SLIPPERY ROCK — Both Slippery Rock University basketball teams made strides last season and hope to do so again this year.

Only with different faces leading the way.

Both teams are getting their regular seasons under way this week. SRU’s men hosted West Virginia Wesleyan on Wednesday while the Rock women host Ursuline at noon on Saturday.

Ian Grady is looking to lead the Rock men to their fifth consecutive winning season. SRU was 17-12 a year ago, but does not return a double-digit scorer. Lashon Lindsey, a senior forward, averaged 9.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in 2022-23 while sophomore guard Jomo Goings averaged 9.2 points per game.

This year’s roster has six transfers — from Gannon, Air Force, Duquesne, Walsh, Detroit Mercy and Wagner, respectively — along with a number of red-shirt freshmen and sophomores who will see much more playing time.

“Our scoring can come from a number of sources,” Grady said. “Herster was a double-digit scorer at Gannon. Luke Howes is a point guard who can score. Maceo Austin is a 6-foot-5 guard from Duquesne, an experienced player as a graduate student.

“Basically, we have 11 returnees, but most of those guys haven’t seen much time on the floor here yet. We’ve got a lot of moving parts we’ll have to bring together, but that’s a fun process.”

SRU’s men are picked to finish fourth in the PSAC West preseason coaches poll, behind defending champion Indiana (Pa.), California (Pa.) and Mercyhurst.

Grady is hoping size helps to play a determining factor for his men’s team.

“We’ve got bigger guards than most people and we’ve got size up front,” he said. “Our league is so good. There are no easy wins. Every game will be a battle and anybody can beat anybody. Just be ready to play every night. That’s all I ask.”

Nine of the 15 players on the men’s roster are freshmen or sophomores.

Ryenn Micaletti, a former assistant coach at The Rock under the late Bobby McGraw, is taking the reins of the women’s program this year. She succeeds Chenara Wilson, who led SRU to a 16-12 record as interim head coach last year. Wilson is now an assistant coach at Cleveland State.

A New Castle graduate, she was most recently an assistant coach at St. Louis University. She’s also had coaching stops at Longwood University, the Naval Academy and Point Park.

Micaletti was introduced to coaching by Butler graduate and former Butler County Community College basketball coach Tony Grenek. He was an assistant coach at Seton Hill when Micaletti played there.

“I majored in elementary education and my goal was to be a teacher,” Micaletti said. “When Tony got the women’s coaching job at Point Park, he asked me if I’d be interested in being his assistant.

“Once I started coaching, I realized that was a form of teaching. I really enjoyed it. Now I’m back at Slippery Rock, right down the road from where I grew up. ... This is a dream come true.”

The Rock women are picked to finish eighth in the PSAC West preseason poll, “but even though the PSAC is the toughest Division II women’s basketball conference in the country, I don’t feel like we’re an eighth-place team,” Micaletti said.

Like the men, not much scoring is coming back. Junior guard Kristina Donza averaged 6.3 points per game and junior forward Kelley McKnight 3.4, but only Donza figures into the starting lineup.

Junior point guard Gabby Jackson is a transfer from Lackawanna. Returning junior guard Kaylin Venick, freshman forward Regan Atkins (Laurel) and junior forward Endya Robinson (transfer from John A. Logan) round out the starting five.

Slippery Rock High School graduate Hallie Raabe is a sophomore forward “who will be in our rotation ... Her work ethic and selfless spirit will help make us better.”

“I was hired here in May, a little late in the recruiting cycle,” Micaletti said. “But we went to work assembling a group of transfers, freshmen, hard-working young ladies.

“We don’t want one or two players to be our big offensive threats. We want to get everybody involved, be able to run, play half-court, get points off our defense and in transition as well. We’re building chemistry, love, trespect, joy, toughness, discipline, all of those things will help us win.”