SAN ANTONIO -- UTSA men's basketball will unofficially open the 2019-20 season with its lone exhibition, hosted the Texas A&M International Dustdevils on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center. The game will be streamed on CUSA TV and admission at the Convocation Center is free.
Fans can hear the game live on The Bull 93.3/92.5 with the Voice of the Roadrunners, Andy Everett, calling the action. The pregame show gets started at 6:30 p.m.
UTSA, coming off a second-place finish in Conference USA in 2018-29 and picked to finish second in 2019-20, hosts TAMIU in its only exhibition test of the 2019-20 season. The Roadrunners will officially tipoff the season at Oklahoma on Nov. 5 at 7 p.m.
LEADING THE ROADRUNNERS
• The Roadrunners return three starters from the 2018-19 season, including the nation's top scoring backcourt in juniors Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace. Jackson, picked as the preseason player of the year by Blue Ribbon Yearbook, won the C-USA scoring crown with 22.9 points per game as a sophomore. Wallace, a 6-foot-3 native of Dallas, Texas, averaged 20.2 points per game. UTSA also returns senior forward Byron Frohnen, who has made 100 consecutive starts to open his collegiate career and ranks fifth in program history in rebounds.
• UTSA also returns a bevy of contributors from a year ago, including senior forward Atem Bior, sophomore guard Adokiye Iyaye and sophomore forward Adrian Rodriguez. UTSA has added junior guard Knox Hellums – who sat out last year after transferring from Pepperdine – Italian point guard Erik Czumbel, point guard Makani Whiteside, forward Phoenix Ford and former junior college All-American Luka Barisic. Four-star freshman center Jacob Germany joins the Roadrunners as the highest ranked recruit in program history. Freshman Austin Timperman is coming off a redshirt season.
• Under the direction of fourth-year head coach Steve Henson, the Roadrunners are built on tempo and athleticism. In 2018-19, UTSA ranked 19th in the NCAA and second in C-USA in pace of play, according to the KenPom rankings. UTSA had four games with at least 100 points scored last year, its most since 1992-93.
SERIES HISTORY
• The Roadrunners have met the Dustdevils twice previously, with UTSA winning both meetings. UTSA won in 2006, 50-46 at the Convocation Center.
• In the 2006 meeting, UTA used a double-double off the bench from Jon Flansburg, who had 10 points and 11 rebounds in 27 minutes. Isaiah Allen chipped in 11 points in 31 minutes, while Melvin Smith had eight points and two steals in 39 minutes.
• The Dustdevils held UTSA to just 42.2 percent from the field in the meeting in 2006, with UTSA going just 2 of 12 from behind the arc and 10 of 21 from the charity stripe.
• The teams also met in 2004 in San Antonio, a 86-68 UTSA win.
STEVE HENSON IN FOURTH YEAR AT HELM
• The Roadrunners are led by fourth-year head coach Steve Henson, the 2017-18 Conference USA Coach of the Year.
• Henson, a former star player at Kansas State (1986-90), took over at UTSA for the 2015-16 season and has quickly transitioned the Roadrunners in an up-tempo, high-scoring offensive unit.
• The native of Kansas took over at UTSA after five years as an assistant at Oklahoma for Lon Kruger. Henson was also on the staff with Kruger for seven seasons at UNLV after a season at South Florida and with the Atlanta Hawks.
• A member of the Kansas State Athletics Hall of Fame who led K-State to four straight NCAA Tournaments, Henson owns program records for assists, assists per game, free-throw percentage, minutes played, minutes per game, starts, consecutive games played and consecutive starts. He ranks among the program best in nine categories, including 3-point field goals and percentage, steals, free throws, scoring and assist to turnover ratio.
• A two-sport standout at K-State, he was a decathlete and placed third as a sophomore and junior at the Big Eight Championships.
• He was a second-round pick of the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1990 NBA Draft – going 44th overall – and played seven years in the NBA and two seasons in Italy and Greece.
• Henson is one of 21 coaches in the NCAA who played in the NBA.
• Henson earned Mr. Basketball honors while playing for his legendary father at McPherson High School.
