• Texas Southern opens the 2025-26 campaign on the road at Gonzaga Monday night at 8 p.m.
• TSU has not won a season opener since a 72-69 win over Baylor in 2018.
• Texas Southern fell in the first round of the 2025 SWAC Tournament to Alabama State.
• TSU returns two starters from last season and 10 letterwinners as they lost five lettermen. The Tigers added seven newcomers to its roster in the offseason as five were added via the transfer portal. Senior guard Zaire Hayes was named to the 2025-26 Preseason All-SWAC basketball team after a career junior campaign which saw him finish second on the team with 10.3 points per game while finishing second on the team with 47 three-pointers made. He also shot 46 percent from the field and 84 percent from the free throw line.
• Head coach Johnny Jones is 2-4 all-time against the West Coast Conference with games against Loyola Marymount, Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, Washington State and San Francisco.
• Gonzaga is 18-0 all-time against the SWAC as they've played TSU the most (5) out of SWAC teams. Gonzaga has played Alabama State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Alcorn State, Jackson State, Mississippi Valley State, Prairie View A&M, Southern and Texas Southern.Â
• Gonzaga is ranked No. 21 in the Preseason Associated Press poll and has won 21 consecutive season openers dating back to 2003. They return two starters from a team which advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. TSU has history with forward Emmanuel Innocenti as they squared off against him in the 2024 CIT at Tarleton State.
• TSU, which is led by eighth-year head coach Johnny Jones, enters the 2025-26 season looking to earn its eighth NCAA Tournament bid over the past 13 years. TSU finished fourth in the SWAC last season and picked to finish fifth this year.
• TSU made its fifth consecutive postseason under Jones in 2024 and participated in three straight NCAA Tournaments from 2021-23. Head coach Johnny Jones went 24-14 in his inaugural year as head coach with three Power 5 conference wins. TSU fell in the finals of the 2019 SWAC Tournament and advanced to the semifinals of the CIT in 2019. In 2019-20, the Tigers made it back to the semifinals of the SWAC Tournament after a third-place regular season finish but saw the season end abruptly due to COVID-19. TSU won the SWAC Tournament and First Four contest in 2021 and was the first SWAC team to beat a ranked opponent from the SEC in 2021 at Florida. TSU claimed another Power 5 non-conference win against Arizona State in 2022.
• Jones is 62-65 all-time in the month of November and 9-35 at TSU.
