Lake Superior State projected to win GLIAC Men’s Basketball title

NMU third, MTU tied for Sixth, MTU’s Tomashek named Preseason Player of the Year

GLIAC — With the official start of the 2024-25 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) men’s basketball season just days away, the conference office announced its preseason coaches’ poll, player of the year and all-conference teams. 

Lake Superior State earned the top spot in the preseason poll, according to a vote of the GLIAC coaches. The favorite Lakers received nine first-place votes, totaling 98 points. The Lakers are coming off of an impressive NCAA Tournament run that came up just shy in the Sweet 16 against Ferris State, and they return nearly the entire roster from a year ago with one exception.

Ferris State was selected to place second, collecting 88 points and one first-place vote. The 2023-24 Bulldogs posted a 28-8 record, advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals. FSU is ranked 25th nationally in the NABC Division II Preseason National Rankings.  

Northern Michigan was also the recipient of a first-place vote, polling third overall (80 points). Last year, the the Wildcats put together a 22-11 campaign that saw them win the GLIAC regular season title for the first time since the 1992-93 season with a record of 14-4.

Following NMU closely in the rankings in fourth is Grand Valley State (77 points). The Lakers return six of their top eight scorers from last season, including three that averaged double figures in scoring. 

Wayne State was chosen fifth (57 points) while Michigan Tech and Parkside tied for sixth with 50 points. 

Saginaw Valley State (8th, 41), Purdue Northwest (9th, 32), Davenport (10th, 17) and GLIAC newcomer Roosevelt (11th, 15 points) rounded out the preseason poll.

Michigan Tech junior guard Marcus Tomashek was named the 2024-25 GLIAC Preseason Player of the Year. Tomashek is coming off a standout sophomore campaign, in which he finished sixth in the country in scoring, averaging 22.9 points per game while shooting 45.6 percent from the field, 41.3 from long range and 86.7 from the charity stripe. The Green Bay, Wis. native earned D2CCCA All-Region Second Team and First Team All-GLIAC honors. He recorded a career-high 39 points last season and scored 30 or more points in six games and 20 or more points in 15 games.

Accompanying Tomashek on the All-GLIAC Preseason First Team is Grand Valley State senior forward Will Dunn, Lake Superior State senior guard Tyson Edmondson, Ferris State senior guard Ethan Erickson and Northern Michigan redshirt junior forward Dylan Kuehl.

Honored on the second team were Grand Valley State redshirt junior forward Ethan Alderink, Wayne State sophomore guard Robert Lee, Parkside redshirt senior guard Josiah Palmer, Lake Superior State senior forward Kingley Perkins and Saginaw Valley State redshirt senior guard Toodles Seal. 

The 2024-25 season gets underway in early November with Lake Superior State in action at the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland, Fla. and Ferris State competing in the D2CCA Tip-Off Tourney in Canyon, Texas.

2024-25 GLIAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll