North Dakota’s Basketball Roster for the Upcoming Season
Get to know North Dakota’s basketball team for the upcoming season! Here’s a look at the roster and what to expect from each player.
North Dakota’s returning starters
The University of North Dakota men’s Basketball team will have some familiar faces in the starting lineup when they take the court for the first time this season.
Head coach Paul Miller will have four starters back from last year’s squad that finished with a 21-11 record and made an appearance in the college basketball Invitational (CBI).
Leading the way for North Dakota will be senior guard Geno Crandall, who was named to the Preseason All-Big Sky Conference team. Crandall is coming off a junior campaign in which he averaged 15.6 points, 4.3 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game
Also returning to the starting lineup are senior forward Marlon Stewart, junior forward Conner Avants and sophomore guard Jared Samuelson. Stewart averaged 10.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game last season, while Avants was second on the team in scoring (11.5 ppg) and led UND in rebounding (6.8 rpg). Samuelson averaged 7.5 points per contest as a freshman.
Newcomers to North Dakota’s roster
This season, North Dakota will have five new players on its roster.
Guards A.J. Green and transfer Brent King will provide backcourt depth. Green, a 6-3 shooting guard from Fargo, North Dakota averaged 14 points and four rebounds per game as a senior at Fargo North High School King, a 6-2 guard, played his first two collegiate seasons at Florida Gulf Coast University before transferring to North Dakota He will sit out the 2017-18 Season due to NCAA transfer rules and will have two years of eligibility remaining starting with the 18-19 season
Forwards Jared Samuelson and Derek Banks will add frontcourt depth. Samuelson, a 6-8 forward from Duluth, Minnesota, averaged 11 points and eight rebounds per game as a senior at Duluth East high school Banks, a 6-7 forward from St. Paul, Minnesota, averaged 13 points and seven rebounds per game as a senior at Henry Sibley high school
The final newcomer is center Conner Avants, who joins the team after spending two seasons at Los Angeles Valley College. The 6-10 center from Bakersfield, California averaged 14 points and nine rebounds per game last season.
