Central’s men’s basketball team tips off their 2015 season with four returning starters and 15 upper classmen.

Head coach Greg Sparling feels good about the team’s experienced returning players.

“I think guys have matured and they understand the system, so we are ahead a little bit than we were last year,” Sparling said.

The Wildcats’ have a healthy amount of experience at the guard position, with three of the four returners appearing in all 26 games last season.

Central’s backcourt will be led by junior Marc Rodgers and seniors Joey Roppo, Gary Jacobs and Terry Dawn.

Without Central’s star player from last season, Dom Williams, who averaged 20.2 points per game, good for 25 percent of the team’s total offense, the Wildcats will have to turn to a committee of guards to make up for those lost points.

“At the end of the day Dom Williams was a special player and I think some guys that were averaging six point a game, [are] gonna have to bump it up to nine points a game,” Sparling said. “And guys that were averaging ten points a game are going to have to bump it up to 12 points a game.”

The Wildcats have a tough start to the GNAC schedule. Central travels north to Alaska to play against the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), which was picked to finish one spot in front of Central in the GNAC preseason coaches poll.

“I thinks that’s highly disrespectful, to call us fifth,” senior forward Joseph Stroud said. “I know we didn’t have a spectacular tournament last year, but fifth, I don’t take too kindly to that.”

Stroud was named preseason First Team All-GNAC, but according to Sparling, everyone has pushed one another to not only better themselves, but better their teammates.

Stroud was shadowed by Williams last year due to his scoring ability, but still managed to average 12 points per game last season.

“I played second to Dom because he scored a lot, but going up to the end of the year my scoring went up a little bit more,” Stroud said. “Summer workouts, offseason workouts, preseason workout and going into these scrimmages that we just had really built my confidence.”

According to Jacobs, Stroud’s playmaking ability last year really gave them the fire they needed to finish games. Stroud hopes to continue that trend into this season.

“I feel like I’m the best player in the league right now and there is not a soul that is stopping me,” Stroud said. “My confidence is sky high, and it’s gonna stay sky high.”

Jacobs is another senior leader for Central’s team that will have to pick up the slack after losing Williams.

Jacobs averaged 10 points per game last year, appearing in 22 of the 26 games played.

Jacobs has individual goals for himself, but understands what the team wants at the end of the season.

“I’m just going to be blunt about it, I think our goal is win the GNAC championship and get into the national tournament,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs was left out of this year’s preseason all-conference teams, but uses that fuel his own fire.

“Individually, I want to get all-conference honors,” Jacobs said. “They left me out of the preseason, so it gives me a little chip on my shoulder.”

To go along with returning guys like Stroud and Jacobs, Central will see some new faces that could give the Wildcats a new spark on the court.

Redshirt sophomore guard Naim Ladd could have an immediate impact going into the start of the season.

“He won a lot of games over there at Rainier Beach [High School],” Sparling said. “He’s a guy that’s an instant spark plug. He’s small guy, but I’ll tell you [that] he isn’t afraid to go right at the big guys.”

Another new Wildcat is junior transfer student Chris-Michael Garret.

Garret, a forward from Green River Community College, is still learning the system, but Sparling still expects a lot out of him.

“I mean he’s a high energy guy … He plays so darn hard, sometimes he plays too hard,” Sparling said. “We are expecting a lot out of him on defense because we think he can cause a lot of havoc with his length.”

Central will play their annual exhibition this Saturday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. at home against Whitman College.

The Wildcats will begin their regular season games Saturday Nov. 14 against Simon Fraser University.