GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Cornerstone men's basketball season is upon us as the Golden Eagles are set to host Indiana Wesleyan, Spring Arbor, and Indiana Tech for this year's WHAC/CL Classic on October 29-30. Cornerstone will play Spring Arbor on Friday at 8 p.m. which will be preceded by Indiana Tech vs. Indiana Wesleyan at 6 p.m. and then the Golden Eagles will host Indiana Wesleyan on Saturday at 6 p.m. which again will be preceded by Indiana Tech vs. Spring Arbor at 4 p.m. For all fans planning to attend, be sure to skip the ticketing line and purchase tickets in advance HERE for this weekend's contests. To view live video and stat links for the weekend, visit HERE.

Last Year Recap

The Golden Eagles went 12-6 in the COVID year last season and 9-3 in WHAC play. The team had a heartbreaking finish to a weird condensed year, as the team had a chance to win the WHAC Regular Season Title at home vs. Rochester but fell which pushed them to the three seed. Just two days later they had to play the WHAC Tournament Quarterfinal vs. Concordia and they were upset in that game as well, ending their season short of what they expected. Cornerstone returns a young core however and is very excited about the incoming recruiting class as they look to get back on top of the WHAC in 2021-22. 

Rodriguez Returns with a Record on His Mind 

Redshirt senior Christian Rodriguez comes back this season, using his COVID eligibility year to be the first CU player in program history to get five full seasons of play. Rodriguez has already established himself as one of the best passers in the NAIA, as he needs just 52 more to become the all-time leader in the historic Cornerstone program history. He will pass Scott O'Day's mark of 576 set from 1985-89. For his career, Rodriguez is averaging 12.7PPG, 2.8RPG, and 4.4APG. 

Year 29

Legendary Head Coach Kim Elders enters year 29 at the helm of the Golden Eagles with an outstanding 710-260 record to rank third among active NAIA Coaches. Elders has won 11 WHAC Titles, 10 WHAC Tournament Titles, and three NAIA National Championships in his 28 year career. 

The New Faces 

The Golden Eagle coaching staff is excited to bring in five true freshmen to the roster in 2021-22, with two of those five being local West Michigan talents. Zac Velthouse and Connor Dykema will be joined by Toby Woolcock from Adelaide, Australia, Luke Rowlinson from Huron, Ohio, and Mason Brooks from Coatesville, Indiana as part of this year's freshman class. 

Scouting Spring Arbor

The Cougars have already played two games this season against WHAC foes, defeating UM-Dearborn and falling to Lawrence Tech. The 2019 National Champions are looking to keep up their strong work over the last few years with a new team that is led by the scoring of senior Daniel Cluster and the freshman Eli White, each with over 11 points per game. 

Scouting Indiana Wesleyan 

The Wildcats come into the 2021-22 season ranked number nine in the NAIA Preseason Poll. Last season, IWU was ranked number one throughout the course of the season but were upset by Crossroads rival Bethel in the round of 16 at the NAIA National Tournament. Indiana Wesleyan remains a very talented powerhouse but they will have to figure out play without one of the NAIA all-time greats Kyle Mangus who has now graduated after an outstanding career with the Wildcats. IWU will now look to the 7-0 senior Seth Maxwell to lead the team as he averaged 17.5PPG and 8.1RPG in the 2020-21 season.