The Hobart College basketball team will open the 2016-17 season at Keuka College tonight. The Statesmen will take on the Wolves at 8 p.m. in KC Gymnasium.
 
Third-year Head Coach Tim Sweeney returns 13 players, including nine who started at least two games last season. Unlike last year, this year's team will feature seniors. Guards Thomas Campion, Pete Drescher, and Kenan Williams, and center Zach Grattan provide the team with a solid foundation of experience and leadership.
 
Drescher has started in each of his first three seasons and averaged a career-high 7.0 ppg and 4.0 rpg last season. Campion played in every game last year, starting seven. He's a tough defender and a solid spot-up shooter. Williams has shown steady improvement throughout his career and is poised for an expanded role this season. Grattan is a tough defender in the low post, and like his classmates, he's a leader on the floor and has taken his leadership one step further, serving as a student member of the Board of Trustees.
 
Hobart's junior class includes forward Luke Ruddy and guard Andrew Riviello. Ruddy, a native of nearby Seneca Falls, averaged 6.8 ppg and 5.3 rpg in his first season as a starter last year. He notched three double-doubles on the year, including 10 points and a season-high 13 rebounds in a 64-61 win over Rensselaer. Riviello averaged 5.0 minutes per game as a sophomore and shot 50 percent from 3-point range with a 5-to-1 assist-to-turnover.
 
This year's sophomores were thrust into the fire last season as rookies. They proved to be up to the test as the Class of 2019 finished 1-2-3 on the team in scoring. Guard Jamal Lucas (16.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg) led the Statesmen in scoring and rebounding and earned the ECAC Upstate Rookie of the Year award. He notched a pair of double-doubles and had 12 games with 20 points or more. Guard Colin Dougherty added 12.5 ppg and 3.7 rpg and joined Lucas on the Liberty League's All-Rookie Team. Dougherty reached double figures in the scoring column 17 times. Forward Matt Walsh was third on the team in scoring, contributing 8.8 ppg and 4.1 rpg.
 
Guard Sean McKinless was a solid 3-point threat (.387) and the team's top free throw shooter (.844). Small forward Harrison DeMaira contributed a season-high 11 points at Buffalo State. Forward Justas Valciukas missed several games due to injury last year, but finished on a high note with a season-high 11 points and a season-high nine rebounds in the 84-82 overtime win against Union. Forward Cort Williams averaged 10 minutes, 1.1 points and 2.5 rebounds while giving the Statesmen quality minutes on defense.
 
To this group of returning veterans, Hobart welcomed four first-years: forwards Sam Allen, Edens Fleurizard, and Jake Preston and guard Tucker Lescoe. They are a talented quartet that could contribute right away in much the same way that last season's rookies did.
 
Sweeney has lined up a challenging non-conference schedule to prepare them for the rigors of Liberty League play. Hobart will play three 2016 NCAA tournament teams, kicking off a four-game homestand against Scranton on Nov. 30, and facing Wooster and Ohio Wesleyan in the Fighting Scots' holiday tournament in late December. Wooster is ranked No. 7 in the D3hoops.com preseason poll, while the Battling Bishops are No. 8. Hobart will also travel to Rochester and face league foe Skidmore twice. Both the Yellowjackets and Thoroughbreds are receiving votes in the poll.
 
Sweeney believes the mix of leadership, experience and young talent has the Statesmen poised to improve on last season's 12-13 overall record and 8-8 mark in the Liberty League. Hobart was picked to finish third in the league in a preseason vote of the conference coaches behind preseason favorite Skidmore and St. Lawrence.