With most players returning, Cougar men have high expectations for '09-'10
At the end of the regular season, the University of Minnesota, Morris men's basketball team had earned the No. 4 seed in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference with a 9-5 league record.
The Cougars started the season 1-7 before rallying to close out the season with a 14-13 overall record.
The Cougars defeated No. 5 Presentation in their first play-off game. The Cougars' season ended with a semi-final game loss to the eventual tournament champion St. Scholastica.
"I was very proud of how our team hung in there through all of our injuries this season," said coach Paul Grove. "We were counting heavily on Joey Fragodt, Phil Allen and Eric Dalbey to provide leadership and a lot of offense."
The season did not go as planned, however, as Phil Allen and Eric Dalbey both recieved medical redshirts and Joey Fragodt suffered a season-ending fracture to his fibula in his sixth time out.
"A lot of pressure fell on Jeremy Bosch, Kendall Proell and Dan Fragodt, and they responded with great seasons," said Grove.
Dan Fragodt recieved the Rick Rose Award as the team's most valuable player. Fragodt led the Cougars in scoring with 341 points, 12.6 points per game, rebounding with 6.1 per game, and steals with 2.44 per game. The sophomore was second in assists with an average of 2.4.
Dan Fragodt was selected to the UMAC's All-Conference Team and was named to the five-man Defensive Team, leading the conference in steals.
Proell finished with 321 points, averaging 11.9 per game, and dished out a team-high 99 assists. He received an Honorable Mention from the UMAC.
Many of this season's players were freshmen who saw quite a bit of playing time.
"We had high expectations for our incoming freshmen class, but had no idea we would rely on them so heavily right away," said Grove. "They responded and were a big reason we had a successful season."
Mitch Primus, Zach Meyer and Clay Fischer were starters most of the season.
In his first season, Primus led the entire UMAC in blocked shots with 81.
Meyer was third on the team with 288 points, 10.7 per game. He was second in rebounding with 5.1 per game. He also received Honorable Mention accolades from the UMAC.
Kyle Bruns, John Hammer and Jamin Ivers helped out off the bench.
"We will miss our only senior, Chris Haglin, but with everyone else back, our expectations will be high next season," said Grove.
Primus, Dan Fragodt, Proell, and Dalbey have been named team captains for next season.
