Thief River Falls, Minn. - Rick Nikunen enters his 30th year overall at Northland and 24th at the helm of the men's basketball program when the Pioneers host the University of Jamestown JV team. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. 
The Pioneers were originally slated to open the season Saturday against the Mayville State University JV team. That game was postponed, however, due to postitive COVID-19 tests on the MSU squad. Instead, the Pioneers will open the season tonight. 
The Pioneers went 11-5 in the MCAC North and 17-11 overall in 2019-20. They qualified for the Region 13 Tournament as the number two finisher in the northern division and dropped their playoff opener to Riverland 98-92. 
Back from that team but a year removed from competition are four sophomores - Quincy Leday, Deng Kuor, Zach Meyer and Kenny Placide. 
"Their leadership is very valuable for us right now," Nikunen said. 
Leday, a 6-4 guard from Opelousas, La., averaged 5.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game as a freshman. 
"Quincy is just a really talented player," Nikunen said. "He transerred from a D1 Juco where he had to take a medcial redshirt."
Kuor, a 6-3 guard from Antioch, Tenn., averaged 5 points and 3 rebounds per game during his freshman campaign. Nikunen is expecting big things from Kuor this year. 
"He's improved a lot," Nikunen said. "He didn't play a lot as a freshman. I think the year off helped him." 
Meyer, a 6-4 forward, averaged 10-3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in 2019-20. Like Leday, he had another stop prior to  arriving at Northland in 2019. 
 "He's our lead guy," Nikunen said. "He had done a year at four year school where played football. He's been out of high school four years. He's a mature guy."
Rounding out the foursome of sophomore players is Kenny Placide, a 6-5 forward from Vero Beach, Fla. Placide averaged 9.6 points and 6.8 rebounds  per game. 
"Kenny was all conference his freshman year," Nikunen said. "He's a real athletic, strong power forward."
The men's basketball roster features a dozen newcomers. Among them are:

• Ryan England, 6-4 freshman guard from Sebastian, Fla.; 
• A.J. Jennings, 6-2 freshman guard from Vero Beach, Fla.; 
• D'Mani Nettles, 6-0 freshman guard from Leesburg, Fla.; 
• Jacobi Roberts, 5-8 freshman guard from Vero Beach, Fla.; 
• Tabious Dekle, 6-0 freshman guard from Fort Pierce, Fla.; 
• Gavin Walker, 6-2 freshman from Erskine; 
• Jaylen Webb, 6-1 freshman guard from Mesa, Ariz.; 
• Hunter Lovenguth, 5-11 freshman guard from Havre, Mont.; 
• Ashawn Phillips, 6-5 freshman forward from the U.S. Virgin Island; 
• Jordan Higdon, 6-3 freshman forward from Tampa, Fla.; 
• Jaelin Domingue, 6-4 freshman from El Paso, Texas; 
• Tayvion Ware, 6-5 freshman from Brooklyn Park. 

Nikunen said its too early to tell how well the freshmen will make the transition to college hoops, but he likes what he's seen so far. 
"They are a really smart group," Nikunen said. "Great basketball IQ. Very coachable guys. This the best group I've ever had from a perspective or work ethic and being coachable, all those intagable things. They are great guys."
The Pioneers have good numbers overall depth with 16 on the roster, but it is difficult to know how the team will stack up against the rest of the MCAC North. 
"With the number of new coaches in the north, you just don't know," Nikunen said.  "Rainy River is going to be tough. Central Lakes is always good. They had some  scrimmages against some good teams and did well."
"We've had a few scrimmages. I like what I see," Nikunen added. "A lot will depend on how the freshmen develop. As a group, we have tremendous upside. Whether we maximize that is yet to be seen. I like our chances."