Texas
Know Your Non-conference Opponent: Texas Southern
Everything old will be new again on Monday, November 4, as Xavier’s season will open up with Texas Southern at Cintas. The cycle begins anew, hope springs eternal, everyone’s undefeated, et c., et c. Whatever your favorite cliche for the start of the season is, pick it and pretend it’s how I decided to start this post.
Texas Southern has been a school in some form since 1927. I only mention that to point out that Texas Southern is the fourth name by which the university has been called in that time. I won’t type any of the other three here, but just know that you can find them on Wikipedia and they stand as a monument to how times have changed in the last 100 years.
The Tigers were not good last year, starting the season off by going to New Mexico to get clubbed by 37 and never really recovering from there. They ended up going 2-9 in non-conference play, with half their wins coming against some school called Biblical Studies. A 12-6 SWAC campaign culminated in a conference tournament final loss and a first-round exit in the CIT.
Veteran head coach Johnny Jones is the head man for TSU, starting his seventh season with the program, having also done stints at Memphis, North Texas, and LSU. His teams have consistently played fast on offense and flown to the glass to collect their own misses. Those have been plentiful at TSU, where he has only had a team in the top 250 of EFG% once. They don’t shoot a lot of threes or shoot them very well. It has all added up to consistently bottom-tier offenses.
His defenses have been okay but nothing special, which is what you might expect from a team that lingers in the low-majors. The EFG% against numbers have actually been solid in Jones’s time at Texas Southern, but they’ve been let down pretty much everywhere else. They put teams on the line a ton and only have a mediocre TO rate to show for it. They also haven’t defended the glass well either. They’ve had some decent defenses when it all comes together, but that hasn’t been very often.
Key departures
Leading scorer PJ Henry is out the door, taking his 14.9/2.8/2.4 with him. He was a bit of a volume guy, posting a 98.9 ORtg and EFG% of 48.3%, but he distributed the ball without turning it over and posted good steal numbers on the defensive end. His backcourt mate Jonathan Cisse is also gone. He was second-leading scorer and led the team in assists on his way to a 13.5/3.4/2.8 game line. He was much more efficient than Henry largely due to being a slightly better shooter and getting to the free throw line a ton, where he shot 83%.
Wing Deon Stroud also graduated. He averaged 7.0/3.2/1.1 per game and was third on the team in shot attempts. His efficiency numbers were really brought down by some turnover issues and the fact that he took more than half his shots from deep despite connecting on less than a third of those attempts.
Key returnees
Texas Southern returns a lot of their secondary players, which in times past has been a key to developing a decent program. On the other hand, maybe these dudes didn’t hit the portal because there isn’t a lot of demand for a single-digit scorer from a team that finished 267th in the KenPom.
Anyway, Grayson Carter is a 6’10”, 240-pound forward who averaged 7.1/4.2/1.1 last season. He was second on the team in OReb% and block rate, but he spent so much time on the perimeter that he shot more threes than free throws. I’m not talking about a Matt Bullard style weapon here either; he was 15-52 from deep on the year.
The guy who led the team in OReb% and block rate was Kenny Hunter, a 6’8”, 236-pound paint monster. He wasn’t much of a defensive rebounder and didn’t get to the line much at all, but he stayed and scored near the rim and played good defense. His 4.3 fouls per 40 minutes were a concern that really hampered his ability to stay on the court.
Guards Zytarious Mortle and Jaylen Wysinger make up for in awesome names what they lack in productivity. They’re both volume scorers, though Mortle was a little less efficient and a little more of a black hole. Both struggled to defend without fouling and neither did much in terms of rebounding or distribution. Maybe they worked on it in the offseason.
Incoming players
College basketball free agent Alex Anderson joins Texas Southern this season, marking his fourth school in four years. From South Alabama to Alabama State to Incarnate Word, he has been a consistent offensive contributor who uses a ton of possessions. He has posted good assist rates but high turnover numbers, decent shooting efficiencies, and a knack for getting to the line. He’s got good size for a guard at 6’6”, 200, and uses that to get into the lane. He is 8-35 from deep on his career, which is not good.
Joining him as a newcomer in the backcourt is Jaylin Jackson-Posey, who has previously only played for two other schools (Stephen F. Austin and New Mexico State). He has been plagued by foul trouble his entire career and that has kept him from ever being able to establish an offensive rhythm. He is a career 33% shooter from behind the arc and an excellent free throw shooter, but he fouls like he gets fined for every one he doesn’t use and has struggled with turnover issues. Maybe dropping a couple of levels will let him shine.
Some JuCo guys fill out the ranks. Duane Posey is a 6’7” slashing wing from Northwestern State. He averaged 6.7/4.3/0.4 last year and only shot two threes. Oumar Koureissi is 6’11”, 220-pound big, late of Jacksonville by way of Nichols State. He grabbed 12 minutes per game at Nichols last year, giving back 4.1 and 2.6 on .418/.200/.714 shooting for the trouble. If he’s any more that depth, either something has gone wrong or he took a huge leap.
Outlook
You don’t bring in a buy game to open the season for the purposes of challenging your team right off, and that’s the role Texas Southern is filling for Xavier. The Jaguars should be scrapping around the top of the table in the SWAC, but that’s one of the worst leagues in the country. This game should pay some bills for them and give Xavier a 1-0 start to the season.
An air quality alert issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) for two of Texas’ most populous metro areas is advising residents against idling in drive-thru lanes due to elevated ozone levels.
