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The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team looks to continue its tradition as a conference, regional and national powerhouse in 2015-16.
 
The Warhawks enjoyed another banner year in 2014-15, sweeping the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championships while making their fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament. UW-Whitewater finished 24-4 overall for the season, including a 15-1 mark in WIAC play, the most league victories in a season in school history.
 
Head coach Pat Miller, who became the fastest active coach to reach 300 career wins a season ago, returns for his 15th year. A four-time WIAC Coach of the Year, Miller has led the Warhawks to two national championships in the last four years.
 
Despite the loss of five starters from last year's team, including consensus first team All-America guard Quardell Young (Kenosha, Wis./Bradford), UW-Whitewater returns five players from the 2014-15 team. The Warhawks are set to welcome 11 newcomers, including seven transfers.
 
UW-Whitewater, which is receiving votes in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25 and has been tabbed second in the WIAC's preseason poll of coaches and athletic communications personnel, opens the 2015-16 campaign this Friday at Ripon.
 
"With the number of losses we've had, and the significance of those losses, there are a lot of new faces," Miller said. "Practice has been very different than the last couple of years. It's a lot of teaching as opposed to, at times, just trying to fill time because everybody knew our system.
 
"There was always a lot of shooting and fundamental work, while this year there's a lot of systematic work to get in. It's conceivable that eight of our top 10 (in the rotation) will have never played a second here.
 
"It's been good. They've been receptive, and are working hard."
 
Following their opener at Ripon, the Warhawks host six of their next seven games at Kachel Gymnasium, beginning Nov. 20-21 with 7 p.m. contests against Davenport (Mich.) and Finlandia (Mich.). Davenport is ranked third in the NAIA Division II Preseason Coaches Poll.
 
After a home date against Ohio Northern on Nov. 28, UW-Whitewater hosts 2014-15 national runner-up Augustana (Ill.), the preseason favorite in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25.
 
A trip to Beloit on Dec. 5 is followed by home games against Wheaton (Ill.) on Dec. 9 and Concordia Chicago on Dec. 20.
 
The Warhawks visit the Colorado College Christmas Tournament Dec. 27-30. The team will play Concordia Texas on Dec. 27, FDU-Florham (N.J.) on Dec. 28 and Colorado College on Dec. 30.
 
The conference season begins Jan. 6 at UW-Stout. Other highlights on the league slate include home-and-home series against defending national champion and No. 9 UW-Stevens Point (Jan. 9 in Whitewater, Feb. 3 in Stevens Point) and 23rd-ranked UW-Oshkosh (Jan. 20 in Oshkosh, Feb. 17 in Oshkosh), last year's WIAC Tournament runner-up.
 
Miller is encouraged through the preseason by the team's adaptability to a new system and a lot of new faces.
 
"This is a mature and focused group," Miller said. "They all do what we want them to do. There's no one fighting (our coaching staff), there's no one wanting to do it their own way and there's no selfishness."
 
Backcourt
 
Junior guard Drew Bryson (Elkhorn, Wis./Elkhorn) is the lone UW-Whitewater player returning with starting experience. He appeared in all 28 games a season ago, making nine starts and averaging 3.4 points and 2.0 rebounds while shooting 36 percent from 3-point range.
 
Senior Brandon Thompson (Galesburg, Ill./Galesburg), sophomores Nate Hensel (Wilmot, Wis./Wilmot Union) and Jerry Ngobi (Janesville, Wis./Janesville Craig) also return in the backcourt. Thompson played in 19 contests last season and tallied 15 assists in limited action, while Ngobi appeared in 18 games and hit 5-of-9 from 3-point range. Hensel received playing time in 16 games, shooting 69.2 percent from the floor in his reserve role.
 
Junior transfers Deiondre Cunningham (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran HS) and Ethan Guske (Sheboygan, Wis./North) look to make an immediate impact. Cunningham joins the team after spending last season at Otero Junior College in Colorado, and Guske enters his first year with the program after competing in 37 games over two seasons at Division II Augustana (S.D.).
 
Freshmen Andre Brown (Kenosha, Wis./Indian Trail), Mitchell Pfeifer (Wales, Wis./Kettle Moraine) and Maurquis Turner (Milwaukee, Wis./King) enter their first seasons playing collegiately.
 
Frontcourt
 
Junior Cole Van Schyndel (Kaukauna, Wis./Wrightstown) returns in the frontcourt. He shot 68.2 percent (15-of-22) from the field in 20 games in 2014-15.
 
After a one-year absence, junior forward Alex LeGault (Green Bay/Southwest) will return to the program in 2015-16. He appeared in 19 games in 2013-14, when UW-Whitewater won the national title.
 
Five transfers look to help bolster the frontcourt.
 
Senior Isaac Quinn (Kenosha, Wis./Tremper), a 6-foot-8 forward/center, played his last three seasons at Cardinal Stritch. He started 21 of 34 games, shot 54.5 percent from the field and averaged 2.0 points and 2.5 rebounds for the Cardinals last season.
 
Senior Trinson White (Milwaukee, Wis./Riverside) spent his last two years at UW-Milwaukee, making six starts in 19 appearances for the Panthers in 2014-15.
 
Junior forward Shaquille Francis (Sheboygan, Wis./North) spent last season at Kishwaukee Community College in Illinois, and sophomore forward Tyler Edmondson (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) joins the Warhawks after a semester at Richland Community College in Illinois.
 
Sophomore forward/center Justin Kurash (Elmhurst, Ill./York) spent the 2014-15 season at Cloud County Community College in Kansas.