So far, so good: New coach Murken likes what he sees in JC men

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John M. Steiner / The Sun Jamestown College head coach Matt Murken (center) conducts practice on Thursday at the Hansen Center. From left are junior guard Byron Jones and forward C.J. Peeters (second from left).

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Matt Murken’s early impressions of his team have been very positive so far.

The first-year Jamestown College head men’s basketball coach is 12 practices into his first season and is enjoying the transition.

“I’ve said this multiple times to our players, but I couldn’t be prouder with the effort level of our guys,” he said. “Our seniors have been unbelievable in what they’ve provided on a daily basis in terms of leadership. The buy-in from every guy on our team has been great and that’s made it a lot easier for me.”

Murken stepped into a unique situation. The Jimmies returned a talented core off last year’s NAIA national tournament team, that put together a surprising, and dominant run through the Dakota Athletic Conference tournament, despite injuries to a few key players.

Murken has since added to the roster, making practices very competitive.

“The intensity level has been great with our guys. They know that if they take one or two plays off, or one or two drills off, they’ll get exposed,” Murken said.

Among the handful of key returners back are first-team all-DAC performer C.J. Peeters, who figures to be among the best players in all of the NAIA this season. Peeters literally played every position on the floor last season and excelled at them all. The 6-foot-5 forward from Brainerd, Minn., averaged 17 points, six rebounds and 2.5 assists last season.

Byron Jones and B.J. Mertens also return.

Jones suffered a season-ending knee injury early last season. He was averaging nearly 18 points per game when he went down and was an all-DAC pick as a sophomore.

Mertens, a former all-stater at Devils Lake, led the Jimmies with 96 assists last season.

Daren Hawkins, a sticky defender, was named a captain along with Peeters and Jones.

Dustin Herrmann, a former Fargo South standout, is back for his junior season. Chris Lawrence, Jared Sutherland and Jacquez Williams lead a batch of promising newcomers.

“I really like these guys, not just in what they bring on the basketball court, but what they represent off it as well,” Murken said. “It’s a good group of guys.”

Their first game isn’t until Nov. 1 at Doane (Neb.), but they’re excited to bang around against someone else tonight. Both the JC women and men play their annual alumni games.

Greg Ulland’s women’s team plays first at 6 p.m. at the Jamestown High School gym. Ulland, also in his first season, will have five new starters. The men will follow and figure to get a good workout from the former Jimmies, featuring Hans Hoeg, John Peabody, Jacob Kelsey and Ross Florhaug — each were starters on last season’s national tournament team. Brandon Wilkens is among a handful of other alums expected to play. Wilkens is seventh in school history in scoring with 1,502 points. The games are open to the public.

“It’s a good chance for our team to interact with guys who are apart of the history of this program and what’s made Jamestown College so successful,” Murken said.

So far, the defense is ahead of the offense, but that’s not surprising.

“We’ve really been focusing in on what we need to do to defense the basketball at a high level, learning to play together and learning to enjoy playing together as a team,” Murken said. “I think we’ve made a lot of positive strides in each of those areas. I’m really encouraged about what we’ve been able to accomplish up to this point.”

Sun sports editor Dave Selvig can be reached at (701) 952-8460 or by e-mail at daves@jamestownsun.com

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