Why It Matters
With a combined metropolitan population of over 10 million, the recommendation affects a significant portion of the state’s urban population.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) notes that even short-term exposure to elevated ozone can lead to breathing difficulties, lung inflammation, and worsening of conditions such as asthma.
What To Know
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) issued Ozone Action Days for both the Dallas-Fort Worth and the San Antonio areas for Tuesday, an air quality alert published by the NWS said.
According to officials, atmospheric conditions were forecast to be favorable for producing high levels of ozone pollution.
“You can help prevent ozone pollution by sharing a ride, walking or riding a bicycle, taking your lunch to work, avoiding drive through lanes, conserving energy, and keeping your vehicle properly tuned,” the alert read.
Elsewhere, air quality alerts were also in effect for the western two-thirds of Minnesota, including the Twin Cities Metro, following previous alerts issued for the day prior.
“Mostly sunny skies, warm temperatures and low humidity will provide a favorable environment for two types of pollutants (volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides) to react with sunlight in the air to produce ground-level ozone,” the alerts for the state said.
“Ozone will remain elevated on Wednesday as sunny skies, warm temperatures and dry conditions persist.”
In the northeastern part of the state, an air quality alert had also been issued due to the ongoing Camp House, Jenkins Creek, and Munger Shaw fires, which had each burned over 1,000 acres as of Monday night. Smoke was expected to impact areas near and downwind of the blazes, with smoke being observed as far north as the Canadian border, the alert said.
What People Are Saying
AccuWeather meteorologist Brandon Buckingham previously told Newsweek: “Ozone is a secondary pollutant, meaning it’s not emitted directly from sources but is formed through chemical reactions. These reactions require sunlight and higher temperatures, making warmer months more prone to ozone formation. When air is stagnant, pollutants don’t get dispersed, allowing ozone to build up to unhealthy levels.
“Ozone pollution is often more severe in urban areas where there are higher concentrations of pollutants from sources like cars, power plants, and industrial activities.”
Professor of pediatric respiratory and environmental medicine Jonathan Grigg, with Queen Mary, University of London, previously told Newsweek There are “very clear links” between inhaling particles and earlier death from both respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
Additionally, he added that conditions such as asthma are also exacerbated by exposure to air pollution.
What Happens Next
At the time of writing, Ozone Action Days for Texas were in effect through Tuesday. The next ozone action day, if required, would be issued by 3 p.m. Tuesday.
HOUSTON – If you’ve ever wanted to be on the front lines helping the community, why not consider a career as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)?
SEE ALSO: New, elegant shared office workspaces debut in Houston’s River Oaks
The National EMS Academy, a sister company of Acadian Ambulance, is cutting its training costs by a substantial amount.
Ordinarily, the tuition for its 12-week course is $1,600, but for a limited time is discounted to only $400 at all 5 Texas National EMS Academy’s campuses.
These include its Austin, Beaumont, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio locations.
After completing the course, Acadian Ambulance EMTS who train to become paramedics can get reimbursed for their training costs.
SEE ALSO: Texas has created more jobs than any other state in last year, data shows
And if you’re not looking to stay in one place, once you complete the course and pass the National Registry exam, you’re eligible to work at any of the Acadian Ambulance locations in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
Registration is now open for classes starting on May 26.
To learn more about the National EMS Academy’s Texas program, visit their website by clicking here.
Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Texas A&M earned the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I softball tournament on Sunday, edging four-time defending national champion Oklahoma for the top spot and leading seven Southeastern Conference teams seeded in the top eight.
Oklahoma won the SEC regular-season title by a game over Texas A&M in its first season in the conference. Texas A&M and Oklahoma tied for the conference tournament title after the championship game was canceled because of bad weather.
No. 3 seed Florida, a national semifinalist last season, and No. 4-seeded Arkansas also represent the SEC. Oklahoma State, which has made five consecutive Women’s College World Series appearances, is in the regional with Arkansas.
The final eight teams in the 64-team field will play in the WCWS from May 29 to June 5 in Oklahoma City.
No. 5 seed Florida State, the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season champion, is the top-seeded team from outside the SEC. The Seminoles won the national title in 2018 and were runners-up in 2021 and 2023.
Florida State is followed by three more SEC teams. Texas, the national runner-up two of the past three seasons, is the No. 6 seed. Tennessee, with hard-throwing Karlyn Pickens, is the No. 7 seed. South Carolina is the No. 8 seed after being picked 15th out of 15 teams in the preseason SEC poll.
No. 9 seed UCLA hosts a regional in its first season as a Big Ten member.
No. 10-seeded LSU could be challenged. Nebraska, led by former Oklahoma pitcher Jordyn Bahl, also will be in the Baton Rouge Regional. Bahl was the Most Outstanding Player of the World Series in 2023.
Clemson, the ACC tournament champion after knocking off Florida State in the title game, is the No. 11 seed.
No. 12 seed Texas Tech, the Big 12 regular-season and tournament champion, features reigning National Fastpitch Coaches Association Player of the Year NiJaree Canady. She did not allow a run in 16⅔ innings at the Big 12 Tournament and was named its Most Outstanding Player.
Arizona, which lost to Texas Tech in the Big 12 title game, earned the No. 13 seed.
Duke reached the WCWS for the first time last season, and it will host a regional this year as the No. 14 seed.
Another SEC team, Alabama, is the No. 15 seed.
Oregon, the Big Ten regular-season champion, is seeded 16th.
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