KINGSVILLE, Texas (Men's Basketball) – Year two of the Johnny Estelle era is just a day away as Texas A&M University-Kingsville officially tips off the 2015-16 season inside the Gil H. Steinke Physical Education Center-Kingsville Hampton Inn Court on Saturday, Nov. 14. The Javelinas will draw South Central Region opponents in the University of Texas of the Permian Basin on Saturday at 8 p.m. and Texas A&M International University on Sunday at 6 p.m. Colorado State University-Pueblo will also participate in the two-day tournament.
 
Live stats and live video will be available for all four games and can be found by visiting the Emerald Beach Hotel Javelina Men's Basketball Tip-Off Challenge tournament central page (http://javelinaathletics.com/sports/2015/11/7/MBB_TipOffChallenge.aspx?path=mbball).
 
Scouting the Javelinas
Texas A&M-Kingsville enters the 2015-16 season in its second season under head coach Johnny Estelle. Estelle led the club to nine wins in 2014-15 and a near upset of nationally-ranked opponent Angelo State in the opening round of the Lone Star Conference Championship. Returning this season are Jamar Goodwin, Troy Jones, Duan Wright, Will West, Trey Sumpter, DJ Weathers, Brandon Etienne and Elliot Taylor. Thomas Diaz is the longest tenured Javelina despite redshirting last season.
 
Coaches
A nine-win campaign last season, the Javelinas look to earn their fourth Lone Star Conference championship in the 87th season as a program and first since 2009. Led by Johnny Estelle, the team returns assistant coaches Mark Mathew and Omar Gonzalez and volunteer coach Gilbert Belmontes for their second seasons.
 
Inside the Series
The Javelinas have not played their season opening opponent since 2013 (UTPB) and are 0-3 all-time versus the Falcons. The first meeting was in 2011. Against Texas A&M International, the Javelinas are 14-5 all-time despite falling in the previous three meetings. The series against TAMIU began in Kingsville's favor, 8-0.
 
Meet the Hogs
#1 Troy Jones - Jones was poised for a big year in 2014-15 but was hampered late with an injury. Appearing in 25 games, starting 19, he led the team in scoring with 11.6 points per contest and connected on 62.8 percent of his shots. He pulled down 5.7 rebounds and registered two double-doubles, including 19 points and 12 boards in his Javelina debut, a double-overtime victory over Lake Erie College (Nov. 14, 2014). He reached double figures 16 times.
 
#2 Cris Boleware - Cris Boleware comes from Navarro Junior College, where he averaged 11.9 points, 5.3 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals for the Bulldogs. He was named to the All-Region XIV team.
 
#3 Trey Sumpter - Sumpter appeared in 25 games last season, averaging 2.2 points and 2.0 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per game. He recorded seven rebounds and two steals in a win versus Eastern New Mexico University on Feb. 4, 2015 and scored eight points off the bench against No. 8/7 Angelo State on Jan. 31, 2015.
 
#4 Will West - West played in all 27 games as a true freshman in 2014-15 and averaged 6.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists and a steal in 20.7 minutes. Making six starts last season, he reached double figures six times. His best performance came in a win over the Greyhounds on Feb. 4, when he poured in 15 points and added four assists and four rebounds. He followed with 14 points, six rebounds and three steals at West Texas A&M University (Feb. 7, 2015) and 13 points and five boards at Texas A&M University-Commerce (Feb. 12, 2015).
 
#5 Tim Singleton - A former Division I student-athlete at the University of Richmond, Singleton joins the Javelinas after appearing in 20 games in his lone season at Odessa Junior College. There, he scored 3.9 points/game and pulled down 1.3 rebounds per contest.
 
#10 Brandon Etienne - Etienne returns from an injury that sidelined the left-hander for most of the second half. He appeared in 15 games, starting five. In a near upset over No. 25 Our Lady of the Lake University (Nov. 25, 2014), he swiped five passes and dished out two dimes. He averaged 2.7 points and 1.8 assists in 14.1 minutes of action.
 
#11 Marcus Frazier - A Temple Junior College transfer, Frazier scored 6.9 points in 31 games. A pass-first guard, he dished 5.0 assists per game and added 2.2 rebounds/contest.
 
#12 Thomas Diaz – Returning to the hardwood after redshirting last season, Diaz will have two years of eligibility remaining. The longest tenured Javelina, he has been a member of the men's basketball program since 2012-13.
 
#13 Duan Wright - Wright provided highlight-reel dunks throughout the season after winning the Midnight Madness dunk contest in 2014. He scored 9.5 points per game and added 3.8 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.1 assists in 26 games (23 starts). In the LSC quarterfinals matchup at the tournament, he finished with 21 points – 15 in the second half. He surpassed the 20-point plateau twice and reached double figures 11 times.
 
#20 James Durst – freshman from Refugio, Texas.
 
#21 Elliot Taylor - Taylor participated in 23 games as the key big man reserve, averaging 1.4 points and 1.9 rebounds. He shot 60.9 percent from the floor and collected 44 rebounds and 33 points.
 
#22 Michael Vasquez – freshman from Brownsville, Texas.
 
#23 DJ Weathers - Weathers has the potential to light up the scoreboard at will as a sixth-man. The guard averaged 9.9 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.7 steals in 19.2 minutes. In just his second game for the Hogs, he scored 25 points – 23 in the second half – versus No. 25 OLLU. In the LSC Tournament opener versus No. 17/15 Angelo State, he scored 10 points.
 
#31 JaMarkus Horace – Three-year letterwinner for Nicholls State. Last season, Horace appeared in 29 games off the bench, averaging 10.9 minutes per contest, 2.6 points and 2.0 rebounds.
 
#32 Kyre Edwards - A four-year lettermen for Sam Rayburn High School in Pasadena, Texas, Edwards averaged 18 points per game, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 steals for the Texans and received MVP, District 21-6A Offensive MVP and first team all-region honors.
 
#33 Robert Stevenson - Stevenson transferred from McLennan Community College, but he did not appear in any games. Splitting his high school career between Carver High School and Eisenhower High School, Stevenson was named first team all-district after finishing second in the region in blocked shots.
 
#55 Jamar Goodwin - Goodwin started 24 of the 26 games he appeared in, beginning his career with 21 points and seven rebounds in the win over Lake Erie. He followed with 20 points against Henderson State University (Nov. 16, 2014). Reaching double figures 12 times, he averaged 9.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals in just over 26 minutes.
 
Nico Bolware – freshman from Arlington, Texas
 
Scouting the Falcons
A team that went 17-12 last season and 12-8 in the Heartland Conference, the Falcons return 6-8 forward Codye Hatcher, who averaged 14.1 points on 61 percent shooting and 9.2 rebounds last season. They did however loose leading scorer Chris Griffin (14.7) and key contributors in Madison Turner (13.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg), Phadarius Taylor (12.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg), Xavier Martin (9.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.7 apg) and Stephan Thompson (9.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg).
 
Scouting the Dustdevils
Vadal Faniel (12.3 ppg, 7.1 rpg) and Patrick Carlson (11.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg) were the lone players averaging double figures in scoring for Texas A&M International in 2014-15, but they have both since departed Laredo. The Dustdevils defeated the Javelinas in the lone matchup in December, 88-83. The roster consists of three New Yorkers, five Californians, four international student-athletes and just two Texan natives.
 
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