SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State men's basketball team tips off the 2024-25 season this weekend in Colorado as they participate in the Conference Crossover in Durango, where they take on New Mexico Highlands and No. 22 Fort Lewis.
LAST SEASON
The Rams went 19-11 in the 2023-24 season and 14-8 in conference play. They qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season under head coach
Vinay Patel, who looks to become the first head coach to lead the Rams to three successive regional appearances.
RAMS RETURN FOUR
The Rams return four members from last year's team -
DJ Freeman,
Carvell Teasett,
Kendrick Delahoussaye, and
Shemar Smith - as they work ten new players into the fold. The quartet averaged 20.9 points per game last season for the Rams.
CENTENNIAL STATE
This weekend will mark the first time in
Vinay Patel's head coaching career that a team led by him will play in the state of Colorado. This is the Rams' first trip to Colorado in nearly a decade, where they played Colorado Mesa and Western Colorado on November 28th and 29th, 2014. The Rams are 4-4 in eight games under Patel in the Mountain Time zone.
DOTSON APPROACHING 1,000 POINTS
Junior guard
Phil Dotson is closing in on 1,000 career points as he currently sits on 968 career points through the first two seasons of his collegiate career, which took place while he was a member of Division III school Rhodes College in Dotson's hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.
PATEL IN SEASON OPENERS
Vinay Patel is 2-0 in season openers at Angelo State and 7-2 in the season's first game as head coach. His two opening-day wins for the Rams have come over New Mexico Highlands and Fort Lewis.
RAMS ADD EIGHT
Angelo State recruited ten newcomers in 2024-25, including three from Division I and two from Division II.
Denim Dawson
Junior * 6-6 * Guard
San Bernardino, Calif. * Tennessee State
Averaged 16 points and five rebounds per game at Orange Lutheran HS; Trinity League MVP
Sterling Gaston-Chapman
Senior * 6-4 * Guard
Wichita, Kan. * UT Arlington
Three-star recruit out of Campus HS in Wichita; two-time all-metro and two-time all-state selection
Jalen Gilmore
Junior * 6-3 * Guard
Jacksonville, Fla. * Lynn
Averaged 9.5 points and 5.2 assists per game in 2023-24 for Lynn
Blessing Adesipe
Junior * 6-6 * Guard
Houston, Texas * UT San Antonio
NJCAA All-America Honorable Mention at Miles College; scored 1,132 points in two seasons
Phil Dotson
Junior * 6-0 * Guard
Memphis, Tenn. * Rhodes College
2023-24 All-SAA First Team selection; averaged 22.3 points and 4.3 assists per game for the Lynx
Darius Brady
Freshman * 6-0 * Guard
Houston, Texas * Kingwood HS
2023-24 Second Team All-District selection for Kingwood HS
Chace Fields
Sophomore * 6-6 * Forward
San Angelo, Texas * Adrian College
Averaged 3.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game for Adrian College
Kollin Allbright
Freshman * 6-9 * Forward
San Angelo, Texas * Central HS
Averaged 14 points per game in prep career; two-time first team all-district honoree
Damonze Woods
Junior * 6-7 * Forward
Amarillo, Texas * Odessa College
Averaged 4.5 points and 4.5 rebounds; District 5A All-State selection as a junior at Amarillo HS
Kaden Evans
Graduate Student * 6-4 * Guard
Kansas City, Mo. * Emporia State
Led Division II in steals as a freshman in 2020-21 with 3.1 per game; 4x All-Conference selection at Oak Park HS
HOME COOKIN'
The Rams have made the Junell Center-Stephens Arena a fortress under head coach
Vinay Patel, accumulating a 23-2 record in Patel's two seasons in San Angelo, good enough for a .920 winning percentage. His first season featured the Rams going 13-0 on their home court; the second season they've been undefeated on their home court across a season. The Rams went 17-0 inside the Junell Center - Stephens Arena in 2014-15.
RAMS FOURTH IN LSC PRESEASON POLL
The Rams were picked to finish fourth in the LSC Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's coaches and sports information directors. The Rams were picked behind West Texas A&M, DBU, and Lubbock Christian.
RABEDEAUX JOINS COACHING STAFF
Vinay Patel added
Cole Rabedeaux to the staff as an assistant coach for the Rams Basketball program. Rabedeaux joins the Rams from Division II school Winona State, where he was an assistant coach for one season. He helped the Warriors to a 21-10 record and an appearance in the NSIC Tournament Championship game as the sixth seed in the tournament. Rabedeaux started his career at the University of Houston as a graduate assistant after successfully playing at Wisconsin Eau-Claire, where he was a two-time all-conference performer.
GAME INFORMATION
Matchup 1: Angelo State (0-0) vs. New Mexico Highlands (0-0)
Location: Durango, Colorado
Venue: Whalen Gymnasium
Tip: 3 p.m. MT/4 p.m. CT, Friday, November 9th, 2024
TV: RMAC Network / Live Stats
Matchup 2: Angelo State (0-0) at No. 22 Fort Lewis (0-2)
Location: Durango, Colorado
Venue: Whalen Gymnasium
Tip: 8 p.m. MT/9 p.m. CT, Saturday, November 10th, 2024
TV: RMAC Network / Live Stats
The Rams are coming off a season in which they scored 79.4 points per game on 46.4 percent shooting from the field and 38.7 percent from three. The Rams look to replace their top four scorers from last season's team, who all earned All-LSC recognition.
New Mexico Highlands is coming off a season in which they went 10-17 overall and 7-15 in RMAC competition. The Cowboys defeated the Rams 68-65 on opening weekend last season. Kyrie Thomas scored 14 points off the bench, converting five of his ten field goal attempts and making a pair of threes.
Thomas was second on the team in scoring a season ago, averaging 11.4 points per game. The Cowboys return two of their top five scorers from last season, as forward Nathan Hasberry scored 7.9 points per game on 56.4 percent shooting.
Opponents scored 80.3 points against the Cowboys last season on 45.1 percent shooting from the field and 37 percent from three. Thomas was second on the team with 28 steals last season.
The Rams and the Cowboys have won a pair of matchups in their all-time history.
Fort Lewis, the 22nd-ranked team in Division II entering the season, is currently 0-2 after their opening weekend at the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland, Florida. The Skyhawks went 29-4 last season, winning the RMAC Tournament and making it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Under new head coach Jordan Mast, the Skyhawks return only one member from last year's team. Their opening weekend losses came at the hands of a pair of schools receiving votes in the NABC poll in Point Loma and Carson-Newman.
FLC scores 72 points per game on 41.2 percent shooting from the field and 29.4 percent from three. They are being out-rebounded by an average of four boards per game.
Choul Deng leads the team with 19.5 points per game. The South Sudanese product averages a double-double with 11 rebounds per game.
Opponents score 87 points per game on 55 percent shooting from the field and 47.8 percent from three. Deng leads the Skyhawks in steals (six) and blocks (two) through the opening weekend.
The Rams are 4-3 all-time against the Skyhawks; last season, the Rams won 77-69 over the nation's 15th-ranked team.
