For the Waynesburg University men’s basketball team, the first two games of the 2017-18 season won’t be a typical slate of non-conference matchups.

The Yellow Jackets will start the season across the country in Washington, taking on two schools in a trip that head coach Mark Christner has been planning for the past few years. Along with the unusual amount of travel, Waynesburg’s level of competition to start the year will be much stiffer than in years past.

The Jackets play two games Friday, Nov. 17, and Saturday, Nov. 18, opening in Walla Walla against Whitman, a team that made it to the NCAA Division III Final Four last season and comes into this year ranked number one in the country. Then the team will travel to Spokane to take on Whitworth the next night. For Christner, the trip provides a chance for Waynesburg to prove themselves against elite competition.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for our program, for one,” Christner said. “I think anytime you get a chance to play a team like [Whitman] that has established themselves really through what they’ve done in the last couple years, especially last year with a Final Four team. It’s just a great opportunity for our players.”

One of the challenges the Jackets will face against Whitman will be containing its senior point guard, All-American Tim Howell. With the loss of Timmy Kaiser to graduation, freshman Matt Popeck – who started both of Waynesburg’s scrimmages at point guard – and sophomore Frank Bozicevic will both see time running the point. Senior guard Jon Knab said that Popeck and Bozicevic are capable of filling Kaiser’s shoes.

“I think both [Popeck] and Bozicevic so far have done a great job in the preseason,” Knab said. “We lost Timmy last year who was excellent at [point guard]. He was great there, but I think it’s a trial by fire for Matt coming in as a freshman, but he’s handled it well so far.”

Whitman is expected to play a high-pressure, high-intensity brand of basketball. For Knab, recreating Whitman’s style in practice will be drastically different as to what Waynesburg will see from the Blues Friday night.

“We’ve been practicing [against the press] a lot,” Knab said. “Every day the past few weeks we’ve been doing drills against the press, getting guys up and pressing. It’s one thing to simulate it in practice, but it’s another thing to do it in the game. So, we can practice it all we want in practice, but we’ll see if that pays off come Friday night when they get up and get after us.”

Christner said that one of Whitman’s objectives is to force its opponent to get away from its comfort zone.

“All they want you to do is play at a speed that you’re not capable of playing successfully…our work is cut out for us in terms of making sure that we stay spaced, making sure that we’re able to protect the ball really from the back end,” Christner said.

Christner also credited Whitman’s work ethic for its success.

“They play really, really hard…it’s not a game where you’re going to run a lot of set plays or anything like that,” Christner said. “You really have to play basketball and make those types of reads. That’s really what we’ve worked on, and it’s not easy to simulate, but we do what we can and I’m confident that our guys will be ready and we’ll give it our best shot.”

Facing two of the best teams that Division III has to offer right away, Knab said, will go a long way for the Jackets to have success in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference.

“We all know these are going to be the two best teams we play all year,” Knab said. “We know that by far they’re the toughest games on our schedule. Especially starting [in Washington], it really helps with that level of competition, playing against the best first. Just seeing how we play against the best, and then coming back in the conference play, I think it will be a huge confidence booster.”

Friday’s game against Whitman will begin at 10 p.m. EST, while Saturday’s contest again Whitworth will start at 9 p.m. EST. For Christner, the trip will provide an opportunity for his team to grow closer together on and off the court to begin the year.

“Anytime you have a chance to spend some time together, I think early in the year especially is a good thing,” Christner said. “There will be a lot of time, and we have guys in some different venues maybe of life…So, I think there will be some really good opportunities for us to continue to converse about what makes us tick and what makes this group tick, why we do what we do. We have a young group seasoned with experience, that I think is excited to get started.”