KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The 2020-21 Kalamazoo College men's basketball team opens its season on the road on Saturday, Feb. 6 against Hope. After a delay of the season due to COVID-19, the Hornets are scheduled to play eight games against conference opponents. Seven players return from last year's squad while six newcomers have been added to the roster.
The Hornets have been hard at work preparing for the unprecedented season. "We had to get creative with our preparation this year until we were able to officially begin practice," Head Coach Nick Giard said. "Our main focus is controlling what we can control because this year has and will continue to present a lot of challenges. We have a tremendous group that's excited to have the opportunity to play this season, and we are ready to make the most of it."
Season Schedule
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Saturday's contest against Hope is a non-conference game, and the following seven games will count towards the Hornets' MIAA record.
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After the road opener against the Dutchmen, the Hornets face Trine on their home court on Tuesday, Feb. 9 inside Anderson Athletic Center.
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Kalamazoo is back on the road for matchups against Olivet and Albion with a midweek break to host Adrian on Feb. 13.
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Hope College is the only team the squad will face off against twice as their first and last games of the season.
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Senior Day will take place on Saturday, Feb. 27 when the Hornets close out the regular season with a rematch against Hope.
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The MIAA Tournament is set to begin on Tuesday, March 2 and conclude on Saturday, March 6.
- Spectators are not allowed at MIAA events at this time.
Quick Facts
- The Hornets placed seventh last year following a 7-18, 4-10 MIAA run. The team finished strong with back-to-back wins against Hope and Calvin and winning three of their last five games.
- Last season, Kalamazoo broke school records for made threes in a season (231) and in a single game (18) against Olivet on January 15th.
- One of the key returners is senior forward Merritt Hamann. Hamann appeared in all 25 games in 2019-20, making 22 starts and averaging 6.4 points and 3.8 rebounds in 20.8 minutes per game.
- Senior Thomas Cook averaged 7.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game last season. Cook scored in double-digits in seven games and shot 34% 3PT.
- Senior guard Jack Smith is another key returner to the 2021 squad, totaling 24 steals, 22 assists and seven blocks last season with 5.7 points per game.
The Hornets expect strong senior leadership this season from the upperclassmen returners. They are working on developing good chemistry between the seasoned players and the incoming freshmen. "Our three captains, Thomas Cook, Merritt Hamann, and Jack Smith have done a tremendous job leading our team at practice and are poised to each have breakout seasons," Giard said. "Our other seniors are looking forward to stepping into bigger roles this season and making the most of their opportunities. We're really excited about our five freshmen and expect at least a couple of them to contribute right away."
Coaching Staff
The Hornets are under the direction of Coach Nick Giard, who is set to begin his second season as the men's basketball head coach. He came to Kalamazoo after time at Williams College as an assistant coach, Southern Illinois Edwardsville as the director of basketball operations, and the University of South Florida as a graduate assistant. During his time at Williams, the Ephs compiled a 46-13 record, were ranked in the top-five in the country 15 times and made back-to-back NCAA III Tournament appearances. He is the 15th head coach in the 113-year history of the program.
Assisting Giard this season are coaches Matt Covault and Koji Vroom. Covault will also begin his second season with the Hornets, while Vroom begins his first. A 2017 graduate of Kalamazoo College, Vroom joins the Hornet staff after serving as a graduate assistant at Eastern Michigan in 2019-20.