\u201cAs we\u2019re going to the new league, they\u2019re gonna think we\u2019re not as good and not as athletic, not as strong,\u201d said senior center Michael Osei-Bonsu, who started all 32 games last season. \u201cBut we\u2019re gonna come in and throw a punch and let\u2019s see if they can take it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking forward to new league foes<\/p>\n
For at least one of the newcomers expected to play a significant role, the move to C-USA was a positive factor in his decision to join coach Cuonzo Martin\u2019s program. Guard Kobi Williams is a St. Louis native who transferred from D-II Truman State with a desire to help surprise observers.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, it\u2019s very exciting,\u201d Williams said of the move to C-USA. \u201cConference USA is a really good conference. We\u2019re gonna be traveling a lot, seeing a lot of new cities and playing a lot of great teams. I feel like if you put anybody in this position, this is something they would really want to do. It\u2019s going to be really exciting for a lot of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Upon signing with Missouri State, Williams \u2014 who played at Westminster Christian Academy in St. Louis for former Missouri State guard Dale Ribble \u2014 immediately did his homework on the new league opponents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLiberty, they\u2019ve always been a great program. They\u2019ve made the (NCAA) tournament a lot of years,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI\u2019m excited to play them. FIU (Florida International), Sam Houston, New Mexico State, Jacksonville State, Western Kentucky. I mean, there\u2019s just so many great schools that I just want to play, because I know that we can play on this level with any one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liberty is a near-unanimous pick to win the league followed by Kennesaw State and New Mexico State.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Styles of play expected to vary<\/p>\n
![\"Cuonzo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0124_Z8_-copy_v2_4web.jpg\")
Cuonzo Martin in a Springfield Daily Citizen file photo. (Photo by Jym Wilson)<\/p>\n
Martin is entering season two of his second stint at Missouri State. He said C-USA may present an across-the-board variety of styles of play after the Valley was considered more of a grind-it-out, physical league over the years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But with roster upheaval the constant in modern college athletics, it\u2019s a bit harder to get a read on what to expect. Martin pointed out that five teams have been added to C-USA over the last few years, making playing styles even more diverse from opponent to opponent.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think in years past, you would say Conference USA was the equivalent of the Big 12 and SEC,\u201d Martin said of a faster, more athletic style of play. \u201cI think now with the addition of teams, it\u2019s kind of like the Big 12, SEC and Big 10. I think the key is who imposes their style on every situation? I think that is the most important thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to be able to do both sides of the basketball. You have teams that defend well in this conference, teams that really get out and run and that press. Can we do both well? Then play with a level of intelligence and I think that part has been lost in terms of winning games. The margin for error is so slim, it\u2019s who can execute down the stretch and get the ball where it needs to go and defend at a high level and get stops.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the talent to play fast, or slow it down. We have all the parts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Help on hand for \u2018Big Mike\u2018<\/p>\n
Of course, everyone says in October that team chemistry is golden but the one area that stands out in assessing the eye test is the Bears\u2019 size. No longer does Osei-Bonsu, at 6-4 and 280, present the team\u2019s lone low-post threat. He has help with newcomers Darrion Sutton (6-9, 205), Keith Palek III (6-9, 220), Cameron Boone (6-10, 240) and Amar Kuljuhovic (6-8, 240).<\/p>\n
Martin pointed out that Osei-Bonsu won\u2019t have to play as many minutes as a year ago, when he often would have a drop in production late in games due to fatigue or foul trouble. \u201cBig Mike\u201d likes the idea of a deeper supporting cast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI love all the extra bigs,\u201d Osei-Bonsu said. \u201cWe have new guards, we have people that can really shoot the ball, really dribble the ball, who really can do everything the game asks for. So I\u2019m really excited.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lady Bears eager for C-USA as well<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1020025_msubballmedia_EF_075.jpg\")
Missouri State guard and former Republic Star Kaemyn Bekemeier smiles during media day for the 2025 basketball season. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)<\/p>\n
