Thief River Falls, Minn. - 

The Northland Community & Technical College men's basketball team opens its season Wednesday with a non-conference game against Mayville State JV. The Pioneers are coming off a disappointing season that saw the Pioneers lose 11 of their last 12 games to finish 2-12 against MCAC North opponents and 5-18 overall.

Lost from the 2022-23 team were sophomores A.J. Jenning, D'Mani Nettles, Tyrell Richardson, Ashawn Philips and Jaelin Domingue. The lone returning player from the 2022-23 team is Malic Osei-Tutu, a 6-0 guard from Melbourne, Fla. (Palm Bay HS). Osei-Tutu played over 33 minutes per game and averaged 9.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists. He is being counted on to be a leader for a young but talented team. 

"Malic is doing a great job," said Head Coach Rick Nikunen. "He's our only leader might now. He is a leader by example, which is a good thing. He's our hardest worker right now. A lot of guys are following his lead. He's a tremendous kid."

The Pioneers reloaded their roster with 12 freshmen. Newcomers include Jason Jack, a 6-3 guard from Orlando, Fla. (Ridge Community HS); Joey Nimmer, 5-10 guard from Cleveland, Ohio (Twinsburg HS); Carey Davis, 6-3 guard from Apopka, Fla. (Wekiva HS); Sean Lynch, 5-10 guard from Atlanta, Ga. (South Paulding HS); Shawndale King, 6-2 guard from Kansas City, Mo. (Hogan Prep HS); Randy Harris, 6-1 guard from Atlanta, Ga. (South Paulding HS); Tavon Petteway, 6-4 forward from Galveston, Texas (Ball HS); Daniel Chapa, 6-4 forward from Conroe, Texas (Caney Creek HS); Manny Mack, 6-5 forward from Palm Bay, Fla. (Heritage HS); Shawn Greene, 6-5 forward from Minneola, Fla. (Lake Minneola HS); Zion Cato, 6-4 forward from New York, N.Y. (Viera HS); and Tarell Houston, 6-7 forward from Milwaukee, Wis. (Wisconsin Center of Lifelong Learning). 

Nikunen said his young team has shown progress through a month of practice. Continued improvement by the young squad is one of the team's keys to a successful season. 

"It's progressing ... getting better," Nikunen said. "The freshmen need to become experienced as fast as they can. Just the speed of the game and the intensity of the game."

Northland missed the post season for the first time since 2018 last year. The Pioneers qualified for the NJCAA Region XIII Tournament for three consecutive seasons in 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2021-22 (no season in 2020-21) before injuries and bad team chemistry derailed the 2022-23 season. 

"We are trying to get back to a positive culture and positive tradition," Nikunen said. "Get better every week." 

Minnesota North College - Rainy River, Central Lakes, Minnesota North College - Mesabi Range and Minnesota North College - Itasca represented the MCAC North at the NJCAA Region XIII Tournament last year. 

"Rainy River is going to be tough," Nikunen said. "Central Lakes is going to be tough. Itasca was a playoff team last year and they are improved."

The Pioneers faced MNC-Rainy River and MNC-Itasca in pre-season scrimmages. While the format is not the same as a regular season game, Nikunen liked what he saw from his young team. 

"I really like my team," Nikunen said. "We've improved in every area. We have a great team attitude with intense workers. We are definitely more athletic. They have to learn how to be college students and college basketball players."