With the football and soccer season already underway, most athletes are already moving their way into a strong season, but with the mens basketball season quickly approaching, the Washburn Ichabod’s head coach, Bob Chipman, already has expectations for his players based upon last season.

“We made the NCA tournament last season,” Chipman said. “That is always the first goal in every season, the second goal is to win the national championship. As always, these two goals have already been set this year. The boys are working very hard everyday in practice in the hopes of obtaining them.”

The previous year had been a hard loss for the Washburn Ichabods.

“Last season, the boys played very hard and came real close but they ended up losing to Missouri Southern in overtime,” Chipman said. “Missouri Southern was number five in the country last year—overall, from my perspective, I’d say it was a great year for us.”

When asked what the teams greatest complication was last season, Chipman said that it was the amount of injuries the boys received.

“We had a lot of injuries,” said Chipman. “Will McNeil, our guard, broke his foot early on in the season. Jeff Reed hurt himself soon afterwards, followed by my son, Bobby Chipman and then by Logan Stutz, who pulled a groin.”

The head coach also said that the current team would definitely miss their graduated leaders from the previous season.

“Logan Stutz was named an all conference player last season, now, he’s playing on a contract in Germany,” said Chipman. “We’re definitely going to miss him and De’Andre Washington.”

This upcoming season has given the team the opportunity to grow.

“We have a lot of guys back this year, a lot of local guys, so we’re carrying a lot of depth with us and a lot of local talent,” said Chipman. “It’s very exciting.”

The strength behind that depth, according to Chipman, is in his returning players and new guards.

“Returning this year is Will McNeil, Alex North, Bobby Chipman, Mitch Allen, and Bryce Simmons,” said Chipman, “I expect a lot out of them and their experience.”

Two of The Washburn Ichabod’s new guards are Martin Mitchell and Dejuan Lofton. “They’re probably the best guards we’ve had in a while,” said Chipman. “They had a great junior college career last year. I, along with the rest of the team, am excited to have them playing with us this season at Washburn. We’ve also got a great freshman guard from Leavenworth, Kansas—Kyle Wiggins. Though, according to Chipman, the team’s newcomers also stretch to the front line. “This season we’ve also gained a very skilled young man, Joe Smith.”

Next summer, the current team members of the Washburn Ichabods will be going to Europe for one week.

“I’ve personally been to Japan, Paris and to China,” said Chipman. “Every four to six years we take an international trip—with a good season behind us this year, I can’t wait for this trip to begin.”