NO. 25 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (0-0) vs.
UVA-WISE (0-0)
Saturday, Nov. 1 – 11 a.m.
George W. Jenkins Fieldhouse – Lakeland, Florida
 
TIPOFF
Lubbock Christian University begins the 2025-26 season this weekend, playing a pair of games in the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland, Florida. LCU will take on UVA-Wise on Saturday and match up with Augusta on Sunday in games played on the campus of Florida Southern University. The Hall of Fame Classic started in 2016 and has been hosted in Evansville, Indianna and St. Joseph, Missouri before moving to its current location in Lakeland, Florida starting in 2022. Of the 10 teams invited to this year's event, seven enter the season ranked in the top 25 nationally.
 
FRIENDLY FACES
Although a large chunk of the Chaparral roster is new, there are still a couple of familiar names. Returners from the 2024-25 squad include Devin Baccas, Reagan Fiedler, Amondo Miller Jr., Kendall Dow and Alex Anamekwe. Miller had the most impact of any returner last year, starting all 34 games and averaging 11.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game on the way to an All-LSC Honorable Mention selection. Anamekwe saw significant playing time early in the season before an injury in December, while Dow and Fiedler played off the bench. Baccas redshirted during the season. Combined, the returning group played 1498 minutes and scored 609 points last year.
 
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
The remaining eight players on the LCU roster this season are all new, including four freshmen and four transfers. The transfer class includes Leo Nordberg (Longwood), Lucas Mercandino (LaSalle), Ignacio Garcia (NMMI) and Antonio Pusateri (College of S.F.). Freshman on the team are Lee Van der Westhuizen, Jett McCasland, Emerson Juhasz and Adam Varadi. The group is a veritable United Nations, featuring only two Americans along with players from Finland, Argentina, Australia and Hungary.
 
NATIONALLY KNOWN
Lubbock Christian enters the first game of the year ranked in a national top-25 poll for the first time since the 2022-23 season. The Chaps are ranked No. 25 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches poll, which was released earlier this week. Reigning national champion Nova Southeastern leads the national poll. The Nos. 2, 3, 4, 13, 15, 19 and 25 teams in the poll are playing at the SCB Hall of Fame Classic this week. The only Lone Star Conference team besides LCU currently ranked is DBU at No. 3, but St. Mary's and West Texas A&M also received votes in the poll.
 
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
Lubbock Christian was picked to finish third in the 2025 Lone Star Conference preseason poll, which is voted on by coaches, sports information directors and media members around the league. The Chaparrals garnered 720 points overall in the poll, including four first-place votes, which was the second-most among the 17 league teams. Preseason Players to Watch were also released by the league, with LCU's Amondo Miller Jr. recognized. Only reigning champion DBU had more first place votes than LCU, as they were picked to repeat atop the league. St. Mary's finished just ahead of the Chaps with 724 total points. The Rattlers also boast the league's Preseason Player of the Year in senior guard Damani Claxton.
 
LOOKING BACK
Lubbock Christian finished the 2024-25 season with a 25-9 overall record and an 18-4 showing in conference play. They finished second in the LSC and won the league's West Division. LCU made it all the way to the LSC Tournament Championship for a second-straight season, and the Chaps made the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive year. Six LCU players garnered All-Conference honors, including Player of the Year Ethan Duncan. Duncan was also a D2CCA All-Region First Team selection along with NABC All-District and All-America honoree.
 
AT THE HELM
Back to lead the Chaparrals for an 15^th straight season is head coach Todd Duncan. The seventh coach in program history, Duncan took over starting with the 2011-12 season. Prior to that, he spent 15 successful years as the head boys basketball coach and athletic director at Trinity Christian H.S. In his 14 prior seasons, Duncan has built a record of 269-143 and led the program to the NCAA Tournament seven times in the 10 seasons they have been eligible. Duncan is joined by Jason Imes, who has been his assistant for all 15 seasons, along with two graduate assistants – Kolton Trimmier and Sam Reaves.
 
SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS

• UVAW has one of the top returning big men in the country in Evan Ramsey, a seven-footer who averaged 14.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game last season
• Head Coach Blake Mellinger is in his 12^th season at the helm of the program, but previously served as an assistant and even played for the Cavaliers
• The Cavaliers went 18-11 last season, including 15-9 in South Atlantic Conference play to finish fifth in the league
• Last season, UVA-Wise averaged 82.0 points per game on 46.1 percent shooting, while allowing 80.1 points per game on 44.2 percent shooting
• UVAW was picked to finish sixth in the 2025-26 SAC preseason poll

 
THE SERIES WITH THE CAVALIERS
This will be the first-ever meeting between Lubbock Christian and UVA-Wise.