Coming off a season in which the Wildcats finished 5-18 overall and 5-11 in the United East, coach Geoff Hensley hopes that the experience gained will pay dividends this year.

Penn College opens its 25-game schedule at home at 7 p.m. on Tuesday hosting Elmira College.

"We return a ton of experience from last year's team and the players have really stepped up. They are excited and eager to continue to build our program and take it to the next level," the fourth-year coach said.

The key returning players include 6-foot, 1-inch sophomore point guard Gavin Barrett, of Roselle, New Jersey, who led last year's team in scoring (258 points), assists (132), steals (43) and was named to the UE All-Sportsmanship Team; 6-2 junior shooting guard Max Jackowsky, of Garnet Valley; 6-2 sophomore guard Rees Watkins, of Loyalsock Township; 6-3 senior forward Will Sulesky, of Huntingdon; and 6-9 sophomore center Michael Woodridge, of Hollidaysburg.

Freshmen who are expected to contribute are 6-1 guard Alec Cooper, of Huntingdon; 6-2 guard Adam McGinley, of Bloomsburg; 6-foot guard Jadis Brevitt, of Emmaus; and 6-2 guard Liam McGrath, of Keymar, Maryland. 

"We will still be rather young as most of the contributors will only have one season of significant experience, but we have a ton of potential if we can put it all together," the coach said.

"This team is very versatile compared to some of the teams we have had in the past. We have multiple players who can play multiple positions due to skill sets and basketball IQ. We are hoping to use that to create some mismatches for our opponents and create advantages for us," Hensley, who is assisted by Mark Kruczek, said.

"We are not the biggest or most athletic team by any means. We have players that will have to play out of position in order to help put the team in the best position to win. Thankfully, we have a very unselfish team and our players are hungry and will do what it takes to win," Hensley said.

"Since we are not the biggest or most athletic, a lot of our success will be dependent on our ability to rebound and defend around the paint. We will have to be disciplined on our defensive rotations and our boxouts to limit the bigger and more athletic teams to one shot and done," Hensley said.

Commenting on his season outlook, Hensley said, "It is too early to tell. The top teams in our conference are really good, but most of them lost some good seniors to graduation. It will be interesting to see how our young core can compete against these very tough opponents. 

"I have a good feeling about this squad, but we need to put in the necessary work in order to achieve the results we want. All college basketball is extremely competitive and our young squad will definitely be ready for the test."