By: David McFeely, Director of Media Relations
Bolivar, Mo. – The SBU men's basketball team is set to begin their 2023-24 campaign this weekend in the Meyer Center. They will begin on Friday evening as they host Trevecca Nazarene at 7:30pm. Then return on Saturday to host Thomas More. The Bearcats have won two straight against Trevecca and will have their first ever matchup against Thomas More.
After five years of being the assistant coach under Clark Sheehy, Aaron Niven steps up to the head coaching job for the Bearcats beginning this season. Niven brings in 26 years of coaching experience plus the five years as a head coach at Spring Hill University. As an assistant coach at SBU, he was crucial in bringing in top recruits such as Quinn Nelson, Mitch Ganote, Noah Franklin, and Drenin Dinkins. He looks to bring that strong recruiting, past head and assistant coaching experience to building a strong Bearcat program of his own.
"I think the biggest thing has just been the opportunity to be around and learn from Coach Sheehy." Niven said, "I didn't know if I would get another opportunity to be a head coach again, but I really tried to focus on the things that he did that made us successful and learn and grow from those things."
The Bearcats bring back 12 players from last season and add on six more for a large squad of 18. They return top player and three-time all-conference award winner Mitch Ganote. Ganote has started every game he has played in over the last three seasons leading the team in both rebounds and assists the last two seasons. Last season he became the first Bearcat to ever record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, and 400 assists in school history. This season he comes in with 1,075 points and 492 assists, just 17 away from breaking the school record.
Another big returner for Southwest Baptist is redshirt sophomore Noah Franklin. During his first year on the court with 310 total points averaging 10.3 per contest. He was also second on the team in rebounds with 162 in total and led in blocks with 29, 7th best in the conference. Also, in his first year on the court and classroom was freshman Drenin Dinkins. Dinkins showed off his potential stardom with numerous spectacular showings scoring 267 points on the season. In an early January contest against Lewis University, he scored an incredible 31 points, the most by a freshman since 1989. He went 7-7 from beyond the arc and 8-8 from the charity stripe during the contest. Dinkins put himself in the SBU record book with his free throw ability, going 93.2% from the line, 2nd in SBU history and 3rd in the Nation last year.
Some other returners include Senior Ayden Stone who had numerous strong outings last year and was a consistent force for the Bearcats. He scored 104 points shooting 62.7% from the field and averaged 4.9 rebounds per game. Junior Drew McMillin returns after his highest scoring season of 227 points for 7.6 per game shooting 40% from beyond the arc. Other returning freshman, now sophomores, Bayley Crawford and Jerry Abushanab averaging 4.5 and 3.0 PPG respectively.
A strong addition to the team this year is redshirt sophomore Sasha Glushkov, a 6'11 Division I transfer. After being injured during preseason last year, he looks to bring his size and impressive shooting to an already impressive Bearcat program. Transfer David Hector is spending his first season in Bolivar after two years at Chabot College. He brings size, speed, and skill to the SBU offense and defense.
