KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Griffon Men's and Women's Basketball will attend the 2026 MIAA Basketball Media Days on Tuesday, October 6 at the College Basketball Experience in downtown Kansas City.

MIAA basketball coaches from all 14 member schools will participate in the annual media day. The event will begin at 9 a.m. on Tuesday. Following Commissioner Mike Racy's opening remarks at 9, head coaches will participate in 15-minute press conferences to speak on the upcoming season and take questions from media members in attendance.

Griffon men's basketball coach Brooks McKowen and women's basketball coach Luke Scheidecker take the podium together at 1:15 p.m.

The press conferences will be broadcast for free on the MIAA Network.

MoWest will also bring along men's basketball players William Kiburis and Gavin Hershberger, along with women's players Mia Morel, Nakiya Harris and Anna Finley.

Voice of the Griffons Tommy Rezac will be on site at media day, conducting live interviews with all of the Griffon coaches and players who are attending.

These interviews will be part of a special live broadcast, which starts at 11 a.m. The broadcast will be carried on the Griffon Sports Network (Varsity Network App, GoGriffons.com/listen) and available to watch for free on the Griffon Sports Insider YouTube channel.
  In his inaugural season at MoWest, head coach Brooks McKowen led the Griffs to a 21-12 record, including a 12-7 mark in the MIAA. It was the first 20-win season for men's basketball since 2003 and it marked a return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2021 and just the third time since 2010.

Men's Basketball returns seven players from last year's team, including starters Gavin Hershberger and William Kiburis. Other key returners include now sophomores Trey McKowen and Bode Goodman. The Griffons also signed eight new players - four freshmen and four transfers.

Kiburis is the lead returning scorer and rebounder for MoWest. Starting 29 games last season, Kiburis averaged 11 points and 6 rebounds per game. He also had a team best 44 steals and shot an outstanding 57.4% from the field.

Hershberger, who started all 33 games, is the lead returning three-point threat. The redshirt junior connected on 53 three-pointers last season while averaging 8.6 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.

McKowen and Goodman, who played all 33 games last season as true freshmen, step into their sophomore campaigns after solid showings. McKowen is the lead returning free throw shooter, making 78.6% at the stripe last season while averaging 6.3 points per game. He also accounted for 32 steals.

Goodman averaged 6.7 points and 1.6 rebounds per game while shooting 40% from the field. Men's basketball opens their season on Monday, November 9 at Quincy. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
  Griffon Women's Basketball enters the second season of the Luke Scheidecker era in 2026-27, coming off of a 15-16 mark in 2025-26, including a 9-10 mark in the MIAA.

The Griffs ended last season on a great run, winning nine of their last 11 games and reaching the MIAA tournament semifinals. MoWest returns a pair of all-MIAA starters from that team, including MIAA Newcomer of the Year Mia Morel and honorable mention all-MIAA forward Nakiya Harris.

MoWest also signed 10 new players for the coming season - six transfers and four freshmen.

The Griffons finished last season No. 1 in the MIAA in made three-pointers (262 - 10th NCAA DII), No. 1 in steals per game (9.2), No. 2 in three-point percentage (32.5%) and No. 3 in scoring offense (71.8).

Morel finished No. 3 in the MIAA last season with 18.3 points per game, scoring 30+ points on six different occasions. She also set a new MIAA tournament record with 90 total points scored in the event this past March.

Morel was also second best in the MIAA in three-point percentage (34.8%), knocking down a league-best 81 triples in 2025-26. The 81 made threes tied for ninth most among all players in NCAA Division II, and is the third most in a single season at MoWest.

Harris finished No. 6 in the MIAA with 8.2 rebounds per game, totaling seven double-doubles last season. Women's basketball opens the season in the D2CCA Tipoff Classic in Owensboro, Kentucky, playing Gannon on November 6 and Roosevelt on November 7.