Golden Eagle Men's Basketball Initiates New Era with Games In Missouri Against Missouri Western State, No. 1 Northwest Missouri State


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Golden Eagle men's basketball will open up a brand new era in 2022. Bryan Beamish, who has been with the program for the last eight seasons, with the previous four coming as associate head coach, will now be the head coach for the maroon and gold. Beamish has been a part of special things in his time, including a number of double-digit win seasons, an NSIC Tournament win and coached the best scorer in NSIC history, Harrison Cleary. Beamish will hope that the success he had as an assistant coach will translate well to now being the head coach. Exciting times ahead for Golden Eagle basketball.

• NEW YEAR, NEW TEAM. The Golden Eagles went 8-19 a season ago and missed the NSIC Playoffs by just a game in the North. However, this season will feature a number of new faces, both on the court and on the coaching staff. Minnesota Crookston will welcome in ten new players and a number of them figure to play huge roles and will decide what this year looks like for the Golden Eagles. Beamish and Tim Lubke are back on the bench, albeit in elevated roles, as Lubke will now be the first assistant coach for Beamish. Beamish coached Lubke in Lubke's final season as a player for Minnesota Crookston. Kyron Cartwright is new to the staff this season as the second assistant. Cartwright had a decorated career at Providence College, where he was named to the Big East All-Second team as a junior and led the Big East in assists as a senior for the Friars. The Compton, Calif., native also played in the NCAA Tournament all four seasons as a player. Cartwright will hope to bring that winning mentality to the Golden Eagles as a coach.

• BLAIZE OF GLORY. One of the ten newcomers to this year's Golden Eagles is London, England native Blaize Sagna. It's not too often that a newcomer is tabbed as the Player to Watch for their respective program, but Sagna became just that. Although he has yet to put on a Golden Eagle uniform, new Head Coach Bryan Beamish has extremely high hopes for the junior and Sagna will hope to meet those expectations come Nov. 11.

• MEEKS FOR WEEKS. Another player that has earned the high hopes of the coaching staff is Chandler Meeks. Meeks, the freshman from Omaha, Neb., will come into this season with hopes of being the primary ball handler for the maroon and gold. Meeks was named to the Omaha All-Metro team as a Senior last year with Omaha Westside where he averaged almost 10 points,  four rebounds and three assists per game. Meeks should make a large impact as a freshman for Minnesota Crookston.

• DIVE RIGHT IN. On paper, there will be nothing easy about what the Golden Eagles have on their schedule. The Golden Eagles opened with North Dakota State last Wednesday. Although it was an exhibition, it was a great litmus test playing a storied program who has been to the NCAA Tournament and is one of the favorites in the Summit League. This weekend, Minnesota Crookston will take on Missouri Western State and Northwest Missouri State, the defending National Champions. In non-conference play, the Golden Eagles will travel to Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech, who each beat the Golden Eagles a season ago. The maroon and gold will also take on Texas A & M-Kingsville, who made the NCAA Tournament a season ago. With a bunch of new faces and a first-year Head Coach, it will be interesting to see how the Golden Eagles handle their tough schedule outside of the NSIC.

• FORMER BONNIE. When the Golden Eagles defeated Augustana and advanced to the NSIC Quarterfinals in the Sanford Pentagon in 2018-19, they had an impact transfer from the D-I ranks that played a pivotal role on that team: Josh Collins from the University of North Dakota. This year, the Golden Eagles will hope that Pedro Rossi can be the same type of impact that Collins was. The 6'8 big man from Argentina came to Minnesota Crookston by way of St. Bonaventure, a 23-win team and NIT participant a season ago. Rossi played in three games for the Bonnies and will look to leave his mark this season on the Golden Eagles.

• DEZ IN SHOW BIZ. Dezmond Washington is another one of those newcomers this season for the Golden Eagles. Before his time as a Golden Eagle, you might have seen Washington on the popular TV show 'Last Chance U', which featured his old school; East Los Angeles College. The junior was more than a TV star for the Huskies, as he averaged over 10 points a game and four rebounds in his final season at East L.A. The Morrilton, Ark., native played his prep ball in high school and was named the John R. Wooden Player of the Year, presented to the top player in the CIF Southern Section Division. Washington has had a pretty illustrious career and will look to continue that this season in his first year as a Golden Eagle.

• WELCOME BACK TY. If you started your career at one school, left briefly and are back on the roster, are you technically a newcomer? Tyrese Shines has had an interesting career with a number of twists and turns ever since he stepped foot on the campus of Minnesota Crookston way back in 2019, but the Golden Eagles are glad to have him back. As a freshman in 2019, the La Grange, Ill., native averaged almost 20 minutes per game and 6.6 points per game, including six double-figure games in his last 13 games as a Golden Eagle. Minnesota Crookston is happy to have Shines' scoring prowess and athletic ability back in the fold. The junior will look to have a huge impact this season.


Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Bryan Beamish
Record at UMC: 0-0 Season at UMC: Eighth Season (First as Head Coach)


Missouri Western State Griffons
Head Coach: Will Martin
Record at MWSU: 28-28 Season at MWSU: 3rd Season


Northwest Missouri State Bearcats
Head Coach: Ben McCollum
Record at NWSU: 334-83 Season at NWSU: 14th Season


Weekly Snapshot

Minnesota Crookston
Projected Starters
Jr. G 4 Xzavier Jones (6-4, Milwaukee, Wis.)
So. G 1 Blaize Sagna (6-3, London, England)
R-Jr. G/F 11 Matthew Allman (6-6, London, England)
Jr. G/F 24 Dezmond Washington (6-6, Morrilton, Ark.)
So. F 14 Pedro Rossi (6-8, Bahia Blanca, Argentina)
Top Bench Players
Fr. G 5 Chandler Meeks (6-1, Omaha, Neb.)
R-So. F 10 Jordan Mitchell (6-8, Columbus, Ohio)
R-Jr. F 2 De'Antray Hughes (6-7 New Orleans, La.)
So. G 3 Ron Kirk, Jr. (6-4, Milwaukee, Wis.)
Sr. G 20 Rambo Badyal (6-3, Kelowna, British Columbia)
Missouri Western State
Projected Starters
R-So. G Julius Dixon (6-7, Fayetteville, Tenn.)
Jr. C Alex John (6-8, Brooklyn Park, Minn.)
So. G 12 Zion Swader (6-0, Murfreesboro, Tenn.)
So. G 13 Taye Fields (6-4, Opelika, Ala.)
Jr. F 23 Will Eames (6-7, Lee's Summit, Mo.)
Top Bench Players
So. C 11 Matt Nunez (6-10 Newport News, Va.)
Jr. G 3 Reese Glover (5-10, Franklin, Tenn.)
So. G/F 20 Ethan Kilgore (6-6, Gower, Mo.)
Northwest Missouri State
Projected Starters
Sr. G 1 Diego Bernard (6-0, St. Joseph, Mo.)
So. G 4 Isaiah Jackson (6-2, Independence, Mo.)
So. G 22 Mitch Mascari (6-5, Geneva, Ill.)
Jr. F 42 Luke Waters (6-6, Olathe, Kan.)
So. F 54 Daniel Abreu (6-6, Springfield, Mo.)
Top Bench Players
So. F 11 Byron Alexander (6-4, Kansas City, Mo.)
Fr. G 14 Bennett Stirtz (6-4, Liberty, Mo.)


KNOW THE OPPONENTS

Missouri Western State. Much like the Golden Eagles, the Griffons will open up 2022 this weekend. MWSU ended with 14 wins in 2022, including a pair of wins over ranked opponents in Oklahoma Baptist and St. Thomas Aquinas. MWSU will have tons of talent, as is evident by losing to NCAA powerhouse Kentucky in exhibition play by just 18 in the famed Rupp Arena. The last time these two teams met, Minnesota Crookston defeated the Griffons by nine in St. Joseph in 2019.

WELCOMED SIGHT.  Morehead State transfer Julius Dixon is going to be a large impact player for second-year head coach Will Martin. In his two exhibition games, the redshirt sophomore averaged 11 points, including a game-high 18 against Benedictine. Dixon finished with four points against the Wildcats. Expect Dixon to play a huge impact throughout the season.

IT'S IN THE BLOOD. Many things have changed since the last time these two programs met. The players, both schools have a first-year and a second-year head coach. For the Golden Eagles, the only player on the roster in that 2019 game was Tyrese Shines. For Missouri Western State, there are four players on the current roster that played in the game in 2019, including Alex John. John was a freshman at the time and finished with 14 points and nine rebounds in a starting role. Basketball runs in the John blood. The junior from Champlin Park, Minn., is brothers with Theo John, the former Marquette and Duke star.

D-I EXPERIENCE. In order to improve on the 14-win season in 2021, Will Martin brought in some experience to try and help with that task. Dixon, the former Eagle of Morehead State is in his first season with MWSU after playing in the NCAA Tournament against West Virginia in 2020-21. Matt Nunez comes from another successful program, East Tennessee State and Ethan Kilgore makes his way to St. Joseph from the University of Idaho, where he played in 10 games with one start for the Vandals. The Griffons are hopeful that all three Division I transfers will make an impact.

Northwest Missouri State. The Bearcats are the gold standard in Division II. Dating back to 2000, NMSU has lost double-digit games just six times and have lost just 19 games since 2015-16 with four National Champions in that stretch. How does the old saying go? "To be the best, you have to beat the best" and the Bearcats will undoubtedly have a target on their backs this season. NMSU knocked off Minnesota Crookston in 2019, the lone meeting between these two schools.

DIEGO IS ON THE CASE. Diego Bernard is arguably one of the best players in the nation and has been a stalwart in the Bearcats lineup the day he stepped foot on campus. In his freshman year in 2018, the St. Joseph, Mo., native was named honorable mention in the MIAA and since then has been named to either the second or third team. In 2020, Bernard was named the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year and reached 1,000 points that same season. The fifth-year senior has started 126 games in his career. In two games, Bernard is averaging 13 points, 11 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. No. 1 will be priority one for the Golden Eagles this weekend.

THE WATERS ARE CLEAR. Junior Luke Waters was the best Bearcat this past weekend at the Small College Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland, Fla. In two wins, one over West Texas A & M to open up the season, the Olathe, Kan., native scored 17 points on 6-7 shooting from the field. Waters is another Bearcat who has been good for many years, being named to the NCAA Elite Eight All-Tournament Team a season ago and averaged 9.8 points in 38 starts in 2021. Waters will be a tough task this weekend.

NO REBUILDING HERE. As might be evident in their recent run, the Bearcats never rebuild, they just reload. The Bearcats lost Trevor Hudgins, who was just the fourth player in NCAA Division II history to earn back-to-back Player of the Year awards and won the MIAA Player of the Year his final three years on campus. Hudgins is now on an NBA roster with the Houston Rockets. After losing one of the best players in Division II history, it sure hasn't seemed to slow down the Bearcats, who are 2-0 on the season heading into this weekend.