A great way to spend your Thursdays and Saturdays

BY JAXON HANSARD / Sports Editor

One thing that is constant throughout the whole calendar and school year is college sports. From late August with college football, to April and May with baseball plus softball, the school year is always busy with the university's money making sports games. 

In early November, right when the weather begins to cool down, basketball season starts for the men’s and women’s teams. 

Tarleton State University’s basketball programs have been good and consistent for the last few years, which is important to building a successful program, but also a culture to keep and attract good players. 

Two days a week you will be able to catch Tarleton’s basketball teams competing here in Stephenville on Thursdays and Saturdays.  

Thursday games begin at 7 p.m. to help accommodate the students and student-athlete's school schedules, while Saturday game times can vary from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

While this 2023-2024 season will seem a little different compared to the previous season, due to multiple coaching changes, these changes still mark the effectiveness of the school’s ability to bring in impactful faculty and players. 

The women’s team is entering a new age with this being their first season under head coach Bill Brock. 

Brock was on the Baylor coaching staff for 18 seasons under legendary four-time champion Women’s coach Kim Mulkey, who recently won her fourth NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship with Louisiana State University. 

Tarleton guards Jakoriah Long and Miannah Little have played for or against coach Brock before and their past relationship, accompanied by his coaching resume, led to those players joining the purple and white this year. 

The current roster at Brock’s disposal is used to make for an exciting amount of three-point shot-making, fast finishes at the rim and occasional post touches for the big to create their own points or make a play out of. 

An unfortunate start to the men’s season was the sudden absence of head Coach Billy Gillespie, but with that came new opportunities for Assistant Head Coach Joseph Jones, who helped lead the Texans to win the SoCal Challenge Tournament.

Three players return from last season’s WAC tournament team and for good reason, as the returns have been impactful with the opportunity of increased minutes. 

The men’s team has been a must-see this season with a 15-7 record currently. Jakorie Smith's shot-making has been as clutch as ever this season with one game-winning triple and another triple to send a game into overtime that the Texans went on to win. 

With everybody playing hard and competing under Coach Jones, KiAndre Gaddy has become a top three rebounder in the nation and with that skill, he has been able to make some highlights for Tarleton with his victims of the WAC. 

If you have some spare time throughout the week, go support our Tarleton Basketball teams on their journey to get back to the Vegas WAC Tournament.