With a large portion of last season's team returning, the Drew University men's basketball team will set their sights high once again under third-year Head Coach Michael McSloy.
 
Last season, the Rangers posted a 20-6 record and a 13-5 mark in the Landmark Conference. The team made its mark as a prolific offensive squad, establishing school records for both points per game (87.0) and 3-pointers made (319), marks that ranked eighth (tied) and third, respectively, in Division III.
 
This year, the Blue and Green bring back three starters and 16 players from last year's team, including eight Rangers who averaged double figures in minutes per game.
 
In the Landmark Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, Drew was picked to finish third among 10 teams while receiving one first-place vote. In addition, the Rangers received votes in the D3hoops.com Preseason Poll.
 
This year, the Rangers bring back their top returning scorer in senior guard Pat Higgins, who averaged 16.9 points per game last season on his way to earning First Team All-Landmark Conference and Second Team All-Met recognition. He will be joined in the backcourt by another former All-Landmark Conference selection in senior Malcolm Newman.
 
A second team all-conference pick in 2021-22, Newman rejoins the squad after a season away from the team recovering from injury. A starter in each of his first two years at the Forest, he averaged 11.2 points per game and a team-leading 3.5 assists per night three years ago.
 
A number of additional guards are back this season, including senior Josh Kline, who is coming off a strong season in his first year at Drew. As one of the team's first players off the bench, he averaged 10.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.1 steals over 21.5 minutes per contest last season.
 
Fifth-year James Anderson (6.5 ppg) is also back after knocking down 41 3-pointers – tops among returning Rangers – a year ago while sophomore Eli Yusavage also returns after netting 5.6 points per game in his rookie season last year. In addition, junior guard Devon Musial is back after playing 13.3 minutes per outing last season.
 
Also returning to the backcourt are senior Aidan Lazenby and sophomores Will Bradley, Rocco Checchetto, Andre De Los Reyes, and Patrick Washington. Adding additional depth will be sophomore transfer Marc Herasme and freshmen Kevin Cotton and Ben Kipnis.
 
The Rangers also bring back plenty of talent and experience in the post, including junior David Musial, last year's Landmark Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He posted 9.2 points per game while also leading the squad in rebounding (8.1 rpg) and steals (2.3 spg).
 
Senior Peso Crump also returns after an impressive debut season for the Rangers last year, when he posted 8.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and a team-high 0.8 blocked shots per game last year. In addition, junior Kevin Cronin is back after pumping in 6.1 points per game while playing all 26 contests and making nine starts.
 
Other returning forwards are junior Anthony Tancredi and sophomores Conor Shiflett and Matthew Zenker while freshmen Reid Chauhan and Benjamin Manns will also look to make their mark.
 
The Rangers kick off their season on Friday and Saturday at the FDU-Florham Tournament. Drew faces FDU on Friday at 8 p.m. before taking on Centenary or The College of New Jersey on Saturday at 5 or 7 p.m. The Rangers play their home opener on Nov. 16 versus York (N.Y.) and their Landmark Conference opener on Nov. 20 at Moravian.