TYLER, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler men's basketball team is set to open play in their 2021-22 season with three home games inside the Herrington Patriot Center this week.
 
The 19^th season of men's basketball at UT Tyler will begin with games on Wednesday afternoon at 12 p.m. against Southwestern Adventist, Friday evening against Fort Valley State at 7 p.m. and on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. against Dallas Christian College. Admission will be free for Wednesday's game against Southwestern Adventist and Friday will serve as the annual Veteran's Day Game.
 
UT Tyler Athletics and UT Tyler men's basketball will be hosting a reception open to any military veterans in attendance of Friday night's game. The reception area will be located on the home side of the court and will feature refreshments and on-court seating for veterans and their guests.
 
Anyone planning on attending the event is encourage to RSVP by filling out a form HERE.
 
A BRIEF GLIMPSE
 
UT Tyler gained valuable experience in their exhibition contest back on Nov. 3 against UTRGV, but figure to employee their more concrete rotation of starters and role players in this week's three non-conference games. 14 players saw time on the court for UT Tyler without an individual that started the contest logging more than 20 minutes of game action.
 
Returner Milan Szabo led the Patriots with 12 points on the evening in a game in which the Patriots led 21-19 at the 10:11 mark of the first half. The rest of the action was all UTRGV, but head coach Louis Wilson's squad showed that they have the tools to compete with anybody.
 
A LOOK BACK
 
UT Tyler concluded their final year of the three-year transition period for the institution into full-fledged Division II status with a 12-10 overall record in what was a shortened 2020-21 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Patriots went 7-10 in Lone Star Conference play, and finished third in the LSC South Division with a mark of 2-3 in divisional play.
 
The 2021-22 season was a tale of two halves for coach Wilson's squad as they effectively flipped around their season beginning in the month of February with wins in 10 out of their 11 regular season contests. The Patriots won six out of their final seven Lone Star Conference contests and added four more wins in non-conference play, two games marked as non-conference match-ups with Western New Mexico and a pair of wins over Talladega College and Southwestern Adventist, to provide momentum heading into the offseason.
 
Guard Micah Fuller and forward Emanuel Gant  earned All-Lone Star Conference selections with Fuller earning a spot on the All-LSC Third Team after leading the Patriots in scoring with an average of 13.7 points per contest. Fuller (13.7) , Gant (10.6), Da'Zhon Wyche (12.3) and Soloman Thomas (11.2) all averaged double-digit figures for the Patriots.
 
A LOOK FORWARD
 
The Patriots have since earned acceptance as full-fledged Division II members and will be eligible for postseason consideration in 2021-22. The Lone Star Conference has returned to a traditional single round-robin conference schedule for their 17 teams set to compete this season, with four or five additional games against conference opponents that will not count towards the league standings.
 
The LSC Basketball Championship has also returned to a 12-team field in 2022, with the championships taking place on March 1-3-4-5-6, 2022, with opening round games taking place on campus followed by quarterfinals, semifinals and a championship game at a final site to be announced at a later date.
 
COACH WILSON
 
Head coach Louis Wilson will enter his third season at the helm of the Patriots, and seventh overall at the NCAA Division II level. The 2021-22 season will also mark the 30^th year of collegiate basketball coaching experience for Wilson after accumulating 23 years of experience at the Division I level as an associate or assistant coach prior to beginning his tenure as head coach of UT Tyler in 2019-20.
 
Wilson spent five seasons as head coach of RMAC foe Adams State from 2010-15, accumulating a 95-46 record as head coach of the Grizzlies, and made three NCAA Division II National Tournament appearances in the 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.
 
He navigated the Division II transition period for the Patriots with an overall record of 20-29 through his first two seasons in Tyler, and holds a 12-27 record in Lone Star Conference play.
 
2021-22 ROSTER
 
The 2021-22 version of the Patriots will feature a balance of returning production and incoming talent, setting the stage for what on paper looks like one of the better rosters across the Lone Star Conference heading into the season. Fuller, Wyche and Thomas will all return in 2021-22 to comprise what will be one of the more experienced back courts in the league.
 
Coach Wilson and his staff have also added the services of three Division I transfers (Finn Fleute - Montana State, Zaire Mateen - Northern Illinois, McKade Marquis - UT Arlington), a pair of proven scorers from the Division II and III levels (Eysan Wiley - William Jewell College, Siddiq Canty - University of New England), and a top junior college addition in Cochise Community College's Patrick Samoura to the 2021-22 roster. Throw in a host of returners that saw valuable minutes for UT Tyler in 2020-21 (Milan Szabo, Jalen Davis, DJ Jones, Trey Davis) and a couple of potential freshman contributors, and the 2021-22 Patriots have all the makings to be able to continue last season's end of the year winning streak.
 
ONE THING IS FOR CERTAIN
 
Only time will tell which of those new additions will join last season's returning production to comprise the majority of the minutes for UT Tyler this season, but the defensive pressure and tenacity that coach Wilson and his staff imposed in 2020-21 will undoubtedly be showcased this season. The Patriots ended 2020-21 ranked third in the Lone Star Conference in scoring defense (71.0 ppg), bettered only by eventual Division II runner-up West Texas A&M (65.4) and league champion Lubbock Christian (65.6).
 
UT Tyler had the fourth best turnover margin (1.86) in the league at season's end, and held the final seven opponents of last season to less than 70 points. The Patriots ranked second in the LSC with 8.09 steals per game, and limited opponents to a 44.9 shooting percentage from the field.
 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
 
UT Tyler will make the short trek to Commerce, Texas to take part in the annual Lion Hoopsgiving hosted by Texas A&M-Commerce on Nov. 26-27. The Patriots are slated to meet Ouachita Baptist and Mississippi College in that tournament on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.
 
The Patriots will then meet four LSC opponents (Dallas Baptist, Midwestern State, UAFS and Oklahoma Christian) in games marked as non-conference play before kicking off the LSC schedule of games on Dec. 31 against DBU inside the HPC.