Men's Basketball | 10/24/2023 11:01:00 AM
October 24, 2023-Emporia State Hornet and Lady Hornet season ticket holders are now able to renew their tickets for the upcoming season. Current season ticket holders have until 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 1 to renew their reserved seats in White Auditorium. Individual game tickets and new season tickets will go on sale the following week.
The Lady Hornets and Hornets will combine to play 19 home dates in William L. White Auditorium, the loudest arena in the MIAA, during the 2023-24 season. Purchasing season tickets provide a huge savings over buying individual game tickets and guarantees a seat in White Auditorium for every game. Last year both the Emporia State men and women finished in the top 15 in the nation in attendance with the men ranking eighth and the Lady Hornets 13th out of nearly 300 NCAA Division II basketball playing schools.
Tickets will be sold online on the ESU ticket page at
esuhornets.com/tickets. Fans can download the Hometown Fan app on your smartphone to easily purchase tickets. Fans may contact Ticket Manager Laura Garcia Laffitte at
lgarcial@emporia.edu or by phone at 620-341-5350 with questions.
The Hornet men went 23-9 last season with a 15-7 record in MIAA play. It was the second straight 20 win season for Emporia State and the first time the Hornets have had back to back 20 win seasons since a three year stretch from 1987-90. Four starters, who all earned some type of All-MIAA recognition, and a total of seven letterwinners return for the Hornets. First-Team All-MIAA performer
Owen Long led the Association in scoring in MIAA only games while
Alijah Comithier, who earned Third-Team All-MIAA honors, was in the top 15 of the conference in scoring and rebounding last year.
Peyton Rogers-Schmidt was named to the All-Defensive Team after ranking fourth in the MIAA in blocked shots and 13
th in defensive rebounds. Honorable Mention All-MIAA guard
Kaden Evans was fifth in the MIAA in steals and in the top 20 of three pointers made last year. Emporia State was also ranked #1 in the nation among men's basketball teams in community service in the Helper Helper national team rankings.
The first outside competition for the Hornet men will be on November 1 when they take on Kansas State in exhibition action at Bramlage Coliseum. Emporia State will open the season on November 4-5 at the Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland, Fla. They open the home portion of their season on November 10 against Arkansas Tech as part of the MIAA-GAC Challenge in White Auditorium.
The Lady Hornets return two starters from last year's team that went 14-15 and will be under the direction of first year coach Brian Ostermann.
Faith Paramore is the leading returning scorer for Emporia State at 8.4 points per game while
Katie Horyna chipped in 5.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. They did get a jump start on the season with a ten day trip to Italy in August. Six different Lady Hornets scored in double figures for a game during the trip with
Stevie Stinchcomb scoring a trip high 19 points in a 95-36 win over Via Dell'Arcadia. Paramore pulled down 18 rebounds in the win as well. Emporia State is the only program in NCAA Division II history to lead the nation in attendance (2005), win a national championship (2010), and be honored with the top GPA in the nation (2017) in the WBCA Academic Top 25 list.
The Emporia State women will open the season at home against Henderson State on November 10 in the MIAA-GAC Challenge in White Auditorium.
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