In less than a month preseason contests will be underway for the Wayne State College women’s and men’s basketball teams.
According to a release from Wayne State Athletics, the Wildcat women were picked 13th with 45 points while the WSC men were selected 12th with 57 points in the 2024-25 NSIC Women’s and Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
Wildcat women’s basketball senior forward Maya Fitzpatrick and men’s basketball senior guard Jay Saunders were listed as the Wildcat Player to Watch this season.
The Wildcat women return four starters from last year’s team that was 7-18 overall and 4-18 in the NSIC. Wayne State received 45 points in voting by league coaches.
Defending NSIC and NCAA Division II national champion Minnesota State is listed as the team to beat this season collecting 12 first-place votes and 194 points. Northern State was second with the remaining three first-place votes and 184 points. Concordia-St. Paul (162), Southwest Minnesota State (147) and St. Cloud State (131) close out the top five teams.
Fitzpatrick, a 5-10 senior from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota (Champlin Park HS), is Wayne State’s top returning scorer at 9.5 points per game. She led the Wildcats last season in steals (59), assists (58) and blocked shots (19), ranking third in the NSIC in steals per game and 12th in blocked shots. Fitzpatrick shot 37.9 percent (81-214) from the field and 84.8 percent (56-66) at the free throw line.
The Wildcat men return three starters from last year’s team that was 16-14 overall and 9-13 in NSIC games.
Minnesota State, who won last year’s NSIC regular season title, edged MSU Moorhead as the team to beat in the NSIC this season. MSU received 186 points and eight first-place ballots with MSU Moorhead right behind in second at 183 points and six first-place votes. Minnesota Duluth came in third with 172 points and the remaining first-place vote with Southwest Minnesota State (152) and Bemidji State (121) rounding out the top five teams.
Saunders, a 5-11 senior guard from Omaha (Omaha South HS), started 28 of 29 games last season and averaged 3.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He ranked fourth in the NSIC last year in steals (41) and fourth in the league last season in assist/turnover ratio at 2.2 (72 assists/33 turnovers).
The Wayne State College women’s basketball team opens the 2024-25 season on Saturday, November 9 playing at Chadron State in a 1 p.m. contest. The first home game for the Wildcats is Wednesday, November 20 vs. Nebraska-Kearney at 5:30 p.m.
The Wayne State College men’s basketball team opens the 2024-25 season on Friday, November 8 facing Emporia State at the Missouri Western Classic in St. Joseph, Missouri. The first home game for the Wildcats is Friday, Nov. 15 vs. Barclay College at 6:30 p.m.