• Henson has a knack for coaching elite scoring guards, including former Oklahoma standout Buddy Hield.
DYNAMIC DUO LEADS NATION IN BACKCOURT SCORING
• The Roadrunners are spurred by the nation's leading scoring backcourt, juniors Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace.
• The dynamic duo combined to lead the NCAA's backcourts with 43.1 points per game, with Jackson scoring a C-USA best 22.9 points per game and Wallace chipping in 20.2 point per outing.
• The pair are electric, with Jackson going for a conference-record 46 points at Western Kentucky in 2018-19 on a Thursday and Wallace charting 45 points in a win at Marshall on a Saturday.
• Jackson's scoring output came a year after he suffered a season-ending injury during a 2017-18 C-USA Freshman of the Year campaign. Jackson returned after missing the first four games of the year in 2018-19 and was on a significant minutes restriction for the next five games. In his 24 games as a starter in 2018-19, Jackson averaged 24.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in 33.4 minutes. With Jackson as a starter, Wallace's offensive output jumped, averaging 21 points and 5.5 rebounds per game over 33.5 minutes.
FROHNEN AN EXPERIENCED WEAPON
• Senior forward Byron Frohnen is one of the most experienced players in program history. He ranks fifth in UTSA history in rebounds (690), third in games started (100), eighth in field-goal percentage (51.1) and 36th in points (751).
• The Las Vegas native has made all 100 starts in his career, ranking tied for third with Leon Watson for games started and just 22 games shy of the program record, held by Jeromie Hill (122).
• Frohnen currently has the fourth-longest active streak of consecutive games started, just shy of Oregon's senior guard Payton Pritchard (109), Penn State's Lamar Stevens and BYU's TJ Haws.
WALLACE FROM THREE
• Junior guard Keaton Wallace has etched his name throughout the record book with his ability to launch from 3-point range.
• The Dallas, Texas, native shattered the program record for 3-pointers in a season in 2018-19, connecting on 121 of 317 3-pointers, good for 38.2 percent. This came a year after Wallace drilled 74 of 223 3-pointers as a freshman, good for 33.2 percent, and the 13th-most 3-pointers in UTSA single-season history.
• He ranks third in the nation with 41 straight games with a 3-pointer, just shy of Eastern Illinois' Mack Smith (49 consecutive games) and Lafayette's Justin Jaworski (48).
NCAA's ACTIVE 3-POINTERS MADE STREAK
1. Mack Smith, Jr., Eastern Illinois – 49 consecutive games
2. Justin Jaworski, Jr., Lafayette – 48
3. Keaton Wallace, Jr., UTSA – 41
4. Jaylen Minnett, Jr., IUPUI – 36; Adam Flager, So., Presbyterian – 36
5. Luke Frampton, R-So., Davidson – 34
6. Jaevin Cumberland, R-Sr., Oakland – 33
REPLACING ALLEN, DE NICOLAO
• The biggest question mark entering the 2019-20 season is how UTSA will replace lineup stalwarts point guard Giovanni De Nicolao and forward Nick Allen. Allen shattered the program record for career games played in 2018-19 and has signed to play professionally in Hungry. De Nicolao graduated in just three years and signed to play professionally in Italy.
• The pair played a vital role in their off and on-court leadership, self-less approach to the game and ability to make those around them better. De Nicolao started all 100 games of his career as the point guard and averaged 8.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Allen finished his 129-game UTSA career with 7.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.
• Candidates to replace De Nicolao at the point guard range from returning scoring guards Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace, and freshmen Erik Czumbel and Makani Whiteside. Whiteside boasts elite scoring potential after averaging 29 points per game as a senior in Madera, Calif., and Czumbel has great international experience as a member of Team Italy at the U-18 World Championships.
• At the post position that Allen vacates, UTSA signed junior college all-American Luka Barisic, who averaged 17 points per game last year at Highland Community College in Illinois. UTSA has also signed the highest ranked recruit in program history, four-star center Jacob Germany. A 6-foot-11, 220-pound athlete, Germany will have an immediate impact at the rim. The Roadrunners also welcome back senior forward Atem Bior, who average 5.6 points and 5.0 rebounds as a junior college transfer in 2018-19, and redshirt sophomore forward Adrian Rodriguez. Rodriguez, a native of Tulsa, Okla., suffered a season-ending injury in his collegiate debut in 2017-18 and returned to play vital reserve minutes as a redshirt freshman in 2018-19.
