And based on how much intensity he’s already seeing in practice, the Raiders don’t appear to need a reminder on where they’re projected to finish.
“It’s a very motivated group of kids — all here for what I believe are very healthy reasons. We’re together a ton. And I would credit the energy to their enjoying each other and being motivated to win,” he said.
“We’ve won here before, and not having done that the last couple of years (18-15 and 18-14 records) — with a large majority of us having been a part of it — that’s been enough to show up with a healthy level of maturity and try to make the most of each day.”
Milwaukee and Purdue shared the top spot in a vote of coaches, media and sports information directors.
Northern Kentucky was third and defending champion Oakland fourth.
Junior forward Brandon Noel was named preseason player of the year. That makes three Raiders in five years with Trey Calvin getting the honor last year and Loudon Love in 2020-21.
Fifth-year wing Alex Huibregtse, who was left off the three all-league teams after last year, is a preseason second-team choice.
“It’s nice to have some respect and recognition, but it’s a preseason award,” Noel said.
“We haven’t done anything yet. I haven’t played a game, I haven’t recorded a minute. You’ve got to take it with a grain of salt. You know the respect is there, but I have a whole season ahead before I truly earn anything.”
The 6-8 Noel averaged 14.5 points and 8.0 rebounds last year while shooting 53.6% from the field and a nifty 40% from 3 (32 of 80).
“It’s a feather in his cap to be recognized. But on the flip side, having those expectations put on you, he can’t think selfishly and get inward and start to believe it’s a race of production,” Sargent said.
“We know Brandon’s heart. We’ve had conversations with him in front of the team — just because we know what a burden that can be. He just needs to let it be wind under your sails and keep working hard.”
The other first teamers were NKU’s Sam Vinson and Trey Robinson and PFW’s Rasheed Bello and Jalen Jackson.
Huibregtse averaged 12.3 points last yera, shooting 52.5% from the floor, 41.7 on 3′s and 82.9 on foul shots. He also dished out 3.3 assists.
Asked about the Raiders’ place in the poll, he said: “I definitely feel like we should’ve been higher than that. It’s a little bit of motivation.
“But at the end of the day, we really just care about what goes in that locker room and with the coaching staff, not where we’re picked. We’re not worried about outside noise.”
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