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ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball program is just a few days away from officially opening the 2014-15 season under first year head coach Joey James.

Concordia opens the year on Friday against Emporia State University at 6:15 p.m. (CT) and will play Lindenwood University on Saturday at 4 p.m. (CT) at Doolittle Community Center. Both teams come from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) which is also in the NCAA Central Region.

Last year, Emporia State finished 18-13 (10-9, t-6th) and is picked eighth in the MIAA Preseason Poll while Lindenwood was picked ninth in the preseason poll coming off of an 11-19 overall season (6-13 MIAA, 11th).

STATE OF THE PROGRAM IN YEAR ONE
After being announced as the ninth head coach in Concordia's history as a college basketball program dating back to 1967-68 in April, James quickly brought on Eric Johnson as his top assistant. They retained Andrew Kuderer, a four year player and two year graduate assistant in the program as an assistant coach along with student assistant Josh Baker. Lastly, James was able to fill Kuderer's vacated graduate assistant position with Roman Gentry.

The staff quickly came together and formed a new energy that has swirled the Concordia campus into a new level of excitement towards the upcoming men's basketball season.

The coaching staff's enthusiasm, attention to detail, hard-working style is not just relegated to the basketball court. It's an all-encompassing way of life for James that embodies how he runs the program.

Since day one, James has reinforced an all-out work ethic in all aspects of being a student-athlete. The returning players in the program wasted no time buying into James' outlook, either. It's not hard for young men to buy into such a philosophy when James drives home the point that his goal is to graduate men who will be ready to succeed in their post-Concordia lives.

"I want our guys to play with passion, to appreciate and respect the game and compete at a high level every night we step on the floor," said James. "But it goes beyond the basketball court. We need to be prepared to operate this way at a high level at everything we do. I want our student-athletes to be consistent in everything they do."

With James, it's not just lip service, either. "We're holding guys accountable, too. Everyone on this team needs to be going to class, completing their school work and making progress towards a degree. Accountability is important in this program."

Attending the team's practices is the best way to get a true feel for how much impact the coaching staff has made in a short amount of time.

"This program is going to be ultra-competitive and our guys will hate to lose. That's we're trying to do here: build a winning basketball program."

So far, the results have been positive although the staff is quick to point out that there is work to be done. Like James, his staff has an aggressive and hard-working mentality. While they are quick to point out successes, they are just as quick to point out what can be improved.

"There's days when we have guys with poor body language and that's one of the things they know has to improve and they also know that we always see it and won't let them get away with it. But here's the encouraging thing: even on days when they are falling back into bad habits, their effort is great and they are trying to learn. They are like sponges right now, taking it all in and want to get better every day. It's exciting, and I can't wait to get going this weekend."

STYLE OF PLAY
With a first year head coach at the helm of the Golden Bears, there's still a lot of mystery around what the team will do on the floor and what style of play the squad will employ.

The team will be consistent with the overall message of the program, "I want to play a fast pace," said James. "We use controlled chaos in that we will play as fast as our team will allow us to play. We want to be aggressive, push teams up the court and get good, quick shots. But if we are turning the ball over, taking bad shots and making poor decisions we will pull the reigns in. But high tempo, high-powered offense is fun to play and fun to watch. In our halfcourt, we'll be a ball screen motion offense where guys will have freedom to play in our offense."

Defensively, James will primarily utilize man-to-man and will mix in varied zone looks. "We'll get after you," he said. "Our defensive tempo will be dictated by the situation and opponent and our focus is to be good in the half court."

THE PLAYERS – POSITION BY POSITION BREAKDOWN
The Point
The Golden Bears feature four players capable of running the point, with freshman Jon Sobaski potentially in line to open the year as a starter. Senior Terez VanPelt, junior David Stanley and freshman Matt Ambriz fill out the position although VanPelt will likely start at the two.

"Jon Sobaski is a hard-nosed, tough point guard that has a great feel for the game. He was a prolific scorer in high school so he can score when he needs to. But he balances everything out, he's tremendous in the paint with an incredible floater and can shoot the three as well. His vision and passing skills are very good and he's pretty complete for a freshman, one of the most complete freshmen I've ever coached."

With Sobaski making an immediate impact as a starter in the exhibition game against Saint John's and the alumni scrimmage, junior David Stanley will also be a factor at the position.

"In my opinion, David can be one of our best perimeter defenders. He's long, athletic and an explosive athlete. He can be very good off ball screens, get in the paint and attack the rim. He needs to get better with the three-ball but he can create for other guys."

Stanley hasn't played for the Golden Bears since his freshman year in 2011-12, spending a year at UW-River Falls before coming back. While he had to sit last season as a transfer, Stanley has been a key member of the track & field team as a two-sport athlete.

Joining them is freshman Matt Ambriz, a pure shooter from Woodbury High School. "Man, can he shoot it!" exclaimed James. "He has a quick release and can really stroke the ball. What a lot of people might not see is that his handles are really tight and he's crisp with it. He does a nice job in our motion offense getting in the paint but the physical part is where he needs to improve. He needs to take the contact and play through it when he does get in the lane. Once he's mentally and physically tougher, he has a chance to be a good player in our program."

The Two
While the point guard position features two true freshmen and a junior who has limited Division II game experience, the two guard spot features two players that averaged over 30 minutes per game last season in seniors Terez VanPelt and Keith Crockett.

