Fresh off the first conference title in program history, Roosevelt men’s basketball is tackling a new challenge this season in the GLIAC. It will be a largely new team for the Lakers as well with just four returners, including a pair of redshirt freshmen. The lone returning starter is Forte Prater, who averaged 13.6 points per game a year ago and shot nearly 39 percent from behind the arc. Daniel Reed is also back for the Lakers after providing some depth off the bench, averaging 2.8 points per game in roughly 10 minutes.
Once again, coach Dee Brown was aggressive in the transfer portal to find Chicago kids looking to come home to hone their skills at Roosevelt. The Lakers added Division I transfer Griffin Yaklich from UIC, reuniting the big man with Brown, who coached Yaklich with the Flames prior to taking the job at Roosevelt. Brown also added Ramean Hinton, who played at Western Illinois as a freshman before moving to Highland Community College last season.
Roosevelt finished last season fourth in the nation at the NAIA level in 3-point shooting percentage, sinking more than 40 percent of its shots from behind the arc. The Lakers were also very careful with the ball, leading the country with just 8.2 turnovers per game last year while winning the CCAC with a 25-4 overall record and reaching No. 11 in the country. They topped 80 points 13 times and were held to less than 65 points on only four occasions.
As good as Roosevelt was on offense, it was equally problematic for opponents on defense. The Lakers ranked 10th nationally in scoring defense, pestering teams with constant pressure that led to takeaways that turned into easy points at the other end. Roosevelt also held its opponents to less than 30 percent shooting from behind the arc in nearly half of its games last year.
