KANSAS CITY, MO. (WIBW) – As the basketball season nears in a couple of weeks, it’s time to meet the Ichabods.

The ‘Bods were at Media Day in Kansas City on Tuesday to help preview their season. They were picked first in the Coaches Poll and fourth in the Media Poll.

This is a team that brings a lot back from last year, a team that went 19-11, 14-8 in the conference and made the second round of the MIAA Tournament.

They bring back nine guys from lasts eason, most of their starters too, including impact transfer from Maize High School in Wichita, Jacob Hanna.

After a down year in 2022, they’ve quickly gotten back to the tradition of Washburn basketball with head coach Brett Ballard.

The believe more is to come this season.

“I don’t want to be hunted, I want to be the hunter,” Ballard said. “We’ve talked a lot about hunting, being humble, being unified, and having no excuses, and being tough, using that analogy.”

“When we’re tired, continuing to do the right things and stay disciplined. For us, if we can continue do that, and even when we’re tired, we’ll play hard. I think that’ll cover up a lot of our mistakes. That’s what’s going to be the key for us this year,” Senior forward Andrew Orr said.

“I mean, I expect to go into every single game and be able to compete at the highest level. We have enough guys on the team that are willing to work and want to win so being able to go into every single game and feel confident, I think that’s something that I’m very excited for,” Hanna said.

They begin the season with an exhibition against KU on Oct. 29 at seven p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse. They open the regular season with the Central Region Tipoff Challenge Nov. 8 against University of Sioux Falls.

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