Lubbock Christian Men

Lubbock Christian Men Chaps must replace top players

By DAVE WOHLFARTH

If Parker Hicks and Allie Schulte decide to have children, those kids could be quite the basketball players.

Hicks, a two-time all-American, and Schulte, a two-time all-American, were married last summer. Hicks was the best player on LCU’s men’s team; Schulte was the leader on the LCU women’s squad.

They’re both in Levelland now, where Hicks is launching his coaching career with the boys team. Schulte is teaching at the high school.

Hicks’ departure from LCU leaves a big hole for Coach Todd Duncan to fill. Not only was Hicks a two-time National Association of Basketball Coaches all-American, but he also was the back-to-back player of the year in the Lone Star Conference.

The 6-6 forward from Decatur led the Chaps in scoring (19.3 points per game), successful 3-point shots (64), rebounds (8.8 per game) and blocked shots (27). He led the conference with a .557 shooting percentage from the floor.

“He was a great player for us,” Duncan said. “He gave us great leadership on and off the court. He made lots of great impact, had a great career here. He was a winner, a great person, somebody who we’ll definitely miss.”

Hicks isn’t the only Chap who’ll be missed this season. His sidekick, 6-4 guard Lloyd Daniels, is playing professional basketball in England now.

Hicks and Daniels both played an extra year because of the COVID-19 allowances permitting such. Both were named to the

LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN CHAPS SCHEDULE

Date Opponent Time

Nov. 11 Regis University @ Denver, Colorado 8 p.m. Nov. 12 Colorado School of Mines @ Denver, Colorado 5 p.m. Nov. 19 Southern Nazarene @ Bethany, Oklahoma 3 p.m. Nov. 21 Arlington Baptist 6 p.m. Dec. 1 Oklahoma Christian 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3 University of Arkansas Fort Smith 3 p.m. Dec. 8 Texas A&M International @ Laredo 7 p.m. Dec. 10 Texas A&M University @ Kingsville 3 p.m. Dec. 17 West Liberty @ Las Vegas, Nevada 7:45 p.m. Dec. 18 Le Moyne College @ Las Vegas, Nevada 5:30 p.m. Dec. 30 Cameron TBA Jan. 1 Midwestern State 3 p.m. Jan. 5 Texas Permian Basin @ Odessa 7:30 p.m. Jan. 7 Angelo State @ San Angelo 3 p.m. Jan. 12 Eastern New Mexico 7:30 p.m. Jan. 14 Western New Mexico 3 p.m. Jan. 19 @ UT Tyler 7:30 p.m. Jan. 21 @ Dallas Baptist 2 p.m. Jan. 26 Midwestern State @ Wichita Falls 7:30 p.m. Jan. 28 Cameron @ Lawton, Oklahoma 3 p.m. Jan. 31 West Texas A&M 7:30 p.m. Feb. 2 Angelo State 7:30 p.m. Feb. 4 Texas Permian Basin 3 p.m. Feb. 9 Western New Mexico @ Silver City, N.M. 8:30 p.m. Feb. 11 Eastern New Mexico @ Portales, N.M. 4 p.m. Feb. 16 St. Edward’s 7:30 p.m. Feb. 18 St. Mary’s 3 p.m. Feb. 23 West Texas A&M @ Canyon 7:30 p.m. Mar. 2 Lone Star Conference Tournament @ Frisco TBA

Rowan Mackenzie of Lubbock Christian drives against Texas A&MCommerce last season in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional tournament at the Rip Griffin Center on the LCU campus. The Chaps won, 80-63, and Mackenzie scored 21 points. (LCU Athletics photo)

NABC all-district team plus the LSC all-conference first team, not just once but twice.

Daniels contributed 16.1 ppg and led the Chaps in assists, averaging 4.7 per game last season. Daniels and Hicks started all 31 games for LCU.

