Junior Hayden Doyle in action last season. (Elle Su | Student Life)

When junior Hayden Doyle’s game-tying three-pointer rimmed out at the buzzer in the second round of last year’s NCAA playoffs, it kicked off a summer of reflection and change for the Washington University men’s basketball team. This season, the team will be without fifth-year Charlie Jacob, the back-to-back University Athletic Association (UAA) Defensive Player of the Year who started all 27 games for the Bears last season. It will also be without three members of a senior class that brought vital leadership to the squad, including key rotation big men Kevin Davet and Nate Bloedorn.

While the sting of last year’s playoff loss — a 72-69 heartbreaker to North Park University — may be fresh on the minds of some players, the focus has long ago shifted to the lessons the team can take away from the loss. 

“Obviously we can’t go back and change how that game went,” said junior Drake Kindsvater. “Something Coach Juckem has instilled within us is the next-play mentality. Whenever you make a mistake or you lose a game, move on and learn from it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.” 

As the Bears prepare for the start of a new men’s basketball season, there’s been a heightened focus on correcting the mistakes from last season, one where they finished second in the UAA for the second time in as many years. As has been the case since head coach Pat Juckem — whose .736 winning percentage is the best in Bears history — took over in 2018, much of the focus has been on the defensive end of the floor. Throughout Juckem’s five years leading this program, his teams have proven that defense can be a winning formula.

Last season, the Bears allowed just 62.1 points per game, good for fifteenth in Division III (for perspective, no other team in the UAA allowed less than 68). When they held their opponents to under 70 points, they were an almost perfect 19-1, compared to a paltry 1-6 when they allowed 70 or more.

To replicate last season’s defensive success, the Bears will need to replace the omnipresent Jacob, a player who the team could always rely on to lock down an opponent’s offensive star. When asked about his departure, Juckem noted that they will look to fill Jacob’s shoes as a unit.

“We have a system of play that [doesn’t] rely on one-on-one defenders…At the peak, it’s five operating as one, kind of like a symphony. They move in concert with each other,” he shared. “When we’re at our best, it feels like there’s not five of you guys out there, there’s six of you. Because you’re doing it with such zest, such energy, and such passion.”

Despite the loss of Jacob, Kindsvater is confident that the defense can once again perform up to Juckem’s standards. “I’d say our biggest strength has always been our defense,” he said. “I feel like if we have focus, if we’ve really focused on locking in on defense, we can turn that around and use that energy to push us through on offense. Our defensive game has always been our best and we’re looking very similar to how we were defensively last year.”

Entering his third season with the Bears, junior Drake Kindsvater has established himself as one of the best defenders in the UAA conference. (Elle Su | Student Life)

Kindsvater, a rangy 6-foot-6 forward, was recruited for his defensive presence and scrappy play. He blossomed on the offensive end of the floor last season, leading the team with 14.0 points per game on a superb .596 field-goal percentage. The junior from Frisco, Texas has continued to grow as a rebounder and on-ball defender as well, grabbing a team-high 6.5 boards a game, and tying for the UAA lead with 44 steals.

Kindsvater is joined in the junior class by Doyle, a 6’1 combo guard who has a knack for creating open looks for both himself and his teammates. Doyle averaged 11.1 points last year, but made huge strides as a playmaker, averaging 3.9 assists a game. 

“My freshman year, I was never a true point guard,” said Doyle. “It was definitely a big adjustment for me understanding when to attack for myself and when to dish [the ball] and get other people involved.” After being named UAA Rookie of the Year two seasons ago, he earned a nod on the All-UAA Second Team last season alongside Kindsvater and Jacob.

Doyle and Kindsvater are joined as upperclassmen by two seniors, Jabari Chiphe and Chidera Nwokolo, and three other juniors, Tyler Van Eekeren, Jonathan Coffy, and Kyle Beedon. Chiphe and Van Eekeren will likely log important rotation minutes off of the bench, but don’t be surprised if the others find ways to contribute as well. 

Senior Jabari Chiphe is one of the two senior members of the Bears this season. (Clara Richards | Student Life)

Key growth from the three members of the sophomore class will also be crucial to the team’s performance. Alongside Doyle, the starting backcourt will feature sophomore Yogi Oliff, a shifty guard who wreaked havoc on the defensive end last season. “We have a really good relationship,” said Doyle. “We really trust each other.” 

Will Grudzinski, a 6-foot-7 sniper who led the team with 55 three-point field goals last season, including a record-setting performance at the Lopata Classic, is also primed to take another step forward, and should see an increase from the 19.5 minutes per game he played as a freshman.  

Rounding out the sophomore class is Calvin Kapral, a big man who was effective in limited minutes but will almost certainly play an expanded role this season. Following the departure of three of WashU’s four traditional ‘bigs’ from last season, the development of Kapral will be a crucial element to the team’s success. When asked about Kapral, Doyle was confident that the center is ready to take a leap.

“Big Calvin got so much better over the summer,” raved Doyle. “He literally didn’t even look like the same dude. He got so strong, I was like ‘Dude, are you on steroids or something?’” 

The sophomore trio is joined by six freshmen. Though they have only been at WashU for a few months, the freshmen class has already earned the respect and praise of their peers. “All of them are very, very good. Definitely better than I was when I was a freshman,” said Kindsvater. “I’m really excited to see them grow this year.” 

Though the team has a young core, a number of key players return, including three of its starters and its sixth man, meaning that expectations remain high. When asked about his personal goals for the season, Doyle was quick to point out his desires for conference success. 

“One thing is I really want to win the UAA this year. Both years that I’ve been here we finished second,” he said. “The conference has been really, really good [and] is gonna be really good again this year. So, if we win the conference, we’ll be in a really good spot nationally.” 

The Bears may have a strong squad, but many of their UAA rivals do as well. In a preseason poll of the conference’s coaches, the Bears were deemed the fourth-best team in the league behind New York University, Emory University, and Case Western Reserve University. Though taking on other teams in the UAA, one of the most prominent conferences in the country, will not be easy for the Bears, Juckem said the team is looking forward to the battles conference play will bring.

“When we get to that point, we know that we need to be ready for the challenges. Every game is gonna probably feel like an NCAA Tournament game,” he said. “As a coach, I hope to have hair left in my head when it’s all said and done, but I think that’s what draws us to a place like WashU or any of these schools. This is what we signed up for.”

If the Bears can pass the tests the UAA throws at them, they will set themselves up for relevance on a national scale, a level where the team have set themselves lofty expectations. “As a team I really want to get to at least the Final Four, get to a later playoff exit [than] last year. Last year, we ended up winning the first round and lost in the second round. I’d really like to get further as a team,” said Kindsvater. Entering the season, WashU is ranked No. 22 in the D3Hoops.com national poll, showing that the team will need to continue to develop as a unit in order to turn those ambitions into reality.

From the start, the Bears will have an opportunity to prove their worth. Though UAA conference play doesn’t start until January, WashU will face tests early in its non-conference slate. This upcoming weekend, they start their season competing in the Scholars Classic, a tournament based in New York that will pit the Bears against No. 11 Swarthmore and No. 12 Johns Hopkins, teams that made it all the way to the NCAA Final Four and Sweet 16 respectively last year.

“There’s no tip-toeing into the schedule,” said Juckem. “We have to be ready to play at a high level from the jump on Saturday night.”