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NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State men's basketball team held its first official practice of the 2016-17 season Friday afternoon with a two-hour team workout in the North Gym. Fifth-year head coach Dan Muller and the Redbirds have exactly six weeks to prepare for the season which tips off Friday, Nov. 11 at Murray State.
"Obviously, you want to see improvement (over the next month of practice), and you want to see your team coming together" Muller said after Friday's practice. "You want to see how coachable they are, because that leads to improvement. You want to see how tough they are, and you want to see that increase. You want to see guys get in better shape and just competing on a regular basis and making that a habit.
"Just like dribbling and shooting, those things are skills," Muller continued. "It's a skill to play with toughness. It's a skill to compete consistently. It's a skill to have energy. If a month from now we can look back and have a team that's very consistent in those areas, then the basketball part will take care of itself."
The 2016-17 Redbirds return 57.2 percent of their scoring (a 6.6 percent increase from last year) and 50 percent of their rebounding. ISU also returns: 67.4 percent of assists, 64.9 percent of steals, 60 percent of blocks and 54.6 percent of minutes.
Illinois State's top returning scorer is senior guard Paris Lee, who averaged 11.1 points per game to rank 20th in the league and account for 16.5 percent of the team's total scoring in 2015-16. Additionally, Lee is the league's top returner in assists after averaging 3.7 per contest in 2015-16 to account for 29.1 percent of ISU's total assists. For his efforts, Lee was an MVC Honorable Mention and All-Defensive Team selection last season.
Returning junior forward Deontae Hawkins led the Redbirds and ranked ninth in the MVC by averaging 5.8 rebounds per game to account for 18 percent of the Illinois State's total rebounds last season. He also averaged 10.3 points per contest. Along with Lee and Hawkins, ISU's other two returning starters include senior guard Tony Wills (5.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg) and junior forward MiKyle McIntosh (10.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg). McIntosh earned spots on the 2016 MVC Honorable Mention and Most-Improved Team.
Joining Illinois State's seven returning letterwinners are eight newcomers, including three true freshmen, one redshirt freshman, two junior college transfers and two Division I transfers who will be eligible to play in 2017-18. ISU's 2016-17 non-conference schedule includes games against at least five 2016 Division I postseason qualifiers – including three NCAA Tournament teams – and five opponents who won 20 or more games last season.
Information regarding 2016-17 Illinois State men's basketball tickets is available by navigating to GoRedbirds.com/Tickets or by calling (309) 438-8000. Fans will have their first chance to see the Redbirds in action at Hoopfest, scheduled for Oct. 7 at 6:45 p.m. on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. Doors will open at 6 p.m., and the first 1,000 fans in attendance will received a free Redbird basketball T-shirt.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
