The men’s basketball team starts off its season on Thursday and with experienced, talented returners and a slew of new recruits.

Head Coach Jason Zimmerman is optimistic about this year’s squad and its progress in the preseason. With Emory’s first game away against cross-town rival Oglethorpe University, the Eagles will have an early chance to prove themselves and show how much they’ve improved in the off-season.

“That’ll be a pretty intense contest and one that we’re going to have to play well to win,” Zimmerman said.

Emory opens its season with its first four games on the road, meaning the team won’t have its first home match until early December. Although the Eagles won’t be at home, Zimmerman explained that being on the road won’t affect how they play their game, but how they handle different situations.

“You have to develop a character to go on the road and win,” he said. “It’ll be a test early to see how we can perform on the road and how we prepare.”

This year the team has a finalized roster of 16 players, with five new freshmen coming onto the squad and only two members — brothers John and Ryan Kresse — lost to graduation.

“I feel very good about our freshman class and how they fit into our basketball team,” Zimmerman said.

Seniors Chad Hixon and Anthony Fernandez are back in the lineup this season after being named to the All-UAA Team last year because of their successful seasons.

“We’ll count on those guys for leadership as well as experience on the basketball court,” Zimmerman said.

Although Fernandez and Hixon will be looked to in leadership roles, Zimmerman has yet to announce team captains. To select the captains, the team and the coaching staff vote for the players they believe are most qualified. While the team has already voted this season, Zimmerman has decided not to announce captains until later in the year.

“Sometimes you don’t have to have the title of captain to be a leader,” he said. “We have everyone holding each other accountable.”

Sophomore Austin Claunch will also have a larger role on the team, serving as the main point guard for the Eagles.

“He’s done a great job to anchor our offensive and defensive at the point position,” Zimmerman said.

Besides player additions, Zimmerman added a new member to his coaching staff, Assistant Coach Chris Murphy. Murphy was hired to replace last year’s assistant coach, Will Roberson, who recently accepted a job at Elon College. Murphy, who was both a player and assistant coach for Union College, led the Dutchmen to 71 wins in his four-year stint as well as the Eastern College Athletic Conference and Liberty League championships.

“He brings the quality to lead young men to make them perform at a higher level,” Zimmerman said. “It’s exciting to see him work with our guys and relate to them.”

During the team’s practices this pre-season, Zimmerman chose three specific things to focus on to improve this year’s Eagles. First, the team worked on its defense — more specifically, contesting shots from the other team and defending in the half court.

Second, Zimmerman has drilled passing, catching and what he calls “valuing the basketball.” On the offensive side, he wants to make sure the team is focused on moving the basketball better as well as taking better shots.

And finally, the Eagles look to improve their attacking and maintaining control of the play.

Attacking with the kind of full intensity Zimmerman is looking for takes a lot of energy from players, meaning most won’t be able to play 40-minute games.

“We want to dictate to the other team what’s going to happen in that possession,” Zimmerman said.

Another aspect of the game that Zimmerman mentioned the team needed to improve was having a higher shooting percentage.

Though this is an offensive weakness, Zimmerman thinks Emory’s strengths are experience, depth and the variety of lineups that can be combined on the court.

“I think we have a pretty good nucleus of guys that can have a great run and have a great season,” he said.

Because a lot of players are returning from last year and only two seniors were lost to graduation, most players will be in the same role they were in last year, helping the team’s chemistry. Team chemistry is vital to success and the Eagles are always looking to build upon what they already have, whether it be off the court, during scrimmages or other training.

“It’s something that we work on every day; it’s something we don’t take for granted and it’s something this team has a great foundation for,” Zimmerman said.

Going into Thursday’s game against Oglethorpe, Zimmerman stated that the team prepared the same way it prepares for every game — by watching film, reviewing the scouting report and working hard in practice. The Eagles have also specifically talked about strengths of Oglethorpe’s game that they need to break down in order to be successful, most notably the Petrels’ ability to have long scoring runs that shifts the momentum in their favor.

“Against Oglethorpe you have to be alert all the time,” Zimmerman said. “You can’t give them runs. They rely on runs to win games.”

Zimmerman’s goal is to not let Oglethorpe score three times in a row, though this proves difficult to do against “a great transition team.”

The Eagles begin their season with their game against the Petrels at Oglethorpe on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.

­— Contact Gina Chirillo.