27-4 last year was most wins ever

The MIA list doesn’t stop with those two. Aamer Muhammad (15.4 ppg and the team leader in steals with 39) decided to take a crack at the Division I level and transferred to Troy University.

“He was potentially one of the top players in the league returning,” Duncan said. “He was all-conference second team.”

Cameron Copley (2.3 ppg), the former Canadian star who served as the Chaps’ point guard for several seasons, also moved on. He’s now an assistant coach at the new West Plains High School in Amarillo.

Jalen Brattain (7.8 ppg) and Zach Stepp (4.5 ppg) each started 12 games for the Chaps. Brattain transferred to Division II Chaminade in Hawaii. Stepp was in his last year of eligibility.

All those Chaps contributed to LCU’s 27-4 season (the most wins in the program’s history), a second straight LSC regular season championship and a berth in the regional semifinals. In many ways, it surpassed the previous 18-3 campaign in a COVID-restricted season, which Duncan had called his best in his 10 years at LCU.

The Chaps opened last season with 20 straight wins, another best for the program.

“We were No. 1 in the country for three months, back-to-back

Lone Star Conference champions,” Duncan said. “Frankly, pretty disappointed that we didn’t go further, but we just had a night where we didn’t play our best.”

Colorado Mesa nipped LCU 63-62 in the regional semifinal played in Lubbock.The Chaps missed nine free throws, including one of three attempts that would have sent the game into overtime.

“Just a game, you know, we played with fire and got burned,” Duncan said. “Didn’t have our best, but it doesn’t really take away from the season. The success we were able to enjoy was for a pretty special group.”

The Chaps’ 20-game winning start included a double overtime 85-79 win at Angelo State. The streak ended with a 66-52 loss to Dallas Baptist in a rare home defeat at the Rip Griffin Center. The other defeat was an 89-85 double-overtime loss at Cameron.

The Chaps won the conference with a 12-2 league mark. They averaged 78 points offensively while yielding 62.5 a game.

But enough about last year. How’s this season look?

One starter returns for 2022-23

Well, Duncan does have one starter returning. Rowan Mackenzie, a 6-3 junior guard from Perth, Australia, averaged 11.4 points and was named to the all-LSC second team. He started in all 28 games he played last season.

“Rowan Mackenzie is our only returning starter. He’s a great player for us,” Duncan said. “We had a couple of guys who started on and off a few games last year.”

That would be Aaron Gonzales and Karhan “KJ” Jones.

Gonzales, a 6-3 sophomore guard from Spring, near Houston, made two starts and played in 30 games. He averaged 3.5 ppg and was on the LSC all-freshman team.

Jones, a redshirted 6-1 sophomore guard from Arlington Martin, also started two games.

Mackenzie, Gonzales and Najeeb Muhammad, a 6-1 sophomore guard from Las Vegas who transferred from Arizona Western College, figure to start this season. Najeeb Muhammad is not related to the departed Aamer Muhammad.

The other starting spots are to be determined. Jones could be in the picture.

So could Kurt Wegscheider, a 6-4 junior guard from Bangui, Central African Republic via Utah State Eastern College. He’s new to the Chaps this season.

Alec Zambie, a 6-6 sophomore forward from Fort Worth Christian High School, returns and could crack the starting five. Ty Caswell, a 6-7 junior guard/forward (2 ppg) from Wichita Falls Rider, also returns.

It’s rare that freshmen play a lot, but the Chaps have six frosh who could make some noise. They are: • C.J. Booker, a 5-9 guard from Arlington Seguin; • Trey Thompson, a 6-2 guard from San Antonio Reagan;

Coach Todd Duncan Rowan Mackenzie

Karhan Jones Najeeb Muhammad Aaron Gonzales

Kurt Wegscheider Because of an injury, Lubbock Christian Chap Ty Caswell played in only nine games last season. He scored 11 points in 29 minutes against Dallas Baptist. The junior averaged 11.2 points two years ago and 7.5 points in 2020-21. (LCU Athletics photo)

