TYLER – UT Tyler men's basketball head coach Louis Wilson announced the 10 newcomers who join seven returning players on the 2019-20 roster and the complete 2019-20 season schedule, which opens with a pair of exhibition games on the road against NCAA Division I programs before the Patriots take on a challenging 22-game slate as a first-year member of Division II's Lone Star Conference.
 
2019-20 SCHEDULE
 
Prior to the official start of the Patriots' first season of Division II competition, UT Tyler opens up the campaign in the state of Utah for a pair of exhibition games against Division I programs Utah (Oct. 30) and BYU (Nov.1). The following week, they'll return to Utah for the official season opener, a conference challenge event where UT Tyler will meet host Westminster (Utah) in Salt Lake City, as well as Dixie State. The remaining four non-conference games are all at home, starting with a Nov. 12 matchup against Dallas Christian.
 
"Utah is one of the most respected programs in the country with a great tradition and culture, and Coach Krystkowiak is an outstanding coach," Wilson said. "Two days later, we'll play at BYU, which has a phenomenal tradition and a great venue. This will be a tremendous experience for our kids, and it gives us a great opportunity to grow and prepare for the Lone Star Conference by playing those high-level Division I teams right off the bat."
 
The Patriots open their inaugural season in the Lone Star Conference by hosting 2019 Heartland Conference champion St. Edward's on Thursday, Nov. 21, and St. Mary's on Saturday, Nov. 23.  In addition to adding UT Tyler, the Lone Star Conference absorbed the Heartland Conference for the 2019-20 season, creating an 18-team league. UT Tyler plays 12 of the schools once and meets five opponents twice on the schedule.  The lone matchup with two-time defending Lone Star champion West Texas A&M is at home on Thursday, Feb. 20.
 
"Our schedule is ambitious to say the least," Wilson said. "We're getting ready to embark on a very tough journey in the Lone Star Conference, which has some of the best teams in college basketball at the Division II level playing in this conference. That being said, our desire is to be right there with everybody from the beginning of our time in the league."
 
RETURNING PLAYERS
 
Seven of last year's top nine scorers and five of the top seven rebounders return from the program's final season of Division III competition last year.  Among the leading returnees is Darius Alford, a 5-foot-11 sophomore guard who averaged a team-high 18.6 points and 2.1 steals per game as a freshman last season. Alford is joined by five seniors who return to the team, including Ty Bennett (11.5 points & 5.2 rebounds per game), Xavier Fogle (7.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg), Omar Mohamed (6.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg), Jared Jenkins (5.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg), and Brad Mason (9.6 ppg). Mason was limited to 10 games, but the other four seniors and Alford each started at least 13 games last season. Sophomore forward Bryson Power is the tallest player on the roster at 6-foot-10, and he appeared in 13 games as a freshman last year.
 
"All the guys coming back are foundational pieces who can help us to be good leaders," Wilson said.  "A lot of people talk about character separate from talent, but I think character is talent.  Physical talent is irrelevant if your character is not above that. When we talk about character, we define character in this program as the ability to meet the demands of reality.  Your character, or lack of it, is going to show in your ability or inability to do those things, so character to us is intertwined with physical talent.  We want people of high character, we want people who have a desire to graduate and pursue academic excellence, and we want guys who can athletically be a part of team in a productive way."
 
NEWCOMER INTRODUCTIONS (BY CLASS)
 
A nine-player class of newcomers along with the return of a former player adds eight upperclassmen along with a sophomore transfer and true freshman to complete the roster.
 
"We needed depth in numbers in our class, and we were certainly able to do that," said Wilson. "We also wanted to become more athletic and add some length in order to meet the style of play that we want. Overall, I wanted to make sure we increased our talent level as we make this transition from Division III into what I consider to be one of the most challenging conferences in Division II basketball."
 
Seniors (3): Tevin Brown (2016-17) returns to the program after two seasons off, and he is joined by transfers JD Davis, who played three seasons at NCAA Division I Louisiana, and Ty Glover, who joins the Patriots from University of Alaska, which is a Division II program in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
Wilson on Brown: "Tevin has been working really hard to get himself ready.  He's a great leader and high energy guy, has the capacity to be an elite point guard."
 
Davis, a 6-foot-7 forward, appeared in 89 games over the past three years at Louisiana, helping the Ragin' Cajuns to the 2018 Sun Belt regular-season title before his 2018-19 campaign when he averaged 9.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in 32 appearances (7 starts).
 
Wilson on Davis: "JD played for a really good coach and program at Louisiana, and we were really fortunate to get him.  He is a very good shooter, and he is a guy we're going to count on to stretch the defense."
 
Glover is a 6-foot-7 guard who was the second-leading scorer for Alaska last season, scoring 13.3 points with 4.2 rebounds per game. He was also the Nanooks' defensive leader with team-highs of 18 blocks and 21 steals.
 