VanPelt is a two-time All-NSIC Second Team selection and has already set the career and season records for free throws made and attempted while ending last year on a streak of 35-straight free throws made. He's averaged 19.3 and 18.4 points per game over the last two years and has scored 1,209 for his career while distributing 254 assists along the way.

"Terez has done a good job of trying to become more of a leader in this program and I think he's taken that on with a full head of steam. I've been pleased with that part of his development. On the court he can do just about anything. He has about the best mid-range pull-up I've ever seen, he's a heck of a free throw shooter and gets fouled a ton. He's already transitioned well from his past into a more complete player this fall although we'll still need him to score a lot for us and he has a chance to lead us in scoring again. But more importantly, we want to make sure he's finding and making the simple plays and distributing the ball."

Crockett enters his second year as a Golden Bear after ranking fifth in the league in assist-turnover ratio last year as a junior transfer, averaging 6.7 points and nearly three assists per game.

"I think Keith could be one of our best lock down defenders and guard one of the top players on the other team when he's locked in," said James. "Keith has a good feel for how to play the game. In our offense, he creates for others but we'd like him to be more consistent with his own offensive game with his three-ball, pull-up and driving the lane. He's an unselfish player with a good feel for the game."

The Three
Similar to the point guard, there are four players who are competing at the three position led by redshirt junior Cole Olstad along with sophomore transfer James Healy, redshirt freshman Nuni Omot and senior Jake Ruhland. Omot will factor more into the four position, though.

Olstad returns from a season-ending injury that derailed his junior season after six games when he was averaging 12.8 points with 4.3 rebounds and a 16-3 assist-turnover ratio on the young season.

As a Golden Bear, Olstad has scored 11.1 points per game including a high of 15.1 as a sophomore.

"Cole is a complete basketball player," said James. "He can shoot the three, get to the basket, he's a good athlete. He has to continue to get better defensively for us. I love his overall feel and he has the ability (along with Terez) to be an all-league player for us this year. He has to play at a high level every night and is a very smart player."

When the coaching staff arrived and began putting together recruits, one of the immediate needs was another outside shooter to stretch the defense, and they found Academic All-American James Healy from Otero Junior College.

"James Healy is an absolute sniper, he has a rifle shot," said James. "He's continuing to work on getting to the basket and his mid-range game has to improve but we expect him to be one of our best three-point shooters over his three years here."

Jake Ruhland provides depth and athleticism at three and helped put on a show as a competitor in the Hoops Madness slam dunk competition. A transfer from Ridgewater College where he was a team captain in 2011-12, Ruhland played in seven games last year with the Golden Bears.

"Jake has a great attitude, comes in everyday and competes and does exactly what he's asked to do. He's a pretty good athlete that has to keep getting better on the floor. He has a tremendous attitude since we've stepped on campus and is a great kid."

The Four
Another position with four players providing depth and competition is the four. Junior Mike Yahnke, redshirt freshman Nuni Omot, junior Shea Mandli and senior Adam Petterson all bring something a little different to the table at the spot.

Mike Yahnke is an NSIC All-Academic student-athlete coming in with 20 starts under his belt from last season when he was the team's second leading rebounder with 5.0 per game. He also added 7.9 points as the fourth leading scorer.

"Mike is a big, physical dude," explained James. "He comes out every day and competes hard every possession. In my opinion, with his size and physicality he should be a double-figure rebounder. Offensively, when he battles inside he's extremely tough to stop with that physicality. But he can also step out and hit 15-to-18 foot shots which makes him versatile and tough to guard."

James and the coaching staff still have four years to capitalize on Nuni Omot's potential and athletic ability as he redshirted last year as a freshman newcomer from Mahtomedi High School.

Jokingly, James referred to Omot as, "a poor man's Kevin Durant. Nuni oozes with talent. He has the ability at 6-8 to put it on the floor, hit three's, post-up and is the best athlete on the team. Where he needs to continue to grow is getting mentally tougher. He needs to understand the game a little bit more and be able to put it all together before his career takes off. He has a huge upside."

Joining David Stanley as a two-sport athlete on the basketball team is senior Adam Petterson. An All-NSIC golfer, James compared his golf swing to his stroke as a shooter. "'Pett' comes in, works hard, he 'gets-it' and has a good feel for how to play. To transition from golf to basketball, he's picked it up quick and in a short time. He has to keep improving, hit his shots when he's in there and keep battling in the post."

The Five
At the center position, sophomore transfer Josh Monroy stands out at 7-feet, 2-inches while Shea Mandli and Mike Yahnke will factor into the rotation between the two post positions.

Monroy joins Concordia from New Mexico Highlands, a Division II program in the Rocky Mountain (RMAC) conference. In his first year of college basketball, Monroy played in 23 games, blocking 17 shots despite getting just over six minutes per game of playing time.

"Big kids mature at a later stage than perimeter guys and the light just clicks on at a different time. Josh's light bulb is flickering right now and is on the verge of clicking on. And when it does click on, he could be very good for us. He protects the paint, blocks shots, and is a heck of a rebounder. He has to get stronger but in the short time we've had him he's already made major strides physically as well as offensively with technique and footwork. His upside is very good and he'll only get better for us."

Shea Mandli has started over half of the games he's played in for the Golden Bears with 28 starts in two years (51 games played) with 34 blocked shots over that time.

"Although he's not a captain, Shea has done a tremendous job of helping lead our guys, has been very vocal in practice, has a great attitude and works his tail off in practice. He's very skilled, has incredible post moves and footwork and can step out and knock down the mid-range to three-pointer. Shea and Mike could have very good years for us over the next two seasons."