Pioneers debut under Harrelson this weekend

Three days before their season-opener, new Wayland Baptist men's basketball coach Ty Harrelson and the Pioneers received some solid confirmation for the upcoming season. When the NAIA's Top 25 Preseason Poll was released, Wayland was ranked No. 12.

"Being picked 12^th in the nation has our guys really excited and focused on the season," Harrelson said on the eve of his debut as Pioneers coach, set for 7:30 p.m. Friday against Dallas Christian as part of the Pioneer Tip-Off Classic in Hutcherson Center. Action gets under way at 4 p.m. when the University of the Southwest takes on Southwestern Adventist. Play continues Saturday with University of the Southwest and Dallas Christian at 5:30 followed by the Pioneers taking on Southwest Adventist at 7:30.

This weekend marks the first two of seven straight home games for the Pioneers. It's a time the team will use to grow together and, Harrelson hopes, prove their lofty preseason ranking. Twelfth in the nation is a pretty high standard, but it's one the coach – a former all-American player at Wayland – believes his club can ultimately back up.

"Obviously we haven't played any games yet, but it seems like we've been progressively getting better," he said. "I feel like we've had a great preseason."

The Pioneers are coming off an historic season in which they won Wayland's first-ever Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament championship. They advanced to the NAIA National Tournament for the second straight season, dropping a first-round heart-breaker by one point, and finished with a 27-6 record, the most wins for WBU men's basketball since the 1991-92 season.

After being ranked as high as 11^th, Wayland wound up 13^th in the final 2014-15 poll.

"While we're trying to build off of Coach Garnett's success, our style of play will be a little bit different," Harrelson said, alluding to former coach Matt Garnett who stepped away from coaching, thus opening the door for Harrelson's arrival after he spent 12 seasons playing professional basketball overseas and in Australia where he was a highly successful player-coach.

"We're going to be small, but we're fast and we're athletic," Harrelson said. "I want to score as many points as possible, so we'll play an up-tempo game that hopefully is exciting to watch."

Wayland lost leading scorer Royal Crouch, a second-team all-American, to graduation, along with Plamen Hristov (8.6 ppg), Ta'Quan McDew (12.5 pp), Jacob Lancaster and Morris Mitchell, now a graduate assistant coach with the team. The Pioneers' roster also was recently reduced with the loss of 6-foot-9 Bunja Yaboe (10.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg), the SAC Defensive Player of the Year and an All-SAC Third Team pick.

Harrelson is excited about the return of senior point-guard Robert Waters, an All-SAC Second Team choice from Austin who was second on the team in scoring a year ago at 13.2 ppg.

"Robert will have a big role for us," the coach said of the all-American candidate. "If anybody's ever had a green light (to shoot), it will be him. He's a point-guard but really more of a combo guard. We will use him at multiple positions.

"The good thing about Rob is he's really good on offense and a very intense defender. I think that's what separates him from a lot of good players."

For the Pioneers to repeat as champions in one of the top conferences in the country, Waters must have some help, of course.

"We have some returning guys and we signed some good players to take some relief off of him," Harrelson said.

The other seniors on the squad are Jordon Johnson and Robert Lopez, both guards. Harrelson called Johnson, a Dallas native, "a positive leader on the court and in the classroom. Throughout the course of his career Jordon has been a winner. He won a state championship in high school and obviously was a big factor in last year's (SAC) Tournament championship team."

Of Lopez, of El Paso, Harrelson said he, like Waters, is a combo guard. "He's a shooting guard but can also play multiple positions. He has a high basketball IQ.

"The good thing about most of our guards is they can play multiple positions."

Along with Waters and Johnson, other projected starters to begin the season are returning junior Maurice Redmond and newcomers Marshall Nelson and Marquous Barnes, who at 6-7 is the tallest on the team.

Redmond was a key part of last year's team, especially early and in the post-season.

"Robert gets out in transition and finds a way to the basket," Harrelson noted.

Nelson, a 6-2 sophomore from Australia who transferred from Rhode Island Community College, is "deceptively athletic," according to the coach. "He has the ability to spread the defense with his shooting ability."

Barnes, of Brownwood by way of Western Texas College, will shoulder much of the inside load for the Pioneers.

"He's a hard worker and does a really good job around the basket with the ability to step out and hit a 15-foot jump shot," Harrelson said.

Other transfers are juniors Marcus Ellison of of Corpus Christi by way of Clarendon College, and Tyrone Davis of Collin County College in Dallas, the same school Harrelson attended before coming to Wayland.

"Those two are really good," Harrelson said. "They'll add depth to our guards."

Davis will be out the first month or so with a fractured foot.

Anietie Jack, a 6-4 sophomore from the Houston area, "has been very impressive in the preseason," said Harrelson. "He has a huge upside and could be the difference-maker for our team."

Among the first off the bench will be junior returner Thiago Randazzo of Brazil, who missed much of last season with the Pioneers due to a back injury.

"Thiago is a very solid role player and also has a high basketball IQ," Harrelson said. "He just doesn't make many mistakes."

Cody Thomas of Houston and Ruben's brother, Robert Lopez, both were promoted off the WBU junior varsity.

Rounding out the 16-player roster are four freshmen in Boston Hudson of Canadian, a redshirt last year, 6-foot-6 brothers Trevor and Austin Mansour of Richmond, and Jordan Tolbert of Lake Jackson. Harrelson is especially high on Tolbert, a 5-10 point guard.

"He's one to watch for freshman of the year in the conference," the coach said. "He'll be one of the fastest and toughest guys in the conference. For a freshman he's really good.

"We signed some really good guards, and with the guys that are coming back, we definitely have capable players," he added. "We're a little smaller than I would like us to be, but we're looking to add a player (to play inside) at the semester."

By then the Pioneers will have started conference play, which gets going with a trip to Muskogee, Okla., to face SAC newcomer Bacone, and to Siloam Springs, Ark., to take on John Brown.

"We start with a long road trip, so we'll have to be ready to play," Harrelson said. "John Brown is always tough at their place."

Harrelson said he still has a lot of scouting to do in the SAC.

"There's been a lot of coaching change in the conference, so I'm not really sure what to expect."