The Teams: Tarleton State Texans (1-0) vs. San Diego Toreros (1-0)
Where: San Diego, California 
Stadium: Jenny Craig Pavilion (5,100)
Time: 8:30 p.m. PT / 6:30 CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+ (Jack Cronin (PxP) and Thomas Jacobs (Analyst)
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network on 90.5 FM (Clayton Neville)

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.
• The Texans won their second season opener at home in the D1 era with an 86-60 victory vs. Cameron to improve to 28-1 in season openers at home.
• Caleb Blackwell named Preseason All-UAC, third Texan in D1 era to earn preseason all-conference honors.
• Leroy Kelly IV recorded his first career collegiate double-double with 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds against Cameron in the season opener.
• The Texans improved to 28-1 in season openers at home and 2-0 in the D1era with an 86-60 victory over Cameron on Monday.
• The Texans 16-man roster features 12 newcomers and 4 returning players from the 2025-26 roster. 11 were on a D1 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.
• 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. 
• 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.
• In their inaugural season at the EECU Center, the Texans went 10-6, marking their fifth-straight season with at least 10 home wins.
• The Texans have 8 players that played at multiple high schools during their prep careers, with five taking home state titles.
• The Texans have just four players from the state of Texas on their roster, the fewest in the Division I era.
• Tarleton State has not won the road opener since becoming D1. It also marks the first time in that era that the Texans road opener was not a Power 4.

About the matchup

• The Texans head to San Diego for the first time in program history, with their first matchup against the Toreros.
• Tarleton State is 1-0 in non-conference true road games in the state of California with a win in 2023 vs. Loyola Marymount.
• The Texans hold a 2-2 record in neutral sites contests in the state after a perfect 2-0 record as So Cal Challenge Champions in 2023.

Double-double for Leroy

• Leroy Kelly IV notched his first career collegiate double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds against Cameron.
• Kelly IV set a new career high with 10 boards, surpassing his best from last season at eight.
• In his freshman campaign, Kelly IV scored in double-figures in four contests, with a season-high and team-best 18 against Florida A&M.
• The sophomore is the only current rostered Texan to have a double-double for the Purple and White in their careers.

California Connection

• The Texans have a pair of players and an assistant coach with a California connection.
• Jac Mani has spent his entire collegiate career playing in the state of California. 
• The Los Angeles, CA, native played at Beverly Hills HS for four seasons. He was a First Team All-League selection as a junior, scored 18 points a game. As a senior he averaged a double-double averaging 24 points and 12 boards and posted a triple double with 40 pts
• Caeden Hutcherson started his prep career in his hometown of San Francisco, Calif. 
• Hutcherson spent his first prep year at St. Ignatius College Prep, reaching the Regional Semifinals of the 2024 California Interscholastic Federation Playoffs.
• Named Second Team All-League and Honorable Mention in his two seasons with Archbishop Mitty.
• Current assistant coach Jean Prioleau also has spent a few years in the state.
• Prioleau was the head coach of San Jose State from 2019-2023.

Coach Haut and Antonio Gates

• Tarleton State head coach Haut was a member of the 2002 Elite Eight Kent State MBB team along with future NFL HOF, Antonio Gates.
• Gates led the team averaging 16.0 ppg and starting all 36 contests. Haut played in 35 games.
• In a special notes, Antonio Gates mentioned coach Haut in his HOF Induction speech by name thanking his basketball teammates at Kent State when he didn't even know that coach was in attendance.

Hitting the road in California

• The Texans are familiar with the state of California making a trip to the state in each of the last six seasons. 
• Overall the Texans taut a 3-9 record in the state of California. But the Texans are 3-0 in the D1 era in California against non-con foes and 3-2 all-time.
• The Texans were in the WAC with California Baptist and were never able to capture a victory in Riverside, ending their time 0-7 in CA against the Lancers.
• The Texans last victory in the state came on Dec. 29, 2023 in a 79-66 victory at Loyola Marymount.
• In the same year, the Texans took home the SoCal Challenge with wins over Austin Peay and Cal-State Bakersfield. 
• Other than against CBU, the Texans are 2-0 in program history against teams from the state of California.
• The Texans were 0-2 on their first trip to the state with a pair of losses to Humboldt State and Alaska-Fairbanks in Arcata, CA.

Road opener

• Tarleton State enters their first road game owning a 17-21 record in their road opener in program history.
• The Texans are 0-6 in the road opener in the D1 era, all against Power 4 opponents.
• This marks their first road opener since 2020 that was not on the season opener as well.
• The last time the Texans won their road opener was Nov. 9, 2019 as a D2 taking on Metro State in Fort Smith, Ark.

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

• In the UAC preseason poll the Texans were 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.

Next Up

• The Texans will head back to Stephenville for a pair of home contests.
• Tarleton State will have two home games at the EECU Center next week starting with UT Dallas on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
• The Purple and White will then close the week at 7 p.m. on Friday against Alcorn State.
• Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.