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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Saturday's Nov. 1 season-opener against Augusta (Ga.), followed by a Sunday game against Dallas Baptist in the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland, Fla., marks the earliest that Washburn University men's basketball coach Brett Ballard has ever had a team open its season.

And by Monday Ballard will know if the early start was more of a good or bad thing for the No. 2-ranked Ichabods, who are coming off a 30-4 season and an NCAA Division II semifinal appearance.

Junior guard Jack Bachelor is a top returner for Washburn men's basketball after earning first-team All-MIAA recognition last season. [File photo/TSN]

"If we go win two games, absolutely I'll be really happy about this scheduling,'' Ballard said. "If we don't, I'll be wishing we had more practices.

"This Hall of Fame event has always been early. It's the first time we've played in it and it's a great opportunity. I would prefer probably another week or so of practice to really put our best product out there, but everybody's in the same boat, everybody got the same amount of practices.''

Both Augusta and Dallas Baptist were NCAA Regional teams last season and DBU, like the Ichabods, reached the NCAA Final Four in Evansville. Dallas Baptist was ranked No. 3 in the NABC preseason poll.

Ballard feels like his team has done a good job in preseason to get ready for the early tests.

"We've had good practices and we're close to where we need to be and this will be a good opportunity to see where we're at,'' he said. "Big picture, if you win great, you learn from it. If you lose, you learn a lot from it.''

The No. 2 preseason ranking is the highest for the Ichabods since being picked No. 2 in the 2012-13 preseason poll.

The Ichabods are coming off one of the best seasons in program history with the NCAA Final Four appearance, an NCAA Central Regional Championship and an MIAA regular season title with a 30-4 overall record after going 17-2 in MIAA play.

Washburn was ranked No. 1 in the nation last season for five consecutive weeks and finished tied for fourth in the 2025 NABC final poll after spending the entire season ranked in the top 10.

The Ichabods were picked atop the MIAA Preseason Coaches and Media Polls. In the MIAA Coaches Poll, Washburn received 13 of 14 first-place votes and the Ichabods received 23 of 25 first-place votes in the Media Poll.

Junior Jack Bachelor has started 45 of 64 career games as an Ichabod, averaging 12. 6 points. The former Washburn Rural star ranks third all-time at Washburn in assist average at 4.8, fourth in career free throw percentage at .828 and seventh in career assists with 304.

Bachelor started all 34 games last season, averaging 13.6 points and earning NABC second-team all-district honors, first-team All-MIAA and All-MIAA defensive honors.

Senior Sam Ungashick has started 30 of 55 career games as an Ichabod, averaging 8.1 points for his career. Ungashick is a career 34 percent shooter from 3-point range, hitting 57 of 170 attempts.

Senior Brady Christiansen has played in 93 career games with 31 starts, averaging 6.6 points and 6.2 rebounds. Christiansen ranks 11th in career rebounds in program history with 577.

Dillon Claussen played in 34 games last season as a freshman, averaging 7.4 and 3.9 rebounds while adding 25 blocks and 15 steals. Claussen tied a career-high with 17 points against Lenoir-Rhyne in the NCAA national quarterfinal on 7 of 7 shooting.

The Ichabods will have to replace starters Andrew Orr, Jacob Hanna, Brayden Shorter and Michael Keegan off last year's team, but along with the returners, Washburn has added four experienced transfers.

Bryson Smith averaged 11.4 points with a team-high 131 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game for Northeastern State last season while starting all 29 games. Smith previously averaged 14.8 points at Dallas College North Lake where he helped his team claim the NJCAA Men's Basketball National Championship.

Isaiah Saams-Hoy started all 28 games at Alaska Fairbanks in 2024-25, leading the team in points (455), points per game (16.3), assists (99), steals (44) and blocks (29).

Jeremiah Jones led Mary (S.D.) in scoring in 2024-25, averaging 11.9 points while recording 85 steals, including eight steals in a single game to set a school record.

Marcus Glock is a transfer from Northwest Missouri, where he started 19 of 28 games and averaged 9.1 points and 2.5 rebounds while hitting a team-high 51 3-pointers and shooting 42 percent from deep.

Smith, who came in over the summer to work with his new teammates, said he feels like that has helped him jell with his fellow Ichabods.

"That helped a lot, actually,'' Smith said. "Just coming to a new team can be very nerve-wracking. There's a lot of new faces and new personalities and I feel like that month of us being here practicing built the team bond better and we got closer together.

"So when we came back on campus for school we already knew each other, so it definitely helped.''

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

The Washburn Ichabod football team will hit the road on Saturday to take on Missouri Western, looking to bounce back from a 13-10 heartbreaking overtime loss to Fort Hays State last week.

"We talk about our seven-day season and the game is the end of that,'' Washburn coach Zach Watkins said. "We close the chapter after the game and Sunday we move on to the next opponent and try to get better from the film and learn, but this one was a little bit harder to move on from.

"You have some games that are easy to move on from, win or loss, and some are tough to move on from. This is one of the tougher ones, but the guys have done a great job of responding this week and are ready to go against another good opponent but another game that we've got to play well to win.''

