ALLENDALE-- The Grand Valley State men's basketball team opens the 2022-23 campaign with a pair of games at the Robert Garrett Crossover Classic in Nashville. The Lakers take on Southwest Baptist at 4 p.m. on Friday to open their season. GVSU will also take on the host school Trevecca Nazarene at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Fans can watch the games live online and find live stats here. Both Laker matchups will also be on radio on The Ticket (106.1 FM, 1340 AM, 1490 AM). Live updates can also be found on Twitter @GVSUBasketball and recaps can be found postgame at GVSULakers.com.

The Robert Garrett Crossover Classic
The Robert Garrett Crossover Classic will feature a pair of GLIAC teams matching up with Southwest Baptist (GLVC) and Trevecca Nazarene (Great Midwest).Robert Garrett, who they event is named after, was a player for Trevecca Nazarene and was killed in a car crash on Aug. 26, 2004, ahead of his senior season.

The Mann Era Is Here
The Grand Valley State Lakers begin a new era in the 2022-23 season under new head coach Cornell Mann. Mann was named the Lakers' head man on April 2. Mann was most recently an assistant under Cuonzo Martin at Missouri from 2017-21. In addition to his tenure at Missouri, Mann had stops at Oakland (2016-17), Iowa State (2011-15), Dayton (2008-11), Western Michigan (2003-08) and Central Michigan (2001-03).

Returning Players
The Lakers return seven players, including four players who saw time on the court in 2021-22. Luke Toliver is the Lakers' highest scoring holdover from last year. He averaged 5.1 points per game last year for GVSU. Trevon Gunter (4.6 ppg), Marius Grazulis (3.9 ppg) and Ethan Alderink (2.7 ppg) are the other returnee that saw action last season. Trevor Smith, Parker Day and Isaiah Carver-Bagley took a redshirt last season and are slated to see playtime this season.

New Faces
The Lakers' roster is lined with new faces. GVSU adds nine new players to its roster in 2022-23, including three incoming transfer players: Daniel Kiely (Texas A&M International), Austin James (Cabrillo College) and Chinedu Kingsley Okanu (Northern Illinois). The Lakers also added Britain Harris, Jalen Charity, Shamus Thompson, Alden Ritt, Ben Karbe and Charles Turner as true freshman.

A Competitive Preseason
GVSU took on three Division I foes in the preseason and played competitive games against Oakland, Eastern Michigan and Michigan State. Chinedu Kingsley Okanu averaged 11.67 points and 6.33 rebounds across the three preseason games. Trevon Gunter also put up 20 points against Oakland and made seven 3-pointers across all three games.