KINGSVILLE, Texas – More than 250 days have passed since the NCAA's decision to cancel all winter and spring championships brought a sudden end to the 2019-20 Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball season. This verdict was handed down just over 48 hours before the Javelinas were set to tip-off against Angelo State in the first round of the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament, TAMUK's second appearance in the national postseason in four years.
Almost nine months later, coach Johnny Estelle has his team back together with a goal in mind: complete the mission they'd set out to achieve in the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
"There's unfinished business," said Estelle. "[Last year's] seniors did an unbelievable job passing the torch to these guys and I believe they're ready. We have a lot of returners on this team that were key contributors. The way we play, playing about 11 or 12 [players] a night, even though we lost five seniors, there are a lot of guys returning that played key roles and helped us win."
To achieve their goals, Estelle will have to mold and shape a roster that includes almost as many new faces as returners. Three freshmen and three transfers supplement a group that brought back seven student-athletes from the 2019-20 squad. Their tasks will include trying to fill the holes left by a graduating class that accounted for more than half of the previous year's totals in points, assists and steals.
The good news for the Javelinas is the list of players back in fold includes All-LSC Second-Team pick Tre Flowers (Bryan, Texas), leading rebounder Will Chayer (Corpus Christi, Texas) and the team's best three-point shooter from a year ago, Creighton Avery (Corpus Christi, Texas).
Flowers made an immediate impression when he donned the Blue and Gold for the first time in 2019-20. He put up 21 points in the season opener against South Dakota Mines, including a go-ahead three-point play in the final minute of his team's 70-69 victory. Three weeks later, he drained nine three-pointers against Texas A&M-Texarkana, tying a program record, and finished with 31, the highest total by a Javelina in more than seven years. His 137 made baskets as a junior were the most by a Javelina in a single season since Rashad Basey hit 138 in 2012-13.
Chayer's sophomore year included his first career double-double, a 10-point, 10-rebound day against Texas A&M International on Feb. 15th. He led the team in rebounding in nine different games and also tied for a team-high with 19 blocked shots.
"Will's a phenomenal guy," said Estelle, "in terms of his commitment and his intelligence level, in terms of understanding how to play. He plays within his ability, but he has a lot of ability and knows his role on the team."
In two of TAMUK's final four regular season games in 2019-20, Avery reset his career-high for points, first putting up 16 against Angelo State on Feb. 20th, then topping that with a 17-point day in the season finale, an 82-74 win over Tarleton. The Corpus native ended the year with 72 assists as well, contributing to a team total of 376, the highest total for any Javelina team under Estelle.
The start of the new season also means a return to action for juniors Sammy Brooks (Dallas, Texas) and Ellis Jones (Houston, Texas). Through four games last season, Brooks averaged better than 10 points per game, including a 20-point night against Northwest Nazarene, but he played his last game on Nov. 23rd. Jones' last time on the court was in 2018-19 with Schreiner University, when he averaged 11.3 points per game and was an all-conference selection. Both players will be looking to start filling up the stat sheet again in 2020-21.
Flowers, Avery, Brooks and Jones are joined at the guard spot by sophomore Jake Majors (Corpus Christi, Texas), freshmen Derek Luna (Palmview, Texas) and Marcus Jones (Cheneyville, Ark.) and junior transfers Tyrese Patterson (Harlem, N.Y.) Jordan Wilson (Blythevile, Ark.) and Trajan Snell (Waco, Texas).
"Every team I coach is special," said Estelle, "but this team has a chance to have the best guards I've had since I've been here. There are different types of guards. Their ability to pass, catch and shoot is a lot better than what we've had in the past. Until we play in a game, you're always going to say you reserve judgement, but I really like the new guys that we've got coming in meshing with the older guys in our program."
Sharing the forward duties with Chayer will be sophomore Wellington Stovall (Houston, Texas) and freshman Ja Robertson (Houston, Texas). Stovall has been a member of the program since 2018 and saw action in 18 games as a redshirt freshman, seeing a season-high 19 minutes of action on Nov. 30th against Texas A&M-Texarkana. Robertson came to Kingsville from Hightower High School, where he helped his team capture co-district and regional titles and was a first-team all-district honoree.
In 2020-21, Estelle will be trying to guide this group to a second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, a feat never before accomplished in program history.
"You have to experience winning for two reasons," said Estelle. "It's confirmation for all the hard work you've put in at the very beginning. It sets the standard for the future. We had a great run in terms of support and it gathered momentum for this program in the future that everyone wants to experience every year."
For the start of 2020-21 season, tickets will not be sold to the general public for home contests at the Steinke Physical Education Center. This decision was made to ensure the health and safety of the student-athletes, coaches and other game personnel as the Javelina basketball programs prepare for the 20-game regular season.
Stay current with TAMUK men's basketball all year long by following @JavelinaMBB and @JavelinaSports on Twitter and Instagram, liking Javelina Men's Basketball on Facebook and subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube Channel. Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network sponsored by Mendoza's Pharmacy.
