The Ohio Wesleyan men's basketball team and head coach Mike DeWitt enter the 2015-16 season with a label that the Battling Bishops haven't worn since 1988:  defending North Coast Athletic Conference champion.

"We return a lot of experience from a team that had a successful year," DeWitt said. "Ending last season with two losses has left our guys hungry to improve, and that will occur if we continue to play together, develop some depth, and improve at the defensive end of the floor."

Four starters are back from last year's team for DeWitt and the Bishops, who will seek to defend the NCAC title and advance to the NCAA Division III tournament for the fifth consecutive season.

Senior wing Claude Gray (Avon), a first-team All-America selection as well as the Great Lakes Region and NCAC Player of the Year, leads the returnees.  Gray led the league in scoring with an average of 19.4 points per game and ranked among the NCAC's top 10 in 3-point field goals, steals, free throw percentage, and 3-point field goal percentage.

At the other wing spot, sophomore Seth Clark (Lewis Center/Olentangy), who averaged 10.6 points per game for Ohio Wesleyan in 2013-14 but did not play last season, will look to reclaim a starting role.  During his freshman season, Clark ranked third in the NCAC in assists with an average of 3.2 per game and was third in steals, seventh in free throw percentage, and 10th in 3-point field goals.

Senior Zak Davis (Newark, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) and sophomore Will Orr (Johnstown/Johnstown-Monroe) provided scoring punch off the bench last season, and sophomore Law Jones (Powell/Olentangy Liberty) could be the Bishops' most improved player and looks to crack the rotation.  Freshman Chris Allocco (Hilliard/Bradley) could contribute right away, freshman Kadin Chrastina (Butler/Clear Fork) was an All-Ohio selection in high school, and sophomores Danny Byrne (Cincinnati/McNicholas) and Nick Riley (Lebanon) also return.

Sophomore guard Nate Axelrod (Dublin/Coffman), named the Division III Rookie of the Year by D3hoops.com, joined Gray as a first-team All-NCAC selection.  Axelrod led the conference in assists with an average of 5.9 per contest and ranked fifth in the conference in scoring at 16.2 points per game.  One of the league's most accurate shooters, he ranked third in 3-point field goal percentage and fourth in free throw percentage a year ago.

Junior Jon Griggs (Cincinnati/Indian Hill) was a reliable backup at point guard last year, freshman Malik Leisinger (Lakewood) was an honorable mention all-district selection in high school, and freshman Myles Law (Washington, D.C./St. Andrew's (Md.)) was an all-conference pick in high school.

Junior post Ben Simpson (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) won second-team All-NCAC honors after ranking 11th in the NCAC in scoring with an average of 14.3 points per game and fifth in rebounding with an average of 7.3 per game.  Simpson also led the league in steals and ranked seventh in field goal percentage and blocked shots.

Senior post Matt Jeske (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard South), who ranked among the top 10 in the conference in steals and was 12th in 3-point field goals, is the final returning starter from last year's team.

Senior Joey Kinsley (Rocky River) was a valuable reserve last season.  Senior Erick Bryant (Cleveland/Western Reserve Academy), junior Eugene Coleman (Northfield/Nordonia), and sophomore Adam O'Brien (Wooster) will battle for playing time.  Sophomore Lucas Gould (Cincinnati/Indian Hill) will miss the season with an injury.

DeWitt's philosophy that a tough non-conference schedule prepares his squad for the rigors of the NCAC has resulted in another rugged November-December slate for the Bishops.

Ohio Wesleyan opens the season with the NCAC/OAC challenge, facing traditional rivals Otterbein and Capital.  The Bishops then host the Great Lakes Challenge, highlighted by a matchup with 2015 NCAA Division III playoff team Calvin.  Trine, who handed Ohio Wesleyan its first loss of the 2014-15 season, awaits next, followed by another 2015 playoff team in Illinois Wesleyan.

NCAC foe Wooster, another NCAA Division III tournament team from 2014-15, opens the Bishops' December slate, with conference games against Denison and Hiram leading into a trip to Transylvania (Ky.).  The Bishops open 2016 by visiting perennial NCAC contender Wittenberg, with that contest getting the NCAC schedule into full swing.