Macalester's basketball rebuild under Abe Woldeslassie gets historic with Gophers exhibition

Entering Thursday's exhibition game vs. the Gophers, Abe Woldeslassie at Division III Macalester has legit MIAC championship aspirations — something that once was unheard of at the small liberal arts college in St. Paul.

A former Siena assistant and Macalester graduate, Woldeslassie took over a program in 2018 that had a 19-181 MIAC record in team 10 previous season. He's led the program to 47 victories in his tenure, twice to 15-win seasons, including advancing to the MIAC tournament final two years ago.

This could be a breakthrough year for the Scots, so that adds even more excitement to Thursday's exhibition at Williams Arena. Don't be surprised to see sections filled with Mac faithful.

"It's exciting for me because I'll have a lot of family, friends, and people I've known throughout the years there," Woldeslassie said.

The Gophers and Macalester also haven't officially played in more than 100 years and never at Williams Arena, which opened in 1928. The last meeting was actually won by the Scots 12-11 at the U's Armory in 1922.

"There's a 100-year winning streak on the line," Woldeslassie joked. "I really feel like there's going to be a great Macalester group there. [College] President Suzanne Rivera and AD Donnie Brooks are excited. It's just a really cool thing for us."

Division III teams have zero athletic scholarships (they do provide academic scholarships), but Woldeslassie expressed that the competitive play in the MIAC rivals any level of basketball in Minnesota.

The Scots return the top scorer in the MIAC with junior guard Caleb Williams, who averaged 21.5 points, including a 39-point explosion with eight threes vs. Moorhead.

Woldeslassie received a tough blow, though, with the conference's defensive player of the year, Badou Ba, suffering a season-ending knee injury last month. The 6-7 junior center would've been a formidable physical presence, even against a Big Ten opponent.

"I felt he had a great chance to be MIAC player of the year," Woldeslassie said about Ba. "Unfortunately, he'll miss the season after having successful surgery. With him we had all five starters returning, but we still have four starters back."

The Scots, who finished fourth in the MIAC last season, will miss Ba's interior play, but their goals to contend for the program's first league title remain. Gophers coach Ben Johnson has been impressed with Woldeslassie's rebuild.

"I've known Abe for a long time," Johnson said. "To be able to help him out and his program was [great]."

Woldeslassie starred at St. Thomas Academy and both Macalester and St. Thomas in college. But the Minneapolis native loved attending Gophers camps in the mid-to-late 1990s. He was honored to be asked by the Gophers to be the exhibition opponent this year.

"I went to Clem Haskins camps every summer from third through seventh grade," Woldeslassie said. "I definitely want to thank Ben and [Gophers assistant] Dave Thorson. Those two really made it happen."

GAME INFO

Time: 7 p.m. CT, Thursday. Where: Williams Arena. Line: NA. Series: The Gophers played the Scots 11 times between 1896 and 1922, losing the last matchup 12-11 on Dec. 16, 1922. TV: No TV. Online/Live video: Big Ten Plus. Radio: None.

PROJECTED STARTERS

MINNESOTA GOPHERS

Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG

G – Elijah Hawkins 5-11 Jr. 12.9*

G – Mike Mitchell Jr. 6-2 Jr. 11.4*

F – Joshua Ola-Joseph 6-7 So. 7.4

F – Dawson Garcia 6-11 Jr. 15.3

F – Parker Fox 6-8 Sr.

* - Points per game at previous college

Key reserves – Braeden Carrington, G, 6-4, So. 5.9 ppg; Jack Wilson, C, 6-11, Sr., 0.3 ppg; Isaiah Ihnen, F, 6-9, Jr.; Kadyn Betts, F, 6-8, Fr.; Kris Keinys, F, 6-8, Fr.

Coach: Ben Johnson 22-39 record (3^rd season)

Notable: The Gophers are playing without sophomore Pharrel Payne and freshman Cameron Christie for Thursday's exhibition game vs. Macalester for undisclosed reasons. Minnesota's exhibition game against a MIAC opponent for the second straight season, defeating St. Olaf 71-55 last season. St. Olaf beat Macalester 56-54 in the 2023 playoffs in 2022-23.

MACALESTER SCOTS

Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG

G – Caleb Williams 6-2 Jr. 21.5 ppg

G – Coby Gold 6-2 Jr. 14.0 ppg

G – Kaden Holbrook 6-1 Fr.

F – Noah Shannon 6-5 So. 6.7 ppg

F – Armando Akapo-Nwagbo 6-6 Jr. 0.9 ppg

Key reserves – Eric Wentz, G, 6-4, So., 6.9 ppg; Tom Andreae, G, 6-0, Jr., 3.9 ppg; Marcus Crawford, G, 6-3, Jr., 2.2 ppg; Ryan Brush, F, 6-5, So., 2.8 ppg; Simon Weisserman, F, 6-7, Fr.

Coach: Abe Woldeslassie 47-61 (6th season)

Notable: As a high school senior, Noah Shannon had 26 points to lead New Trier to a 72-40 victory against Rolling Meadows in the Illinois Class 4A boys basketball section semifinals in March 2022. That ended the season for then-high school junior Cameron Christie, who was held to nine points.