LCU counts on transfers to help defend LSC titles

Todd Duncan has a mantra for the Lubbock Christian University men's basketball program: The faces change, but expectations don't.

That's especially pertinent at the moment. The Chaparrals, 27-4 last season, said goodbye to five of their top six scorers, three of whom averaged more than 15 points per game.

On the other hand, returning forward Rowan Mackenzie and three transfers onboarded from other college programs all carried double-digit scoring averages last season. One of the transfers is former Monterey standout Russell Harrison, whose appeal to play this season at Oklahoma State was denied. The NCAA ruled in mid-September that Harrison's eligibility "clock" for Division I had run out, but he's eligible to play at a lower level.

"We've known Russell for a long time and followed his career," Duncan said this week, "and when we had the opportunity to get involved, we were excited. He's been great for us. He's just such a smart player, and he's played in so many big-time games that he brings a lot of leadership to our team and experience."

The coaches, sports information directors and media who cover the Lone Star Conference are betting Duncan can do a fast rebuild. They picked LCU third out of 16 teams in the preseason LSC poll. LCU is ranked No. 16 and No. 24 in the two major polls for NCAA Division II.

"I want these guys to come in with an expectation to compete," Duncan said, "and hopefully continue to play up to the standard that we've established here the last few years."

LCU tips off this weekend in Denver, one of the sites for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference/Lone Star Conference Challenge, an annual season-opening event. The Chaps play Regis (20-10 last season) at 8 p.m. Friday and Colorado School of Mines (16-11) at 5 p.m. Saturday.

LCU has made the Division II NCAA Tournament three of the past four years and won the Lone Star Conference regular-season championship each of the past two seasons. The personnel losses, however, are heavy.

Gone are D-II all-America forward Parker Hicks, who averaged 19.3 points per game, three-time first-team all-LSC guard Lloyd Daniels (16.1 ppg) and second-team all-LSC guard Aamer Muhammad (15.3 ppg). So are post player Jalen Brattain (7.8 ppg) and forward Zach Stepp (4.5 ppg), who were part-time starters.

Hicks, Daniels and Stepp completed their eligibility. Muhammad transferred to Division I Troy, and Brattain transferred to D-II Chaminade.

But Mackenzie, the 6-foot-3 Australian who averaged 11.4 points and 4.6 rebounds as a junior last season, won't be alone. Duncan surrounded his top returnee with some experienced scorers: Harrison, a starter the past two years at Louisiana-Monroe, and junior-college transfers Najeeb Muhammad and Kurt Wegscheider.

Muhammad, a 6-1 point guard from Las Vegas, Nevada, spent the past two seasons at Arizona Western, where he averaged 12.2 points and 4.8 assists in 2020-21 and 11.0 points and 5.0 assists last season.

Wegscheider, a 6-4 multi-position player from the Central African Republic, averaged 14.2 points and 4.2 rebounds last season at Utah State Eastern, an NJCAA program. He spent his first two seasons at New Mexico, playing in 36 games off the bench and averaging 10.5 minutes and 2.3 points per game.

Duncan compared Muhammad to former LCU guard Rashad Sample, and said Wegscheider shares some traits with former Chaps forward Eli Baker.

"Najeeb is kind of your prototypical point guard — pass first, but he's lightning quick, kind of like a Rashad Sample back in the day," Duncan said. He described Wegscheider as an undersized forward or post player, "but can also handle it and even went to UNM as a point guard. He's played everywhere on the floor. He can kind of be whatever we need him to be."

LCU will be the fifth college program for Harrison, the 6-7 swingman who's made stops at Wayland Baptist, Clarendon College, Louisiana-Monroe and Oklahoma State. Harrison averaged 14.1 points and 5.9 rebounds as a Wayland freshman in 2016-17. After missing the next two seasons, he averaged 18.3 points and 8.2 rebounds for Clarendon College in 2019-20, earning NJCAA first-team all-America honors and player of the year in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference.

He started the past two years at ULM, averaging 12.5 points and 6.1 rebounds in 2020-21 and 13.3 points and 5.5 rebounds in 2021-22. He went to Oklahoma State as a graduate transfer, then came to LCU when the NCAA denied his bid to play this season for the Cowboys.

"Division I, your (eligibility) 'clock' starts, so to speak, and you have so many years to play," Duncan said. "In Division II, you have so many semesters to play. So the fact that he took some time away from school in there made it that unique situation for Division II versus Division I."

Duncan said his starting five this weekend will have Harrison, Mackenzie, Wegscheider, returning guard Aaron Gonzales and Muhammad. Gonzales, a 6-3 sophomore from Klein, averaged 3.5 points in 30 games mostly as a reserve last season.

Ty Caswell, a 6-7 forward, is starting his fourth year in the program, but is on the shelf after undergoing surgery on his left ankle in September for the second time. Caswell averaged 9.7 and 5.4 rebounds his first two seasons with the Chaps, starting 47 games, then played in only nine games last season because of the ankle problem and rehabbing from the first surgery.

He's hoping to return to action in December or January.

Among the Chaps' promising freshmen are 6-2 guard Kendall Dow, who averaged 19.2 points per game last season at San Antonio Johnson; 6-5 guard Jalen Nettles, a first-team all-District 6-5A honoree at North Richland Hills Richland; and 6-8 forward Fletcher MacDonald, who averaged 10.6 points and 8.9 rebounds in the Australian State League.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: LCU counts on transfers to help defend LSC titles