2023-24 Record: 24-8 overall, 15-5 GPAC (T-1st); NAIA Round of 32.
Head Coach: Ben Limback (at CUNE: 204-134, 11 years; career: 321-292, 20 years; four national tournaments; four combined GPAC titles)
Returning Starters: F Lukas Helms; G Brad Bennett; F Noah Schutte; F Tristan Smith; G Jaxon Stueve.
Other Key Returners: G Hayden Frank; G/F Tyler Harre; G Brooks Kissinger; G Zac Kulus; F Brayson Mueller; G Jaxon Weyand.
Key Losses: G Joel Baker.
2023-24 GPAC All-Conference: Noah Schutte (First Team); Tristan Smith (Second Team); Brad Bennett (Second Team).
2023-24 NAIA All-American: Noah Schutte (Third Team).
Outlook
For an indication of what the 2024-25 Bulldogs will look like, see the 2023-24 Bulldogs. Each of the program’s top nine scorers return for a Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball outfit that enters the new campaign with exceptionally lofty expectations. The Bulldogs welcome back nearly every key piece and are a year stronger and wiser while led by what just might be the best frontcourt in the entire NAIA thanks to the presence of Noah Schutte and Tristan Smith. As a result, league coaches pegged Concordia at No. 1 in the GPAC preseason poll.
During Head Coach Ben Limback’s tenure (which began with the 2013-14 season), the Bulldogs have never started a season with such recognition from the outside world. Concordia appeared at No. 15 in the NAIA Hoops Report’s preseason top 25.
“It’s nice to have all the guys back that we have,” Limback said. “It’s a coach’s dream. We have All-Americans back, all-conference guys and a good young nucleus that played significant minutes. So many things we’re trying to teach in practice are not new to the majority of the team, but that can also be a challenge. Complacency can set in – that running-it-back mentality. The goal is to continue to build and challenge each other each day. So far, we’re seeing a group that’s not satisfied and not just waiting until the playoffs or the end of the year. They understand that we have to get better each day. Overall, we’ve made good progress. I’m excited to see where we can go.”
For a barometer on what expectations are like, start with the 2023-24 season that ended with a share of the GPAC regular season title and an advancement to the NAIA national tournament round of 32. Naturally, the Bulldogs have their sights set on a return to Kansas City, where the final 16 teams left standing gather at Municipal Auditorium. Limback has guided his alma mater to a combined four national tournament appearances and four GPAC championships over the past five seasons. The ’23-24 team piled up 24 wins, marking the second highest total of Limback’s tenure.
It's players like Schutte and Smith who have helped push Concordia to the top of the league standings. Schutte burst onto the national scene as a sophomore in 2021-22 and has gotten better each season. In 115 career collegiate games, Schutte has produced 1,827 points and 727 rebounds. One would be hard-pressed to find 10 players in the entire NAIA better than the native of Laurel, Neb., who tallied more than 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in his high school career.
Limback’s biggest recruiting win of the offseason involved Schutte opting in on a ‘COVID year.’ Said Limback, “I really didn’t have to sell him on anything. I think he’s back because of the joy he’s experienced over four years. I think it was also the team coming back and the chance to play basketball. I haven’t been around many players like Noah that love basketball as much as he does. That’s more than just his own personal game. He’s a fanatic of a lot of professional and college teams. He just loves the game. He’s got a lot more free time this year than he’s ever had. He’s in a graduate program, so he spends a lot of time in the gym. He’s taking each day like he should.”
All five starters are back from last season. Schutte (20.9 ppg / 8.4 rpg last season) and Smith were joined in that group in 2023-24 by sharpshooting guard Brad Bennett and rising young players in Lukas Helms and Jaxon Stueve, both of whom cracked the starting lineup as freshmen. They were part of a long and athletic group of wing players that brought matchup nightmares for opponents. On the perimeter, Bennett has proved lethal from long range. He’s a career 40.1 percent shooter from beyond the arc.
Open perimeter opportunities are plentiful when the opposition has to worry about Schutte and Smith. The 6-foot-5 Smith has no equal when it comes to throwing down highlight reel dunks. Smith averaged 18.0 points and 9.3 rebounds last season and is critical to Concordia’s ability to get stops on the defensive end. As fans hoot and holler over the dunks, Limback has greater appreciation for how Smith disrupts offensive game plans.
Smith knows he and his teammates are not flying under the radar as this season nears tipoff. Said Smith, “Every day we try to get the most out of practice and know that if we don’t get better, someone else is going to. A lot of people have the game against us circled on their calendar. We have that in the back of our head and know that we have to continue to push each other and show up every day.”
Realistically, Limback would be comfortable going more than a dozen deep on his roster. Senior leadership is provided by the likes of Bennett and Smith as well as Brayson Mueller and Tony Tubrick. Returning varsity members in the junior class are Zac Kulus and Jaxon Weyand with Logan Wilson on the comeback trail after missing last season. Meanwhile, the standout sophomore class features Helms and Stueve in addition to Hayden Frank, Tyler Harre, Brooks Kissinger and Brant Van Dyke. It proved to be the deepest freshman class in the conference.
The sophomore group is loaded with wing players with versatility. As a freshman last season, Helms was merely scratching the surface in terms of reaching his vast potential. Furthermore, Frank and Harre shot efficiently from 3-point range last season, Stueve supplied scoring (6.1 ppg) and strong defense (34 steals) to the lineup and Kissinger showed promise of great things to come. Helms, Frank and freshmen Eli Gaeth and Dane Jacobsen could all be part of the equation at point guard, a position that was shared by several Bulldogs in 2023-24. However, Limback’s system has embraced “positionless basketball.”
Concordia also embraces lofty expectations with a team that won’t have to go through some of the growing pains it had to endure early last season with a wealth of freshmen playing major minutes. This team expects to be ready from the jump. Says Smith, “It’s huge to get those guys experience, especially at the national tournament level – guys like Lukas, Stueve, Brooks, Hayden, Tyler and Zac. Going into this year, I think it’s going to cause us to elevate. Last year we had to build chemistry and get used to each other at the start of last year. I don’t think there’ll be as much of a learning period. I think we’ll be a lot more efficient right off the bat.”
The team’s theme for this year is T.E.A.M., meaning Together Everyone Achieves More. Whether the result is a win or a loss, the team takes collective ownership and accountability.
Said Limback of the theme, “We want to come up with something that helps us overcome any obstacles that come our way. We have a lot of depth this year. I feel like we have a lot of great things happening throughout our program. We want to have that together mindset where it’s not just Noah or Tristan. It’s everyone. Then there has to be something we’re pushing for. Is there a purpose behind what we’re doing? We want more. The seniors have had a good run of accomplishments, but I think they’re hungry for more. It’s an appropriate theme that we will draw on throughout the year. I love that they value that team aspect.”
The 2024-25 team will begin its journey at the 25th annual Cattle Classic slated for Nov. 1-2. The opposition over those two days inside Friedrich Arena will be NCAA Division III foes Central College (Iowa) and Nebraska Wesleyan University. The slate also features a trip to the Phoenix area just prior to Christmas and CIT at Concordia University, Ann Arbor. The complete schedule can be found HERE.