Holland Reporter

The Grand Valley State University men's basketball team has been picked to finish fourth in the 2025-26 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Preseason Coaches' Poll, as announced by the league office. Head coach Cornell Mann is set to begin his fourth season leading the Lakers. Last season, the team recorded a 16-13 overall record and went 12-8 in conference play.

Several key players will return for Grand Valley State this year. Jalen Charity, who earned second team All-Conference and GLIAC All-Defensive honors last season, leads the returning group. Charity averaged 11.5 points and four rebounds per game while shooting a team-high 49% from the field. He also contributed defensively with 16 blocks and 24 steals.

Shamus Thompson, another GLIAC All-Defensive performer, returns after posting career bests of 5.4 rebounds per game and leading GVSU with 28 blocks—a mark that ranked fifth in the conference.

The Lakers will also have two senior point guards back on the roster: Mason Docks and Trevor Smith Jr. Docks averaged more than eight points per game last season and led the team with 84 assists. His assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.5 ranked third in the GLIAC. Smith Jr., named to the All-GLIAC defensive team for a third straight year, averaged over six points per game, was second on the team with 82 assists, and finished second in the conference with a 2.9 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Graduate senior Ethan Alderink returns after earning All-GLIAC second team honors in the previous season but appeared in only five games last year due to injury. Junior Charles Turner and sophomores Cam Regnerus and Marcus Gray II are among other returning reserves expected to contribute.

Grand Valley State's roster will include three transfers this season along with three freshmen newcomers. Junior guard David Wilkerson joins from Youngstown State University, where he played in 28 games last season and shot 41% from the field. Other new additions are junior transfers Antaune Allen—who previously played at Indiana East and earned first team All-Conference honors after averaging over 18 points per game—and Payton Weemer, who transferred from Lakeland Community College after being named twice as an All-Region performer.

The Lakers will open their season against Ashland on Friday, November 14th at a neutral site in Toledo, Ohio at 6:00 PM. Their first home game is scheduled for Wednesday, November 26th against Lewis at 3:00 PM.

According to the preseason poll results released by GLIAC officials, Michigan Tech received ten first-place votes and is favored to win the conference this year.