CLEVELAND - Ball State University men's basketball senior forward Anthony Newell doesn't want his team to surprise anyone this season.
The 2008 to 2009 Preseason All-Mid-American Conference and 2007 to 2008 Honorable Mention All-MAC selection said his team's goal this year is simple.
"We just want to win, it's all we want to do," said Newell, who averaged a team-high 16.9 points and eight rebounds-per-game last season. "We don't want to prove anyone wrong, we don't want to have anything to prove, we just want to win."
Picked to finish fifth in the West Division in the MAC preseason polls announced Thursday at MAC Media Day in Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Newell and second-year head coach Billy Taylor shared the same sentiment.
"Our expectations are just to play a better brand of basketball and to see improvement in our program," Taylor said. "Really, it's hard for me to say what our goals are specifically because we have so many new guys - until we have the chance to put some of the new guys under the fire and see how they perform."
The Cardinals return two starters and seven players total from last season's 6-24 team that finished fifth in the West with a 5-11 MAC record and lost 59-55 to Eastern Michigan in the first round of the MAC tournament.
Eight newcomers - five freshmen and three transfers - were brought in by Taylor and his staff to set a new foundation starting this season.
Taylor said fans should expect to see more depth this season than last.
"The good thing is we have a lot of choices, a lot of options," he said. "We didn't really feel that way as much last year - we didn't have as much depth - but now we have do have depth. It's a wonderful thing because it increases the level of competitiveness in practice."
For the second year, Western Michigan University in the West and Kent State University in the East were the preseason picks to win their divisions.
The Golden Flashes - which finished 28-7 (13-3 MAC) and made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament last season - were also picked as preseason MAC Tournament favorites.
Kent State returns 2007 2008 MAC Player of the Year and Honorable Mention All-American guard Al Fisher, among two other starters.
"We're getting better every day, and like everybody [in the MAC] we have a lot questions - a lot more questions than answers," said first-year Kent State coach Geno Ford. "We've got a good core of perimeter players returning that know what this league's all about and know what to expect."
Western Michigan (20-12, 12-4 MAC last season) returns its entire starting back court this season, including 2007 to2008 All-MAC first team selection David Kool.
"We do have some good guards back, but we also have a lot of inexperience in the front line," Broncos' coach Steve Hawkins said. "What I see is we have 16 lockers in our locker room, and eight of them are taken by freshmen. That's the part that concerns me."
The Cardinals open up their season Nov. 15 in a 2 p.m. home game against Eastern Illinois University.
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