The 2015-2016 Tarleton State University basketball season is just around the corner, and Coach Lonn Reisman and the Texans received the honor of being ranked number one in the Sporting News preseason top 10 poll.

To help fill the void of losing players this offseason, the Texans also made sure to revamp the roster with 11 additions (six freshmen, five transfers), two of which are coming from Division I programs.

Football isn’t the only sport with recruiting depth in Texas, seeing as all six of Tarleton’s freshman additions call the Lone Star State home. This year’s freshman class includes Da’Rhon Mitchell (Cedar Hill), Lance Ewell (Brock), Anthony Davis (Lewisville), Ivan Tevis (Perryton), Josh Hawley (Irving), and Kealon Clayborne (Cedar Hill). 

As for the transfers, junior Xavier Smith, originally from Richardson, comes from St. Bonaventure University in New York and senior Charles Hill joined the Texans after playing his previous collegiate years at Texas Christian University. Junior Romond Jenkins comes from Moberly Areas Community College in St. Moberly, Missouri, teaming back up with senior Malcolm Hamilton. Louis Baltazar, a Bronx transplant from Burlington County College in New Jersey, and Chantz Chambers from Bossier Parish Community College are also joining the roster. While playing at Burlington County, Baltazar was a junior college All-American, averaging 23.6 points per game last season. Chambers earned first team All-Conference honors while at Bossier Parish College, and Jenkins averaged a double-double (10 ppg, 10.5 rebs) per game at Moberly Area College, which will add to a strong Texan presence in the paint. While at TCU, Hill played in over 50 games for the Horned Frogs, which included a career high 20-point performance against Mississippi State. During his 22 games for St. Bonaventure, Smith brings valued experience having played in the Atlantic 10 conference, well known for its basketball pedigree.

The Texans will also be returning nine players to the hardwood this season, including returning starters Michael Hardge, Hamilton, E.J. Reed and Nosa Ebomwonyi.

The last time Tarleton earned a number one preseason ranking, the Texans finished 27-7 and made it to the Elite 8 round of the NCAA Division II tournament. Seeing as last year’s squad reached the NCAA Final Four with 31 wins, the sky is the limit for this year’s roster of Texan Basketball.

The Tarleton State University Texans begin their season at the Frank Erwin Center for an exhibition match against the University of Texas Longhorns on Nov. 6, and host the Texan Tip-Off Classic in Wisdom Gym against the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs on Nov. 13 at 7 p.m.