Men’s basketball looks forward to homecoming weekend home opener

Lipscomb men’s basketball has started their season with three away games, so while the season has been underway since Nov. 3, they’ve yet to play in Allen Arena. Their first home game is Nov. 15, at 4pm, falling in the middle of Bisons Weekend.

The team is facing an almost entirely new build, from players to coaching staff. Of the 15-man roster, only six are returners, and nearly the entire coaching and assistant staff is new. Yet despite the rebuild, the team is determined to stand strong this season.

“We have three pillars to our culture,” said transfer redshirt junior guard Mateo Esmeraldo. “Honesty, humility and hunger. And I think that perfectly defines our culture, our relationships and just our development and our commitment together… We’re all just playing for something bigger than ourselves.”

With nine new players, often a team might take some time to gel, but senior guard Charlie Williams, one of the six returning players, said this team wasn’t like that.

“Coach Carroll recruited a great group of guys, not even [just] speaking about basketball,” said Williams. “Just connecting with them and getting to know a new group of dudes is always fun… everyone’s really competing every day trying to get better, so it’s awesome.”

Williams said similar about the coaching staff. “[They’re] just super genuine. They care a lot about you… it’s hard not to want to play for guys like that. You can just tell that they really want you to be at your best and they care about you off the court too.”

With a rebuilt roster and staff, the season the team is beginning is the start of a new venture for many of them, but none more so than new Head Coach Kevin Carroll.

“As a coach who’s taking over a new program… everything you do is for the first time,” said Carroll. “Every nuance, every play, every scheme, every scouting report, every film session, it’s all something that’s maybe a little bit different and it just takes time to get the reps… to be completely comfortable and understand what is needed.”

Despite the new-ness of everything, the team is ready to take on the season, whatever it has to offer.

“I’m actually very hopeful for this team,” said Carroll. “I was really excited by the roster we were able to build, considering the timeline of everything.”

“I think that we’re gonna get a lot better as the season goes along, just because we are so new and relatively inexperienced,” Carroll said. “You think about it, we only have, if I’m not mistaken, like 17 division one starts on our roster. Which in today’s day and age where everybody is playing a bunch of 22, 23 and 24 year olds, that’s very low, you know?”

“But I really do like our team and [its] makeup, the talent on our team. It’s just, we’re gonna need some game reps and some experience for all that to kind of be able to shape itself together,” Carroll said.

“I think we have a deep squad,” said Williams. “Everyone likes to compete and get after it on both ends of the court, so that makes practice fun.”

“You know, we had nine new players mixed with six returners, and usually that’s kind of a recipe for disaster,” Carroll said. “The way these guys have come together just from the summer, it all clicked in ways that honestly, I never fully imagined. It’s been a real blessing and I think that’s gonna be our secret sauce this year in a day and age where everyone has a new team it feels like every year.”

Williams added that he thinks there’s something special that sets the team apart this year. “I think it’s the fact that everyone kind of has something to prove in their own way,” he said.

“You have dudes like Ethan, Duncan, Cole and Mateo coming from lower levels… proving that they’re hoopers at this level too. Which I know they are,” Williams said. “And then for the guys that stayed, proving that we trust Coach Carroll, and our belief in him and his staff and what he wants to get done. So proving that was the right choice all around for the guys that stayed… I think everyone just kind of has their own thing to prove which kind of sets us apart in a way because everyone’s hungry.”

 “Nobody’s focusing on the individual,” said Esmeraldo. “Everybody’s focusing on what we’re all pushing toward. We all understand there’s gonna be bumps in the roads, obstacles. College basketball season’s a rollercoaster. We’re just trying to get better every single day. That’s [our] biggest thing – improving 1% every single day.”

The Bisons are entering this season off of an ASUN Championship win in the 2024-25 season, and everyone on the team has another win in mind as a goal. The players and coaches have their own personal goals as well.

“[We have] big shoes to fill, but I think we’re capable of doing it,” said Esmeraldo. “Personally, I went to March Madness my sophomore year at my old school, and I wasn’t really a key factor in that. I didn’t really play that much. So I think personally just getting back to that tournament with being a key factor and a key piece to it is something that I’ve always dreamed of.”

“I would say another goal of mine is just to win for the guys around me,” Esmeraldo added. “It’s so easy to want to go to war with these guys just ’cause of how cool they are and how close we are off the court. Same thing with my coaches. I wanna win for them.”

“I just wanna have fun with it and have my best year yet,” said Williams. “That’s what I want to do. I wanna have my best year yet. Whatever I need to do to help the guys win, I want to prove that I can do that, be a leader.”

“This is my last year. So I want to take advantage of that, make the most of it,” Williams grinned. “I want to bring a positive energy to the team every day, and just try to be that older voice, as a dude that’s kind of been through it a little bit more than other guys.”

“We’re all vying for the same things and that’s winning a conference championship, getting to the NCAA tournament,” Carroll said. “So we can shed a light on what Lipscomb is about to a greater community and a greater audience. But my other job as a coach is also to create memories for these guys that they’re gonna be able to take with them for the rest of their life. And I think… we’re gonna be able to do that.”

Lipscomb men’s basketball will take to the court in Allen Arena for the first time this season on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 4pm.

Featured image taken by Micah Barkley.