EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Your University of Evansville men's basketball team begins practice this week and we are here to count you down to Friday's opening day of work.
 
What a better way to start than to explain what is back from what was the fourth-youngest team in the country last season.  Out of 2,290 points scored in 2013-14, 2,209 of those points return, an astounding 96.5%!  In many instances, you cannot have a shot without an assist.  Good news for UE is that they are all set there too.  Out of 485 assists, 475 (97.9%) are back.
 
Rebounding features 96.5% of UE's productivity coming back.
 
Individually, when you think of scoring, the first name that comes to mind is D.J. Balentine.  The First Team All-MVC player was seventh in the nation in scoring, finishing with 22.8 points per game.  It was the most points scored in a season by a sophomore in program history.
 
On the inside, Egidijus Mockevicius made huge strides and is poised for even more this year.  Over the final ten games of last season, Mockevicius recorded a double-double in seven of those contests.  Talk about doing it on offense and defense – Mockevicius was the leading rebounder in the Valley (8.3/game) and shooter (62.7%). 
 
Three freshmen got extensive playing time in their inaugural seasons at UE.  Blake Simmons was named to the all-freshman team, becoming the seventh player under head coach Marty Simmons to earn the honor.  Simmons started all 33 games and finished as the top scoring true freshman in the league. 
 
Duane Gibson started 31 out of 33 games at the point guard position and finished second on the team with an impressive 124 assists.  Jaylon Brown played in 32 games, showing off his pure athleticism.  The trio have great potential moving forward.  What Coach Simmons did by giving his young guys so much playing time was get them ready for what lies ahead.  The experience they received by playing so many minutes, especially in MVC play, is priceless for them.
 
Take that all in, then look at what is being added to the team: JUCO All-Americans Taylor Stafford and Willie Wiley along with Mislav Brzoja, who spent the summer playing for Croatia in the FIBA U20 European Championship.  Sergej Vucetic will join the team in the fall of 2015 after sitting out the upcoming season following his transfer from Nebraska.
 
Stay tuned for more stories about the Aces as we amp up for the beginning of the season.