The 2008-2009 season looks to be a bright one for the Milwaukee School of Engineering men's basketball team.  The Raiders made their presence known last year, finishing the season with a 17-10 overall record and in fourth place finish in their first year of Northern Athletics Conference competition.

Head Coach Brian Miller returns for his fifth season at the helm for MSOE and looks to continue his unprecedented success. MSOE has recorded the three best records in school history the past three seasons going 50-30 over that span a remarkable 62% winning percentage.

The MSOE men's basketball team graduates three starters, but returns nine letter winners, which have seen plenty of action during the 2007-2008 campaign.

The leading returning scorer from last year's squad is senior guard Andy Voigt (West Bend, Wis./West Bend West High School). The 6'0 guard averaged 11.9 points per game and led the team in three points field goals made with 26 for the season.  Voigt has been the Raiders second leading scorer the past 2 seasons.

NAC Rookie of the Year Austin Meier (Oshkosh, Wis. /Oshkosh West) also will be looked upon for scoring. Last year, the 6-4 forward averaged 11.4 points per game.  Meier led the team in rebounds (166), and steals (44), while second on the team in field goals made with 120 shooting at an astounding 58%.

Look for the Raider inside game to be anchored by Jamel Sabree (Milwaukee, Wis. /Milwaukee Lutheran) who averaged 6.3 points per game and 3.1 rebounds per game in 2007-08, but averaged 10 ppg in 2006-07 and Jeremy Off (Hartford, Wis. /Slinger), a 6-4 junior center who came off the bench for the Raiders in 2007. Off has been the team's  field goal percentage leader over the past 2 seasons and the team's best rebounder per minute played.

A key to success will be the development of veterans Matt Morgan (Colleyville, Texas /Colleyville Heritage), Luke Larson (Ashland, Wis./ Ashland), Tyler Morgen (Howard's Grove, Wis. /Howard's Grove) and Bennett Deacon (Burlington, Wis./Catholic Central). Deacon started the last 5 games last season while Morgan and Larson provide outside shooting. Tyler Morgen provides leadership and ball handling at the point position.

Coach Miller adds seven freshmen to the MSOE roster, none brighter than Austin Kearns (Slinger, Wis.  /Slinger). Kearns, a 5'10 guard from Slinger Wisconsin, was MVP of the Little Ten Conference and a WBCA All-star. Robert Linzmeier (Valders, Wis. /Valders) and Oren Bloom (West Allis, Wis. /West Allis Central) were all-conference players in high school as well.

The Raiders continue their tradition of playing great academic institutions in non- conference play. This year's schedule includes Grinnell College, the University of Chicago, and Beloit College.  The highlight of the non-conference schedule will be the 2008 Engineers Classic, featuring four of the best Engineering schools in the country: MIT, RPI, Rose Hulman and host MSOE. All four schools are strong engineering institutions, but also have very strong athletic programs.  This is the third bi-annual engineering tournament hosted by MSOE which will be held on November 22 -23, 2008.

To reach the NCAA tournament, MSOE must battle through the 12-teams in the NAC, which is never an easy task. This season marks the first year the NAC goes to a North and South division format with MSOE joining other South division members Aurora, Benedictine, Concordia-Chicago, Dominican and Wisconsin Lutheran. The North division consists of Edgewood, Rockford, Marian, Maranatha Baptist, Concordia-Wisconsin and Lakeland.