Northern Kentucky Basketball: 2017-18 season preview for the Norse
By Bryan Mauro
In their first year in the Horizon League, Northern Kentucky basketball won the conference tournament to take the automatic NCAA Tournament bid.
During the Norse’s magical run to the NCAA tournament, a few of their players really showed that they could play with some of the tops in the college basketball ranks. In the Big Dance, Northern Kentucky drew in-state rival Kentucky and lost by nine points. The game against the Wildcats was close throughout and caused some Wildcat fans to sweat.
Northern Kentucky also staked their claim as one of the teams to beat in the Horizon League. The Norse will enter the 2017-18 season as one of the premier teams in the conference, as well as one of the favorites to win the league. The Norse return the majority of their team from a year ago and are looking to make a return trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Projected Starters:
Holland was the hero of the Horizon League Tournament championship game and the leading scorer in the NCAA Tournament. Holland is the go-to guy in this offense and the team relies on him to make the clutch buckets. He is going to be looked to for leadership and to provide most of the scoring punch for the Norse yet again.
Holland, as mentioned above, came into his own and put his stamp on the Horizon League Tournament. He was named the MVP of that tournament after scoring 56 points and dishing out 16 assists over the three-day event. The way Holland plays directly correlates to Northern Kentucky’s success. The Norse hope he continues his clutch ways and helps add a regular season Horizon League championship to their resume.
McDonald is coming off a very productive sophomore year as the primary post player for the Norse. McDonald was the teams leading scorer last year, as he contributed 16 points and 8 rebounds per contest. McDonald was recognized as a first-team All-Horizon League player. With McDonald and Holland coming back it is hard to think the Norse won’t be better offensively. McDonald is a decent free throw shooter and is a solid shooter from beyond the arc. He is a tough assignment for most teams, as he can score in multiple ways. McDonald is the early leader for the Horizon League Player of the Year.
Williams is coming off a nice freshman year that saw him start every game for the Norse. In the NCAA Tournament, Williams had a memorable game. He was able to go for 21 points against Kentucky. Williams should be able to build off of that going into his sophomore year. Williams is an interior scorer and does a good job on the boards. He is only 6’5” but plays much taller than that because of his bounce and the ability to get to the rim. Williams should take a huge step forward this year and build off of a very solid freshman year.
Garnett is a senior who the Norse will look to for leadership. Garnett didn’t factor much into the offense last year as he did not take many shots. The shots he did take he was able to make and appears to be a decent 3-point shooter even though he had minimal attempts. Garnett will be asked to bring his defensive prowess to the floor again this year. He is going to be asked to most likely shoot more as well because Cole Murray, who made 101 threes last year, is no longer on the team. hat type of production is going to take a committee to replace. Garnett should be open most of the time on the line as teams are going to gameplan for Holland, McDonald, and Williams while making Garnett beat them.
Garrett is a former transfer from Alabama who didn’t get many minutes last year. Garrett should see a large uptick in minutes this year, especially with the departure of Cole Murray. Garrett is also the biggest question mark on this team. The Norse were not really sure how to utilize Garrett last year. If Garrett can carve out a niche with this team it will only make the Norse that much better.