors' bench.  He surpassed the school record for years as head men's basketball coach last season. The previous mark was held by Newman Ertell (1929-48) and Joel Mason (1948-66) at 18 years on the WSU bench.

SEASON OPENING STRUGGLES
The Warriors are 6-13 in season openers under coach David Greer.  Last season, Wayne State fell in double overtime, 87-86, at home against Ohio Dominican.

The last time WSU won its season opener was to start the 2013-14 season against Wilberforce (93-73).

WARRIOR ALL-ACCESS
Every home basketball game this season will be streamed live for free with play-by-play provided by Kevin Brechmacher.

LIVE ON WDTK
Kevin Brechmacher will call every contest live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM).  Fans can also stream the action online at PatriotDetroit.com.