SAN ANTONIO (Oct. 24, 2023) – The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) men's basketball team is gearing up for its 15th season starting on Oct. 28. Head Coach Chris Dial returns for his sixth season with some new additions to the staff.

Staff

Dial is aided by former Saints player and Assistant Coach Marcus Thompson. Thompson cemented himself in the Saints record book from 2010-2014. His accomplishments include the most games played with 128 and assists with 630. He is a member of the OLLU Athletics Hall of Fame. BJ Alzaid, David Smith, Eric Bitoni and Marlon Williams are also back as assistant coaches. The new assistant coaches are Forrest Blackwell and Eric Leung. Aiden Torres joined as a graduate student assistant after four years on the team. LJ Herrera is a student assistant, and Antonio Gipson is starting his second year as manager.

Nonconference schedule

The Saints start the season by hosting Oklahoma Panhandle State University (1-1) on Oct. 28. The squad heads to the Oklahoma City Classic next. They will play neutral games against The Master's University on Nov. 3 and Missouri Baptist University on Nov. 4. This will be the first time the program has faced both teams.

The first away game will be at the Southern University at New Orleans (1-1) on Nov. 14. The Saints return home to host Texas Wesleyan University (7-6) on Nov. 18. The previous meeting against the Rams went to four overtime periods, and the Saints won 119-117. The Saints finish the nonconference schedule with exhibitions against Texas A&M University-Kingsville (2-0) on Nov. 22 and the University of the Incarnate Word (1-6) on Jan. 2.

Conference schedule

The Saints finished in sixth place last season in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC). LSU-Shreveport (LSUS) took first place, followed by Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA), Texas A&M University-Texarkana (TAMUT), Paul Quinn College (PQC) and LSU-Alexandria (LSUA). The University of the Southwest (USW) finished below the Saints in seventh place, followed by Louisiana Christian University (LCU), Jarvis Christian University (JCU), Huston-Tillotson University (HTU) and Texas College (TC).

The conference campaign begins against JCU (19-6) in Hawkins, Texas, on Nov. 30. The road trip continues with games against TC (17-8) on Dec. 2 and HTU (20-6) on Dec. 9. The first home games are against LSUS (11-16) on Dec. 14 and Texas A&M University-Texarkana (1-5) on Dec. 16. The Saints continue the home stretch with games against conference newcomer North American University (3-0) on Jan. 4 and XULA (0-3) on Jan. 6.

The squad heads to Dallas, Texas, to play PQC (21-4) on Jan. 11, followed by traveling west to take on USW (19-9) on Jan. 13. LSUA (3-13) and LCU (1-2) are the next two games on the road on Jan. 18 and Jan. 20. OLLU concludes play in January with games against JCU on Jan. 25 and TC on Jan. 27.

The February games feature the second matchups of the season against conference opponents. The road games are against LSUS on Feb. 1, TAMUT on Feb. 3, NAU on Feb. 22 and XULA on Feb. 24. The home matchups are versus PQC on Feb. 8, USW on Feb. 10, LSUA on Feb. 15, LCU on Feb. 17 and HTU on Feb. 27. The conference tournament runs from March 1-3 in Alexandria, La.

Newcomers

The Saints welcome three freshmen internationals this season. Oliver Yannis Borgol and Fotis Hristopoulos join the team from Germany, while Filip Radulovic comes from Croatia. Also new are freshman Matthew Gonzalez from San Antonio Marshall High School and Jalen Jackson from San Antonio Sam Houston High School. Other newcomers include Breion Powell, a junior transfer from Coastal Bend College and Lonzo Rand, a junior transfer from Texas A&M International University.

Returners

Daniel Helterhoff, Sacade Kasamba, Caleb Landon, Paul Minjoth, Georg Piil and Cristobal Villarreal return as sophomores. Helterhoff, who was named to the 2023 RRAC All-Tournament team, grabbed 102 rebounds, and Minjoth shot 40.5 percent from three-point range.

The junior class comprises Rob Gil, Kyonte Holder, Trey Law, Marvis Odia and Xavier Purnell. Dial said, "Trey Law played in every game last year, and we expect big things from him." He was named to the RRAC All-Conference Second Team last year.

Fan expectations

The Saints' home games will be livestreamed on the OLLU Saints Network. Dial commented, "Before I started working at OLLU, I used to attend the home games. The team was high-scoring and showed a lot of athleticism. I would tell fans, faculty and staff that this group will be highly competitive, and we encourage them to come out."