A WIN WOULD ...
• Not count because it's an exhibition
GERMANY UTSA'S HIGHEST RANKED SIGNEE
• Part of building the UTSA basketball program for coach Steve Henson has been an ability to sign some of the top recruits, and classes, in school history. UTSA welcomed five newcomers for 2019-20, including freshman center Jacob Germany, a four-star recruit who is the highest ranked prospect UTSA has signed.
• A native of a small town in Oklahoma, Kingston, Germany is a 6-foot-11, 220-pound left-handed center who was ranked as a four-star recruit by ESPN and a composite three-star by Rivals and 247Sports. Rated as the top collegiate prospect in Oklahoma last year by OKPreps, Germany led Kingston HS to the 3A state championship, going for 21 points and 12 rebounds in the state championship game with his team finishing the year with a 28-2 record.
BIOR, IYAYE TO EXPAND ON ROLES FROM 2018-19
• A pair of key contributors from a year ago, senior forward Atem Bior and sophomore guard Adokiye Iyaye, are primed to take the next steps in their development during an encore season in 2019-20.
• Bior, a 6-foot-7, 225-pound native of Bisbane, Australia, played in all 32 games in 2018-19 and made 12 starts in place of Jhivvan Jackson – who was recovering from injury while UTSA went with a three-forward lineup – and in the stead of Nick Allen, who missed time late with a foot injury. Bior averaged 5.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, logging 20.7 minutes while shooting 48.2 percent from the field.
• Iyaye, who scored over 1,800 career points at Oklahoma City's Putnam City North High School, was a vital sixth man in 2018-19, playing in all 32 games off the bench. He averaged 18.3 minutes, 4.9 points and 1.4 rebounds per game, serving as the go-to bench player in the backcourt behind high-volume scorers Jackson and Keaton Wallace – the nation's leading scoring backcourt.
ITALIAN POINT GUARD PIPELINE
• With the graduation of Italian point guard Giovanni De Nicolao to professional basketball following his 100-start UTSA career, the Roadrunners are in search of a new man to run the point.
• Among those candidates are freshman Erik Czumbel, who joins De Nicolao as UTSA point guards hailing from Italy.
• Czumbel, a 6-foot-3 native of Verona, Italy, had a decorated career internationally playing for Team Italy in the FIBA U-18 European Championships. He averaged 8.3 points, 2.4 assists and 1.6 rebounds per game of 23.5 minutes during the FIBA U-18 European Championships.
WELCOME TO THE FLOOR, KNOX!
• For the first time since the 2017-18 season while at Pepperdine University, UTSA junior guard Knox Hellums will suit up on the bench with an ability to play. Hellums joined the UTSA roster last year and had to sit out due to NCAA transfer policies.
• Hellums was limited to practice as a redshirt last year but shined during the Costa Rica Foreign Tour, averaging 13.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.
• Hellums averaged 4.5 pints and 1.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore at Pepperdine, after averaging 4.5 points in 30 games as a freshman.
• He starred at Concordia Lutheran High School in Tomball, Texas, after opening his high school career at Klein in Spring, Texas. He averaged 19.6 points per game as a senior and 20.6 points as a junior.
JHIVVAN BACK FOR MORE
• UTSA's offensive attack is carried by its dynamic duo of junior guards Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace, a pair who have the ability to light up the scoreboard and put up 40 or more points on any given night. Jackson has been a scoring machine since he arrived on campus to win C-USA Freshman of the Year honors in 2017-18.
• Jackson averaged 18.4 points per game as a freshman, connecting on 43.1 percent from 3-point land to win top freshman honors in the circuit. This came after he missed the final three games of the year after suffering a season-ending knee injury.
