STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State Men’s Basketball will open its fourth season under head coach Billy Gillispie in an exhibition contest against Howard Payne at Wisdom Gym on Monday night, tip is set for approximately 8 p.m.
Tip-off will follow the conclusion of the preceding women’s basketball exhibition against UNT Dallas. Byron Anderson will have the call on ESPN+ in the nightcap. Stats will be provided by StatBroadcast and can be found on Tarletonsports.com. Follow @tarletonmbb on twitter for live score updates and highlights. Admission to Wisdom Gym is free to both exhibitions.
Coach Gillispie brought in a nation-leading 16 newcomers to add to his five returning players from a season ago. The team’s second and third leading scorers return from last season, Lue Williams (10.7) and Jakorie Smith (9.8). Also returning from the squad is KiAndre Gaddy, Jalen Thomas and Nasan Ayala. Gaddy led the team shooting .607 from the floor and recorded a team-high 20 blocks. Thomas saw action in 10 games last season totaling 21 points, rebounds and six assists.
Last season, eight newcomers were in high school, five were at a junior college, one at a Division I program, one at a Division II school and one at an NAIA institution. Among those are one of the youngest players in Division I this season, Kaya Mutambirwa. Entering the season at 18 years, 4 months and 17 days of age, Mutambirwa is the 12th youngest player to appear on a men’s Division I roster this season.
The Texans will be road warriors to start the season featuring six of their first seven regular season games on the road outside of the state of Texas. Tarleton will take on Virginia and FIU in their first road trip of the season. The Purple and White will play a pair of games at the SoCal Challenge in San Juan Capistrano to begin the week of Thanksgiving.
Over the summer, Shakur Daniel became the second Texan in the Division I era to sign a professional contract. Daniel signed with the AD FENIKS 2010 of the Macedonian Superleague. In his first four games with the squad, he has tallied 8.5 points per game in 34.8 minutes per game. He notched his first double-double of his professional career on Oct. 9.
Gillispie welcomed three new coaches to his staff for the 2023-24 season: Luke Adams, Damon Archibald and Randy Pulley. Adams is a former player of Gillispie’s at Texas Tech. Archibald has had two sons play for Gillispie including his son, Tydan, last season. Finally, Pulley joins the staff after a pair of season at Virginia State.
Last season, the Texans earned the seventh seed in their first WAC Postseason Tournament. The Texans knocked off tenth-seeded UTRGV, 74-70 for their first victory in three tries against the Vaqueros last year. Smith led the squad posting a season-high 26 points. The Texans advanced to the quarterfinals against second-seeded Utah Valley but were unable to overcome the Wolverines.
The Purple and White were invited to partake in their first national postseason tournament, the CBI in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Texans earned the seventh seed and were pitted against the Big South’s Radford Highlanders. The Highlands overtook Tarleton State, 72-70 in overtime.
Tarleton is 3-0 in exhibition games as a Division I program. The Texans have never played Howard Payne in an exhibition contest but are 13-4 in regular season matchups. The Purple and White were victorious 113-53 on Jan. 21, 2021. Current GA Heri Tshiyoyo played 16 minutes for the Texans. Tarleton State has played 199 games against the American Southwest Conference and hold a 100-99 record all-time.
Tarleton State will open its regular season slate in Charlottesville, Virginia against the Virginia Cavaliers on Monday Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. CT.