A long offseason will finally come to an end for the ISU men’s basketball team when players step onto the hardwood at Hilton Coliseum for an exhibition game against Grand Valley State on Friday night.

The consensus among the team is clear: It’s about time.

Weeks of practicing and scrimmaging each other has the players primed and ready to go against a real opponent.

“It’s like playing against your brother,” said senior Georges Niang. “It’s that time of the year where you honestly just get sick of playing against the same person every day.”

The practices and scrimmages have been intense in the weeks leading up to the season. First-year ISU coach Steve Prohm’s emphasis on improving defensively has led to some heated competitions.

“There hasn’t been any real fights, but we’ve almost had seven, eight and that’s more than we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said Naz Mitrou-Long.

No punches have been thrown. It’s nothing personal, just competitiveness. When they walk off the practice floor, everybody is cool with each other. But those practices have been passionate.

Burton has acted as one of the main instigators. Per transfer rules, Burton will have to sit out the beginning of the season. As a result, he is spending his practices on the second team, where he pesters the starters.

“I could tell you how much I hate Deonte Burton [right now],” Niang joked, “but when he’s out there doing it to [an opponent], I’ll be pretty happy.”

Burton’s absence at the beginning of the season opens up spots for others who are trying to claim rotation spots. The core of Jameel McKay, Monté Morris, Niang, Mitrou-Long, Abdel Nader and Matt Thomas is pretty well set.

The question mark is the other players who will be coming in off the bench as the seventh, eighth and ninth men to help fill out the rotation. Friday night marks an opportunity for the likes of Hallice Cooke, Jordan Ashton and Simeon Carter to make their cases.

“Any opportunity you get to play in front of the team, in front of the coaches, throw in the fans too in a real-life environment of what Hilton magic has to offer, it’s a huge opportunity,” Mitrou-Long said.

Prohm understands the makeup of his team and is looking at the exhibition game as a way to evaluate some of his inexperienced players in a live-action setting.

“These six [experienced] guys are so experienced [as to] where the other guys, you’re not trying to compare them, you’re just trying to fit in seven, eight, nine [rotation spots],” Prohm said. “Those guys don’t have to be heroes, they just have to do things the right way. Be competitive defensively, make open shots [and] just be a part of the team.”

In addition to younger players and transfers getting their first real experience at Hilton Coliseum in a live-game setting, so too will Prohm.

“It’s probably most important for me just to get a feel of how everything works over here,” Prohm said. “I got an experienced group, so it’ll be good for me just to get over here and play — understand the kind of lay of the land, play in front of a crowd.”