Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

Nov. 16, 2017 - After showing what it was capable of shorthanded a season ago, the North Central College men's basketball is prepared to embark upon a new campaign seeking even greater success with all hands on deck.

The Cardinals lost 6'6" sophomore Connor Raridon, a 2015-2016 Second Team All-CCIW honoree, to injury just seven games into the 2016-2017 season, but pulled together well enough to post an 18-11 overall record, winning the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship.

"That just shows what you can be capable of when you commit to playing together as a team," said North Central head coach Todd Raridon, who enters his 14th season in charge of the Cardinals. "Most of those guys are back this year, so if they keep that mindset, it'll be exciting to see what they can do."

Raridon, who averaged 17.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game prior to being sidelined last season, returns this season along with 6'8" senior Alex Sorenson, who led the team in scoring (17.8 ppg) and rebounding (9.2 rpg) a season ago. Sorenson is already the Cardinals' all-time leader in blocked shots (113) and is 72 points away from becoming the program's 25th 1,000-point scorer. Both players received selections to the D3hoops.com Preseason All-America Teams, as Sorenson made the Second Team and Raridon was named to the Third Team.

"Connor is fully recovered and has gotten a lot stronger," Todd Raridon said. "He's a tough matchup with his size and his skill set. Even though we'll need him in the paint most of the time, Alex is the same way because he's capable of shooting from the outside better than a lot of the big men we'll see."

The Cardinals have seven players in the fold this season with experience as starters. 6'2" senior Erwin Henry earned Second Team All-CCIW accolades after putting up 13.2 ppg and 6.0 rpg last season, and 6'3" junior Aiden Chang contributed 10.6 ppg and 3.7 rpg while leading the CCIW in minutes played (36.5 per game). 6'5" sophomore Matt Cappelletti (8.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and 6'3" juniors Tommy Koth and Jaquan Phipps also cracked the starting lineup.

6'5" junior transfer Kane Wildermuth will be counted on for quality minutes on the inside, while freshmen Mike Pollack (6'3"), Blaise Meredith (6'4") and Will Clausel (6'4") will get early chances to become regular fixtures in the Cardinals' rotation.

"It's a long season, and you need players who will be productive whether they're starting or not," Todd Raridon said. "The ones who prove that we can count on them to play hard, defend well and run what we need to run on offense will be the ones we turn to at the end of a game."

Ranked No. 12 nationally in D3hoops.com's Preseason Top 25 Poll, the Cardinals will open the season on Saturday at Heidelberg University (Ohio). CCIW competition will begin Saturday, Dec. 2 at North Park University.