2023-24 Roster  |  2023-24 Schedule
 
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team was picked to finish fourth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division this season, the league office announced Thursday with the unveiling of its annual preseason coaches poll.
 
Last year's PSAC Tournament champions Indiana (Pa.) received five first-place votes and was picked to win the Western Division. California (Pa.) was tabbed second in the PSAC West after earning four first-place votes followed in the top five by Mercyhurst, The Rock and Pitt-Johnstown.
 
The bottom half of this year's poll saw Seton Hill in sixth place with Gannon, Clarion and Edinboro making up the remainder of the poll.
 
East Stroudsburg was tabbed to win the PSAC East after capturing five of the division's nine first-place votes.
 
The top six teams from each division at the end of the regular season qualify for the PSAC Tournament. Slippery Rock has reached the PSAC Tournament in 11 of the last 12 seasons in which the postseason tournament has been held.
 
Slippery Rock is coming off a 2022-23 season in which it went 17-12 overall and 11-11 in the PSAC West while earning a conference tournament bid. Four of SRU's losses came by seven points or less.

THE COACHING STAFF
Ian Grady returns for his 15th year on The Rock's coaching staff overall, and his sixth as the program's head coach.
 
Grady has enjoyed an outstanding start to his head coaching career as he has led Slippery Rock to winning years in all four seasons in which games have been played – the 2020-21 campaign was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic - and a 68-48 (.586) overall record in addition to four postseason appearances.
 
Only one active head coach in the PSAC has recorded more wins in their first four completed seasons at their current school than Grady has at The Rock.
 
The Rock's coaching staff remains fully intact for a third consecutive season as Grady will once again be joined by lead assistant Jon Valeriano as well as assistant Brad Henry.
 
While Grady will be tasked with replacing his top three scorers from a season ago, including four-year starting point guard Amante Britt, Slippery Rock will have the luxury of doing so with a veteran squad that includes 11 athletes that were with the program last year paired with four transfers who have all logged significant collegiate minutes at their previous schools.

RETURNERS
Senior forward Lashon Lindsey enjoyed a breakout season as a junior a year ago. In what is hopefully a sign of things to come this year, Lindsey set career-highs in every significant statistical category in 2022-23 including points (9.3), rebounds (6.7), steals (1.6), assists (1.2), blocks (1.0), made three pointers (28) and free throw percentage (.756).
 
One of the more versatile forwards in the conference, Lindsey is the only returning PSAC athlete to have averaged at least 9.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 1.0 assists and 1.0 blocks per game a season ago.
 
Lindsey enters his senior year already ranked eighth in program history for blocks in a career, 21st in minutes played, 23rd in made 3-pointers, 23rd in steals and 24th in offensive rebounding.
 
After having his freshman season in 2021-22 limited to just four games due to injury, redshirt sophomore guard Jomo Goings proved to be one of The Rock's most productive players down the stretch of last season. A do-it all guard, Goings appeared in all 29 games, going for 9.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.0 steals a game while shooting 45.5 percent from the field overall and 38.9 percent from distance.
 
However, Goings was at his best during The Rock's playoff push. In SRU's final nine games of the 2022-23 regular season, he provided Slippery Rock with 12.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.1 assists all the while knocking down 53.5 percent (38-for-71) of his total field goal attempts and 52.2 percent (12-for-23) of his shots from 3-point territory.
 
Redshirt junior guard Bobby Clifford has been a constant in The Rock's rotation over the last two years as the guard hasn't missed a game over that timespan while making 42 starts in the process. Clifford is a career 6.1 points per game scorer who has also averaged 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists while shooting 42.2 percent from the field and playing 24.5 minutes a contest.
 
There is no player on the team more familiar with the Slippery Rock system than graduate swingman Nik Cazacu, who has been a member of the program dating all the way back to the 2018-19 season. One of the best pure athletes on the team, Cazacu has played in 88 career games at SRU including 24 a year ago.
 
If Cazacu plays in 12 games this year he will become the 15th athlete in program history to appear in 100 games for SRU, and just the second to do so in the last 12 years. 
 