(Continued on next page)

Lubbock Christian Chaps Roster

Name, Ht., Pos., Class, Hometown

Rowan Mackenzie, 6-3, G, Jr., Perth, Australia Najeeb Muhammad, 6-1, G, Soph., Las Vegas, Nevada CJ Booker, 5-9, G, Fr., Arlington, Texas Trey Thompson, 6-2, G, Fr., San Antonio, Texas Aaron Gonzales, 6-3, G, Soph., Spring, Texas Kendall Dow, 6-2, G, Fr., San Antonio, Texas Ty Caswell, 6-7, G/F, Jr., Wichita Falls, Texas Jalen Nettles, 6-5, G/F, Fr., Little Rock, Arkansas Karhan Jones, 6-1, G, Soph., Mansfield, Texas Vito Vujovic, 6-6, G/F, Fr., Zagreb, Croatia Fletcher MacDonald, 6-8, F, Fr., Wollongong, Australia Kurt Wegsheider, 6-4, G, Jr., Bangui, Central African Republic Alec Zambie, 6-6, F, Soph., Plano, Texas

• Kendall Dow, a 6-2 guard from San Antonio Johnson; • Jalen Nettles, a 6-5 guard/forward from Little Rock, Arkansas; • Vito Vujovic, a 6-6 guard/forward from Zagreb, Croatia; • Fletcher MacDonald, a 6-8 forward from Wollongong, Australia.

That’s two Aussies, a Croatian, a Central African and seven Texans, if you’re counting.

“We have some new faces that may make the lineup,” Duncan said. “We’ve got some good young players coming in, and we’re excited about them.”

The turnover isn’t ideal, but Duncan has dealt with it before. Faces change, expectations don’t

“Like we say, the faces change, but the expectations don’t,” he said. “Like every team that loses good players, you’ve got to find a way to regroup and get ready for the next year.”

MacDonald, at 6-8, and Caswell, at 6-7, are the tallest Chaps. But MacDonald is a freshman and Caswell a sophomore who played in only nine games a year ago.

“It’s a little bit of concern. We’re a little smaller than maybe we would have been in the past,” Duncan said. “But those teams have had success. It’d be better to have it than not, but at the same time, I think some of our guys that are undersized are pretty skilled and athletic and can make up for that.”

Winning a third straight LSC title may be a stretch, but Duncan says it may depend on how quickly the new guys can mesh.

“You know, it’s us learning them and them learning us,” he said. “But I think we have the talent and the makeup to be a good team. I think it will just be how quickly we can come together.”

The Chaps will begin the season Nov. 11-12 in Denver, playing Regis and the Colorado School of Mines in the RMAC/LSC Challenge.

In December, the venue will be Las Vegas, Nevada, for the Holiday Hoops Classic. West Liberty and Le Moyne College will be the Chaps’ opponents there.

They’ll play 23 LSC games, beginning Nov. 21. They’ll take on each of the 16 conference teams once and the teams in their division twice, home and away. The division foes are West Texas A&M, Eastern New Mexico, Western New Mexico, Angelo State, UT-Permian Basin, Midwestern State and Cameron.

Duncan was named the NABC district coach of the year for the second straight year. In 11 years at LCU, his Chaps have posted a 183-105 record for a .635 winning percentage. His longtime assistant, Jason Imes, has been with him all 11 years.

Before he came to LCU, Duncan coached at Trinity Christian for 15 years. His Lions won more than 400 games and captured the state TAPPS state championship in 1999.

His daughter Ashton and son Ethan both were standouts at Trinity Christian. Ashton wrapped up her Lubbock Christian playing career last spring but still is in the school’s graduate program, working toward her master’s in clinical and mental health counseling.

Ethan, who set the all-time scoring record at Trinity Christian, signed to play at Texas Tech but missed most of his freshman season because of a shoulder injury. Early this fall, he opted to leave Tech and put his name in the transfer portal.