Panthers excited about next season's potential

May 23—When Drew Cooper looks ahead to what the Kentucky Wesleyan College men's basketball team could be in 2021-22, he sees a group full of potential.

During last season's COVID-19-shortened campaign, the Panthers went 10-5 and earned the Great Midwest Athletic Conference's third seed. However, KWC entered the postseason shorthanded and fell in the first round of the league tournament.

With eight returners from last year, along with impact players Wesleyan's already added this offseason, Cooper feels good about where his team is headed.

"It's a great core group," said Cooper, now preparing for his fourth season in Owensboro. "Even though last year was our most talented and most capable team, it was also a team with some personality defects. The group coming back knows exactly what our warts were, and they're ready to not only be capable and talented, but they're ready to have all the intangibles that it takes to win a championship. I love the group we have coming back."

Leading the way for KWC will be Wyatt Battaile, a 6-foot-4 rising senior guard who averaged 12.1 points and a team-best 7.3 rebounds per game last year and was named to the All-G-MAC Second Team. As a sophomore, he posted 10.2 points and a team-high 5.2 boards per outing.

Though the Panthers lose their top two scorers in Tre Cobbs and Zach Hopewell, KWC will also return 5-11 senior guard Jamil Wilson (8.8 ppg, team-high 4.2 apg), 6-11 senior center Sasha Sukhanov (6.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1 bpg), 6-6 junior forward Ben Sisson (4.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and 6-5 senior forward Nathan Boyle (1.7 ppg).

The Panthers will also get back 6-3 sophomore guard Kaeveon Mitchell, 6-foot junior guard Keegan Brewer and 6-9 sophomore center Preston Murrell, who all saw limited playing time last year.

"We're going to be looking for more of the same from Wyatt Battaile, Ben Sisson and Sasha," Cooper said. "The guy that I'm expecting tremendous growth from is Kaeveon Mitchell. Nathan Boyle made a tremendous leap from his freshman to sophomore year, Ben Sisson made a great leap from freshman to sophomore year — I think Kaeveon will be the guy that really steps up for us.

"Everyone's going to be a year better, but that first leap, there's so much potential there. Even though he didn't have a role on the floor for us, he had a great freshman year."

Mitchell appeared in just seven games for KWC last year but scored 24.3 points per game as a senior at Breckinridge County High School and was named the Messenger-Inquirer's 3rd Region Player of the Year.

Wesleyan coaches also anticipate continued improvement from Boyle, a local product who starred at Apollo High School.

"Boyle's been tremendous because he stuck through some of the hard times," Cooper said. "He's the first kid that I got a commitment from when I took over. He's come a long way, and I think everyone would love to see him go out with a tremendous senior year."

Add in the seven players the Panthers have signed this offseason — including 6-2 point guard Antonio Thomas, a transfer from NCAA Division I Bradley, 6-1 combo guard Jordan Roland, 6-6 forward/center JoMel Boyd, 6-5 forward Edward Jones Jr. and 6-5 guard Scotty Draud — and Wesleyan coaches like what they've assembled.

"I think they're going to be the most athletic, most physically athletic group in terms of quickness and strength and mobility," Cooper said of the newcomers. "This is a very athletic group. They're all different kinds of players, and that's what makes the whole very good for us."

Each season under Cooper, the Panthers have exceeded preseason expectations and gotten better. He doesn't expect 2021-22 to be any different.

"We're optimistic that trend's going to continue," he said. "It's going in the right direction, and we see no reason why it has to slow down."