GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The North Dakota men's basketball team opens game play for the 2025-26 season with an exhibition game on Saturday against Jamestown at 1 p.m. from Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The game will be on Fighting Hawks Radio Network, with Paul Ralston on the call.

At The Helm
Head Coach Paul Sather enters his seventh season as head coach for North Dakota, joined by Jamie Stevens, Estevan Sandoval, Ty Danielson and Bentiu Panoam.

New Year, New Team
North Dakota welcomes seven newcomers (Garrett Anderson, Marley Curtis, Micah Curtis, Wylee Delorme, Josh Jones, Karsen Ouse and Anthony Smith lll) and returns eight players from last year's team (Matthew Bothun, Anthony Doppler, Ryan Erikson, Eli King, Zach Kraft, George Natsvlishvili, Reggie Thomas and Greyson Uelmen), including just one starter from a year ago.

The Hawks lost 71.3% of minutes played, 78.9% of points scored, 67.9% of three pointers made, 69.1% of assists and 67.1% of rebounds from their 2024-25 roster.

King of my City
Senior guard Eli King returns as the lone starter from the 2024-25 roster as he started all 33 games a season ago. King averaged 8.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 37.5% from three. The senior was named to the Summit League All-Preseason Second Team on Oct. 7 and comes back as the statistical leader in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals per game from last year.

Garrett Getting Busy
North Dakota brings in Garrett Anderson, a senior transfer with three seasons and 86 career games of collegiate experience under his belt. The 6-6 wing spent the first two years of his career in the Mountain West at San Jose State, before earning First Team All-GNAC (Great Northwest Athletic Conference) at Central Washington in 2024-25. The Phoenix, Ariz. native averaged 14.3 points per game last season on .492/.412/.754 splits in 32 games and 32 starts. Anderson poured in 39 points against Jessup on Nov. 22, 2024.

It's a Guards Game
After losing guards Treysen Eaglestaff (18.9 ppg) and Mier Panoam (13.0 ppg), UND will turn to some new faces.

Reggie Thomas, Greyson Uelmen and freshman Anthony Smith lll are names to watch to handle the main ball-handling duties for the Hawks. Thomas appeared in 24 games last season, averaging 2.5 points and 1.3 assists per game in 12 minutes per contest, good for 8.3 points and 4.3 assists per 40 minutes.

Uelmen joins the group after redshirting in 2024-25, winning a Minnesota State 4A Championship at Minnetonka in 2024. Smith, a highly anticipated freshman from Hopkins, Minn., averaged 24.0 points last season at Hopkins. The 6-1 guard was the 10th ranked player in the state of Minnesota for the Class of 2025 according to Prephoops.com.

Zach Kraft returns as a spark-plug shooter for UND, as the redshirt-sophomore shot a team high 40.3% from behind the arc, on 31-of-77 from three-point range in 2024-25. The 6-2 Grand Forks, N.D. native appeared in 30 games last season, playing in 11.4 minutes per contest.

Anthony Doppler returns to the squad, connecting on five-of-seven (71.4%) field goal attempts a season ago in six games, including hitting all three (100.0%) of his three-point shots.

Wylee Delorme comes to the Green and White after spending the 2024-25 season at UMary. The 6-5 Devils Lake, N.D. native showed flashes of scoring the ball effectively, tying a freshman UMary record with 32 points (61.5 percent from the field) against MSU Moorhead last season. Delorme ended the season with momentum, averaging 15.8 points per game over his last five games in 2024-25.

Front Court Fellas
The front court will feature a combination of some new and familiar faces, first with Oral Roberts transfer Josh Jones. The 6-9 big man started 13 games for the Golden Eagles last season, averaging 4.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, logging six double-digit scoring games and one double-double.

Freshman twins Micah and Marley Curtis come to Grand Forks with impressive high school backgrounds, ready to make an impact. They are both 6-8 and averaged around 20 points and 10 rebounds per game at St. Louis Park High School last season in Minnesota. According to Prephoops.com, Micah was the fifth ranked player in the Minnesota Class of 2025 and Marley was the 12th ranked player in the state.

The trio of Matthew Bothun (6-9), Ryan Erikson (6-10) and George Natsvlishvili (6-10) are returners to the frontcourt from a year ago, all displaying size. Bothun appeared in six games and Erikson saw action in seven games, while Natsvlishvili appeared in 21 games, logging 12 points and 10 rebounds against Weber State on Dec. 7, 2024.

Karsen Ouse rounds out the frontcourt, coming in as a 6-7 freshman wing from Kindred, N.D. The home state native comes in with great feel for the game and the ability to shoot the ball.

Pregame Notes

• UND's 77.3 points per game last season were the most the team has averaged since the Hawks averaged 80.6 points in 2016-17
• Although it is an exhibition, UND owns a 21-0 record all-time against Jamestown in regular games with the last regular game occurring on Nov. 16, 2013
• With two North Dakota teams playing each other, UND has five players from the state of North Dakota (Kraft, Ouse, Erikson, Delorme and Doppler)
• The squad features three seniors, two juniors, four redshirt sophomores, one true sophomore, one redshirt freshman and four true freshman
• The Hawks lost 71.3% of minutes played, 78.9% of points scored, 67.9% of three pointers made, 69.1% of assists and 67.1% of rebounds from the 2024-25 roster.
• The Green and White finished last season with a 12-21 record

For more information on North Dakota men's basketball, follow on social media @UNDmbb or visit FightingHawks.com.
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