The Missouri State women\u2019s team also is excited about the new frontier of C-USA but is coming at it from a different perspective. The Lady Bears won a regular-season championship, going out the Valley door, and were\u00a0picked a respectable fourth in the preseason C-USA poll.<\/p>\n
Junior guard Kaemyn Bekemeier steps into the starting lineup this season and the Republic High School graduate said it\u2019s a bit different after following the Lady Bears and the Valley growing up.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes it can be challenging being a vet and not really knowing what your conference opponents look like and the most important games on your schedule,\u201d Bekemeier said. \u201cBut just as half of our team is learning about the Lady Bears, I\u2019m also learning about stepping into this new conference. I\u2019m really excited.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be able to catch some flights rather than sitting on a bus for very long trips. So I think that\u2019ll be to our advantage, not being on a bus for seven hours and we\u2019ll be able to catch up with just a couple hours\u2019 flight.\u201d<\/p>\n
She has researched C-USA opponents a little. Louisiana Tech, Liberty and Middle Tennessee State are picked ahead of Missouri State.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing too deep like we would do in-season, which eventually we\u2019ll get to that,\u201d she said. \u201cBut yeah, we\u2019ve seen some games and looked at the teams and looked at their style of play and whatnot. But not like we\u2019ll get into later on.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a demanding non-league schedule \u2014 including consecutive home games with Kansas, Arkansas and Gonzaga in December \u2014 coach Beth Cunningham is content to wait until league play begins to assess C-USA playing styles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s hard to know really what we will see just because rosters are so different,\u201d Cunningham said. \u201cRosters have changed in the off season, though we certainly have familiarity with some programs. But it doesn\u2019t do me a whole lot of good to watch games from last year to an extent, just because the rosters are so different.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe good thing is by the time we hit conference play, we\u2019ll have plenty of film on everybody and we\u2019ll get our team as prepared as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bears basketball key dates<\/p>\n
Oct. 31 \u2013 Exhibition vs. Maryville University, 6 p.m.<\/p>\n
Nov. 4 \u2013 Season opener vs. Missouri Southern, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
Nov. 11 \u2013 First game vs. DI opponent, vs. Arkansas State, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
Nov. 15 \u2013 First road game, at Texas-Arlington, 5 p.m.<\/p>\n
Dec. 29 \u2013 First C-USA game, at Delaware, 1 p.m.<\/p>\n
Jan. 2 \u2013 First C-USA home game, vs. UTEP, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
March 10-14 \u2013 C-USA Tournament, at Huntsville, Ala.<\/p>\n
Lady Bears key dates<\/p>\n
Oct. 28 \u2013 Exhibition vs. Northeastern State, 6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
Nov. 3 \u2013 Season opener vs. Saint Louis, 6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
Nov. 7 \u2013 First road game, at Texas-Arlington, 6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
Jan. 4 \u2013 First C-USA game, at Florida International, noon<\/p>\n
Jan. 8 \u2013 First C-USA home game, vs. Kennesaw State, 6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
March 10-14 \u2013 C-USA Tournament, at Huntsville, Ala.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Lyndal Scranton is a Springfield native who has covered sports in the Ozarks for more than 35 years, witnessing nearly every big sports moment in the region during the last 50 years. The Missouri Sports Hall of Famer, Springfield Area Sports Hall of Famer and live-fire cooking enthusiast also serves as PR Director for Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri and is co-host of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast. Contact him at Lscranton755@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @LyndalScranton. More by Lyndal Scranton<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As basketballs thump on the Great Southern Bank Arena hardwood, it\u2019s music to the ears. A new season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[12010,12011,12012,178,180,179,12013],"class_list":["post-16518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-conference-usa","tag-missouri-state","tag-missouri-state-basketball","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-topsports1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Lyndal_Scranton_Square-e1643754217713.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLyndal Scranton\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n