BURNSVILLE, MN – With four players returning from last season, newcomers dominate the 2025-26 University of Mary men's basketball roster under the direction of first year head coach
Darren Tighe.
"Although our team is full of new faces and lacks Northern Sun experience, there is a nice blend of skill, athleticism, and versatility in this group," said Tighe in the release of the 2025-26 Northern Sun Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll. "We are very excited to begin the process of building our culture and continuing to create a program our university and community can be proud of!"
Kenny Gonzalez, a guard from San Diego, CA, is the Marauders NSIC Men's Basketball Player to Watch during the upcoming season. A junior, Gonzalez transfers to UMary from San Diego City College.
"Kenny is an extremely smart and athletic guard who comes from a very successful junior college program (San Diego City) where he started in 24 of 26 games as a sophomore," said Tighe. "His leadership will be invaluable for our squad this year."
Gonzalez earned All-Pacific Coast Athletic Conference first team honors last season as a sophomore after averaging 12.1 points, 2.4 assists, 2.2 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. He was the second-leading scored on a Knights team that won a second-straight conference title and finished 15-1 in league play and 23-6 overall. Gonzalez made 43.6% of his 3-point shots.
Marauders returning players include senior G/F
Cayden Redfield, sophomore guards
Tamarrein Henderson and
Alex Dvorak and redshirt freshman guard
Ryan Larson.
Southwest Minnesota State University tops the 2025-26 NSIC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' poll, followed by St. Cloud State, Minnesota State, Concordia-St. Paul, Augustana, Minnesota Duluth, MSU Moorhead, Sioux Falls, Winona State, Wayne State, Minot State, Bemidji State, Northern State, Jamestown, Minnesota Crookston and UMary.
In the division standings, UMD is picked tops in the North, ahead of MSUM, Minot State, BSU, NSU. UJ, UMC and UMary. SMSU is projected to win the South, followed by SCSU, Augie, Minnesota State, CSP, USF, WSU and WSC.
UMary opens the regular season with a pair of regional challenge games in Bethany, OK, November 14-15 against Northwestern Oklahoma State University and Oklahoma Baptist University.
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