The Cardinals have six returners from last years team led by seniors Toodles Seal, Freddie McIntosh, and Maurice Anderson, along with junior Kevonne Taylor. The Cardinals added three junior transfers to the roster this season with Bryson Huckeby and Elijah Mattingly joining the squad from Anderson University. Richomond Mawutor from London, Great Britain and Mineral Area College is the other junior transfer to the team. Christian Zielinski (Midland, Mich.) and Triston Nichols (Shelby Twp., Mich.) return after taking a red shirt last year. Five true freshman complete the roster: Will Fowler (Duncan, S.C.), Dontez Scott II (Romulus, Mich.), Niko Newsom (Bloomington, Ill.), Trenton Taratuta (Hillman, Mich.), and Nate Washburn (Macomb, Mich.).
Toodles Seal was the leading scorer for SVSU a season ago with 18.5 points per game (third-best in the GLIAC) along with 6.0 rebounds per game which led Saginaw Valley and was a top-10 mark in the league. Seal earned preseason honors as he was named to the Preseason All-GLIAC Second-Team when the league office announced those awards this afternoon.
McIntosh was third on the team with 16.2 points per game with 2.3 assists per game, the most of any returner. Taylor returns down low as the team’s leading blocker with 2.6 per game along with 4.6 rebounds and 5.6 points.
Randy Baruth leads the coaching staff as he heads into his 13th season at the helm of the program. He is assisted by Tommy Twardecki and Barry Huckeby. Tim Inman is on the staff as a special assistant to the head coach.
The Cardinals have five non-conference games to kick off the season. The season opener is at Hillsdale on November 8 at 3:00 p.m., before hosting the Chargers at home on Sunday, November 10. That game starts a three-game home stand with Grace Christian (Nov. 15) and Indianapolis (Nov. 17), before hitting the road at Northwood on November 26. The GLIAC season begins on December 5 against Grand Valley State.
