MIDWAY, Ky. - Going into his third year as Midway's men's basketball coach, Akeem Scott is hopeful he has the pieces needed for a breakout season in 2025-26.

Scott, whose Eagles open the regular season at home on Thursday, has a strong returning core that includes the top-two scorers from an offense that was second in the River States Conference in scoring a season ago.

And though he will lean on his experience early in the season, Scott sought to create heavy competition with a wave of new bodies this year, adding five freshman and four transfers to the varsity roster with hopes they can execute his high-octane style of play.

"There's no expectation if a senior needs to play or a freshman needs to play," he said. "Hopefully (the new guys) can come in and buy in and play a nice role."

Feeling an injection of fresh talent was needed, players say they've been impressed with how quickly things are coming together.

"Everything's progressing in the direction we want it to," said senior guard Decoreio Smith. "The guys seem to be bought in, everybody seems to be on the same (page). Everybody's got a sense of team feeling."

Now in his second full season with the program, Smith, who averaged 15 points per-game last year, is one of the unquestioned leaders of the team with Scott saying "he's doing everything on a high level right now" and that "he should be a contender for conference Player of the Year."

He'll be joined in the backcourt by fellow senior Amari Wales, who averaged a team-high 17.1 points. Wales and Smith were both named second-team all-conference players by the RSC at the end of last season.

Midway shot 38.8 percent from 3-point range a season ago, the best mark in the River States Conference, and that figures to be a strength again this season, with Scott saying he has multiple players "that can just shoot the laces off" the ball.

One area where major improvement will need to be made is on the defensive end. While the Eagles scored 85 points per-game a season ago, they allowed 85.9, the 14th-higest total in the NAIA.

Midway was also just 2-11 away from home, eventually finishing the year 10-15 and missing the conference tournament with a 7-9 RSC record.

The Eagles, who were picked to finish eighth in the preseason RSC Coaches' Poll, are almost certainly going to be one of the most battle-tested teams heading into league play.

Scott has made a point of loading up his non-conference schedule with NCAA Division-I opponents and this year is no different, as the Eagles are slated to play exhibitions against Morehead State (Nov. 3), Eastern Kentucky (Nov. 6), Bellarmine (Dec. 3) and Liberty (Dec. 16).

They'll also face a pair of in-state NAIA powerhouses in Georgetown (Nov. 14) and Cumberlands (Dec. 6). The Tigers reached the Elite 8 of the NAIA Tournament a season ago, while the Patriots made the Sweet 16.

"It allows us to get battle-tested, battle-ready" Scott said of the brutal non-conference slate.

While Scott didn't make predictions beyond saying he hoped to have a winning season and finish near the top of the conference, his players are more vocal with their ambitions, ones that are unchanged against even their most difficult opponent.

"Our expectation is to win every game," Smith said. "That's where the bar's at for us. We aren't expecting anything less than that."

The Eagles, who have averaged 105 points while going 2-0 in season openers under Scott, begin play at home against in-state opponent Union at 7 p.m. Thursday.