Dior Ford. Bennett Cooper. Marshall Jestings. Austin Johnson. The men’s basketball team only had four seniors graduate, but what a set. All four were in the top ten in minutes and rebounds, top 11 in total points, and led the Pipers to an 11-14 overall record last season. Ford alone is a significant loss to the Pipers as he is the eighth all-time points scorer in school history.

This season, the Pipers will be relying on a younger core of players to power the team in search of their first playoff appearance since the 2010-2011 season. Sophomore guards Zach Smith, TC Robinson, Quinton Garvis and junior swingman Dylan See-Rockers are looked at as the feature players.

“See-Rockers and I both started a majority of games last year,” said Smith. “Robinson came off the bench last year and will either start or be our sixth man off the bench, and Garvis started nine games last year and is a great three-point shooter.”

Ford, Cooper and Johnson were three of the largest players on Hamline’s roster last year, and their departure leaves Hamline with an undersized roster. What they have lost in size they are replacing in shooting ability, a commitment to defense and speed.

“We are going to be a little more undersized than we have been in the past so we’re going to play at an up-tempo style,” said coach Jim Hayes. “We want to play pressure defense and use our speed and quickness to our advantages as much as possible. We have to be aggressive all the time.”

Hayes is beginning his third year as the head coach of the men’s basketball team after stops at Carleton and St. Thomas. He had previously spent ten years working as an assistant coach for the Pipers after he graduated from Hamline in 1994. 20 years later, Hayes is still ranked in the top ten in four separate statistical categories and on Saturday, Nov. 7, Hayes was one of four Hamline alumni inducted into the Hamline University Athletic Hall of Fame.

“It was a great experience,” Hayes said. “It was a really neat reception and banquet. It was a great evening and it was special to be a part of.”

Hayes’ Pipers began their season at home in Hutton Arena yesterday against Northwestern (MN), a nonconference opponent the Pipers defeated in last year’s season opener, 79-59. This year’s non-conference schedule is where the depth players will begin to assert themselves, and the entire roster will be looking to get in some early-season minutes.

“For the first three or four non-conference games we’ll play about 11 guys,” said See-Rockers. “Once we get into conference play, we’ll only be going about seven or eight guys deep so guys will be playing most of the game except when they need breathers.”

The Pipers have been practicing daily and working hard to limit mental mistakes and to set their plays, both of which are issues with teams that play up-tempo styles like the Pipers this year.

“We’re preparing by doing a lot of prep work on defensive stuff and a lot of work on our plays,” said Robinson. “We’re making sure we don’t have any mental errors and staying mentally focused, making sure all our defensive assignments are right and making sure we hustle to everything.”

Likely due to their major losses in the offseason, the Pipers were ranked ninth in the MIAC preseason coaches poll, above only Saint Mary’s and Macalester. The Pipers see their season aspirations far above a lowly ninth place finish.

“I see us as a playoff team for sure,” said See-Rockers. “We were ranked ninth last year in the MIAC preview, and we finished tied for seventh but I think we’re going to turn some heads.”

With their game against Northwestern (MN) in the rearview mirror, the Pipers work through the majority of their nonconference schedule while playing at North Central (MN) and traveling to Colorado to play against Whitworth (WA) and Howard Payne (TX) before returning home for their first conference game against Macalester on Wednesday, Dec. 2 at 7:00 p.m.