INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will officially open the 2022-23 season on Thursday night (Oct. 27) when the Jaguars host Brescia University at 7:00 p.m. inside the Jungle on campus. Tickets are just $10 for adults and admission is FREE for IUPUI students with a valid Crimson Card. 

Head coach Matt Crenshaw's team enters the campaign with a decidedly new look as just two letterwinners from a season ago return in big man Jonah Carrasco (4.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 21 blocked shots) and sophomore Boston Stanton III (4.7 ppg, 2.1 rpg). The Jaguars top seven scorers from a season ago all departed and IUPUI was subsequently pegged to finish 11th in the #HLMBB Preseason Polls.

A year removed from finishing the season with just five healthy players, head coach Matt Crenshaw speaks with optimism and uses a word hardly uttered last season - depth. The flip side is a tremendous lack of experience as only four players on the squad have played meaningful Division I minutes to 

He and his staff retooled the squad, adding a pair of Division I transfers (Bryce Monroe and Chris Osten), four junior college transfers (Jlynn Counter, Cooper Dewitt, John Egbuta and Daylan Hamilton) and four true freshmen (Vincent Brady II, Amhad Jarrard, Armon Jarrard and DJ Jackson). Monroe averaged 6.3 points, 2.2 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game last season at San Diego and Osten, a 6-foot-9 forward, played at Northern Illinois last season. Counter, a sophomore guard, provides a multi-level scorer and both Egbuta and Hamilton are electrifying athletes. Dewitt is a talented shooter who had a 40-point game last season while at North Idaho College. 

The freshman class has a decidedly Indianapolis flavor as Brady starred at Cathedral High School before playing last season at Air Force Prep. The Jarrard twins starred at nearby Mt. Vernon High School with Amhad, a 6-foot-4 swingman, earning a spot on the Indiana All-Star Team. He averaged 14.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game as a senior while younger brother Armon averaged 16.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists per contest in earning All-State honors.  

QUOTABLE: "It feels good to actually be able to practice," Crenshaw said about this season after closing last season with just five healthy bodies. "At the end of the day, it's about the student-athletes and last year, we couldn't even practice and prepare those guys. We had coaches practicing. Now, this year, we can work and coach and get guys better and ultimately best prepare them to win games.

"This year, I feel like we have talent at each position with our starting five and even our next six. Our depth is one thing I'm really excited about."

SERIES HISTORY: IUPUI is 1-0 all-time against Brescia, having defeated the Bearcats by a 120-76 score on Dec. 16, 1989 in Greencastle in the consolation game of the DePauw University Tournament. Hall of Famer Martin Reedus led IUPUI with 18 points and fellow Hall of Famer Greg Wright closed with 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds (box score). 

UP NEXT: IUPUI will open its regular season at Iowa State on Monday, Nov. 7 at 7:00 p.m. CT (8 Eastern).