As
the 2011–2012 basketball season approaches for the Northland International Pioneers, one word comes to mind—potential. The Pioneers finished strong last season,
beating two National Tournament teams (North Central and Faith Baptist Bible
College) in the last month of the season before being knocked out by eventual National
Champion Grace Bible in the Midwest Regional semi-finals.
The Pioneers bring back three key
returners, senior and Midwest Region First Team member Seth Quirey; the
Pioneers' leading scorer, Josh Conover, the team’s second leading scorer and a
“true” impact freshmen; and his brother, Jon Conover, a junior. Head Coach Pete Wehry acknowledged, “Jon was
playing great basketball for us last year and near the end of January we lost
him for the season with a stress fracture in his leg.”
Northland also returns 6’ 6” center Brandon
Gershman and guard Luke Valenzuala. The
team is also excited about having two 2011 recruits, swing man Jon Egan and point guard Zach Mercado, now healthy but had to red shirt last year due to injury. Coach commented, “Jon is a great
teammate—he is a vocal leader, good team defender and shoots it well. I am especially excited to have Zach
healthy. Honestly last year in preseason
he gave it a go, but had a really bad back. He was pretty good in preseason last year, but now that he is healthy, I
am thrilled with how well he is playing. He can shoot it, sees the floor, makes great decisions and is a good
defender. I think he will impact this
team in a lot of ways.”
For the second year in a row, the Lord
brought in another fine recruiting class. Northland added size and depth at the forward and center positions, some areas that needed to be addressed. The Pioneers secured three big men that should impact the team with
different skill sets. Kyler Gardner is a
6’4” wide body from Gilbert, Arizona; Shannon Carlough is a 6’5” center from New
Jersey that has a great nose for the ball; and Austin Keys is a 6’5” athletic
power forward from Aurora, Illinois, that has good touch around the basket. Coach remarked, “These three young men and Brandon Gershman
give us some real strength, power, and depth in our front court. I am really excited to see how these players
will put their stamp on our program.”
The Pioneers added depth to the guard
position with Eric Hathaway from Gilbert, Arizona; Tanner Johnson from Fairbanks, Alaska; Jacob Ross from Campbell, Minnesota; and Adam VanWingerden from Lexington, Kentucky. "I thought in 2011 we brought in some good
players—Josh Conover, Zach Mercado, Jon Egan, Luke Valenzuala," Coach Wehry reflected, "and I think this
freshmen class may even be better. But
that is why some of our players have noted that potential is just that—potential. We have to come together as a
team; we have to learn to play together and play Pioneer basketball—good
defense, rebounding, pushing the ball and executing on offense. That is always easier said than done."
The Pioneers will face a difficult
2011–2012 schedule. They start the
season off playing two solid NAIA teams in Davenport University and Indiana
University–South Bend. The next weekend,
they play two 2011 NCCAA national teams, Faith Baptist and Manhattan
Christian. The team also plays three
Division II programs: UW–Parkside, UM–Crookston, and Northern Michigan. In January, they face NCCAA National runner-up
Valley Forge in Pennsylvania. This is
all in addition to playing in the NCCAA Midwest Region with three-time
National Champion Grace and six other teams.
While anticipating the upcoming season, Coach reviewed last year's: “Without going on a tangent, our region
is a beast. Last year, we were the #5
seed, and I truly felt we competed well outside our region, and I think our
record demonstrates it. Grace is solid;
Lincoln was very good at the end of the year; Maranatha was consistent in our
region and had to deal with sickness at regionals; Moody had some good talent;
and Kuyper was the seventh seed and lost in overtime on Thursday night in a war with
Maranatha. It is really tough to play three games in row and come out of the region.”
The Pioneers have their hands full and
know the season will be a challenge, but they truly look forward to the opportunity. “We know we are in an uphill battle, but
honestly we believe we can make a run at getting to nationals. We understand that our region is difficult
and not only accept that fact, but we are starting to relish the
challenge. It is a long season and our
goal is to prepare and compete every day to obtain our highest potential.”