BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team will travel to Springfield, Ohio this Friday-Saturday, Nov. 17-18, for one the premier early-season tournaments in D3hoops. IWU will be one of eight teams taking part in the 2023 Great Lakes Invitational. The Titans will play host Wittenberg University Friday night, Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m. and then Marietta College Saturday evening, Nov. 18, at 5 p.m.
    Illinois Wesleyan enters the weekend after a 1-1 showing at the third annual Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational, Nov. 10-11. The Titans rolled past Ohio Wesleyan University, 84-55, before dropping a tight one to 15th-ranked University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, 71-68, Nov. 11. Witt ushers in the rest of the eight-team field sporting a 2-1 record. The Tigers were most recently upended by Wilmington College, 78-73, Nov. 14. Marietta posted a 2-0 record at its own season-opening tournament, defeating Washington & Jefferson College, 93-66, and No. 1 ranked Christopher Newport University, 73-69, Nov. 11.
    A live stream of the games will be provided, while Eric Stock will also call the action on 88.1 FM WESN as well as on the Titan Broadcast Network. Live stats will also be available. Links on how to follow are available through the men's basketball schedule page of iwusports.com.

EARLY HONOR: Junior Hakim Williams was named to the Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational All-Tournament team Saturday, Nov. 11.

TILTS WITH THE TIGERS: The Titans and Tigers will meet for the seventh time since IWU and Witt initially squared off during the 1966-67 campaign, in a series that is level at 3-3. Wittenberg won the first three meetings, but Illinois Wesleyan has won the past three bouts. The Titans took the last meeting between the two, 70-49, March 10, 2012 to advance to the Final Four. Jordan Zimmer paced the Green and White with 14 points, while Kevin Reed recorded a near double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds.

NICE TO MEET YOU: Illinois Wesleyan and Marietta will square off on the hardwood for the first time Saturday, Nov. 18.

CAPTAINS CALL: Luke Yoder, Ryan Sroka and Evan Schneider will serve as captains for the Titans this season. Sroka will lead IWU in the role for the second straight year.

WE LOVE LID LIFTERS: Illinois Wesleyan won its eighth straight season opener, Nov. 10, with a convincing victory over Ohio Wesleyan. The Titans saw 18 players play in the 84-55 win, with 15 players recording points.

PRESEASON ACCOLADES ROLL IN: Luke Yoder's return to the Titans has come with national implications across the Division III men's basketball landscape as evidence by the D3hoops.com Preseason All-America teams announced Tuesday, Oct. 31. Yoder was the lone CCIW representative on the 25-player list as he received fifth team recognition.
    A three-year letterwinner for IWU from 2019-22, Yoder spent last season at the Division I level, where he played in 21 games at North Dakota State. He is the first Titan to garner preseason honors from D3hoops.com since Matthew Leritz did so ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.

MEET THE NEWCOMERS: Illinois Wesleyan brought in six freshmen in addition to Luke Yoder as Jackson Niego, Mason Funk, Dylan Schmidt, Adam Beasley, Ofri Kauf, and Brady Kuehl joined the Titans ahead of the 2023-24 season.
    Niego was a two-year starter at Lyons Township, where he was named the team's MVP as a senior. He led LT to back-to-back regional championships, was named all-conference, and Third Team All-State in 2023.
    Funk, one of two local products in the class, graduated from University High. Named First Team All-State by the IBCA as a senior, he was a three-time team MVP pick as well as a First Team All-Central State 8 selection.
    A native of Johnsburg, Ill., Schmidt was a two-time all-area pick at Johnsburg High School. He was a four-year varsity letterwinner, including a three-year starter.
Beasley comes to IWU by way of Bloomington High School, where he was a multi-sport standout.  A three-time all-conference pick, Beasley competed at the state track meet in four events.
    Coming all the way from Texas, Kauf was an all-district honoree and team captain at John Paul II. He led his team to a state championship in 2022 and a runner-up finish in 2023.
    Kuehl becomes the latest in a long line of family members to sport the Green and White. A three-year starter at Parkway West High School, Kuehl was named offensive player of the year, all-district, all-conference, and team captain as a senior.

