RAPID CITY, S.D. --- The South Dakota School of Mines men's basketball team kicks off the 2017-18 season this weekend on a long road trip to Texas where the Hardrockers square off with Texas A&M – Kingsville on Friday in Kingsville, Texas, and then will travel to Laredo, Texas, on Saturday to challenge Texas A&M – International.

The Hardrockers head into the season with a lot of holes to fill from last year's squad. SD Mines graduated six seniors, including All-Conference second-teamer Konor Kulas along with the leadership of Troy Whiteto, Jamal Taylor, Tyler Schoening, Marco Pascolo and Joe Newkirk.

The 'Rockers are returning sophomore Jake Heath, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year last season, who averaged 8.5 points a game. Also back is senior Brian Orr, who contributed 8.5 points from last year, along with sophomore Jack Fiddler (4.8 ppg), Triston Von Nieda, Logan Elers, Jordan Rood, Winzel Sterling and a host of redshirt freshmen (Carlos Tovias, Wilfred Dickson, Troy Brady, Trey Smith).

It will be interesting to see how the veterans can mix with the new crop of players, which include: Isaac Kortmeyer, Mitchell Sueker, Jordan O'Leary, Ralen Brown, Jacob Anastasi).

The first opponent on the SD Mines' schedule will be the Texas A&M Javelinas (or Hogs), a team that made an appearance in the NCAA Div. II South Central Regional Tournament and finishing the 2016-17 campaign with a 19-12 record.

Last year, the Hogs played smothering defense and ranked amongst the highest in the country in three-point field goal defense percentage (2nd-.296), field goal defense (9th-.398), and total blocks (13th-148). TAMUK's 148 blocks set a new standard for most blocks in a single season and offensively, their 231 made three-point field goals and 718 three-point field goal attempts also set a new team season record.
 
Headlining the returners for the Hogs is senior Trey Sumpter and junior Robert Stevenson. Sumpter averaged 11.2 points per game last season and averaged a team-high 5.1 rebounds per game. He was selected to the South Central All-Tournament Team after dropping 17.5 points per game by shooting over 60 percent. Stevenson set the tone defensively, recording 53 blocks, a new single-season record. He also set a record of seven blocks in a single game against Western New Mexico (2/23/17).

Other returners consist of Derrick Byrd, Caelan Neal, Will West, Elliot Taylor, and Christian Bambrook. Tim Singleton, Cris Bowleware, Brandon Etienne, Hector Ruiz, and Dominique Bradley all return after redshirting last season.

New to the Hogs' roster are  Jacolby Harris and Johnnathan Lindsey, who come over from Butler Community College and Elton Dyer joins the Blue and Gold after two seasons at San Jacinto Community College. Kyren Block is the final addition who transfers from Houston Baptist as a redshirt sophomore.

The men are itching to get the regular season started after a successful pair of scrimmages. The Javelinas defeated the U.S. Navy All-Star Team at home 69-60 before upsetting Division I opponent Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in overtime, 82-80, at the American Bank Center.

Friday's season opener will be the second time the clubs have met in program history with the first being last season -- resulting in a 72-62 win for the Hogs.

Friday's game is slated for a 6 p.m. (MST) tip off.

In Saturday's matchup, the Hardrockers face TAMIU. The Dustdevils return three letter-winners from last season's 20-10 team that won TAMIU's third Heartland Conference regular season title with a 13-5 league record. In 2016-17, the Dustdevils posted a 14-3 record at home en route to earning the second seed in the conference tournament.

Senior forward Dan Milota is one of the top returners in the Heartland Conference in 2017-18. The Prague, Czech Republic product averaged 6.5 points per game as a junior while shooting 48.2 percent from the field. He also scored in double-figures in six games including a season-high 15 against Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Guard Jeremy Wright, from Gardena, Calif., returns for his senior season after playing in 30 games as a junior averaging 3.9 points per game off the bench. Kamari Robinson will also look for a more expanded role after playing 136 minutes last season.
 
The Dustdevils features 10 junior college transfers including guards Danny Spinuzza, Brendan Ortiz and Andre Johnson. Xabier Gomez and Chris McDonald add depth on the wings while Damon Leach, Rodrigo Puliceno, Shea Garland, Stanley Perrin and Dominic Jackson will play in the post. Marek Hajek and Ivan Chapa headline the incoming freshman class for 2017-18.

Saturday's game will begin at 4 p.m. (MST)