The Fairmont State men's basketball team is set to host the 2023 Joe Retton Classic to begin the 2023-24 season from Nov. 10-11 inside Joe Retton Arena on the campus of Fairmont State University. The Falcons will open the season with a game versus Bloomsburg on Friday (Nov. 10) at 5:30 p.m. and will wrap up the tournament on Saturday (Nov. 11) versus Edinboro at 8 p.m.
 

2023 Joe Retton Classic Schedule - November 10-11, 2023 *Home team listed first*
Date/Time	Matchup	Live Coverage / Results
Friday, Nov. 10, 2023 | 5:30 p.m	Fairmont State vs. Bloomsburg	Live Stream | Live Stats
Friday, Nov. 10, 2023 | 7:30 p.m.	West Virginia Wesleyan vs. Edinboro	Live Stream | Live Stats
Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023 | 6 p.m.	West Virginia Wesleyan vs. Bloomsburg	Live Stream | Live Stats
Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023 | 8 p.m.	Fairmont State vs. Edinboro	Live Stream | Live Stats

Fighting Falcons Facts

• Fairmont State qualified for the NCAA Division II National Tournament for the fifth-straight season after recording a 24-8 overall record. The Falcons are one of eight teams in the country to have qualified for the national tournament in each of the past five seasons.
• The Falcons were picked third in the Mountain East Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll and return 10 players from the 2022-23 roster.
• In 2022-23, the Falcons scored an average of 92.1 points per game, which was the fourth-highest average out of all Division II schools.
• Fairmont native Zyon Dobbs is set to compete in his fourth season at Fairmont State after transferring from James Madison. Dobbs was selected to the All-MEC Second Team in 2021-22 and garnered All-MEC Honorable Mention and All-MEC Tournament Team honors last season. The Fairmont Senior High School graduate has scored an average of 12.7 points per game in his FSU career and has netted 1,056 points and 340 assists.
• Sixth-year forward Seth Younkin made 30 starts last season for the Falcons and swatted a team-high 33 blocks. The Connellsville, Pa. native has averaged 5.9 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per game during his time as a Falcon.
• David Jolinder is back for the Falcons after a breakout freshman season. Jolinder averaged 8.3 points per game and shot 55.2% from the floor in his first season in Fairmont. The Stockholm, Sweeden standout pulled down 4.8 rebounds per game and added 26 blocks and 24 steals.
• Winthrop graduate transfer Cameron Whiteside provides depth in the backcourt for the Falcons. During the 2021-22 season, Whiteside appeared in 21 games with the Eagles. Before Winthrop, Whiteside led the South Atlantic Conference in scoring during the 2020-21 season with 20.8 points per game at UVA Wise.
• Senior Tommy Williams completed his first season with the Falcons after transferring from Glenville State. Williams appeared in 31 games and accumulated 57 rebounds, 21 steals, 19 assists and five points while scoring 68 points.
• Adam Deininger, Tyheil Peterson, and Colin Comer all appeared in games last season for FSU and are back on the 2023-24 roster.
• Fairmont State welcomed four freshman to the team including Jaidyn West (Clarksburg, W.Va. | Notre Dame HS), Callum Crossman (Nottingham, England | VA Academy), Anthony Spatafore (Bridgeport, W.Va. | Bridgeport HS) and Baran Aslan (Istanbul, Turkey | Modafen HS). Jason Baker transferred to Fairmont State after playing at Butler County Community College in Kansas.
• Isaiah Sanders finished his career at Fairmont State last season and is playing professionally in Pro-A Germany for the Numberg Falcons. Sanders has started every game and averaging 10 points per game. He finished his career at Fairmont State as a two-time D2CCA All-Region and a three-time All-MEC First Team honoree. He is the second-highest scorer in MEC history (2,449 career points) and was the ninth player in program history to surpass 2,000 career points at Fairmont State.
• Tariq Woody, Shem Golek and Kaito Shike are all competing in professional basketball leagues overseas after finishing at Fairmont State last season. Woody averaged 8.4 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game in his final collegiate season at FSU. Golek averaged 7.1 points per game and 3.7 rebounds per game during his time at Fairmont State.
• Briggs Parris (12.2 points per game) and Fonz Hale (11.7 points per game) both averaged double-digit scoring numbers and completed their eligibility last season.
• Fairmont State Men's Basketball Head Coach Tim Koenig embarks on his fifth season at the helm of the program. Koenig was named the 2019 MEC Coach of the Year during his tenure at Notre Dame (Ohio) and led the Falcons to their first conference tournament championship since 1984. Koenig has won 178 career games as a head coach, 85 coming during his time leading FSU.
• Devin Heath-Granger, Donald Kummer and Tim Baab return as assistant coaches. Pam Phillips and Kyle Swaim return to the bench as volunteer assistant coaches.

Scouting Bloomsburg
Bloomsburg's leading scorer Louie Wild, a senior from Philadelphia, is set to start his third season with the Huskies. Wild drained 37 three-point baskets in his junior season and passed 78 assists. The Huskies added New Mexico State transfer Kent Olewiler to their roster. Olewiler graduated from William Penn High School in York, Pa. Opponents outscored Bloosmburg by an average of 83.0-67.3, as the Huskies finished last in the PSAC East.

Chris Bess enters his second season in charge of Bloomsburg men's basketball. Bess worked with both the men's and women's basketball teams at Edinboro before beginning his career at Bloomsburg.

Scouting Edinboro
The Fighting Scots were selected ninth in the PSAC West Preseason Poll after posting a 7-20 overall record last season. Fairmont State defeated Edinboro 101-70 in the season opener last season at the 2022 Joe Retton Classic.

Will Taylor led Edinboro in scoring last season with 11.8 points per game in 11 contests after sustiaing a season-ending injury and is back for Edinboro. Jack Gallagher, a guard from Erie, Pa., prepares to begin his senior season after playing in all 27 of Edinboro's games last year and averaging a career-high 7.5 points per game.

Justin Jennings was announced as the new head coach of Edinboro men's basketball during the offseason. Jennings spent the last seven seasons as an assistant coach at Division I Drexel University and was also an assistant coach at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.

Up Next
The Falcons will play at West Chester in the first road test of the season next Wednesday (Nov. 15) at 6 p.m.