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Gavin Patrick
BY GAVIN PATRICK
Sports Editor
The spring 2025 semester is in full swing at Tarleton State University, and so are its spring sports.
The first week of classes (Jan. 16-23) saw a number of pivotal games for men’s and women’s basketball, a historic meet for the indoor track & field team and the spring opener for tennis.
Here’s a recap of some of the week’s best action.
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MBB – Jan. 16, 18, 23
JAN. 16: FREDDY HICKS RETURNS On April 30, 2024, it was announced that standout guard/forward Freddy Hicks was returning to Tarleton for his senior season after a year at Arkansas State University, the place his father played collegiate basketball, and a member of the FBS Sun Belt Conference.
Hicks had played his first three collegiate seasons with the Texans and established himself as a program great, ranking first in total points (934), rebounds (410) and free throws (327) in the Division 1 era. And after losing arguably their three best players from a season ago—Jakorie Smith, Lue Williams and KiAndre Gaddy—to graduation, the Texans were eager to replenish their star power.
However, Hicks’ comeback was delayed by a broken foot he suffered before the season, and he missed the team’s first 18 games. Without him, sophomore Bubu Benjamin emerged as the leading scorer, currently averaging 15.2 points on a 46.4% field goal percentage. Perhaps, this was a blessing in disguise for the young, 6’ 7’’ Canadian guard.
But at last, Hicks returned on January 16, as did the spring semester, against California Baptist University in front of the home crowd at Wisdom Gym. And while he was noticeably rusty and on a minutes count, his presence was felt.
Just not for the first eight minutes.
Hicks didn’t enter the game until the 12:10 mark of the first half. After a defensive foul stopped play for a free throw, Hicks checked into the game for the first time and was met with a warm welcome from the Texan faithful, on a night that drew a larger crowd than usual, perhaps solely for this moment.
Hicks’ first points of the year came two minutes later on a diving attempt for a layup. He hit the hardwood afterward but popped right up, proving that he wasn’t playing at half speed. In all, Hicks scored a team-leading 15 points coming off the bench, shooting 3 of 6 from the field and making 9 of his 14 free throw attempts.
Most impressively, Hicks did it with just 20 minutes of playing time. It was still a below average performance relative to his previous success, but it helped the Texans pull out a 67-57 win over a WAC opponent. And, maybe more importantly, it gave the fans something to cheer about.
The players weren’t excluded from that joy, either.
After the game, as Hicks entered the locker room, his teammates showered him with water from plastic bottles (photo seen above), and Hicks covered his head in amusement and in natural self-defense.
It was a highlight to remember for the whole team, who certainly has had Hicks’ back through it all.
“Freddy Hicks sure does make a difference out there,” head coach Billy Gillispie said, via Tarleton Sports. “He only got to play [20] minutes, but those were definitely [20] impact-full minutes."
Other games of the week:
1/18: loss at Grand Canyon 64-88
1/23: loss at Abilene Christian 56-67
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WBB – Jan. 16, 18, 23
Second year head coach Bill Brock has the women’s basketball team in the midst of a turnaround season.
At this point last year, through 22 games, the team was 8-14, finishing at 11-20 after a second round exit in the WAC tournament. This year, they’re up to 12-9, with a strong 9-2 mark at home. The team holds the fourth-best overall record in the WAC and, currently, are in good standing for a second straight conference tournament berth.
ON JAN. 18, the Texans took on WAC-leading Grand Canyon University in Wisdom Gym, losing 53-57. It was a rare Saturday night White Out game, and the energy was high early, especially on the defensive side.
The Texans held the Lopes’ high-powered offense to 20 points in the first half, leading 27-20 heading into the break. In fact, after their first basket, Tarleton led for 31 minutes straight of gametime. It wasn’t until three minutes into the fourth quarter when they finally relinquished it – and never got it back.
The score then stood deadlocked at 49 for two minutes before Grand Canyon went on a 8-4 run to end the game and hand Tarleton one of its more gut-wrenching defeats of the season.
This one, they wish they had back.
“We missed a lot of free throws, and we didn’t shoot a very good field goal percentage in the second half,” Brock said in the coaches room after the game. “That was due to their defenses. They changed defenses a lot, got us low in the shot clock situation multiple times, and then we just did not get a good shot every time down the floor.”
The Texans were 14 of 23 on the night from the free throw line (60.9%) and had two key misses in the final stages that could’ve cut the deficit to one possession. Those missed opportunities— nine, to be exact—were ultimately the difference in the game.
The Texans also went 0-4 from the field in the final two minutes, with a key turnover on a travel in the middle of it. In all, their 37.5% field goal percentage (18-48) was about two and a half points lower than their season average -- 40.2%.
Finishing games will be key for Brock’s bunch down the stretch, as the team looks forward to the final five weeks of the regular season, with a second straight WAC tournament berth very much in reach.
“I think our team is better. I think we are better than we played tonight, and I think we have a lot of room for improvement,” Brock said. “And hopefully over the next five weeks, we do make a lot of improvement and continue to get better.”
