Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Point University men’s basketball team is coming off of a 16-16 year and plans to improve thanks to the addition of lots of new faces.

Head coach Jake Deer is entering his fourth year as head coach, but he feels like his returners and incoming transfers will give his team plenty of talent to work with. 

“We don’t really carry any freshmen,” Deer said. “We have a lot of four year or junior college transfers. We have nine new guys.”

Of the 18 players on the roster, only two are freshmen.

“We’ve got better at our guard position,” Deer said. “We have more attack-minded guys. We’re going to be a better shooting team than we’ve been.”

The Skyhawks averaged 74.4 points per game last season.

“Defensively, we’re going to be better,” Deer said. “I really like this class. We have high character guys. I think they’re a really talented class. We prioritized shooting with this class.”

One of the players Deer thinks will make an immediate impact is Justice Hayes.

“He came from South Georgia Tech,” Deer said. “He was on their championship team. He has the championship pedigree. He’s a great shooter. I think he’ll have an immediate impact.”

“We also have Ergys. He’s our international kid from Albania,” Deer said. “He’s 6-foot-8. He’ll make a big impact. He can shoot the ball.”

Deer is also excited about Benjamin Ross, who transferred from Webber International.

“He’s a very very seasoned player,” Deer said. “We’re loaded. We have Javier Turner. He’s a 6-foot-11 transfer from Wyoming. We’re all expecting him to have a good year.”

Point also announced their schedule last week, and Deer is prepared for the challenge it presents.

“It’s very challenging,” Deer said. “We play a few national tournament teams. We open up with Tennessee Southern. I expect our guys to play well. We want to take a step as a program, and I think part of doing that is playing good competition and playing nationally respected programs. We’ll find out a lot about our team in the first few weeks.”

Point will officially begin practice Sept. 22. For now, the team is working on strength and conditioning.

“We did a team building event at Woodland Christian Camp,” Deer said. “This week, we’re going to be the on-court demonstrating team for the Georgia High School Basketball Coaches’ Association in Buford, which is a really special opportunity for our program.”

Deer is focusing on team unity right now.

“We need guys to work together and sacrifice for each other,” Deer said. “We need to make it about us and not a certain individual.”

The Skyhawks also brought in a familiar face in Sae’Quahn Rogers to help coach.

“I think he’s done a terrific job as a first year coach,” Deer said. “He’s been really good for our guys. I think he’s going to be a good coach down the line.”

Point will open their season on Oct. 27 against Tennessee Southern.

“More than anything, I’m just excited to get started,” Deer said.