Topekan Ky Thomas (8) rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown in last Saturday's 13-10 overtime loss to Fort Hays State. [File photo/TSN]

Former Topeka High star Ky Thomas, who rushed for 95 yards and scored the Ichabods' lone touchdown against the Tigers, agreed with his coach that WU's focus has to be on bouncing back.

"We have to take what we can from that game and learn from it and move on to the next seven-game season as coach Watkins says,'' said Thomas, who has scored four touchdowns over the past three games. "We'll take it one day at a time and get just get better as the season goes on.''

Washburn will take a 2-6 overall record and 1-5 MIAA mark into Saturday's 2 p.m. game while the Griffons are also 2-6 and 1-5.

Saturday's game will mark the second season in a row the Ichabods and Griffons have played in St. Joseph, with the Ichabods winning last year's matchup, 24-16.

The Griffons are coming off a 19-12 road win over Missouri Southern last Saturday.

Sophomore linebacker JC Heim leads the MIAA and is third in the national rankings in tackles per game with 12.6 stops while junior L.J. Minner Jr. is fourth in the MIAA with 9.6 tackles per game.

Senior Jordan Finnesy's 239 career tackles rank 16th on the NCAA D2 active chart and he is 16th on the D2 active solo tackles chart with 146.

Senior punter Jake Zeller is fifth on the NCAA D2 active punting average chart at 41.8 and he is seventh in total punt yards (6,479).

Zeller is second in the MIAA and ninth in the national rankings in punting average at 42.6 and Zeller is second on the Ichabod all-time punting average chart at 41.8 and ninth in total yards at 6,479.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Coming off back-to-back losses and playing its second straight game without injured senior quarterback John Hoytal, Washburn Rural was looking to get back on track in Friday's Class 6A West playoff opener against Wichita South in Bowen-Glaze Stadium.

And a quick start on both sides of the ball was just what the doctor ordered as the No. 7-seeded Junior Blues rode a 21-0 first-quarter lead to a 37-0 shutout over the visiting Titans.

Washburn Rural junior Jadyn Baum rushed for just under 200 yards and three touchdowns in Friday's 37-0 Class 6A playoff win over Wichita South. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

Washburn Rural junior Jadyn Baum (right) celebrates a touchdown with teammate Peyton Goehring in Friday's 37-0 Class 6A playoff win over Wichita South. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

"We knew coming into it that we were going to have to rely offensively on the run game and we knew the defense was going to have to set the tone and kind of shorten the field for us,'' Washburn Rural coach Steve Buhler said. "Offensively, I think the kids did a really nice job of doing what we've been working on as far as the game preparation.

"Win and advance. We didn't get a chance to do this last year, to move on in the playoffs, so the kids were excited about what they're doing and we get that feeling we had two years ago and three years ago and we get that hunger back about trying to go deeper into the playoffs.''

With Friday's win Washburn Rural improved to 6-3 and advanced to a second-round 6A matchup at No. 2 seed Wichita Northwest, 8-1 on the season.

Offensively, Rural junior running back Jadyn Baum soared past the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season with 182 yards on 15 attempts while the Junior Blues' defense pitched the shutout while limiting the 3-6 Titans to 53 total yards.

Junior Ryker Petersen intercepted a pass to set up Washburn Rural's first touchdown in Friday's 37-0 Class 6A playoff win over Wichita South. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

An interception by Rural junior Ryker Petersen ended Wichita South's game-opening drive and led to an 8-yard Baum touchdown run with 8:30 left in the first quarter (Ryan Austin kick).

The Junior Blues recovered a South fumble on the Titans' ensuing possession and Rural found the end zone four plays later on Baum's second 8-yard TD of the night (Austin kick) to put the hosts up 14-0 at the 6:47 mark of the first.

Senior TJ Minikwu (right) celebrates a touchdown with teammate Kellan Roth in Friday's 37-0 Class 6A playoff win over Wichita South. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

With just 12 seconds remaining in the quarter Washburn Rural senior TJ Minikwu scored on a 5-yard run (Austin kick) to hike the Junior Blues' lead to 21-0.

The pace slowed in the second quarter but the Junior Blues took a 27-0 lead midway through the quarter on a 17-yard TD strike from junior Gavin Vantuyl to senior Nate Selm (kick failed).

Baum scored his third touchdown of the night on a 46-yard gallop (Austin kick) with 2:05 left in the third quarter and Austin capped Rural's scoring early in the fourth stanza with a 25-yard field goal.

Next up for the Junior Blues is next week's road test at Wichita Northwest, which advanced with a 57-14 win over Campus Friday night.

"They're exceptional,'' Buhler said of the Grizzlies. "You get to this round and everybody on the West side is so good and so well-rounded everything's going to be a dogfight and you have to be willing to play four full quarters and keep your nose in it the whole time.''

WASHBURN RURAL 37, WICHITA SOUTH 0

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Welcome to Top Sports News

No. 2-ranked Washburn men's basketball to kick off season in Hall of Fame Classic

Washburn football looking to rebound against Griffons after OT heartbreaker

Junior Blues set tone early, advance in Class 6A playoffs with 37-0 romp past Titans