For the second time in three years, Head Basketball coach and alumnus for the Javelinas Johnny Estelle traveled his squad to Aggie land to face former Assistant Coach for the Javelinas and now Head Coach for the Aggies, Buzz Williams.
Against SEC opponents, the Javelinas walked onto a big scene in College Station and narrowly lost the ball game by four points. Leading scorer and 2021 LSC Third-Team selection Tre Flowers looks to possibly lead the team in scoring once more; he does not shy from the pressure but is mostly focused on team success.
“After having a good year last year, I am coming back this year looking forward to getting better and doing whatever I can to help our team win games. If I happened to lead the team in those categories while doing it, then that’s just a plus,” he said.
In the Aggies game, C.J. Smith, a transfer from Western Texas College, tallied 15 points, six assists and five steals while shooting for 50 percent from the field. The course of the ball game went back and forth with 14 lead changes and 11 ties throughout the ball game, but Smith came into the game confident, focusing on playing Javelina basketball.
“My mindset going into the game was to play the game at our pace and to let the game come to me,” he said. “Playing in an arena like that has always been a dream of mine and there was no reason to shy away from it.”
The Hogs, despite the loss, led the game in second chance points, points off turnovers and had the higher three-point percentage at the final buzzer. Louisiana Tech Transfer Xavier Armstead is familiar with the lights coming from Division I basketball in the Conference USA West Division and he delivered in his first chance of action in a Javelina jersey shooting an efficient 80 percent from the three spot, but as a team, he carried a philosophy with him given to the team by Coach Estelle.
“Coach always say’s that it doesn’t matter what level you are on, it’s about having a heart and not backing down to anybody and competing so I just transferred that when we played Texas A&M,” Armstead said.
The team’s moral victory as the season is getting ready to start will no doubt serve as a starting point for the Javelinas and as Coach Estelle gets his men ready for the next task at hand, back-to-back games against South Dakota Mines and Chadron State, the match against A&M was seen as a step in the right direction for Estelle.
“The Texas A&M game was a great experience for our players, staff and fans,” he said. “At the NCAA DII level, you usually do not get the opportunity to compete against a NCAA High Major program and a nationally recognized and accomplished coach like fellow Javelina alumnus, Buzz Williams. It was only the beginning of our season and one game. I was very satisfied and pleased with how we played and represented the Javelina Nation on the big stage.”
This is not what Estelle looks to base his season off of as these next games count and LSC competition is less than a month away.
“We play in one of the top NCAA DII Conferences in the country and have a very difficult non-conference schedule,” he said. “We have to put the A&M game behind us and begin focusing on what is in front of us, which is a very good and well coached South Dakota Mines team and a tough Chadron State squad on the road. We will have to continue to stay humble and stay true to the values of program’s culture every day.”
Season competition begins Friday, Nov. 12, against South Dakota Mines in Rapid City but the Javelinas will return to the SPEC Nov.19 against Dallas Christian.