Wilson on Glover: "Ty can play both the three and the four, but I think for us he's better suited as a wing.  I think he's a two-way guy for sure – he's really good as a slasher, but he has the capability of being a very good defender at multiple positions.  I'm excited to get his athleticism into the program."
 
Juniors (5): Five juniors bolster the roster, with three guards (Micah Fuller, Chris Giles, Da'Zhon Wyche) and two forwards (JT Riddick, Ansu Sesay) entering the program with two seasons left to play. Four of the five junior transfers come from community colleges while one player transfers from another Division II program.
 
Fuller is a transfer from Division II Montevallo, where he led the Falcons in scoring last season (11.4 ppg). The 6-foot-1 guard was a 91 percent (61-for-67) free throw shooter who also shot 38 percent (52-for-136) from the three-point line.
 
Wilson on Fuller: "Micah is a transfer from Montevallo who has two years to play for us, and he can certainly score the ball."
 
Giles is a 6-foot-3 guard who played his freshman season at Oklahoma before averaging 8.5 points as a full-time starter during his sophomore season for junior college power Hutchinson College.
 
Wilson on Giles: "Chris started every game last year for Steve Eck at Hutchinson, which is one of the premier junior college programs in the country.  He's a tough, physical kid who can play both the point guard and off guard positions, and he brings a lot of toughness, experience, and smarts to our team."
 
Riddick is a 6-foot-9 forward who established himself as a defensive force for Allan Hancock College in California, where he averaged 3.3 blocks per game while averaging 8.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore last year.
 
Wilson on Riddick: "JT is an athletic kid who has a lot to learn in the game but has a lot of upside.  He is a very athletic shot blocker who really adds to our length and athleticism."
 
Sesay is a 6-foot-3 forward who played the past two seasons at Weatherford College, averaging 9.0 points and 8.1 rebounds per game 1.3 blocks and 1.5 steals at the defensive end during his sophomore year last season.
 
Wilson on Sesay: "Ansu is a man; he averaged close to 10 points but also got eight rebounds a game, which I think is important in demonstrating his toughness.  He's a physical kid who's undersized in height for the position he plays, but he's not undersized in the heart.  The way he goes about his business and carries himself, he brings a degree of toughness that we needed to get."
 
Wyche played two seasons at Laramie County Community College in Wyoming, where he averaged 18.6 points and 5.4 assists per game over his two seasons, including a 21.8-point scoring average with a 49 percent (57-for-117) three-point shooting percentage as a sophomore in 2017-18.
 
Wilson on Wyche: "Da'Zhon is a prolific scorer who has a lot of confidence.  He's a shot maker, and he really gives us a guy we can put on the floor who can go get his own shot."
 
Sophomore (1): The lone sophomore transfer is Quinn Smith, a 6-foot-6 forward who spent his freshman season at Division I Grand Canyon University in Arizona.  He appeared in two games for the Antelopes.
 
Wilson on Smith: "Quinn is a raw athlete and young player with a lot of upside who can run the floor, jump, and give us some versatility that he can play multiple positions."
 
Freshman (1): The lone freshman on the roster is 6-foot-5 forward Collin Wilkerson, an All-East Texas basketball selection from New Summerfield High School. Wilkerson averaged 21.2 points, seven rebounds, three steals, 2.5 assists, and one block per game while leading New Summerfield to a 24-8 record his senior year.  He finished his career with 1,703 points and was also his class valedictorian.
 
Wilson on Wilkerson: "Collin is everything you want for your program, and he's the type of player and person I would like to represent what our program is going to be moving forward. He's a great student and a really good basketball player, and I feel very fortunate to have him in our program."
 
COACHING STAFF INTRODUCTIONS
 
Wilson also announced new additions to the coaching staff as he enters his first season at the helm of UT Tyler's men's basketball program, adding Anthony Owens and Aaron Patrick as assistant coaches while announcing Kelly Hernandez as the player development coach and Sam Eureste as the director of basketball operations.
 
Owens has over a decade of collegiate coaching experience, including five seasons as an assistant at the NCAA Division I level with Portland State, plus four years as a head coach at University of Providence in Great Falls, Montana.
 
Patrick joins UT Tyler after spending the past two years at Northwestern State, a Division I program in the Southland Conference.  He also coached three years at Howard College in Big Spring.
 
"In order to build the program forward, we've not only had to sign players and get depth and talent on the floor, we've also had to accumulate talent off the floor," Wilson said. "To that end, we're very fortunate we were able to hire highly-qualified assistant coaches.  We're very blessed to have Anthony Owens and Aaron Patrick as coaches with Division I experience, and Kelly Hernandez comes to us as to be in charge of player development in all aspects of our players' lives off the court, and Sam will serve in a vital capacity as our director of basketball operations."