STEPHENVILLE, Texas — It's November and that means it college basketball season. The Tarleton State Texans will tip-off the 2023-24 season with almost every other program in the country on College Basketball Tip-Off Night against the ACC's Virginia Cavaliers at 6 p.m. C.T. at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia.
 
Monday night's contest will be streamed on ACCXN on ESPN+. Jason Patterson and Tykera Carter will be on the call from Charlottesville. Kyle Crews will have the Texans radio call on 90.5.
 
Tarleton downed Division III Howard Payne, 105-42 in its exhibition contest last Monday. The duo of Jakorie Smith and KiAndre Gaddy teamed up for 57 points, the most by a duo since 2017. It also marked the first time in program history that two players scored at leas 27 points each. Freshmen Bubu Benjamin and Emmanuel Innocenti notched 15 and 10 points, respectively in their first action as a Texan.
 
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 Smith (9.8). Also returning from the squad are 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, four months and 17 days of age, Mutambirwa is one of the 20 youngest players 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. The Purple and White will play a pair of games at the SoCal Challenge in San Juan Capistrano to begin the week of Thanksgiving. The Texans will then open the WAC slate on the road at Stephen F. Austin, the earliest WAC start in program history.
 
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.

Head Coach Billy Gillispie will embark on his fourth season at the helm of the Texans. He carries a 41-44 record with Tarleton and a 189-152 overall record entering his 12^th season as a Division I head coach.

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.
 
Monday will be the first time that the Texans or Coach Gillispie will face-off against Virginia or Tony Bennett. Gillispie was an assistant coach in the Big Ten when Tony's father, Dick Bennett, was at the helm of the Wisconsin Badgers program. As a program, the Texans are 1-0 against the ACC, coming off a 70-54 victory against Boston College last November. Coach Gillispie is 4-7 against current members of the ACC and is searching for his first road victory against the conference as he is currently 0-3.
 
Tarleton State will stay on the road for its second game of the season on Thursday against Florida International. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. ET and will be streamed on ESPN+.