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HOUSTON --- Craig Doty, Ann and James Sears Bryant Head Men's Basketball Coach, has announced his recruiting class for Houston Christian University's upcoming 2025-26 season. Ten newcomers will join five returners as Doty embarks on his second season at the helm of the Huskies.
 
The new crop is heavy on upper classmen with one graduate transfer, six seniors and two juniors. HCU has just one freshman signee, making fourteen of the fifteen spots on the full roster being held by veterans with previous collegiate experience.
 
"Despite the challenge of recruiting without NIL or revenue sharing, we were able to sign student-athletes who are experienced, talented, and hungry," stated Doty. "Prospective recruits were able to see the positive trajectory of the program which included elevated on-court success, facility enhancements, and the continued national spotlight that the Southland Conference has helped enable through partnerships with ESPN as well as improved conference NET ratings."
 
The lone grad transfer is Ryan Bartley, who comes to HCU from Malone University. The 6'6 guard averaged 14.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game for the Pioneers while shooting 40% from the three-point line and 83% from the charity stripe. A southpaw from Decatur, Illinois, Bartley spent his first three collegiate campaigns at Mount Mercy in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he averaged nearly 17 points per game and earned All-Heart of America honors as a sophomore after being named the HOA Freshman of the year.
 
Demarco Bethea, Obadiah Curtis, Kylin Green, Nehikhare Igiehon, Bryson Monroe and Will Wilson join the Huskies for their senior season.
 
Coming from Southland Conference foe East Texas A&M is Demarco Bethea. A 6'7 forward from Sellers, South Carolina, Bethea averaged 6.8 points and 4.2 rebounds while making 11 starts in 21 appearances for the Lions as a junior. He spent his rookie collegiate campaign at Andrew College before a sophomore season at Ranger College where he was named All-NTJCAC while averaging 13.8 points and 8.2 rebounds.
 
Obadiah Curtis joins the Huskies after a junior season at Eastern Illinois where he played 18 minutes per game over 26 appearances and registered averages of 6.8 points and 2.8 rebounds. The Fresno, California native used a redshirt season at Arkansas State after transferring from Reedley College where the 6'4 guard registered 19.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.
 
Making their return to Texas as transfers are Kylin Green of Lewisville and Nehikhare Igeihon out of Austin.
 
Green spent the 2024-25 season at Utah Valley University where played 15.5 minutes per game off the bench in 33 outings. The 6'0 guard averaged 4.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists to help the Wolverines capture the outright WAC regular season title and a berth into the National Invitation Tournament. He started his career at Daytona State College where he averaged just under 14 points, five boards and 5.6 assists over two seasons with the Falcons.
 
A 6'7, 225 forward, Igiehon played last year at Henderson State. He started all 30 games for the Reddies and led the club in scoring (15.8), rebounding (6.9) and blocked shots (1.1). The single season at HSU was preceded by two at Angelina College where Igeihon averaged right at nine points and 5.5 rebounds per outing.
 
Monroe comes to the Huskies as a preferred walk-on after spending three seasons at his hometown school Howard Payne University. The 6'1 guard appeared in 20 games for the Yellowjackets after being a two-time All-District selection at Brownwood High School.
 
Rounding out the seniors is Will Wilson, a 6'3 guard from Lofton, Virginia. Wilson earned All-GNAC honors during each of his seasons with Western Washington University where he averaged 15 points per game. Before latching on with the Vikings, Wilson was the NWAC Southern Region Player of the Year at Mt. Hood Community College, where he put up 27.1 points and 6.7 rebounds per game as a sophomore. He began his career at State Fair Community College.
 
Two players come into the program as juniors, Caleb Gaston and Mambourou Mara, with Brennen Byrd being the lone underclassman signing for the Huskies.
 
A 6'7, 220 forward from San Antonio, Gaston arrives at HCU after single season stints at Temple College and Howard College. He averaged 14.3 points and 7.4 boards and earned NTJCAA Second-team All-Conference honors at Temple as a freshman. After matriculating to Howard, he saw action in 22 games with 10 starts, averaging 8.4 points and 3.6 boards.
 
Mara is a 6'6 junior from Conakry, Guinea who has been at University of North Dakota the last two seasons. He saw time in 44 games, including averages of 3.2 points and 1.8 boards as a sophomore last year while recording 16 starting nods.
 
The lone freshman on the squad is 6'6 forward Brennen Byrd. A preferred walk-on from Coppell, Byrd was a two-time All-State performer for Grapevine Faith Christian, where he posted 15 points and 10 boards per game in leading the Lions to 58 wins in two years as a starter.
 
"We embrace being a program where young men can come in, make degree progress, get on the court and have success, advance socially and spiritually, and leave with enhanced basketball opportunities as a result of their time at Houston Christian. We feel this year's recruiting class helps us continue to move the program forward into the new era of college basketball," Doty concluded.
 
Those new faces will be added to a solid handful of returning players, a core which features graduate student Trent Johnson, senior Elijah Brooks and juniors Demari Williams, D'Aundre Samuels and Ahjany Lee.
 
A 6'3 all-purpose guard, Brooks made 27 starts for HCU last season averaging 9.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game. The Topeka, Kansas native was third on the team in scoring and led the team in helpers while shooting a team-best 47.8% from the floor.
 
Johnson, a graduate student from Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, made 28 starts and averaged 5.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and a team-high 1.2 steals. The versatile 6'6 forward shot right at 37% from the arc in his first season in Sharp Gym and was second on the team in blocked shots with 26.
 
Before having his season cut short with a knee injury, Williams, a 6'5 forward from Fulshear was averaging 5.7 points and 2.7 rebounds and shooting a team-high 85% from the free-throw line.
 
Samuels returns after providing offensive spark off the pine in his first season on Fondren Road. The 6'2 guard from Denver, Colorado led the bench brigade at 7.2 points per outing overall and eight points per in conference action while also chipping 1.5 assists per game in 16 minutes per.
 
Ahjany Lee, a 6'8 forward from Byron, Minnesota will return to the court after redshirting the 2024-25 campaign following knee surgery.
 
The Huskies posted a 12-20 overall mark and a 9-11 ledger in the SLC, marking the most wins for the program both overall and in conference play since the 2018-19 season. The initial campaign for Doty on the sidelines of Sharp Gymnasium ended with a trip to the Southland Conference Tournament.
 
HCU lost 10 players off last year's squad, including its top two scorers in first-team All-Southland selection Bryson Dawkins and Julian Mackey and leading rebounder Peyton Rogers. Dawkins became just the second first-team All-SLC selection in program history, joining Anthony Odunsi who was named in 2015-16.
 
November 3 marks the beginning of the 2025-26 slate and HCU will open things up by hosting Southern Arkansas University. The always grueling Southland Conference slate starts in earnest on December 6 when the Huskies hit the road to face University of New Orleans, the first of 22 conference games.
 
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