Coach Ben Wierzba’s project of building the University of Illinois Springfield men’s basketball team into a competitive NCAA Division II program has entered Year 2.
Wierzba appears better equipped for the challenge. Getting hired one month before the 2010-11 season kept him from assembling a recruiting class and spending the bulk of the off season with the players. Wierzba has been hard at work since the Stars played their last game in February.
“We’ve had a good off season,” he said. “We’ve had a good preseason. The two biggest needs we were looking for was adding size and length and adding depth at every position. I think we’ve done that.”
He has brought in six newcomers. UIS returns seven players from last season’s team that produced records of 8-17 overall and 4-14 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
The team was featured in an October 29, 2011, article in The State Journal-Register.
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