This Week in Rattlers Basketball
Regis • Friday, November 14 • 8 p.m.
Regis (0-0)
Head Coach: Rex Walters (158-160)
at #RV St. Mary's (0-0)
Head Coach: Bubba Meyer (32-27)
Broadcast: FloCollege • Play-by-Play: Rob Shadow
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#10 Colorado School of Mines • Sunday, November 16 • 12 p.m.
#10 Colorado School of Mines (0-3)
Head Coach: Pryor Orser (474-235)
at #RV St. Mary's (0-0)
Head Coach: Bubba Meyer (32-27)
Broadcast: FloCollege • Play-by-Play: Rob Shadow
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Kicking Things Off: The 92nd season of Men's Basketball at St. Mary's gets underway on Friday when the Rattlers host Regis in the South Central Regional Crossover at 8 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the Volleyball team. StMU also hosts No. 10 Colorado School of Mines on Sunday at Noon in a rematch of the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament from last season.
Preseason Honor: Senior guard Damani Claxton has already been honored before the first ball even tips in the air, as he was named the Lone Star Conference Preseason Player of the Year in a vote by the league's head coaches, media, and sports information personnel. Claxton was an NABC and D2CCA All-Region Second-Team and a Lone Star All-Conference First-Team selection last year after leading the team with 17.1 points, 2.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He was also the league's Newcomer of the Year.
Home Cooking: St. Mary's begins the season with its first seven games at home and 12 of its first 13 games will be played in San Antonio, as the two games of the River City Classic on Dec. 16-17 will be played across town at the NISD Sports Gym. It ties the school record for most games at home to open the year, knotting the seven the 1992-93 started with at home. That team finished 12-15 overall and 4-6 in the Heart of Texas Conference.
History with Regis: The Rattlers trail 6-3 in the all-time series with the Regis Rangers, but have won the last two games, including a thrilling 81-78 victory in 2023 for the first win of Bubba Meyer's head coaching career. Friday marks the third meeting in Bill Greehey Arena with each team winning once.
History with Colorado School of Mines: The Orediggers lead the series 8-3 and won both meetings last season, though the Rattlers won 87-77 in 2023, the last meeting at Bill Greehey Arena. Six of the 11 games in the series have been on a neutral court, while Sunday will be only the third on the StMU campus.
Picked Second: St. Mary's was chosen to finish second in the 2025-26 Lone Star Conference race. DBU totaled 850 points and collected 42 of the possible 51 first-place votes to be the favorite in the poll. The Rattlers received 724 points and two first-place votes for second, while Lubbock Christian (4, 720) is third, St. Edward's (669) and West Texas A&M (2, 654) round out the top five. It is the highest-ever predicted finish for the Rattlers since joining the LSC in 2019-20.
What's Returning: St. Mary's returns five letterwinners off last year's squad in Damani Claxton, Lawyer Jones, Eddie McPhee, Sebastian Mendoza and Wayne Wiggins. Those five players accounted for 54.2 percent of the team's scoring in 2024-25, as well as 38.1 percent of the rebounding, 58.7 percent of assists, 64.9 percent of steals and 48.6 percent of the blocked shots.
Getting Votes: The Rattlers received 46 votes in the Preseason NABC Poll. Five StMU opponents in 2025-26 are also appearing as DBU is ranked No. 3, Colorado School of Mines is No. 10, Lubbock Christian is No. 25 and both Central Oklahoma and West Texas A&M are receiving votes.
Entering His Name: Damani Claxton scored 530 points last season, good for 13th on the St. Mary's single-season scoring chart. It is also the second-most points during the school's Division II era, trailing only Kevin Kotzur's 550 from 2012-13 in his senior campaign. Claxton also finished 20th in points per game (17.10), 19th in field goals made (185), 11th in field goals attempted (399), 19th in free throws made (115), tied for 10th in steals (49), 15th in steals per game (1.58) and third in minutes played (1,011). Fellow senior guard Wayne Wiggins joined Claxton on the total steals list in a tie for 13th (44) and 16th in steals per game (1.52).
Windex: Eight times in 2024-25, the Rattlers recorded 20 or more offensive rebounds in a contest. The team averaged 14.84 per game to rank ninth in the nation and lead the Lone Star Conference on the offensive glass. The 14.84 also ranks seventh on the StMU single season charts and is the highest average in the school's Division II era.
Made to be Broken: The 16 victories for the Rattlers last season in Lone Star Conference play established a new school single season record for conference victories. Both the 1996-97 (15-1) and 2014-15 (15-5) teams shared the previous record with 15 league wins.
Call the 4s: Sophomore Lawyer Jones ended his true freshman season with 23 steals, placing him seventh on the freshman single season list in St. Mary's history. Jones averaged 3.6 points and 1.7 rebounds per game in 11.7 minutes per game in 2024-25.
What's New in 2025-26: The Rattlers added three freshmen (Ayden Clarke, Michael Grant, Raken Vargas) to the team this season in addition to a trio of junior college transfers (Justin Britt, Savon Myers, JJ Walton) and a pair of senior four-year transfers (Olaverr Camacho, Freddie Cooper).
