Men's Basketball Begins New Era
Coming off a disappointing 0-24 season a year ago, the new look Vermilion team boasts 16 new faces that hope to turn the fortunes of the program. This season the Ironhawks a competitive 28 game schedule, featuring three exhibition games that began on October 29th. The schedule includes 14 games against the competitive MCAC North Division, along with seeing five fellow MCAC members from the south, including hosting Riverland, Rochester Tech and Western Tech, along with road trips to Minnesota State – Fergus Falls and St. Cloud Tech. The schedule also sees MNC-V travel to open the season at Dakota County Tech on November 2nd, along with hosting the annual Dairy Queen Classic in Ely on November 18th and 19th against Gogebic and Minnesota North – Itasca. The Ironhawks will return the trip to Gogebic, facing off with the Bold and the Norse of Bay College.
Returners to the roster include J'Sean Banks (New Orleans, LA), Ronald Ducros (New Orleans, LA) and Brandon Raine (Rockford, IL). Newcomers expected to make big impacts are Sammy Russ (St. Paul, MN), CJ Brown (Minneapolis, MN), RaShawn Wilcox (Tokyo, Japan), Jordan Samuelsson (Stockholm, Sweden), Rondai Banks (Roanoke, AL), Kenny Garard (Tampa, FL) and Jordan Sinclair (Auburn, AL).
"We have had a great fall and preseason" Coach Dan Tharp said. "The guys have competed and been open to learning. They understand the proud history that this school and program have, and are excited to help build the foundation that will reflect the heights the program held in the past."
The Ironhawks open the season on Wednesday, November 11th at Dakota County, with their home opener taking place against the defending MCAC champion Riverland Blue Devils on November 11th.