Lake Superior State Men's Basketball Schedule 2023-2024: What To Know
Lake Superior State Men's Basketball Schedule 2023-2024: What To Know
The LSSU men’s basketball team lost some key talent but added a few major prospects. Will this be a rebuilding year? Here’s a look at the LSSU schedule.
The Lake Superior State men’s basketball program is led by Steve Hettinga, the winningest coach in program history at 267-184.
Hettinga is entering his 17th campaign with the Lakers, but despite his past success, the preseason outlook for his team was bleak.
Last season, LSSU finished fourth in the 10-team Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Association regular-season standings and then made a quick exit from the conference tournament, falling to Grand Valley State in the quarterfinals. The Lakers ended the year 13-14 overall.
Heading into the new season, the Lakers landed in a tie for seventh place in the 2023-2024 GLIAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
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The squad still is looking to regain the form that helped the Lakers top the regular-season GLIAC standings in consecutive years—2013-2014 and 2014-2015—and to the tournament title in 1996, but they’ll have to do it with a crop of unproven talent.
Lake Superior State did have two players on the All-GLIAC first team last year—Kemon Bassett and Caden Ebeling—while C.J. Robinson made the All-GLIAC defensive team.
Unfortunately, all three have moved on in their careers, leaving Hettinga to fill those roles.
The list of key returners includes senior guard Xander Okerlund, junior guard Tyson Edmonson, senior guard Andy Soma and junior forward Kingsley Perkins. Okerlund was the best scorer of the bunch last season, averaging 9.4 points per game. Ebeling led the team at 16.4, which was sixth in the GLIAC.
The 2023-2024 LSSU roster also features six new players, which includes four freshmen and two transfers.
With more incoming talent than returning standouts, Lake Superior State did not have any preseason first- or second-team selections.
Here’s a look at the Lake Superior State men’s basketball schedule for the 2023-2024 season.
Lake Superior State Men’s Basketball Schedule 2023-2024
All Times Eastern
| Date | Day | Time | Home/Away | Opponent | Location |
| Oct. 29 | (Sun) | 5 p.m. | Away | Terra State (Exh) | |
| Nov. 10 | (Fri) | 7 p.m. | Away | Lake Erie | Painesville, OH |
| Nov. 11 | (Sat) | 5 p.m. | Home | Northwood | Painesville, OH |
| Nov. 18 | (Sat) | 3 p.m. | Away | Indianapolis | Indianapolis |
| Nov. 20 | (Mon) | 7 p.m. | Away | Quincy | Kalamazoo, MI |
| Dec. 1 | (Fri) | 7 p.m. | Away | Eastern Michigan | Ypsilanti, MI |
| Dec. 7 | (Thu) | 9 p.m. | Away | Wisconsin-Parkside | Kenosha, WI |
| Dec. 9 | (Sat) | 4 p.m. | Away | Purdue Northwest | Hammond, IN |
| Dec. 14 | (Thu) | 6 p.m. | Home | Algoma | Sault Ste. Marie, MI |
| Dec. 18 | (Mon) | 8:30 p.m. | Neutral | SW Minnesota State | Wisconsin Dells, WI |
| Dec. 19 | (Tue) | 2 p.m. | Neutral | Saint Leo | Wisconsin Dells, WI |
| Dec. 30 | (Sat) | 3 p.m. | Home | Lewis | Sault Ste. Marie, MI |
| Jan. 2 | (Tue) | 6 p.m. | Home | Kuyper | Sault Ste. Marie, MI |
| Jan. 6 | (Sat) | 3 p.m. | Away | Ferris State | Big Rapids, MI |
| Jan. 11 | (Thu) | 7:30 p.m. | Away | Northern Michigan | Marquette, MI |
| Jan. 13 | (Sat) | 3 p.m. | Away | Michigan Tech | Houghton, MI |
| Jan. 18 | (Thu) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Grand Valley State | Sault Ste. Marie, MI |
| Jan. 20 | (Sat) | 3 p.m. | Home | Davenport | Sault Ste. Marie, MI |
| Jan. 25 | (Thu) | 8 p.m. | Away | Saginaw Valley | University Center, MI |
| Jan. 27 | (Sat) | 3 p.m. | Away | Wayne State | Detroit |
| Feb. 1 | (Thu) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Michigan Tech | Sault Ste. Marie, MI |
| Feb. 3 | (Sat) | 3 p.m. | Home | Northern Michigan | Sault Ste. Marie, MI |
| Feb. 10 | (Sat) | 3 p.m. | Home | Ferris State | Sault Ste. Marie, MI |
| Feb. 15 | (Thu) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Wayne State | Sault Ste. Marie, MI |
| Feb. 17 | (Sat) | 3 p.m. | Home | Saginaw Valley State | Sault Ste. Marie, MI |
| Feb. 22 | (Thu) | 7:30 p.m. | Away | Davenport | Grand Rapids, MI |
| Feb. 24 | (Sat) | 3 p.m. | Away | Grand Valley State | Allendale, MI |
| Feb. 29 | (Thu) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Purdue Northwest | Sault Ste. Marie, MI |
| 2-Mar | (Sat) | 3 p.m. | Home | Wisconsin-Parkside | Sault Ste. Marie, MI |
| 6-Mar | (Wed) | TBD | TBD | GLIAC Quarterfinals | TBD |
| 9-Mar | (Sat) | TBD | TBD | GLIAC Semifinals | TBD |
| 11-Mar | (Mon) | TBD | TBD | GLIAC Final | TBD |
When Is The GLIAC Men’s Basketball Tournament?
The 2024 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament will be held March 6-10 (March 6 (quarterfinals) and March 9-10 for the semifinals and final).
In 2023, the higher seed in each of the four quarterfinal matchups played host. Then, the highest remaining seed among the semifinalists was the host for the semifinals and championship. The plan is the same for 2024.
The tournament winner earns an automatic berth into the Division II Men’s Basketball Championship.
When Is The 2024 NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship?
The NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship takes place in March of each year.
Following the completion of the conference tournaments is a formal selection show, during which, the 64 teams for the national postseason bracket are announced.
The first 23 teams are the automatic bids given to the conference champions. The remaining teams are selected by a selection committee. The spots are distributed evenly among the eight Division II regions (Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West).
The road to the national championship will continue with the regional competitions – the opening round of play (Round of 64), Round of 32 and Round of 16 across eight locations – from March 16-19. Essentially, it’s eight single-elimination regional tournaments.
The eight regional champions are the Elite Eight for Division II, and they all converge on a pre-determined location for the final three rounds of play.
In 2024, this will take place at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana, from March 26-30. Specifically, the rounds (Elite Eight, semifinals and final) will take place on March 26, 28 and 30, respectively.
Nova Southeastern defeated West Liberty to claim the Division II men’s title in 2023.