The Teams: Tarleton State Texans (0-0) vs. Cameron Aggies (0-0)
Where: Stephenville, Texas
Stadium: EECU Center (8,000)
Time: 7 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+ (Byron Anderson, John-Stewart Gordon, Sabrina Borg)
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network on 90.5 FM (Kyle Crews)
Game Sponsor: The Grove

Game Promotion

• Early-arriving students will receive a free long-sleeved t-shirt courtesy of Tarleton State Residence Life
• Students will also receive free pizza from Coach Haut before the game
• All fans will be treated to a spectacular halftime performance by Aim High Canines

Quick Hits 

• Eric Haut was hired to be the second Tarleton State Men's Basketball Coach in the Division I era on March 12, 2026.
• Caleb Blackwell named Preseason All-UAC, third Texan in D1 era to earn preseason all-conference honors.
• The Texans 16-man roster features 12 newcomers and 4 returning players from the 2025-26 roster.
• Among the 12 newcomers, 11 come via the transfer portal and just 1 comes fro graduating high school in 2026. The Texans are one of 11 D1 programs to have one or less 2026 HS grad on their roster this season. 
• 11 of the 16 rostered players were on a Division I college roster last season.
• The Texans have their oldest roster in the D1 era, holding 11 players listed as seniors or 5th years playing in their last or second to last collegiate season.
• The Texans are returning less than 15 percent of their production in points, assists, and rebounds and only 17 percent of minutes played from last year.
• Leroy Kelly IV headlines the returning Texans after starting the first 20 games as a freshman and ranking in the top 15 in the country in steals after the first 20.
• Caleb Blackwell hopes to lead the Texans in his final collegiate season, the first portal addition for Haut and his staff.
• In their inaugural season at the EECU Center, the Texans went 10-6, marking their fifth-straight season with at least 10 home wins.
• Eight of those 15 players played at multiple high schools during their prep careers, with five taking home state titles.
• The Texans will be opening their season at home for the first time since 2020 when they defeated Dallas Christian 103-48, a 55-point margin.

About the matchup

• The two programs met for the first time in the Division I era for the first time last season, where the Texans held the lead wire-to-wire leading by as many as 33, and winning 93-63 in Stephenville.
• The Texans have won the last six matchups in the series and the last eight home matchups in Stephenville.

First-year Head coach Eric Haut

• Eric Haut was named the next head coach of Tarleton State Men's Basketball on March 12, 2026.
• He spent the past two seasons under Jarod Calhoun at Utah State.
• This past season they were the Mountain West Tournament champions and reached the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.
• Haut has made stops at Western Kentucky, Kent State, TCU, Northern Kentucky and Utah State.
• He spent his collegiate playing career at Kent State.

Coaching staff By the Numbers

• Four members of the Texan coaching staff combined to play in 436 games, start 285 and score 3,529 Division I points.
• Jean Prioleau leads the scoring, registering 1,442 points during his four years at Fordham. He played the most collegiate games amongst the coaching staff with 126 games played while starting 109. Prioleau was inducted into the Fordham Hall of Fame.
• Head coach Eric Haut scored 985 points in his four-year career at Kent State. Haut played in 163 games while starting 62.
• Brandon Ubel spent all four of his years at Nebraska where he scored 893 total points in 125 games and 69 starts. Ubel played overseas for a few seasons before transitioning back to coaching.
• Tre Cobbs played at both Northern Kentucky and Georgia Southern during his collegiate career totaling 209 points in 62 games with 25 starts.

Blackwell named Preseason All-UAC

• Caleb Blackwell became the third Texan to be named to an all-conference preseason team in the Division I era.
• Blackwell joins Hicks (2-time recipient) and Montre Gipson (2021-22).
• Blackwell had not received D1 conference honors in his collegiate career, but was named a First Team All-Conference and All-Region selection during his time at South Plains College as well as 2nd Team NJCAA All-American.

Fourth in Preseason UAC Poll

• The UAC released the preseason poll with the Texans picked to finish fourth in the inaugural season of the league. 
• The Texans are the highest-ranked team out of the WAC from last year ahead of both Abilene Christian and UT Arlington. 
• The fourth-ranked slot is the highest conference preseason ranking for the Texans in the Division I era after being slated fifth twice in the first six seasons of being members of the WAC.

Up Next

• Tarleton State will continue its opening week of the season with a Friday night contest on the road at San Diego. The Texans will take on the Toreros with a 6:30 pm CT / 8:30 pm PT tip at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.