With year of experience, Vikings look to build off 2023-24

MOSES LAKE — Coming off a 10-18 season last winter, the Big Bend men’s basketball team is bringing a more experienced roster to the floor when the season begins next month. 

“We’re ready to get back on the court and prove a lot this year,” sophomore guard Gideon Harris said. “We think we’re going to be a very good team, and a championship-contending (team). We’re just trying to stay locked in, stay focused and get the job done this year.” 

Last season’s Viking team was an entirely new group to Big Bend, coming in along with first-year Head Coach Jason Hopkins. This year, Big Bend fields four returning players as well as four redshirt freshmen from a season ago. 

“Having guys who are bought in to what we do and what we’re about is really helpful, and we’ve seen a noticeable improvement in the guys in terms of what they’re able of doing, in large part because those guys are great models for what we’re looking for,” Hopkins said.  

Big Bend lost two of its three leading scorers from 2023-24, with Harris being the lone returner of that top three. Harris was a backup at point guard last winter but played considerable minutes at wing as well, averaging 11.3 points per game. 

Sophomore wings Gil Gonzalez (nine points per game) and Diego Carrera (7.3), along with sophomore Marki Ibrahim are among the players expected to take bigger roles this season, Hopkins said. 

“Those four guys who are all coming back, they started a number of games for us and contributed,” Hopkins said. “We hope that they’re a little more consistent. They had ups and downs, and that’s the thing with freshmen sometimes.” 

With the program fielding an entirely new group of players last winter, the Vikings struggled at times offensively – Hopkins noted the offense is built on “reads and familiarity, and playing off of one another,” which can be difficult to accomplish without cohesion on the floor.  

Big Bend’s 62.6 points per game was the fewest in the Northwest Athletic Conference in 2023-24. 

“That can take time to implement, because there’s a certain number of possessions that they have to fail at in order to succeed,” Hopkins said. “We think that we’ll see an improvement there – not just with a year of (experience), but a fall where we have guys who aren’t completely learning things from scratch.” 

While the Vikings were inconsistent on the offense end last season, they remained strong on defense; Big Bend surrendered 71.2 points per game a season ago, the fourth fewest in the NWAC.  

“Defensively we’re a great team, we just have to execute and finish,” Gonzalez said. “Finish games, finish quarters – every minute counts in a game, you can’t take any breaks off. Last year, it came to points where we lost games and thought ‘What if we would have done this, what if we would have done that?’ This year, we have to stay locked in throughout the whole game.” 

Eight of Big Bend’s 18 losses from last season were decided by nine or less points; finishing down the stretch will be a focus for the Vikings this season. 

“We had 16 games last year that were within two possessions in the final two minutes; we were one game out of the playoffs,” Hopkins said. “We feel like the ability to execute, get timely stops and value possessions – if we do that, we’re going to be more successful.” 

Developing chemistry in the off-season has been a focus as well. 

“This year we definitely trust each other way more,” Ibrahim said. “We know each other very well; we stayed here this spring, all of us, and worked hard. The things we do off the court (help) our connection on the court.” 

After playing three exhibition games, Big Bend opens the season at the Aztec Classic beginning Nov. 15 in Arizona. The Vikings host the Big Bend Invitation starting Nov. 20. 

“Being able to have the culture that we implemented in year one really being spread by those guys has been great,” Head Coach Jason Hopkins said. “I think we’ve got some talented players coming in, and I’m excited to see what we can do in the East and maybe a little bit more.” 

    The Big Bend men’s basketball team huddles up during a game against Walla Walla last winter. The Vikings finished the 2023-24 season with a 10-18 overall record.