Milligan Basketball Ready to Tip Off Season

The Milligan College men’s and women’s basketball teams are ready to tip off their 2019-20 seasons. The men’s team will open the season on Tuesday, Oct. 29, while the women will begin their season on Thursday, Oct. 31.

Introducing the Milligan College basketball team for the 2019-2020 Season

The Milligan College Basketball team is excited to announce their roster for the 2019-2020 season The team is made up of returning players and some fresh new faces that are sure to make an impact on the court. Head Coach Bill Robinson is entering his seventh season at the helm and is looking to lead the team to another successful year.

The ‘Buffs will tip off their season on November 5th at home against Montreat College This will be the first of four games in the month of November, all of which will be played at home in Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. Be sure to come out and support your Milligan College basketball team as they begin their quest for another conference championship!

The team’s goals for the season

The Milligan College Basketball team is looking to build on last season’s successes and take things to the next level this year.

Head coach Bill Robinson has high hopes for his squad, which returns a number of Key Players from last year. “We want to be a team that competes for a conference championship and makes noise in the National Tournament ” Robinson said.

The team’s leading scorer from last season, senior guard Jared Lyons, echoed Robinson’s sentiment. “We have the talent and experience to make a real run at things this year,” Lyons said. “Our goal is to win the conference and make it to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament ”

With a mix of experience and youth, the Milligan College basketball team is poised for another successful season

The team’s schedule for the season

The Milligan College men’s basketball team will officially open their 2019-20 season on Tuesday, October 29 when they host Bluefield College at 6:00 p.m. in Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.

The Buffs are coming off an 18-11 season which saw them finish in fourth place in the Appalachian Athletic Conference with a 13-7 league record. Milligan earned the conference’s fourth seed in the Aac Tournament and advanced to the semifinals before falling to eventual tournament champion Union (Ky.) 104-98.

Introducing the team’s new head coach

When it comes to basketball, the Milligan College big cats are ready to take off this season with a new Head Coach at the helm. Coach Jana Gallery is eager to get started with her new team and is confident they will achieve success this season.

“I am incredibly excited to be taking over the Milligan Basketball Program ” said Gallery. “This is a very talented group of young women who have the potential to do great things on the court.”

Gallery comes to Milligan after a successful stint as Head coach of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team In her four years at UTC, she led the team to two Southern Conference regular season titles and one conference tournament championship. She was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year in 2017.

“Coach Gallery is a proven winner and we are thrilled to have her leading our Basketball Program ” said Milligan Athletic Director Craig McAlpine. “She has a wealth of experience at both the collegiate and professional levels, and we are confident she will have an immediate impact on our student-athletes.”

The Milligan Basketball season will tip off on November 5th with an away game against Tusculum College.

The team’s returning players

The Milligan basketball team is set to tip off its season this Friday, and head coach Bill Robinson is excited about the team’s returning players.

“We’ve got some experienced guys who have been through the grind of a season before,” Robinson said. “They know what it takes to win, and they’re going to be key leaders for us this year.”

One of those leaders is senior guard Jordan Goodrich, who was named Second Team All-Conference last year. Goodrich averaged 15 points per game last season, and he’ll be counted on to provide a scoring punch again this year.

“Jordan is a big-time scorer,” Robinson said. “He’s capable of putting up big numbers every night, and we’re going to need him to do that again this year.”

The team will also look to senior forward Austin Sears for leadership and production. Sears averaged 11 points and six rebounds per game last season, and he’ll be asked to do even more this year.

“Austin is a versatile player who can score inside and out,” Robinson said. “He’s also a great rebounder, and we’re going to need him to provide a spark for us on both ends of the floor.”

With Goodrich and Sears leading the way, the Milligan Basketball team is poised for another Successful Season

The team’s new players

The Milligan College men’s Basketball Team welcomes 10 new players to the roster this season as the Buffaloes look to continue their winning tradition

Returning for his 20th season at the helm of the program is head coach Bill Robinson. Coach Robinson has led the Buffaloes to 19 consecutive winning seasons, 15 conference championships and nine trips to the NAIA National Championships

“We are excited about our team this year and the potential we have,” said Robinson. “We have a good mix of returners and newcomers that should make us a pretty deep team. We will need to gel quickly with so many new faces, but I like our chances of having a successful season.”

