West Texas A&M Men
No JoJo. No Quay. Brown still pumped. By LANCE LAHNERT No Quay Grant. No Jojo Murray. Fans and media of West Texas A&M’s men’s basketball may be thinking what might have been if juniors Grant and Quay hadn’t jumped in the portal and exited to Division I schools after the 2020-21 basketball season. But it’s old news within the ranks of the WT coaches and players that 2021-22 will be a year playing without All-American guards Grant (who is at Wichita State) and Murray (who is at Long Beach State). Grant and Murray averaged more than 20 points each in leading WT to a NCAA Division II national runner-up finish, its best since the school started playing basketball in 1920. Seventh-year WT coach Tom Brown, who returns 25.9 percent scoring from last year in seven players, has warm wishes for the pair. Quay started all 93 of the Buffs’ games the past three years, while Murray started 88 of the 93 games. “That was old news last year for us,” Brown said. “What I want to say is everybody has choices. I really respect those guys, and I’m glad we had them here for the three years. We had a great run with those guys. “Every year is different. Those guys are gone, and we are going to have to have new guys step up. We have some really good pieces coming back, and we brought in some guys who are going to really help this year.” One of the “old” guys is sophomore Zach Toussaint, who started 16 games last year and led the Buffs in 3-pointCoach Tom Brown ers with 61. West Texas A&M Buffs Roster Name, Ht., Pos., Class, Hometown Jesse Iweze, 6-5, G, Fr., Roanoke, Texas Trevone Fuller, 5-9, G, Soph., Arlington, Texas JT Warren, 6-2, G, Soph., Waxahachie, Texas Julius Brown, 5-10, G, Jr., Westerville, Ohio Torian Harris, 6-6, G, Fr., Rowlett, Texas Parker Nielsen, 6-4, G, Fr., Prescott, Wisconsin Kavon Booker, 6-6, G, Soph., Schertz, Texas Dalin Williams, 6-9, G, Gr., Stinnett, Texas Zach Toussaint, 5-11, G, Soph., Johnsburg, Illinois Jonas Carlisle, 6-2, G, Fr., San Antonio, Texas Hayden Blankley, 6-6, G, Soph., Sydney, Australia Cameron Bell, 5-10, G, Fr., Edmond, Oklahoma Austin Shelley, 6-2, G, Fr., Melbourne, Australia Addison Wallace, 6-3, G, Soph., Cleburne, Texas Larry Wise, 6-4, G, Soph., Waxahachie, Texas Coach: Tom Brown Asst. Coaches: Chris Gove, Quincy Henderson 2020-2021 record: 19-3, 10-2 2021-2022 Panhandle-Plains Basketball
Zach Toussaint of West Texas A&M shoots a jump shot in the Buffs’ 9783 win over Daemen in the Elite Eight March 24 in Evansville, Indiana. (Photo by Trevor Fleeman for WTAMU)
Toussaint praised Quay and Murray, saying you can’t replace them, so why try, and they changed his game for the better. “Those two made me a lot better player,” Toussaint said. “Naw, you can’t replace those two. We just have to figure out other ways to score and get it done. “Those are my guys, for sure, JoJo and Quay. I wouldn’t be the player I am today without them pushing me every day in practice.” With the legit question of no Quay and Murray out of the way, the Buffs definitely will have a new look from the previous two years with seven players returning and 75 percent of the scoring gone from last year’s wonderful season. Leading the way is Toussaint, a sharp-shooting guard with long range, who made 16 starts for the 19-3 Buffs. The 5-11 Toussaint leads returners in scoring from last year at 10 points per game. He hit a dramatic, last second 3-pointer for a one point win over Lincoln Memorial in the D-II national semifinals. “I haven’t really thought about the shot,” Toussaint said. “I’ve been thinking about getting blown out in the championship game (80-54 by Northwest Missouri) all summer. “Then with all the new guys here, that’s all I’ve been preaching to them is we have to get back there. That’s something I want to experience again. Every day in practice we need to think about it. I now know what it takes to get there, and I’m pushing everybody.” While Toussaint is quiet by nature, he knows his leadership role must increase. “For sure more of a leadership for me this year,” Toussaint said. (Continued on next page)
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