• He returned after missing the first three games of 2019-20 and played the first five games of his season on a minute restriction. Jackson finished the year with All-Conference USA honors from the league coaches and all-district accolades from the USWBA and the NABC. Jackson won UTSA's first league scoring crown since 2003-04 with 22.9 points per game, adding 4.1 rebounds per outing over 30.8 minutes per game. He and Wallace combined to rank fourth in the NCAA in scoring duos (43.1 points per game), while leading the nation's backcourts in scoring.
• Jackson returned to full speed during the offseason, losing the knee brace which he lugged around during his sophomore season. He enters the preseason as the pick for player of the year by Blue Ribbon Yearbook and is a unanimous all-conference selection by Blue Ribbon, Lindy's, Street & Smith's and Athlon Sports.
CROATIAN MUSCLE
• With the departure of four-year fixture Nick Allen in the post, the Roadrunners are in need of production in 2019-20 from a variety of post players, including junior forward Luka Barisic. Allen was a stretch 4, capable of burning a defense that sagged towards UTSA's dynamic scoring guards, and owning the toughness, length and physicality to bang in the post with some of C-USA's better inside presences.
• Barisic is a prime candidate to step into the starting lineup in place of Allen in 2019-20. A 6-foot-10, 240-pound native of Osijek, Croatia, Barisic is coming off a third-team junior college All-America season at Illinois' Highland Community College. He averaged 17.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in 2018-19, shooting 42 percent from 3-point land and 49.6 percent from the field.
• As a freshman at Highland CC, he averaged 15.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game on 52.9 percent shooting from the field.
PLAYING FAST
• A hallmark of Coach Steve Henson's style of play at UTSA is pace. The Roadrunners are built on speed, athleticism and scoring ability, boosted by the dynamic play of guards Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace, who led the nation's backcourts in scoring with 43.1 points per game.
Final 2018-19 KenPom Pace of Play Rankings
1. FIU
2. Eastern Kentucky
3. Savannah St.
4. Texas Southern
5. Marshall
6. North Carolina
7. Memphis
8. Rider
9. Houston Baptist
10. The Citadel
11. Buffalo
12. Lipscomb
13. Green Bay
14. Georgia Southern
15. New Mexico
16. Winthrop
17. UCLA
18. Bethune Cookman
19. UTSA
20. Duke
ACADEMIC MAJORS
• UTSA Coach Steve Henson has built a well-rounded basketball program with an emphasis on success in the classroom and outside of the playing court. The Roadrunners are coming off a 3.09 team GPA over the summer session. Below is a listing of the majors for UTSA's student-athletes:
Luka Barisic – Economics
Atem Bior – Multidisciplinary studies
Erik Czumbel – Exercise physiology
Phoenix Ford - Multidisciplinary studies
Byron Frohnen – Mechanical engineering with a minor in business administration
Jacob Germany – undeclared
Knox Hellums – Accounting
Adokiye Iyaye – Business
Jhivvan Jackson - Multidisciplinary studies
Adrian Rodriguez – Mechanical engineering
Austin Timperman – Business
Keaton Wallace – Finance
Makani Whiteside – Kinesiology
DYNAMIC DUO PRESEASON HONORS
• UTSA junior guards Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace have been tabbed first-team all-conference in four preseason publications, including the Blue Ribbon Yearbook, Street & Smith's, Athlon Sports and Lindy's Sports.
• In the Lindy's Sports preseason C-USA preview, Jackson and Wallace were tabbed to the first of three all-league teams. The Roadrunners, coming off a second-place finish in the league a year ago, were picked to finish second in the Lindy's C-USA breakdown.
• The dynamic duo was tabbed to the lone all-conference newcomer team in the Street & Smith's C-USA preview, with Wallace listed to the five-man all-sharpshooter team. UTSA was picked to finish second in the conference.
• In the Athlon Sports C-USA breakdown, Jackson and Wallace were each named first-team all-conference and the Roadrunners were picked to finish fifth in the conference.
• The pair were also named preseason all-conference by the Blue Ribbon Yearbook, which tabbed Jackson the preseason C-USA player of the year.
TELEVISION SLATE ANNOUNCED
• Each UTSA home men's and women's basketball game during the 2019-20 season will be televised or streamed, as the Conference USA television schedule was announced by the league office on Monday morning.
