Tulsa Basketball Opens Season Saturday at Hall of Fame Classic
11/27/2020 7:57:00 AM | Men's Basketball
TULSA, Okla. –– The Tulsa men's basketball team opens the 2020-21 regular season on Saturday, Nov. 28, against TCU in the opening round of the Hall of Fame Classic powered by ShotTracker in Kansas City, Mo.
The game tips off 6:30 p.m. on ESPN3 as the Golden Hurricane takes on the Horned Frogs for the 35th time in history. Tulsa holds the series lead at 22-12, while the series stands at 3-3 in neutral site games.
Tulsa comes into this season with 5 returning letterwinners from a team that posted an 21-10 record and claimed a share of the American Athletic Conference regular season championship.
Brandon Rachal, a 6'6" senior guard/forward, is Tulsa's returning leading scorer and rebounder with averages of 12.1 points and 5.8 rebounds and was third on the team shooting 44-percent from the field. Tulsa senior guards Elijah Joiner and Darien Jackson join Rachal as returning starters to the Hurricane lineup. Joiner scored at a 7.3 clip and recorded 2.9 assists, while Jackson added 7.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals a season ago.
A duo of second-year big men return for the Hurricane in senior Emmanuel Ugboh and sophomore Josh Earley. Ugboh averaged 1.7 points and 1.7 rebounds, while starting 15 games. Earley saw valuable playing time last season and made two starts.
Three players who sat out last year after transferring will be on the court for the Hurricane in 2020-21. Guard Keyshawn Embery-Simpson, a 6'3" former 4-star prospect, played one year at Arkansas, while 6'5" junior swingman Curtis Haywood II played two seasons at Georgia Tech before transferring to Tulsa Haywood averaged 5.6 points and 2.7 rebounds in his sophomore season at Georgia Tech. Tulsa native and Oklahoma State baseball transfer Ryan Gendron will also make his Hurricane debut after redshirting the 2019-20 season.
Tulsa added 5 freshmen, one four-year transfer and one junior college transfer to the roster.
NJCAA Third-Team All-American Austin Richie joins the Hurricane after spending one season at Triton College and before that spent one year at Northern Illinois. He averaged 16.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals at Triton. Rey Idowu, a 6'9" forward, joins the Tulsa roster after two seasons at Illinois State, where he had career averages of 3.6 points and 2.9 rebounds and shot 55 percent from the field.
Among the true freshmen, Keshawn Williams, a 6'3" guard, and 6'6" swingman Christian Shumate were top prep performers at Chicago's (Ill.) Bloom High School. Joining the Chigao newcomers area two rookies from the state of Florida – 6'6" guard Peyton Urbancic and 6'8" forward Bradley Alcime – as well as Tulsa native and walk-on Ari Seals.
The Liberty Flames and South Carolina Gamecocks will face-off in the second game of the Hall of Fame Classic. The championship and consolation games will be played on Sunday, Nov. 29.
-#LoyalAlwaysTrue-
The game tips off 6:30 p.m. on ESPN3 as the Golden Hurricane takes on the Horned Frogs for the 35th time in history. Tulsa holds the series lead at 22-12, while the series stands at 3-3 in neutral site games.
Tulsa comes into this season with 5 returning letterwinners from a team that posted an 21-10 record and claimed a share of the American Athletic Conference regular season championship.
Brandon Rachal, a 6'6" senior guard/forward, is Tulsa's returning leading scorer and rebounder with averages of 12.1 points and 5.8 rebounds and was third on the team shooting 44-percent from the field. Tulsa senior guards Elijah Joiner and Darien Jackson join Rachal as returning starters to the Hurricane lineup. Joiner scored at a 7.3 clip and recorded 2.9 assists, while Jackson added 7.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals a season ago.
A duo of second-year big men return for the Hurricane in senior Emmanuel Ugboh and sophomore Josh Earley. Ugboh averaged 1.7 points and 1.7 rebounds, while starting 15 games. Earley saw valuable playing time last season and made two starts.
Three players who sat out last year after transferring will be on the court for the Hurricane in 2020-21. Guard Keyshawn Embery-Simpson, a 6'3" former 4-star prospect, played one year at Arkansas, while 6'5" junior swingman Curtis Haywood II played two seasons at Georgia Tech before transferring to Tulsa Haywood averaged 5.6 points and 2.7 rebounds in his sophomore season at Georgia Tech. Tulsa native and Oklahoma State baseball transfer Ryan Gendron will also make his Hurricane debut after redshirting the 2019-20 season.
Tulsa added 5 freshmen, one four-year transfer and one junior college transfer to the roster.
NJCAA Third-Team All-American Austin Richie joins the Hurricane after spending one season at Triton College and before that spent one year at Northern Illinois. He averaged 16.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals at Triton. Rey Idowu, a 6'9" forward, joins the Tulsa roster after two seasons at Illinois State, where he had career averages of 3.6 points and 2.9 rebounds and shot 55 percent from the field.
Among the true freshmen, Keshawn Williams, a 6'3" guard, and 6'6" swingman Christian Shumate were top prep performers at Chicago's (Ill.) Bloom High School. Joining the Chigao newcomers area two rookies from the state of Florida – 6'6" guard Peyton Urbancic and 6'8" forward Bradley Alcime – as well as Tulsa native and walk-on Ari Seals.
The Liberty Flames and South Carolina Gamecocks will face-off in the second game of the Hall of Fame Classic. The championship and consolation games will be played on Sunday, Nov. 29.
-#LoyalAlwaysTrue-
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