Complete PDF Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Basketball: Lourdes opens up its fifth season of men's basketball on Saturday afternoon as the Gray Wolves travel to Michigan to battle Spring Arbor.  The Gray Wolves will play their first three games of the 2014-2015 season away from home.

Head Coach Andre Smith: In his fifth season both on the Lourdes bench and overall as a men's collegiate head coach, Andre Smith has a 67-59 (.532) record.  He is the only head coach in Lourdes program's history.  Smith was the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2012-2013.

Series Notes: Lourdes is 1-2 all-time against Spring Arbor but the two schools have not met one another since the 2011-2012 season.  The series is tied 1-1 at Spring Arbor, with Lourdes winning the most recent contest against the Cougars 59-53 on Nov. 5, 2011 in Michigan.

Wrapping Up Last Season: The Gray Wolves finished the season 16-15 overall and 11-11 in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference, tying for sixth place in the WHAC standings.  The Gray Wolves dropped an 83-69 decision at Northwestern Ohio in the quarterfinals of the WHAC tournament to end the 2013-2014 campaign.

Scouting Spring Arbor: The Cougars are 1-0 after an 82-66 victory at Great Lakes Christian on Monday evening.  Thomas Starks led Spring Arbor with 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting, while grabbing 11 rebounds.  Xavier Prather added 12 points and handed out seven assists while Zach Medendorp also tallied 12 points.  The Cougars shot 50.8% from the floor for the game and outrebounded Great Lakes Christian 47-18.  Saturday's game against Lourdes will be the Cougars first home contest of the year.  

Lourdes Tabbed Fourth in Preseason Poll: The Gray Wolves were selected to finish in fourth place in the WHAC this season in the preseason poll conducted of the league's head coaches.  Lourdes was picked just ahead of Madonna, and just behind Northwestern Ohio.  Davenport was tabbed as the conference's preseason favorite for 2014-2015 after finishing runner-up last year while Cornerstone, last year's champion, was tabbed second.

Lourdes in Openers: The Gray Wolves are 2-2 all-time in season openers heading into their fifth season.  Lourdes posted a 61-51 victory at Indiana Tech on Oct. 30, 2010, the inaugural game in program history.  The Gray Wolves dropped a 60-58 decision to Kuyper in 2011-2012 before losing a 74-63 decision to Windsor in the opening round of the Trent Allen Memorial Tip-off hosted by Spring Arbor in 2012-2013.  Last year the Gray Wolves again opened at Kuyper, scoring an 86-59 victory on the road.  Lourdes has never begun a season playing at home in program history.

Defense is a Team Staple: Lourdes has relied heavily on its defense over the past three seasons, ranking in the top-five nationally in NAIA Division II for scoring defense each year.  Last year the Gray Wolves were fifth in the country allowing just 63.1 points per game.  In 2012-2013, Lourdes was the team's top defending team, giving up just 51.3 points per contest.  In 2011-2012, the Gray Wolves were again ranked fifth, surrendering just 62.3 points per night.

More Defense: Lourdes ranked sixth in NAIA Division II last year allowing the opposition to shoot just 30.8% from three-point range.  The Gray Wolves also outrebounded their opponents by 5.1 boards per night, a margin that ranked 25th in the country.

Lots of New Faces: Lourdes returns just seven players that have varsity experience with the Gray Wolves.  The Gray Wolves have two redshirts from last year still with the program though, and have added 15 new faces to the program, including eight transfers.

Steinmetz Returns After Earning All-WHAC Honors: Junior Zach Steinmetz returns for the Gray Wolves after becoming just the second player in program history to earn First Team All Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference honors last season. The 6-5 forward led Lourdes in both scoring and rebounding in 2013-2014, tallying 13.4 points and 10.7 boards per night.  Steinmetz's rebounding total ranked fourth nationally.  He tallied 16 double-doubles as a sophomore.

Looking to Replace Scoring: Lourdes is looking to replace just over 60% of its scoring from last season.  Even though Zach Steinmetz, the team's leading scorer returns, the Gray Wolves lost Eric Worthey (13.0 ppg), Elvin Butler (12.4), and Jerome Talton (7.1), the next three top point producers.  

DuPree Dishes the Rock: Jake DuPree led Lourdes with 65 assists last season, averaging 2.2 per contest.  He has tallied 135 assists during his career at Lourdes, leading the team each of the last two years.

Captains Named: Lourdes has two captains on the roster this season.  Serving in the leadership role for 2014-2015 are Jake DuPree and Zach Steinmetz.  DuPree is a two-time team captain while Steinmetz is serving as a captain for the first time.

This and That: Lourdes is 67-59 all-time but 30-32 in program history on the road ... the Gray Wolves are 1-3 all-time in overtime contests ... Zach Steinmetz finished 40th in the country shooting 53.3% from the floor last year ... the Gray Wolves were 26th nationally as a team holding the opposition to 42.5% shooting from the field ... Noah Guthrie and Jake DuPree are just the third and fourth four-year players in program history.