STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State Men's Basketball is set to open the 2025-26 season with the first ever basketball game inside the brand new EECU Center against BIG 12 opponent, TCU on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Texans will host their first Power Four conference opponent in program history with the Horned Frogs coming to town. Sunday's game sponsored by Barefoot Outfitter will mark the first basketball game in the brand new 130-million-dollar EECU Center. The 148,000 square foot facility will hold a capacity of 8,000 for basketball games and 10,000 for concerts. The state-of-the-art facility includes a large center hung scoreboard, LED graphic boards, custom locker rooms and its weight room and athletic training facility.
 
"This should be our best team that we've had at Tarleton State," said head coach Billy Gillispie. "You never know about injuries, hopefully what happened last year doesn't happen again. We are really excited about our team this season."
 
Tickets are still available for the historic game in Texan basketball history. The game will be live streamed on ESPN+ with Byron Anderson and Scott Garner on the call. Live Stats will be provided by Statbroadcast. For updates, highlights, content and the latest up-to-date information follow @tarletonmbb on Instagram and X.
 
Chris Mpaka returns as the leading rim-protector for the Texans. He ranked third in the WAC in blocks (51) and 13th in rebounds (5.28 per game). The Texan defense was stellar last season. Tarleton State ranked second in the nation in forced turnovers (16.66) and 11th in all of the NCAA in steals (9.4). Jordan Mizell was the WAC's top rebounder under 6 foot 5 inches tall last season. He ranked second among freshman in the WAC rebounds and free throw percentage and topped freshman in steals.
 
The Texans welcome 12 newcomers to the program with seven coming in as transfers, four as true freshman and one entering college after playing in the New Zealand Basketball League for three years. Among the seven transfers, three hailed from junior college, two from Division I and two from Division II as their last school. In full four of the transfers have spent time in junior college, three at D1 and two at D2. Among the four true freshman two played their prep careers in Texas and a pair spent their four years in Chicago, Ill.
 
Cam McDowell and Dior Johnson have ranked in the top two in all of D2 and JUCO, respectively. Last season, McDowell's 23.7 points per game at Northwest Oklahoma State was second in all of D2 and third among all divisions of men's CBB. McDowell scored in double figures 24 times, at least 20 points in 23 games, and 30 or more in 11 contests. He tied for the 8th most points by a D2 player in a single game (44)  and was one of four D2 players to score 41 or more points in multiple games. Two seasons ago, Dior Johnson led all of JUCO with 29.7 points per game. Johnson was named NJCAA D1 National Player of the Week after a 58-point performance against Howard (2/15). Johnson scored 40+ in six games and 50+ twice. he scored in double digits in all 21 games played.
 
Joseph Jones returns to the Texan bench for his fifth total season serving as the director of strategic planning. He was named the 2023-24 WAC Coach of the Year after leading the Texans to a 25-10 record, the number two overall seed in the WAC Tournament and a Lou Henson Classic title.  The Texans went 23-8 after taking over as acting head coach. Jones was the winningest first year head coach in 2023-24.
 
The Texans will play four Power Four conference teams this season. Tarleton State will open the season for the second straight year at SMU. Once again, the Texans will also travel for the second year in a row to Baylor (Nov. 14). For the first time in program history, the Texans will head to Cincinnati and LSU.  The Texans will head to Baton Rouge for LSU's season opener on Nov. 5. TSU will head to Cincinnati for their first contest in the state of Ohio in program history the Monday after Thanksgiving.
 
The two squads will meet for the third time in program history with the series record tied at one. The Texans bested the Horned Frogs in their last meeting, a 68-59 victory in Fort Worth on Nov. 19, 2005. TCU has only lost its season opener twice in the 21st century, with one of those two losses against the Texans to start the 2005-06 season. In the last meeting, Tarleton State had four players in double digits led by Lashon Sheffield with 17. Tied at the half, the Texans used a 13-3 run in the final 3:02 to claim the victory, their third straight to begin the 05-06 season. Tarleton State went on to be 27-7 that season, winning the LSC Championship and their second consecutive South Central Regional title, earning their second-straight berth to the NCAA D2 Elite Eight. TCU was 6-25 under head coach Neil Daughtery and finished 9th in the MWC.
 
TCU returns seven players, with four that saw significant playing time. Only David Punch returns that started more than five games last season. Key transfers include Iowa's Brock Harding and Providence's Jayden Pierre. Former Utah Valley three-point threat Tanner Toolson also joins the Horned Frogs for his final season of eligibility. Eight of the 16 players on their roster hail from the state of Texas. TCU has just one true freshman on their roster, Kayden Edwards from Duncanville HS. TCU will face a pair of top 10 preseason ranked teams in their non-conference slate, #3 and defending National Champion, Florida, and #7 Michigan. The BIG 12 has five teams ranked in the AP Preseason Top 25, and TCU will play each only once.
 
Tarleton State will have one more exhibition before their regular season slate opens on Nov. 3 against SMU. In the final exhibition for the Texans, the Purple and White will host East Texas A&M on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the EECU Center.