2024-25 Record: 26-7 overall, 16-4 GPAC (T-2nd); NAIA Round of 32.
Head Coach: Ben Limback (at CUNE: 232-141, 12 seasons; career: 357-299, 21 seasons; five national tournaments; four combined GPAC titles).
Returning Starters: G Hayden Frank; G Jaxon Stueve.
Other Key Returners: G Brooks Kissinger; G Dane Jacobsen; G Zac Kulus; F Logan Wilson.
Key Losses: G Brad Bennett; G Elijah Gaeth; F Lukas Helms; F Jake Hilkemann; F Noah Schutte; F Tristan Smith.
2024-25 GPAC All-Conference: Tristan Smith (GPAC Player of the Year; GPAC Defensive Player of the Year; First Team); Noah Schutte (First Team); Brad Bennett (Second Team); Jaxon Stueve (Honorable Mention).
2024-25 NAIA All-American: Tristan Smith (First Team).
Outlook
It’s time for new standouts to emerge for Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball after All-Americans Noah Schutte and Tristan Smith exhausted their eligibility at the NAIA level. Realistically, Head Coach Ben Limback isn’t asking anyone to fill their shoes. After all, that duo combined for 3,917 points and 1,703 rebounds over their Concordia careers. It will take a team approach in order to extend the program’s current string of four straight national tournament appearances.
Limback enters his 13th season leading his alma mater. The bar has been set high in recent years as the Bulldogs have averaged 22.8 wins per season and have won a combined three GPAC titles since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. Considering the departures, this has been an important offseason of development.
“That’s part of the joy of coaching is the new start,” Limback said. “Even those groups of past seniors, they did the same thing where they were waiting their turn. This group is no different. We have guys who have the ability and can step into some of those roles. The optimism was already there in March. We took a break and then the postseason workouts started in April. You could see the willingness and the hunger to take that next step as a team and individually in a lot of guys. That’s a huge part of this. There are challenges each season with how things unfold. We’re already seeing some of the fruits of the labor here in preseason.”
From last season’s team that won 26 games and reached the second round of the national tournament, Concordia returns Honorable Mention All-GPAC wing Jaxon Stueve along with a host of experienced guards in the form of senior Zac Kulus, juniors Hayden Frank and Brooks Kissinger and sophomore Dane Jacobsen. Stueve started all 33 games in 2024-25 while Frank opened 21 contests as a sophomore. Meanwhile, the frontcourt has been completely revamped as Smith moves on to play for NCAA Division I University of Northern Iowa and Schutte jumps into the family business, farming.
In the preseason, Limback sees a squad that he expects to be “more guard and backcourt heavy.” The shot opportunities for the likes of Frank, Kissinger, Kulus and Stueve figure to skyrocket this winter. Stueve (7.8 ppg) shot 40 percent from 3-point range last season and often drew the opponents’ top backcourt scorer as his defensive assignment. Stueve’s minutes are likely to increase from the 22.6 he saw as a sophomore.
Each of these upperclassmen guards have had their moments in the spotlight already. As examples from last season, Stueve went off for 23 points on perfect 8-for-8 shooting at the Corn Palace, Frank poured in 17 points in the GPAC semifinal win over 13th-ranked Northwestern, Kissinger scorched Hastings for 21 points and seven rebounds and Kulus shot a deadeye 44.4 percent (48-for-108) from 3-point range.
Says Kulus, “We’ve got four seniors this year, including me, but the junior class is really taking a big step in their growth – guys like Jaxon Stueve, Brooks Kissinger and Hayden Frank. Those three in particular are going to take bigger roles this year, and I think that’s great for them. Also, seniors like Logan Wilson, MJ Coffee and Tyler Harre – we all have to take a bigger step. No matter what grade we are, with everyone leaving, we all have to take a bigger role and step up our leadership off the court and our gameplay on the court.”