The team’s strengths

The Milligan College men’s Basketball team will open its season Friday with high hopes after a successful campaign a year ago in which the Buffaloes won 20 games.

This season, head coach Bill Robinson has a experienced squad that will look to build on last year’s success. The team’s strengths include its shooting ability, depth, and athleticism.

Leading the way for the Buffaloes will be senior guard Austin Loewen, who was named to the All-Appalachian Athletic Conference team last season. Loewen averaged 16 points per game and shot 42 percent from three-point range last season. He will be joined in the backcourt by junior guard Kendall Knorr, who averaged 9 points per game last season.

Up front, the Buffaloes will be led by junior forward Clinton Cooper and senior forward Alec Wittrock. Cooper averaged 11 points and 6 rebounds per game last season while Wittrock averaged 10 points and 5 rebounds.

The team will also look to contributions from its bench, which includes several players with experience. Among them are junior guard Gabe Schmitt and sophomore forward Eli Fults.

The team’s weaknesses

The Milligan college basketball team has some clear strengths heading into the new season. But there are also some potential weaknesses that could trip the Buffaloes up as they compete for a conference title

Head coach Rich Finishing enters his sixth season at the helm of the program, and he’s led Milligan to four 20-win seasons in the last five years. The Buffaloes have won at least 15 games in each of those five seasons, including a school-record 27 wins two years ago.

But despite all that success, Milligan has yet to win a Conference Championship And that’s something Finishing and his team are determined to change this season.

“Our goal is always to win the conference,” Finishing said. “That’s been our focus since I got here, and it’s something we haven’t been able to accomplish yet. We’ve had some good teams and we’ve been close, but we haven’t been able to get over the hump. Hopefully this is the year we can do it.”

To do that, the Buffaloes will need to overcome some potential weaknesses. One is their lack of size. The team doesn’t have any true post players and will be relying heavily on perimeter shooting.

“Size is always an issue for us,” Finishing said. “We don’t have any big guys that can really control the paint so we have to make up for it with our quickness and shooting.”

Another potential weakness is experience. The Buffaloes lost four starters from last year’s team, including leading scorer Jordan Turnley (19 ppg). Turnley was also the team’s only senior so most of this year’s squad is relatively young and inexperienced.

“We definitely have some question marks,” Finishing said. “But I like this group we have and I think we’re going to surprise some people.”

The Buffaloes will open up their season on November 6th against Mars Hill University.

The team’s potential X-factors

Milligan College’s men’s Basketball team enters the 18-19 season with a lot of potential. The Buffaloes have a solid mix of veterans and newcomers, and they’ll be looking to build on the progress they made last season.

One of the big questions for Milligan heading into the season is who will step up and be the team’s X-factors? Here are three players who could have a big impact for the Buffaloes this year:

1. Junior guard Tyler Johnson is one of the team’s most experienced players, and he’ll be counted on to provide leadership and scoring. Johnson is a good shooter from long range, and he’ll be looked to provide some outside scoring punch.

2. Freshman forward Evan Davis is an athletic 6-foot-7, and he has the potential to be a real difference-maker on both ends of the floor. Davis is still raw offensively, but his length and athleticism could make him a pest defensively.

3. Sophomore guard Trey Mitchell missed most of last season with an injury, but he’s healthy now and ready to contribute. Mitchell is a good shooter and ball-handler, and he could add some much-needed depth to the backcourt rotation.

A final prediction for the team’s season

The Milligan College basketball team is set to tip off its season this week, and fans are eager to see how the team will perform. The squad has a new head coach and several new players, so it will be interesting to see how they gel together.

I think the team will have a successful season. They have a lot of talent and they seem to be working well together. I think they’ll make it to the conference tournament and possibly even the NCAA Tournament

We’ll just have to wait and see how they do!