After a long and chaotic offseason, we get to put the court cases down and go shoot hoops. NKU attacked the transfer portal with an emphasis on international players and athleticism. Here’s a full look at the roster:

Who is UT Martin?

The Tennessee Martin Skyhawks are coached by Jeremy Shulman, who is entering his 3rd season at the helm in Martin, Tennessee. The preseason kenpom.com ratings have them as the 309th ranked team in the country, and one who is projected to struggle on offense and slow the game to a crawl. Last season they finished 22-11 and lost in the second round of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.

There is one returning player for the Skyhawks, and that’s their starting point guard Filip Petkovski. He averaged 5 points, 3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists last year. He was an inefficient shooter at all 3 levels, and turned it over 58 times on the year.

The roster is full of young, international guys, and it’s extremely difficult to get a full evaluation on them this early.

Questions I have for NKU:

Who steps up to score for the Norse? Losing Wells, Oday, Gherezgher, Tolliver, and most of the production has led to a ton of new guys. Transfers like Eric Acker, BJ Davis-Ray, and Patrick Otto Mae can fill it up. Willie Foster is explosive and early returns appear to be that NKU has a star in the making. However, who can step up when the lights turn on and there’s an opponent lined up against you?

Does this team get out and run as much as last year? The NKU team last season was elite at forcing turnovers and getting out in transition. However, the guys who were lethal on the run (Oday, Gherezgher) are gone.

Can NKU defend the paint? The Norse brought in bigs Noah Pagotto, Patrick Otto Mae, and Will Short to help anchor the interior. However, none of those three are proven at this level of basketball. Can they play with the physicality that Coach Horn demands? Perhaps more importantly: Can they do it without fouling?

Players to Watch:

BJ Davis-Ray: How does he look? Davis-Ray was a highly regarded 4-star recruit who went to SMU. At SMU, he was stuck behind an electric team and was unable to break into the rotation. He’s athletic and has proven he can score at all 3 levels when in high school. Can he get that going with more freedom?

Ethan Elliott: Elliot started 31 games last season and overall was a stable force for the Norse. However, he struggled from the field, shooting just 33%/26%/49% on the season. He averaged 5 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal per game. These splits were fine with the team that NKU had last year. However, this year, the Norse will need more efficient numbers from their point guard.

Eric Acker: We’ve talked a lot about Eric this offseason, and he’s a player that both Noah and Hunter are high on coming into the year. When at LIU, Eric starred as a freshman, starting 21 games, averaging 13/4/4 and being named to the all-freshman team. However, when he went to La Salle over the last two years, he was unable to replicate that level of play. Now that he is on the Norse, he is going to be asked to step up into a bigger role than he had at La Salle. He’s another explosive athlete who should help fill some of the transition role that was mentioned above.

Projected NKU Starting 5:

• Ethan Elliott
• Eric Acker
• BJ Davis-Ray
• Donovan Rakotonanahary
• Noah Pagotto

Bench:

• 6th: Willie Foster
• Will Short
• Gabrielius Jokubauskas
• Ryan Tolliver
• Patrick Otto Mae
• Bryce Darbyshire
• Juanma Ruiz
• JJ Apathjang

All that actually matters on Wednesday is that no one gets hurt, and Coach Horn and Co. get to go out there and throw lineups and sets together against an opponent rather than intra-squad scrimmages. We’re still three weeks from meaningful games.