Other games of the week:
1/16: loss at California Baptist 72-73
1/23: win vs. Abilene Christian 79-54
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Track & Field – Jan. 17-18
The indoor track & field team competed in their first meet of 2025: the CORKY CLASSIC, held at the Texas Tech Sports and Performance Center.
The stars of the weekend for Tarleton were freshmen Victoria Cameron and Malak Rashwan. Each runner smashed school records and on two different occasions.
First, in the preliminary round, Rashwan reset her own record, set in 2024, in the 60-meter hurdle by 0.03 seconds, clocking in at 8.68. That placed her 21st of the 24 runners that moved on. In the semifinals, she outdid herself again, racing to a 8.52-second finish. She finished 15th of the 24 qualifiers, seven spots off of a finals berth.
Get this: Rashwan’s time in the semifinal also set the Egyptian national record for the 60-meter hurdle. Rashwan is a native of Cairo, Egypt’s capital, and even though the race was not run in her home country, Egypt still recognizes the time as the new national record.
“I also hold the national records in heptathlon U18 and U20, so for me the hurdles record was a big goal,” Rashwan said. “I knew about it, and I knew that I could break it. It’s the first meet of the year, so I expect to break it again.”
The first day of competition also saw Cameron set new Tarleton records.
She dashed to a 7.25-time in the 60-meter, besting the previous record of 7.45, set by Hanna Dudley in 2024. It was also good for the second best time of all 96 event runners, moving her onto the semifinals. There, just a few hours later, she reset the record with a 7.19-time, putting her second overall again, with a spot in the finals.
However, Cameron chose to not run the final, as did the other two runners in the top three. She would’ve had to run her third race that day, all within three hours, with it being so early in the season.
The 60-meter record is somewhat of a redemption story for Cameron, too. She was told last year by doctors, following ACL surgery, that she’d “never run at the same level” that she did before injury. Turns out, she came back stronger.
“Breaking the record was honestly just a total shock,” Cameron said. “That was my first time ever running indoor, so I had no idea what to expect. I was just going to run to the best of my ability that God has provided me with.”
Junior sprinter Aidan Matthews had something to say for the record books as well. On the second day of competition, he, too, broke a school record, this time in the 200-meter final. Matthews clocked in at 21.21 seconds, besting teammate David Mvunduara’s old record by 0.07 seconds. He wound up 10th in the event out of 23 competing runners.
Matthews was up against 15 runners from Power Four conferences, eight of which finished in the top 10 with him. He said he wasn’t intimidated “at all” by the raised competition.
Part of what gives Matthews strength is his faith. He cited two bible verses from the Romans and Philippians that help forge his mindset on the track.
One, from Romans 8:31 NIV, reads, “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
This reassures Matthews that it’s not worth being afraid of the people around you because everyone’s being is drawn from the same place.
The other, from Philippians 4:13 NIV, reads, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
This speaks to the confidence Matthews has gained from his faith, that of which he translates to the track.
“It didn’t feel like anything running against the others,” Matthews said. “I feel like I have just as much capability as the rest of runners. My mindset is they have to run against me, not the other way around. It’s not ego, it’s just confidence. Scripture gives me that confidence, too.”
Four Texans were named WAC Indoor Track Athletes of the Week (dated January 22), sweeping all categories, for their performances at the Corky Classic. The honors are listed below.
Victoria Cameron – Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Week (her first weekly honor)
Sofia DeGroot – Women’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week
Aidan Matthews – Men’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week
Gabriele Tosti – Men’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week
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Tennis – Jan. 23
ON JAN. 23, Tarleton Tennis opened their spring season against Conference USA’s New Mexico State University Aggies at the Tarleton Tennis Facility, winning 4-3.
The Texans jumped out to an early lead in doubles, with duos Maretha Burger/Emma Persson and Maria Castano/Clara Sobius each winning 6-2 over their counterparts. This marked Burger’s (Sr.) 16th win in doubles as a Texan, after playing the No. 1 position in all 21 matches her junior year.
Noelia Lorca and Ximena Morales also paired up in doubles, but their match was left unfinished.
With the doubles point in hand, the Texans turned their attention to singles, going 3-3 in the six matches. Duru Kuscu (Fr.) and Sobius each won in straight sets in the No. 2 and 5 spots, but the Aggies had their moments elsewhere.
Persson, Morales and Adeliya Mukhutdinova were outdueled in the No. 1, 3 and 6 spots, leaving it up to Castano in the No. 4 spot to claim a Texans victory.
The freshman was in for an entertaining match, at least for the fans in attendance. Castano fell behind after the first set, 6-3, leaving little margin for error the rest of the way. She cruised to a 6-1 victory in the second to stay alive, followed by a back and forth fight in the third where Castano came from behind to win 6-4.
This left the Texans 1-0, with a lot of season to go. Castano and Kuscu each picked up their first win individually as a Texan, and it marked the second straight year of Tarleton winning its spring opener.
“I'm very proud of the match today," head coach Elianne Douglas-Miron said, via Tarleton Sports. “We competed hard and came out strong. New Mexico State is always a very tough team to play, so I'm happy we dug deep to win that match.”
Match results later that weekend:
1/25: win vs. Lubbock Christian 6-1; win vs. Collin College 7-0
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