Wayne State was picked second overall and tied for first in the NSIC South Division in the 2021-22 Preseason NSIC Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll.
Wildcat junior forward Jordan Janssen was voted by league coaches as the Preseason South Division Player of the Year and Wildcat to Watch this season.
Wayne State returns all five starters from last year’s club that was 11-7 overall and captured the NSIC South Division for the second time in three seasons with a 10-4 league mark. The Wildcats also qualified for the NCAA Div. II National Tournament for the first time in 21 years.
MSU Moorhead was voted the team to beat this season with Wayne State second, Minnesota State a close third and Augustana and Upper Iowa rounding out the top five.
In the NSIC South Division poll, Wayne State and Minnesota State were tied for first as the Wildcats collected four first-place votes competed to two for MSU. Upper Iowa was third, followed by Augustana, Sioux Falls, Winona State, Southwest Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul.
Janssen, a 6-foot-7 junior forward, was voted this year’s Preseason NSIC South Division Player of the Year after averaging 16 points and 9.8 rebounds per game last season. He was named first-team All-NSIC South Division, South Division Player of the Year and first-team NABC All-Central Region. Last season, Janssen ranked fourth in NCAA Div. II with 10 double-doubles while shooting 52.3 percent from the field and 64 percent at the free throw line while being named NSIC South Division Player of the Week three times.
Wayne State, who received nine votes in the NABC Preseason Div. II Top 25 Coaches Poll released Monday, opens the 2021-22 season on Friday, Nov. 12 at the GAC/NSIC Challenge in Shawnee, Okla., playing Oklahoma Baptist at 7:30 p.m.
