COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team will tip off the 2017-18 season in Wichita, Kan. with a tournament hosted by Newman University. The Lions will face Oklahoma Christian on Friday and Newman on Saturday.
 
Oklahoma Christian
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (0-0) vs. Oklahoma Christian (0-0)
WHERE: Fugate Gymnasium in Wichita, Kan.
WHEN: Friday, Nov. 10 at 5 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
 
Newman
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce at Newman (0-0)
WHERE: Fugate Gymnasium in Wichita, Kan.
WHEN: Sat, Nov. 11 at 4 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
 
The A&M-Commerce men's basketball team has moved into a new era, welcoming head coach Jaret von Rosenberg back into the fold. Having served as an assistant coach at A&M-Commerce during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons, von Rosenberg is glad to be back and is excited about the first offseason with the program.
 
"Going into this offseason, I wanted to lay a foundation," he said. "We had 10 new players come in and have three returners from last year's team that are familiar with this school and this league but not familiar with me as a head coach. So we have 13 guys trying to gel and create an identity as early as possible going into the season. We are excited about the progress we have had since day one. Hopefully this is a team that will continue to grow throughout the course of the year."
 
During the first month of training camp and practices, von Rosenberg's squad rarely worked on offense. A defensive-minded coach, he wants to make sure his team defends the right way. While offensive performance can differ on a night-to-night basis, von Rosenberg knows defensive effort is something his team can always control.
 
 "If you are able to defend and make people work to get their points night in and night out, whether you are making jump shots or not, it gives you a chance to be in the game in the last four minutes," he said. "If we can create an identity to where we are mentally and physically tough defending, I think we have a chance to win some games and be competitive."
 
The Lions return three players from last season, when the team finished the regular season with an 18-9 record and earning a berth into the South Central Regional Tournament. Seniors Dorian Armstrong, Daquane Willford and Trey Washington will be relied upon early to help the new players learn the ins and outs of the Lone Star Conference.
 
"It is definitely hard [playing in the Lone Star Conference]," Armstrong said. "You have to get up to play every night. Anybody, from 1 to 10 can beat anybody in the league. There are no games you can take off and think it is going to be easy. You have to bring it every night 100 percent or you can get beat."
 
The Lions also have six new college transfers who will be looked upon to play well and lead the team. The team brought in seniors Joseph Williams-Powell from Coastal Carolina and Aaron Horne from North Florida. The team also has four new juniors: Reggie Reid from Florida Gulf Coast, Trey Conrod from Ranger College, Srdan Budimir from Howard College and Willie Rooks from Coastal Bend College. Von Rosenberg feels his team will be able to compete right away in the league.
 
"We are lucky with all six of those guys," he said. "They have been coached by tremendously talented coaching staffs previous to coming here. When you recruit guys that come from great programs, it makes it that much easier when they get to town when you are trying to put in your system. We are excited about everyone we have brought in."
 
The Lions have also brought in a new wave of youth, signing four freshmen in von Rosenberg's first signing class. The team brought in Stefan Bozickovic, a 6-10 forward from Bosnia, Desmond McNiel, a 6-3 guard from Whitewright, Jordan Wilson, a 6-3 guard from Blytheville, Ark., and Leo Lara, a 6-3 guard from Santa Rosa.
 
"When I got the job in April, I wanted to go out and get some youth that we thought could be great four-year players here," von Rosenberg said. "I think we did that. Stefan is from Bosnia. His first time in America was when he landed to come to school here. But I think he has adjusted nicely. We are excited what he can do this year on the floor for us and what he will do moving forward. We were able to sign Leo Lara from Santa Rosa. He is a prolific scorer who has a college-ready body.
 
"Jordan Wilson is a young athlete that will be playing basketball and running track. He has a great future. Then Desmond McNiel also joins the fold from that freshman class. He was an All-Region player and scored a lot of points and won a lot of games."
 
Von Rosenberg saw what it took during the 2014-15 season to win an LSC Championship. While the feat is ultimately his team's first goal, he knows it is imperative to focus on the day-to-day operations and that in turn will lead to long-term success.
 
"We talk about opportunities everyday," he said. "Each one of these guys, coaching staff included, every day we have an opportunity to get on the floor and work. You can't get opportunities back. We are talking a lot about taking advantage of every single opportunity we can. And when we miss one and don't have our best day, put that behind us and let's take advantage of the next one. If we can, day by day, try to improve and take advantage of those opportunities, it gives us a chance to play in Frisco."
 
The Lions begin their season with road games on back-to-back nights. They will face Oklahoma Christian on Friday and Newman on Saturday in Kansas. Looking to achieve the team's second goal of advancing to the NCAA Tournament, von Rosenberg knows his team needs to perform well right out of the gate and not just wait until the conference season to put it all together.
 
"We are going to put ourselves in position early to play good competition to get ready for Lone Star Conference," he said. "I told these guys before our first workouts, I told them that on Nov. 10, it matters. You can't wait until conference to get going. With regional rankings and the way Division II works for NCAA Tournament at-large bids, you have to be ready on Nov. 10. When we go on the road and play really good regional teams, we want to be ready on the defensive end. I don't care how many shots we make, we are trying to put ourselves in position to win by guarding in the first part of the year as our offense tries to catch up to our defense."