Hope reigned supreme last season in the MIAA.
The Flying Dutchmen won the regular season and tournament titles while then junior Evan Thomas was the league MVP.
With the return of Thomas along with the likes of Clayton Dykehouse, TJ McKenzie and Eli Schoonveld, Hope was the trendy choice to win the league again and Thomas was named a preseason all-American.
But in the third game of the season, Thomas broke his pinky finger and was forced to miss seven weeks.
"It was tough, unfortunate obviously," Thomas said about the injury. "The injury affects you in so many different ways, it affects the team in different ways, so it was disappointing."
"Evan is not only our best player, he's our best leader, he's our smartest player, he makes everybody around him better," ninth year Flying Dutchmen head coach Greg Mitchell said. "It was tough no question, that's a long time and I'm a much better coach when Evan is on the floor too, I'll be honest with you."
Hope actually won four of its first five games without him.
"Through this our team has had a lot of growth without me on the court," Thomas said. "I've been able to grow in my voice and leadership abilities, so I think there has been some positives through the injury."
"Evan is a 20 (points) and nine (rebounds) guy," Mitchell said. "Our guys had to score the ball more. I think TJ McKenzie did a really nice job stepping into that role. Gabe Quillan has done a really nice job scoring the ball at times. Other guys just had to guard harder because Evan's really has been our swiss army knife for three years, he does a little bit of everything. It does make you better in the long run, but we have played without him plenty and we are ready to keep him on the floor."
The Flying Dutchmen did drop their final three non-conference games.
Thomas is not yet 100%, but did return that last Wednesday night at Trine in time for the start of MIAA play.
"They told me the timetable was a little past MIAA play, but I was going to do what I could to hopefully get back for the conference season," Thomas said. "The season that really matters and decides your team's March chances. So that was always my goal to get back for the conference."
Hope hosts rival Calvin on Wednesday night.
Thomas scored 70 points in the three matchups with the Knights last season.