HE'S BAAAAACK: After a one-year stint at NCAA Division I North Dakota State, Luke Yoder is back at home with the Titans. The 6-foot guard appeared in 21 games for NDSU after a tremendous three-year run at IWU. Yoder brings a significant amount of experience to the Titans, especially at point guard where he has accrued more than 200 career assists. In 81 career games between his two stops, Yoder has scored 710 points (8.7 ppg), dished out 205 assists, and grabbed 235 rebounds. He enters the 2023-24 season as a career 47.8 percent shooter, including a 34.2 clip from beyond the arc.

MAKING UP THE DIFFERENCE: The Titans will be tasked with replacing the contributions of two All-CCIW selections this season after losing Lucas Heflen and Cody Mitchell to graduation. In fact, IWU returns just 56.5 percent of its scoring from a season ago. Heflen was the leading scorer for the Green and White last season, going for 14.8 points per game, while Mitchell followed with 14.2 ppg. Ryan Sroka (11.0 ppg) is the lone returner that averaged better than 10 points a season ago.
    On the glass, the Titans bring back 68.4 percent of their rebounding. Mitchell led the team with 9.8 boards per contest, but IWU welcomes back four of its top rebounders from a year ago.

ANOTHA ONE: Fans of Illinois Wesleyan are familiar with the name Kuehl, as several within the family have put together exceptional careers for the Green and White. Brady Kuehl, the latest in the tradition of Kuehl's at IWU, is a freshman forward for the Titans. His older sister, Carly Kuehl, is a junior on the Illinois Wesleyan women's volleyball team, while his mother, father, and uncle also attended IWU. His dad, Steve Kuehl, scored 1430 career points for the Titans, while his uncle, Jeff Kuehl, was an All-American at IWU and posted 1573 career points.

FROM THE 314 TO THE 309: It's no secret that IWU's coaching staff has had great success in recruiting in recent years, especially in the St. Louis area. If 2022 graduate and All-American Matthew Leritz foreshadows the success that St. Louis natives can have at Illinois Wesleyan, there will be much success to be had for three current players on the IWU roster. Nick Roper, who is poised for a breakout junior campaign also hails from the Lou, along with junior Harrison Wilmsen, freshman Brady Kuehl, and senior Evan Schneider, who look to add to the list of successful St. Louis big men.

CCIW PRESEASON POLL: IWU was predicted to finish fourth in the CCIW according to a tight poll of the coaches, announced by the league office Tuesday, Oct. 24. The CCIW's nine first-place votes were split between North Park, Carthage, and Elmhurst, as NPU topped the poll with 55 points. Carthage followed in second with 54 points, while Elmhurst (53) ranked third just ahead of the Titans (51).

ON THE HORIZON: Following this weekend's tournament, the Titans will head to Springfield, Ohio for the prestigious Great Lakes Invitational. IWU will battle this year's host, Wittenberg Friday night, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. ET before going up against Marietta Saturday, Nov. 18 at 4 p.m. ET..

ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS: Matthew Leritz became the program's 26th Academic All-America honoree at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season. His selection increased IWU's national lead on UCLA, Indiana, Kansas, and Duke who have 20 all-time men's basketball awardees each.
Furthermore, IWU's all-time Academic All-American list currently sits at 150, which ranks in the top-25 across NCAA Division I, II, and III, as well as inside the top-10 in Division III.

BY THE NUMBERS: IWU has seen plenty of success on the hardwood in its storied history, highlighted by the Titans' NCAA National Championship in 1997. Overall, IWU has won 32 CCIW championships, made 26 tournament appearances, advanced to 18 "Sweet Sixteens," appeared in 12 "Elite Eights," and gone to six final fours.