HCU vs. AVILA (MO)
The 2024-25 campaign gets underway on Monday night as Houston Christian University hosts Avila University in Sharp Gymnasium. It is the first season opener at home in 16 years, and marks the debut of new Ann and James Sears Bryant Head Coach Craig Doty, who was hired in March to become the ninth head coach in program history.
Doty comes to the Huskies with 12 years of head coaching experience on the NJCAA, NAIA and NCAA Division II levels, having won 259 games in that span including three national titles. He spent the last six seasons at Emporia State University in Kansas where he led the Hornets to 97 wins and top-25 rankings each of the last three seasons. He becomes the ninth head coach in school history and is the first new face on the sidelines in Sharp Gym since 1991, taking over for Ron Cottrell who spent 33 years at the helm and finished his tenure as the all-time winningest coach in school history.
The Huskies return just four players off last year's squad that finished 6-23 overall and 4-14 in Southland Conference play. Brothers
Pierce Bazil and
Porter Bazil,
Marques Gates and
Nathan Self are the only holdovers on the 15-man roster.
Pierce Bazil has averaged 7.4 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists for the Huskies over his first two seasons.
Porter Bazil averaged 2.4 points and 2.3 rebounds over 25 games in his rookie campaign last season. The pair will be joined by 11 newcomers, a number that includes eight with prior NCAA Division I experience.
Local product
Demari Williams of Fulshear (Arizona State / Oral Roberts) headlines the new crop of Huskies, returning home as a redshirt sophomore. HCU also adds a combined five senior or graduate transfers, with seniors
Ivan Reynolds (Cal-State Bakersfield, Jax State),
Julian Mackey (Niagara/Georgia State) and
Trent Johnson (Idaho State) joining graduate students
Valentin Catt (Lamar) and
Peyton Rogers (Emporia State).
Bryson Dawkins (North Alabama),
Elijah Brooks (North Dakota),
Ahjany Lee (St. Thomas MN) and Manvel native
Mason McBride (Western Texas College) join the only other sophomore,
D'Aundre Samuels (Nebraska-Kearney) to round out the fresh faces.
It is the largest incoming class for the Huskies since the first season of transition back to NCAA Division 1 in 2007-08. That roster had just three returners (Montrel Allen, Kevin Amend and Andy Dillon), and featured 12 new players. The 15-man roster for HCU boasts players from nine different states as well as Canada, with Texas being the most represented with five players: Gates, Self, Williams McBride and Katt.
HCU and Avila will be meeting for the first time. The Eagles are led by Tyler Bredehoeft, a former assistant for Doty at Emporia who is now in his second season at AU. Avila has two games under its belt as it flies onto Fondren Road, having lost at Graceland 85-74 to start the season before claiming an 89-76 victory over Kansas Christian in the home opener on Halloween night. They are paced by four players in double-figure scoring, including 6'7 junior forward Xavier Kahube who leads the club at 22 points and nine caroms per over the first couple of games.
The game with Avila is the first on a 31-game schedule for HCU, a slate that includes 15 home games. HCU will only play outside the state lines twice among 11 non-conference games and just six times altogether.
There are three teams on the docket who are currently ranked in the NCAA preseason poll. A trip to Austin on November 8 sees the Huskies take on the No. 19 ranked Texas Longhorns for the third season in a row. Right on the heels of that game comes a trek to Omaha, Nebraska to face 15th-ranked Creighton, and then just before the Christmas break, a short sojourn to College Station will be made for a Texas A&M matinee with the Aggies, currently ranked No. 13 in the land.
After the two games at Texas and Creighton, the Huskies will have six of seven in the friendly confines of Sharp Gym. HCU will host Rockford (IL) on November 16 to begin a four-game homestand that starts that stretch and includes a game with cross-town foe Rice on November 22.
The 18-game Southland schedule begins in earnest with a pair of home contests on December 5 and 7 against Texas A&M-Commerce and Northwestern State before ramping up for good on January 4 in Beaumont against Lamar. The Huskies will also for the first time play all their Saturday conference home games at 3:30 pm, immediately following the women.
All games can be seen on ESPN+ with the exception of Texas and Texas A&M games (SEC Network) and the contest against Creighton (FS1).
#DawgsUp
