PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico men's basketball is back! The Greyhounds travel to face No. 10 Arizona Monday night in Tucson, Ariz. Before the first exhibition of the year, please read the Starting Five:

1.) Continue Successes – After earning the most wins since the 1992-93 season, Eastern New Mexico looks to follow-up the 2023-24 campaign with another electric year of competition. ENMU finished 22-10 (15-7 LSC) in 2023-24 and won the program's first conference tournament championship since the aforementioned 1992-93 team. The Greyhounds clicked well together as they averaged 90 points per game and hit the century mark twelve times over the course of the season. Ten of those 100+ point games came versus Lone Star Conference teams. ENMU also made it to the NCAA tournament for just the third time in school history. They lost in the opening round to Colorado Mesa who eventually made an appearance in the regional final.

2.) Welcome Back – Two familiar names are back for Eastern New Mexico this season. Daven Vо̃ was named head coach of ENMU men's basketball in April 2024 and he brought back Timothy Bowlen as an assistant coach. Vо̃ was an assistant coach for Eastern for two seasons (2021-23) and held an assistant job at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs over the last year. He holds previous head coaching experience in Arizona where he guided South Mountain Community College for four years in the mid-2010's. Bowlen served as a graduate assistant from 2021-23 where he helped former head coach Brent Owen and Vо̃ guide the team to a 24-29 record over two years, including a plus-ten win difference from year one to year two. The Hounds won 17 games during the duo's final season as assistants. Vо̃ also brought Cam Parker as an assistant coach for the program. The first-year Greyhound coach has led elite level junior college programs over the last decade.

3.) Big Advantage –Mario Whitley, Jose Murillo, and Alex Alfaro are back for Eastern New Mexico. Whitley played the four and Murillo played the five for ENMU a year ago. Whitley is in his second season with Eastern and looks to improve on his 10.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per outing. One of his best games from last season was a road win over Lubbock Christian where he scored 23 points. Murillo will be in his third-straight season as a starter for the Hounds. The Chihuahua, Mexico native has helped ENMU secure 39 total wins over his underclassmen years. Now in his junior season, Murillo looks to carry on with his 8.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest. He also has 82 career blocks after swatting 49 shots a year ago. One of his best games from last season came in the Lone Star Conference championship game where he scored 20 points and made 6-of-7 of his shots from the charity stripe. Alfaro redshirted last season and is a native of Deming, N.M.

4.) Fresh Faces – With a new season comes an influx of new members to the team. The Greyhounds welcome twelve student-athletes to the 2024-25 squad. Newcomers include Isaiah Randolph, Cougar Downing, Mo Austin, Treyvon Byrd, Jaden Clarke, Raul Stanford, Kevin Rankin, Austin Abrams, Johnathan Lyons Jr., Cooper Jackson, Andrija Maric, and Brandon Kehres. Downing is a transfer from Arkansas-Little Rock and Barton Community College. At Barton, he was a first team all-region honoree. Byrd transferred from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M and Northwest Florida State College. He helped Northwest Florida State College to a championship berth in the NJCAA. Jackson is a two-time defensive player of the year who played at Barton Community College. He helped the program win the NJCAA title last season. Clarke has played for Sauk Valley, Clinton College, and Iowa Central. Last year with Sauk Valley, he led the team with 16.3 points per game and was named a first team all-region player. Austin is a freshman from Pueblo, Colo. who ranks in the top-ten in the state all-time in points and steals. For more information on the newcomers, please visit the roster page online.

5.) High Level Competition – The Greyhounds will be facing a difficult program from the University of Arizona. The Wildcats are loaded with talent and are projected to finish in the top-five in the Big 12. Currently, Arizona ranks No. 10 in the AP preseason poll. They finished 27-9 in 2023-24 on their way to a sweet sixteen appearance. Caleb Love is back with the team after an all-american season. The North Carolina transfer averaged 18 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. They also welcome Trey Townsend who was the Horizon League player of the year for Oakland. Townsend started all 129 games in his collegiate career averaging 14.1 points per contest. The team is led by Tommy Lloyd who spent 20+ seasons as an assistant coach at Grand Canyon. He is in his fourth year with the Wildcats. Monday night's game will be televised on ESPN+ and radio will be available on KSEL Country.