A developing storyline centers upon the point guard role, a spot the sophomore Jacobsen is hoping to take ownership of. The Ashland, Neb., native saw action in 30 games as a freshman and is someone who has gotten the attention of the coaching staff this offseason. Frank also has experience at the point, but he expects to play more off the ball with Jacobsen’s emergence.
“Dane Jacobsen is ready,” Limback said. “He’s more mature than a typical sophomore. He’s very unselfish and yet he has the ability to score. He’s been probably the most impressive from the transition of last year to this year in terms of what he’s doing, how strong he’s playing and the reads he’s making. That was a big question mark coming in. I think he’s shown the ability to provide something right away. I think he’s ready for this moment.”
The 6-foot-7 Logan Wilson is the most experienced frontcourt returner. He missed the entire 2023-24 season due to injury and then returned last season to play in 22 games. Wilson aspires to take on more minutes this season. Without question, newcomers will be part of the equation in the post. Limback has welcomed in NCAA Division II transfers Luka Kokochashvili (Maryville University) and Tate Odvody (Colorado Christian University) along with freshman Peyton Brown. An Omaha Westside High School alum, Odvody already has 51 games of collegiate experience under his belt. He averaged 7.1 points per game last season at Colorado Christian. Sophomore Jerry Ingison is also hoping to factor into the mix.
Limback says that he’s liked the effort level of the big guys during preseason. It’s a plus if the big men can get out and run in transition. Within a conference known for up-tempo, high-scoring battles, the Bulldogs don’t plan on changing their style. They’ve averaged more than 86 points as a team in back-to-back seasons entering 2025-26.
“This team wants to run,” Limback said. “We definitely want to do that. It’s about balancing the shot selection and getting in situations where we get great looks. This team is fast. We’ll play fast. They’re also very hungry at the defensive end. We’ve lacked communication a little. That’s the struggle for us. It’s a quiet team, but I think we will want to play up and down. I think that’s to the advantage of this team, especially with our wings and athleticism.”
Though the backcourt is stocked with veterans, two freshmen guards to watch, in particular, are Jacob Dutisman (Lincoln, Neb.) and Garret Johnson (Holdrege, Neb.), both of whom stand at 6-foot-3. Duitsman completely rewrote the school record book at Lincoln Lutheran while leading the Warriors to deep state tournament runs his junior and senior years. Though not a newcomer – but new to the varsity – MJ Coffey is drawing rave reviews from Kulus for his defensive tenacity.
The pieces are still being put together, but the upperclassmen have toiled this offseason with the expectation that the program standards will not be lowered. The annual expectation has been that the Bulldogs will be included in the NAIA’s field of 64 come March.
“We’ve been there (to the national tournament) the last three years and that expectation’s not going to change,” Kulus said. “We have a great group of guys and the right guys that want to be here with the right culture. We’re pushing each other every day. That expectation’s not going to change, especially with Concordia having the reputation that we’ve always had. We just have to go out there and do our thing and let our game play do the talking.”
There may not be anyone that averages 20 per game this season. And there will be no more high-flying Tristan Smith dunks nor the consistent excellence of Schutte or Brad Bennett treys. This edition of Concordia Men’s Basketball is banking on a team approach and the belief that the upperclassmen are prepared to become the most trusted and productive players on the floor.
“The theme the team chose this year, ‘run as one,’ is a big part of it,” Limback said. “They’ve identified things that could potentially trip us up or pose challenges to us this season. ‘Run as one’ is a combined effort. We might not have All-Americans at this point, but we have enough talent in the locker room to make some noise at the GPAC and national levels. In order to do that, we have to put aside selfish desires and compete as one unit. So far, we’ve seen it. I like the leadership growth out of Zac and a lot of guys who have been waiting their turn for these moments. I always like how the ball is moving. It seems like a group that is already bought into each other.”
The Bulldogs were pegged in a tie for third place in the GPAC preseason coaches’ poll. Concordia has placed in the top three in four of the past five seasons. Limback’s crew will begin to show what it’s made of on Saturday, Oct. 25 when the season officially tips off at Graceland University (Iowa). The complete 2025-26 schedule can be viewed HERE.