Alex Griggs gained invaluable experience as the backup point guard Britt during his freshman year last season. Griggs appeared in all 29 games during his rookie campaign and averaged 2.0 points, 1.4 rebounds and just under one steal per game over 10 minutes played per contest.
 
The reserve guard trio of Colin McQuiston, Bryon Ottrix and Malik Robinson are all back as well. McQuiston is in his third season with the program while Ottrix, a transfer from Detroit Mercy, and Robinson both dawned The Rock uniform for the first time in 2022-23.
 
Also returning for The Rock after redshirting during their freshmen seasons are forward Enire Bowens, guard Sheick Samoura and forward Mack Staunch.
 
NEWCOMERS
With its plethora of returners, Slippery Rock's 2023-24 recruiting class consisted of just four-student athletes in guard Maceo Austin, forward Ja'Mier Fletcher, guard Ike Herster and guard Luke Howes: all of whom figure to make an instant impact for The Rock.
 
Leading The Rock's heralded recruiting class is Austin, a former consensus three-star guard and 2017-18 Class 1A Pennsylvania Player of the Year, who comes to SRU from Division I Duquesne where he started 33 of 38 games between 2019-20 and 2020-21. Austin averaged 6.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists over 25.8 minutes per game for the Dukes.
 
Prior to the cancelation of the 2019-20 season conference and NCAA Tournaments, Austin started 29 games for a Duquesne team that went 21-9 and entered the Atlantic 10 Tournament as the league's sixth seed. Austin was a 1,971-point scorer at Kennedy Catholic High School.
 
Fletcher is a veteran of 79 Division I games, 28 of which were starts, at Wagner. A 6-7, 245-forward, Fletcher provides Slippery Rock with a true interior presence - a pre-requisite for success inside the PSAC West even in the era of positionless basketball. Fletcher shot 58.7 percent from the field at Wagner.

Herster is no stranger to the area or the PSAC West in particular as he spent the last three years at division rival Gannon. While with the Golden Knights, Herster started 27 of 29 games played and posted per game averages 13.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists. A long-range threat, nearly half of his made field goals at Gannon came from 3-point range (61 out of 125).
 
Austin and Herster won multiple state titles together as high school teammates at Kennedy Catholic.
 
Another proven Division II commodity, Howes transferred to Slippery Rock from Walsh after redshirting in 2022-23. The Fairview Park, Ohio native started 15 of 45 games played between 2020-21 and 2021-22 at Walsh, averaging 6.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists and just under one steal per game while shooting 50.2 percent from the field overall, 36.5 percent from 3-point range and 72.3 percent at the foul line.
 
Howes helped to lead the Cavaliers to a 24-7 record and a berth into the Midwest Region semifinals in 2021-22.
 
THE SCHEDULE
Slippery Rock will play a challenging 28-game schedule this season. Of The Rock's 19 unique opponents, 11 finished last year with a winning record, five of which had 20-win seasons in Daemen, Indiana (Pa.), Mercyhurst Pitt-Johnstown and West Chester.
 
In addition to the always daunting 16-game round robin PSAC West schedule, Slippery Rock will also play crossover contests against West Chester, Millersville, Shepherd, Shippensburg, Lock Haven and Kutztown.
 
The Rock's non-conference schedule is highlighted by the program's first ever trip to the 50th state against Hawaii Pacific (Nov. 26) and Chaminade (27) to go along with a home and away series versus Davis & Elkins as well as a return trip to Daemen on Nov. 21 and the team's official 2023-24 season-opener against West Virginia Wesleyan 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15 at Morrow Field House.
 
Under Grady, Slippery Rock has gone 43-18 (.705) in home games, 14-8 (.636) in crossover contests against PSAC East teams and 17-12 (.586) in non-conference matchups.
 
Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
West Division
1. Indiana (Pa.) (5)
2. California (Pa.) (4)
3. Mercyhurst
4. SLIPPERY ROCK
5. Pitt-Johnstown
6. Seton Hill
7. Gannon
8. Clarion
9. Edinboro
 
East Division
1. East Stroudsburg (5)
2. West Chester (3)
3. Millersville
4. Shepherd (1)
5. Shippensburg
6. Lock Haven
7. Kutztown
8. Bloomsburg
9. Mansfield
 
(# of 1st Place Votes)




 
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