The FMCC Men's Basketball team is looking forward to beginning their 2023-24 season. The Raiders are coming off a historical 2022-23 season where they finished 20-8 and were crowned Region 3 Champions. Coach Gallup led the Raiders to the NJCAA DIII National Tournament for the first time since 2007.
This year's squad has been busy in the gym for the last several weeks preparing for the start of the season.
"Practices have been great. Starting with pre-season strength and conditioning and now into regular practices and scrimmages all leading up to our first game. The guys have committed to showing up every day with the purpose of working hard and getting in shape. We play a fast aggressive style of basketball on both ends so it requires a commitment to getting in great shape so that's really our focus for this year and every year, especially in the pre-season," said Coach Gallup.
The 2023 Raider roster returns talent from last year's squad and several key newcomers and transfers that look to make an immediate impact.
"We have a great group of new-comers, some freshman, some transfers and add to that a returning nucleus from last year's team. We really like where we are right now and are looking forward to improving game by game. Our strength this year will be that we have some experience coming back from a very good team last season, so that helps. With a good group of new faces this will be the deepest team I have had so far at FM," said Head Coach Ej Gallup.
The Raiders will have a tough road schedule to begin their season. The first five games will be on the road to start the year. They will begin their season on November 4th at Roberts Wesleyan and will open at home on Thursday, November 30th when they host Columbia-Greene.
"Our goal for this year is to continue to build on the foundation from the last two seasons. We set goals and give ourselves big expectations. Based on our pre-season ranking, we have now entered the conversation to be a team to watch for hopefully every year. We are all up for the challenge, one day at a time, one game at a time," stated Gallup.
