Coming off a 2-10 season in the Minnesota Community College Conference, Dave Lillemon has reason to be optimistic about the 2000 version of the Riverland Community College men’s basketball team.

Friday, November 10, 2000

Coming off a 2-10 season in the Minnesota Community College Conference, Dave Lillemon has reason to be optimistic about the 2000 version of the Riverland Community College men’s basketball team.

"We have six guys back and that’s some good experience," said Lillemon, who enters his 14th season as head coach. "We went 10-2 in our non-conference games and finished 12-12 overall, so this group knows that non-conference games don’t mean much."

The Devils will be led by 6-foot-5, 200-pound center Brandon Kettner. The sophomore from Nicollet averaged 10.5 points per game last season and was the leading rebounder in the conference at 9.5 per game.

"We’ll try to get Brandon out on the perimeter a little more this year to take advantage of his ball-handling skills," Lillemon said. "A kid like Brandon will have to lead us."

A pair of Austin High grads will make up the backcourt for the Devils. Sophomores Zak Ulwelling and Jacob Greenman will share the bulk of the load at the guard position.

‘"Zak’s a three-point threat," Lillemon said, "and we have all the confidence in the world in him to run the offense."

Also returning for Riverland are sophomores Nick Peters, Tom Yost and Brett Rogers.

Rogers, a physical presence in the post, scored 9.5 points per game and Yost added seven points and five rebounds per game.

Peters averaged nine points per game and five rebounds per game off the bench in 1999-2000.

"Nick was our sixth man last year," Lillemon said. "He can flat-out shoot and he’s a very good rebounder for a guard."

Lillemon said he also expects contributions from the seven freshmen on the roster: Ryan Stene, Gary Landherr, Matt Nalan, Mark Deluney, Ryan Hansen, Manuel Mitchell and Scott Sexton.

Lillemon said having a deep roster makes for competitive practices.

"We have a lot of competition for time," he said. "It’s hard to say where we’ll fit in the league because of the roster turnover at this level," Lillemon said. "Experience will be a factor for us. We’re fairly athletic and have good balance."

The Blue Devil men open their schedule Saturday at home at 4 p.m. against Des Moines Area Community College. The Riverland women also play Des Moines, beginning at 2 p.m. at Riveralnd.