Men's basketball team to begin season

The A&M-Commerce men's basketball team begins the 2010-11 season tomorrow night with their first game against East Texas Baptist at 7:00 p.m. in the A&M-Commerce Field House.

In his eleventh season as head coach, Sam Walker leads a Lions team picked to finish third in the Lone Star Conference North for the new season.

"We are a work in progress," Walker said about his team heading into Saturday's game. "As far as where we are right now from our workouts, our work ethic and our ability to make other people around us better with good team play, I am very happy with where we are now. The games that matter at college basketball usually happen after Christmas, and November and December is kind of a journey to find yourself and where you are."

The Lions are led by seniors Dallas Hunter, Tyris Dowell and Brian Singleton. Junior Brad Hambrick is another returning upper classman surrounded by great expectations.

"He's been a double digit scorer for his freshman and sophomore year, so we hope his junior and senior year are a lot better," Walker said. "Also, Brian Singleton is an all-conference guard. So we feel pretty solid at those positions. I feel like we've replaced some of the people with new guys, but we're really counting on our returning players to step it up and play a bigger role. That's been the story of our program for the last decade."

Speaking of new players, this game could also be the debuts of highly rated junior Desmond King, who transferred to A&M-Commerce from the Region XIV Men's Basketball Tournament runner-up Paris Junior College, and junior Stefon Carson, who comes from Kankakee Community College in Illinois.

"We're really counting on them, and in their maturation process every day and every minute they need to get a little bit better and feel more comfortable in their surroundings," he said.

The Lions play another home game on Saturday, Nov. 20, against St. Edward's before taking part in the St. Mary's Classic tournament in San Antonio starting Nov. 26.