Intro
Coach Ryan Looney has assembled the most talented roster in the three years since he took over the  Point Loma Nazarene University men's basketball program. The Sea Lions return their top 5 scorers, including four All-PacWest selections, to a team that went 21-10 and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA West Regional. With that much returning talent and the influx of a very skilled recruiting class, this team has hopes for the season that extend well beyond just making a regional.
 
Returners
Back for the Sea Lions are starters Josh Rodriguez (PG, 10.1 ppg, 4.9 apg), Tanner Nelson (SG, 10.1 ppg, .403 3-point%), Sterling Somers (SF, 10.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and Ziggy Satterthwaite (C, 11.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg, .643 fg%). Preston Beverly (PF, 15.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg, .521 fg%), who came off the bench and was the leading scorer for PLNU last year, is expected to move into a starting role. Also returning are key reserves Noah Stapes (SG), Cameron Gilbert (C) and AJ Firey (SG). This crew has been through the battles in the PacWest and their first taste of regionals just motivated them to work even harder in their pursuit to advance this program to the next level.
 
"When you can return your top 5 leading scorers and guys that played an extreme amount of minutes, you are much further along," explained Looney. "It has been nice to have a veteran group to steer the newcomers in the right direction."
 
Newcomers
To supplement the returners, coach Looney brought in a very impressive recruiting class, which features five freshmen and three transfers. Headlining the group is the transfer from Western Washington, Daulton Hommes. Last year, he was a first team All-GNAC selection after averaging 18.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg and shooting .446 percent from behind the arc. The other members of the recruiting class are first-year freshmen Kaden Anderson, Brock Mackenzie, Zac Bulgin, Frank Kalinski and David Frohling, and transfers Ben Okhotin and Jack Hutchison.
 
"We have two freshmen in Kaden Anderson and Brock Mackenzie that we really like, and they will need to provide a role for our team this year," said Looney. "We also have two transfers in Ben Okhotin, from Westmont, and Daulton Hommes, from Western Washington, that will both need to make an impact for us this year. Hommes has a chance to have a special year. He is an extremely talented offensive player."
 
Offensive outlook
Coach Looney has always run swing as his offensive system. It allows his teams to get post-ups on the block, spread the floor and dictate the pace of the game. However, even with so much success with the system in the past, he is always looking at other options to capitalize on the talent of every one of the Sea Lions' student-athletes.
 
"We are trying to play a little differently based on our personnel," explained Looney. "We have a much better shooting team than we have had in the past, but we still want to emphasize getting the ball to Preston Beverly and Ziggy Satterthwaite in the post."
 
Defensive outlook
Defense has always been the calling card for Ryan Looney coached teams. Last season, PLNU led the PacWest in scoring defense allowing just 64.5 point per game and it held its opponents to .423 percent shooting from the floor. However, most importantly, the Sea Lions dominated other teams on the glass. They led the nation with an 11.9 rebounding margin and they outrebounded their opponents in all but four games. This year it looks like PLNU could be even better in every aspect on the defensive side of the ball as the Sea Lions have the personnel to match up with nearly anyone. They are big on the front line and quick in the backcourt, but as always on defense, the effort will be the key to success.
 
"Our offense is ahead of our defense right now but defending and rebounding are always areas that we hang our hat," added Looney, "we as a staff will continue to push all our players to become better in those areas as the season progresses."
 
Schedule
The schedule is set up very favorably for the Sea Lions in the early part of the season. They will play eight of its first 10, and 10 of its first 13 games at home against some very quality teams. Early on the Sea Lions will face a slew of regional opponents, including 2017-18 NCAA Regional participants Saint Martin's (Nov. 10), UC San Diego (Nov. 14) and St. Cloud State (Nov. 24). The PacWest season will begin on Nov. 29 at Academy of Art.
 
"With the loss of Dixie State and California Baptist from the PacWest, we felt we needed to strengthen our non-conference portion of the schedule," Looney explained. "We think Saint Martin's, UCSD and CSU San Bernardino are all teams may have great years within the west region, so we are excited to get to play them early in November."
 
Goals
With so much talent on The Point, coach Looney could have chosen to set lofty goals for his program this year, but he would much rather focus on the process.
 
"We keep it simple," he said. "We focus on getting better day by day. We are just trying to prepare to win the first game on our schedule right now and then we will see where that puts us at the end of the year."
 
Keys
Despite not defining team goals for the season, coach Looney did outline a few of the keys the Sea Lions need to achieve to have success this season.
 
"We need to continue to be a great defensive and rebounding team," Looney continued. "Last year we led the NCAA in rebounding margin and we hope that can continue this year. For us to grow, we also have to turn the ball over less, so that has been a big focal point for us."
 
Conclusion
The roster is loaded, the team is motivated, it is just now time for the Sea Lions to execute, and success will follow.