After second-place finish, Johnnie basketball looks to return to the top of the MIAC

Fresh off a second-place finish in the MIAC playoffs a season ago, the SJU basketball team is returning many key producers and is looking to take the next step in the 2026-27 season.  

“I thought last year we took some great strides and really the guys did a good job of coming together, staying together and figuring some stuff out,” head coach Pat McKenzie said. “Now you hope we can build on that with this group, and I think we have. I think we’re a lot better today, certainly than we were a year ago at this time, but we still got work to do.” 

The Johnnies, who tied for second in the MIAC in the regular season and fell to Gustavus 75-66 in the MIAC championship game last season, got their first action of the season when they hosted Division II St. Cloud State (ranked No. 22 in the D-II National Association of Basketball Coaches poll) in an exhibition contest on Thursday, Oct. 29, at Sexton Arena.  

“For the most part, we hung with them and kind of crumbled there at the end,” fifth-year senior guard Kyle Johnson said. “That’s something we’re trying to work on, just closing out games. It was a good test for us just physicality-wise and speed-wise and having a look like that in our first game I think is super beneficial to us.” 

The exhibition against the Huskies was important for Johnson to get back to game-action, as he played in just six contests last winter before an injury kept him sidelined for the majority of the season. In those six games, Johnson averaged 15.8 points while shooting 44.4% from the field and 41.7% from beyond the arc.  

“It was super fun,” Johnson said. “It was hard being on the sideline last season and finally being out there and being in the fight again was good. Hopefully coming back, we can all kind of gel again and do something special.” 

McKenzie said he is excited for Johnson to get back on the floor.  

“Having a guy like that who can stretch the defense is pretty impactful,” McKenzie said. “We’re really counting on him to have a big year and do what he does, which is shoot. We missed that at times a year ago, so having that kind of extra firepower should be a huge advantage.” 

Senior post Vincent Hillesheim said the exhibition game gave the Johnnies confidence while also highlighting areas where the team has room to improve.   

“I’d say my biggest takeaway is that we have the ability to run with anybody, certainly anyone at our level,” Hillesheim said. “But we also need to ramp up our defense and be able to get stops down the stretch. I think we have the offense and the shooters that we need right now to be good offensively, so it’s about who can we defend and how can we defend.” 

McKenzie noted that improving on the defensive side will be a main priority this season.  

“I think the area which provides the most opportunities for improvement is on the defensive end of the floor,” McKenzie said. “I thought we were not particularly good defensively a year ago and we’ll have to get better at it if we want to have a better year.” 

Hillesheim saw a lot more time in the Johnnies lineup and started all 27 games a season ago. In his expanded role, Hillesheim averaged 8.1 points and 5.2 rebounds while leading the MIAC in shooting percentage in both conference games (67.5%) and overall (70.4%).  

“I felt like my role was kind of constantly developing and changing, and I think I was really playing the best basketball in our last seven or eight games,” Hillesheim said. “I’m just trying to pick up where I left off and get to my spots and hit the shots that I want to shoot.” 

McKenzie hopes Hillesheim can build on his progress from last winter.  

“Vinny had a great offseason,” McKenzie said. “We’re counting on him to take another step.” 

Along with Hillesheim, who made all 11 shots he took in the MIAC playoffs, guard Peyton Podany earned a spot on the MIAC All-Playoff Team. The now-sophomore returns after being selected as an All-MIAC First Team member last season after leading SJU in points per game (15), rebounds per game (5.8) and three-point makes (66). Podany will look to pick up where he left off last February when he recorded 25.8 points per game over the final six competitions.  

One aspect of the game McKenzie hopes the Johnnies can turn into a strength is their ability to care of the ball.  

“We have shown some ability to take care of the ball both last year and then early this year,” McKenzie said. “Ball security and the ability to share the ball is important, and I think we got a really unselfish group.”   

Senior guard Baiden Bean, who averaged 8.6 points per game and shot 36.3% from three-point range, led the MIAC (league games only) with 93 assists and was second in assist/turnover ratio (+3.1). Bean, an All-MIAC honorable mention as a junior, collected 149 assists overall, the fourth-most in school history.  

For Hillesheim, winning is the only priority this season.  

“I don’t really care about the points and that side of things,” Hillesheim said. “I just really want to win games and win games down the stretch. It’s about trying to prepare yourself and your teammates for that possibility down the stretch to be the best that we can.” 

Johnson shared a similar approach.  

“My mindset coming back for a fifth year is I want a crack at winning it [the MIAC Championship] again,” Johnson said. “I would take that over any personal accolades.”  

The Johnnies once again face a tough non-conference slate this winter, paired with an always challenging MIAC conference schedule.  

“We’re going to have our hands full for sure,” McKenzie said. “On paper, we probably have an even tougher schedule than we did a year ago. It’ll be ultra-competitive so hopefully we’re ready for it.” 

SJU opens its season with a pair of non-conference games in Superior, Wisc. The Johnnies take on UW-La Crosse (ranked No. 18 in the D3hoops.com Top-25 Preseason Poll) on Friday, Nov. 6 at 5 p.m. before facing UW-Superior on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 4 p.m.  

Johnson said he’s excited to face talented teams which can help the Johnnies as the year goes on.  

“That’s a blessing because you don’t want to be battle tested for the first time at the end of the year,” Johnson said. “Throwing yourself in the fire early on, you learn your weaknesses and learn what you’re good at. We’ll have plenty of battles here early in the year, and I wouldn’t really want it any other way.”