Texas State, News and Notes

Men's Basketball, here we go.

Our first opponent is Texas State.  They would prefer not to be called TSU.  It is TXST.  OK.

Let's see.  This was Southwest Teacher's College, in San Marcos for a long time.  Interestingly, one of the few teams that we will play that counts a President among its alumni...that would be LBJ.

Interestingly, this is their last season in the Sun Belt.  They will (believe it or not) be in the PAC-12 next year.

Basketball wise, they have made the NCAA tournament two times, in the '94 and '97 tournaments.  They were high seeds and went straight out. 

They had a pretty successful coach in Danny Kaspar, who was fired before the 2020 season for allegedly making racist remarks.  His replacement, Terrance Johnson, kept the momentum for two years, but has been 49-53 over the last three years.

Blue Ribbon has them #7 in the Sun Belt.  They were #8 in their media poll.

BG and TXST have never played. TXST is 3-1 in the Sun Belt challenge. They are 5-4 all-time against current MAC teams.

Last year, they were picked 161 and ended 194.  They split their SBC games, but beat OU on a neutral floor.

Their story has been injuries...Blue Ribbon notes that their last 3 seasons have been significantly disrupted.

This year, they return only 3 players, one of whom did not play last year.

Among the 12 newcomers, seven are transfers from other Division I programs, three are true freshmen and two are junior college transfers. Three of the D1 transfers come from other Sun Belt programs in Jalen Bolden (ULM), Kyndall Davis (Louisiana) and Makai Willis (ULM).

Mark Drone, a SR G, is picked as 2nd team All-SBC. He averaged 11.5 PPG last year, but played only 10 games. Inefficent shooter.

Kaden Gumbs, a JR G, was 3rd team All-SBC.  He scored 11 PPG last year, 4 assists per game, and 37% on limited 3FG attempts. 

They played one exhibition, beating Huston-Tillotson 102-52.  That's an NAIA school.

Franck Emmou is a guy to watch for.  He missed all of last year with an injury. He came off the bench for 22 minutes in the exhibition, for 15 points.

BG is -3, though ESPN gives TXST a 62% chance to win.