The Basics
The Drake men's basketball team is slated to begin its 2024-25 season with its first game from the Knapp Center on Nov. 4 versus York.
The Bulldogs are coming off back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament after winning two consecutive MVC Tournament Championships and will usher in a new era with head coach
Ben McCollum at the helm.
Bulldogs by the Numbers
The Bulldogs were picked to finish fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll receiving a total of 388 points.
Drake returns a pair of players from last season in forward
Nate Ferguson and guard
Andrew Alia. Ferguson has logged 108 games in his Drake career and averaged 3.7 points and 2.9 rebounds last year. Alia appeared in 16 games for the Bulldogs last season and scored a career-high five points against Belmont on Jan. 7.
A total of 10 newcomers make up the rest of the Drake squad with eight coming by way of transfers and two true freshman.
Isaiah Jackson,
Bennett Stirtz,
Mitch Mascari, and
Daniel Abreu follow Coach McCollum from Northwest Missouri State. Sophomores
Cam Manyawu and
Kael Combs spent last season at Wyoming.
Eli Shetlar remained in conference transferring from Indiana State.
Tavion Banks comes to Des Moines from the Junior College ranks at Northwest Florida State College.
Isaia Howard and
Joey Matteoni are set to begin their collegiate careers with their freshman campaigns.
Regarding preseason accolades, Manyawu and Stritz were both named to the All-MVC Third Team.
Scouting York
The Panthers tallied an overall record of 11-17 in the 2023-24 season and have already begun their 2024-25 campaign. York opened its season with a 104-54 victory on Oct. 25 versus Calvary University. The Panthers also played an exhibition contest against Omaha on Oct. 29.
In the season opener against Calvary, the Panthers had five players score in double figures with Chris Dixon leading the way scoring 19 points. Rhino Hernandez was the top assist man with six. Meanwhile, Devin Carroll, Andrew Bennett, and Dylan Holston each pulled down eight rebounds.
Monday's season opener will be the first ever meeting between York and Drake.
Up Next
Drake will take to the court next with a home game versus Stephen F. Austin on Nov. 10.