• The UTSA men – coming off a second-place finish in 2018-19 – will be featured on the ESPN family of networks (ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN+) a total of 10 times during the season, and the Roadrunners also have appearance each on CBS Sports Network, CBS Sports Network on Facebook and Stadium on Facebook.
• UTSA's six home non-conference games will be streamed live on CUSA TV and all of UTSA's road conference games are slated for ESPN3/+ or Stadium on Facebook.
• The Roadrunners will play on SoonerSports.TV in their opener at Oklahoma on Nov. 5 and FLOHoops for the Sunshine Slam (Nov. 8-10) in Kissimmee, Fla.
• The Roadrunners marquee television home games will include an ESPNU telecast at 6 p.m. on Jan. 9 against Louisiana Tech, a home tilt vs. Marshall at 8 p.m. on Feb. 13 on CBS Sports Network, and a matchup with Western Kentucky on Feb. 15 on CBS Sports Network on Facebook.
NICK ALLEN SIGNS PRO CONTRACT
• Former UTSA star Nick Allen has signed a contract with BKG Prima SE – a professional club in Budapest, Hungary.
• Allen, a native of Surprise, Ariz., signed with BKG Prima SE in the NB/IB division in Hungary. He will be coached on BKG Prima SE by Aguston Nagy, who helped the club to a fifth-place finish in a 24-team league last season.
• A 6-foot-8, 235-pound forward, Allen played in a UTSA record 129 games over his career, making 97 starts. He averaged 7.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 22.1 minutes per game over his career. In 2018-19, while helping direct the Roadrunners to a second-place finish in Conference USA, Allen averaged career highs in points (9.0), rebounds (5.1) and minutes (26.4) per game. He is a career 34-percent shooter from beyond the arc, hit 66-percent of his attempts from the charity stripe and shot 48 percent overall from the field in his career.
• Allen finished his UTSA career ranking eighth in school annals with 563 rebounds, adding 899 points, the 22nd best total in UTSA history.
GIOVANNI DE NICOLAO SIGNS PRO CONTRACT
• UTSA men's basketball great Giovanni De Nicolao has signed a one-year contract with Italian professional team Fortitudo Agrigento.
• De Nicolao, a native of Padua, Italy, signed a one-year contract at point guard for Fortitudo Agrigento for head coach Devis Cagnardi, who is in his first year as the head coach at Agrigento. Cagnardi also coached Giovanni's brother, Andrea De Nicolao in the top professional league in Italy, Lege Basket Serie A.
• Agrigento, located in Agrigento, Sicily, is an annual playoff contender in Serie A2 Basket, a second-tier league in Italian professional basketball.
• De Nicolao graduated in just three years with the Roadrunners, while etching his name throughout the UTSA record book. He made all 100 starts at point guard in his career for the Roadrunners. He finished his career with 8.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game over 28.9 minutes per outing. He averaged 7.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game as a junior in 2018-19, leading the Roadrunners to a 17-win season and a second-place mark in Conference USA.
• De Nicolao is one of just five players in UTSA history with at least 700 points, 300 assists, 300 rebounds and 150 steals. He ranks 27th in UTSA annals in scoring, 10th in steals, sixth in assists and 26th in rebounds.
UTSA PICKED SECOND IN PRESEASON POLL
2019-20 MBB Preseason Poll (First-Place Votes)
1. WKU (13)
2. UTSA (1)
3. Louisiana Tech
T4. UTEP
T4. Old Dominion
6. UAB
7. North Texas
8. Middle Tennessee
9. Florida Atlantic
10. FIU
11. Marshall
12. Charlotte
13. Rice
14. Southern Miss
2019-20 MBB Preseason Team
Devon Andrews, FIU
Jailyn Ingram, Florida Atlantic
DaQuan Bracey, Louisiana Tech
Antonio Green, Middle Tennessee
Xavier Green, Old Dominion
Zack Bryant, UAB
Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA
Keaton Wallace, UTSA
Taveion Hollingsworth, WKU
Charles Bassey, WKU
- UTSA -
