1 www.ACUSports.com 2018-19 ACU Radio / TV Roster #0 • JAYLEN #1 • JAREN #4 • DAMIEN #5 • PAYTEN #11 • TOBIAS #14 • TREY FRANKLIN LEWIS DANIELS RICKS CAMERON LENOX Guard Forward Guard Guard Guard / Forward Guard 6-2, 205, sr, 3VL 6-6, 215, sr, 3VL 5-7, 140, fr, HS 6-2, 190, jr, 2VL 6-5, 210, fr, RS 6-3, 220, jr, 2VL Little Rock, Arkansas Orlando, Florida Kansas City, Missouri Wichita, Kansas Gold Coast, Hot Springs, Arkansas Parkview HS Lake Highlands Prep Hogan Prep Maize South HS Queensland, Australia Hot Springs HS 10.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 4.9 apg 13.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.7 apg 3.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.8 apg 11.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.0 apg 0.9 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 0.2 apg 2.3 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 0.7 apg #15 • HAYDEN #22 • CHASE #32 • JOE #33 • PAUL #34 • KOLTON #42 • CLAY FARQUHAR COBB PLEASANT HIEPLER KOHL GAYMAN Forward Guard Forward Guard Center Forward 6-7, 215, sr, 3VL 6-1, 190, jr, 1VL 6-8, 220, fr, HS 6-4, 170, soph, 1VL 7-0, 225, soph, 1VL 6-6, 220, fr, HS Throckmorton, Texas Richmond, Texas Overland Park, Kansas Camarillo, California San Angelo, Texas Nevada, Missouri Throckmorton HS Faith West Academy Blue Valley NW HS Oaks Christian HS Central HS Nevada HS 6.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.8 apg 0.9 ppg, 0.2 rpg, 0.0 apg 5. ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.3 apg 0.5 ppg, 0.2 rpg, 0.1 apg 2.0 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 0.2 apg 2.1 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.3 apg ACU MEN’S BASKETBALL COACHING STAFF Joe Golding Brette Tanner Ted Crass Antonio Bostic Cam Griffin Jon Trilli @CoachGoldingACU @Tanner_ACUhoops @CoachCrassACU @abostic5 @CoachCamACU @JTrill22 NUMERICAL ROSTER PRONUNCIATION GUIDE No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Class Exp. Hometown Hayden Farquhar...... FAR-kwar 0 Jaylen Franklin G 6-2 205 sr 3VL Little Rock, Ark. (Parkview HS) Paul Hiepler .......... HIP-ler 1 Jaren Lewis F 6-6 215 sr 3VL Orlando, Fla. (Lake Highland Prep) 4 Damien Daniels G 5-7 140 fr HS Kansas City, Mo. (Hogan Prep) 5 Payten Ricks G 6-2 190 jr 2VL Wichita, Kan. (Maize South HS) 11 Tobias Cameron G/F 6-5 210 fr RS Gold Coast, Queensland, Aus. (Hillcrest Christian Academy) 14 Trey Lenox G 6-3 220 jr 2VL Hot Springs, Ark. (Hot Springs HS) 15 Hayden Farquhar F 6-7 215 sr 3VL Throckmorton, Texas (Throckmorton HS) 22 Chase Cobb G 6-1 190 jr 1VL Richmond, Texas (Faith West Academy) 32 Joe Pleasant F 6-8 220 fr HS Overland Park, Kan. (Blue Valley NW HS) 33 Paul Hiepler G 6-4 170 soph 1VL Camarillo, Calif. (Oaks Christian HS) 34 Kolton Kohl C 7-0 225 soph 1VL San Angelo, Texas (S.A. Central HS) 42 Clay Gayman F 6-6 220 fr HS Nevada, Mo. (Nevada HS) Hayden Howell F 6-7 225 sr 3VL Midwest City, Okla. (Carl Albert HS) 2 WILDCwww.ACUSports.comAT BASKETBALL 'Trust the Process' Finding ACU's One Shining Moment By LANCE FLEMING at Duquesne, Maryland and Iowa and the first winning regular season (16-15) since ACU Athletics Media Relations losses mounted over the next two seasons as 2007-08. The Wildcats also qualified for a ACU learned the hard lessons of life at the postseason berth as they played — and lost KATY, Texas — The ACU Wildcats have Division I level. in overtime — at Drake in the first round of spent the better part of the last three decades But Golding was given time to build a the collegeinsider.com (CIT) Tourname searching for their One Shining Moment program and recruit the kind of players he That made the goal for 2018-19 simple: put They found it last Saturday night at the knew would win at ACU: tough, selfless the lessons of the past to use and set about Merrell Center as the Wildcats beat New kids who would buy into the school, the the business of winning games, getting to Orleans, 77-60, to win the Southland coaches and the program he was trying to the conference tournament and playing for Conference men's basketball championship put together. It all started coming together a championship. ACU started the season and advance to the NCAA Tournament. four years ago when a quartet of freshmen 7-0 and never looked back, running out to ACU will find out Sunday afternoon its seed, — Jaylen Franklin, Jaren Lewis, Hayden an 11-2 non-conference record that led to a opponent and region, but what became Farquhar and Hayden Howell — arrived on 14-4 conference record and runner-up finish. crystal clear Saturday night was this: head campus and began to turn the program's The Wildcats set a program record for wins coach Joe Golding and his staff and players fortunes, along with established foundation in the regular season (15) and wins in a con- have written one of the great stories that players like Parker Wentz, Austin Cooke, ference season, and the 27-6 record heading thrive in March Madness. Duran Porter, Isaiah Tripp, Drake Green and into the tournament is tied for the most wins Just six years ago, ACU — without a Alexander Milosavljevic. They later added in a season in program history. history of sustained success in men's players like Jalen Little and Tevin Foster to Not even the loss of starters Jalone Friday basketball over the previous 30 years — the mix to help the transition. and B.J. Maxwell to dismissal from the team began the transition from NCAA Division II ACU missed out on the conference in late February could slow the train. ACU membership to NCAA Division I affiliation. tournament last year after a late-season responded to their departure by winning The first season included blowout losses slump, but still registered the program's four of their last five regular-season games WILDCAT BASKETBALL to clinch the double-bye in the tournament. Payten Ricks and Trey Lenox and ACU head coach Then came Friday night's 69-66 semifinal then Kolton Kohl and Tobias Joe Golding victory over a Southeastern Louisiana team Cameron were all added to the that had punked the Wildcats at Moody on mix to give the coaching staff Feb. 23, 48 hours after the two starters were what they believed was a team dismissed from the team. that could compete and win at the All of that led to last Saturday night, Division I level. arguably the greatest team moment in the It began to turn last season as near-100 years of ACU Athletics. trust met process. The Wildcats I was asked earlier Saturday afternoon by finished with 16 wins (the most in Lowell Galindo — the play-by-play voice for a season since 2007-08), had a the game on ESPN2 — to tell him about this winning regular season and, despite team, and I told him it wasn't about this year, that late-season slump still got to the but that it was about the last six years. postseason for the first time as a Joe likes to use the phrase "Trust the Division I program. And it was on Process." In fact, those of us who are around the backs of Foster, Franklin, Lewis, this team on a daily basis should have T-shirts Farquhar and others that it happened. ACU senior forward made with the phrase emblazoned across the Franklin is, perhaps, the most dynamic Jaren Lewis front. But there are two words in that phrase player in the history of ACU basketball. And that have been crucial to building this Lewis is one of the quietest, most humble and program: Trust and Process. most ferocious competitors to wear the purple The first person Golding had to make be- and white. Franklin and Lewis and others who lieve that ACU could eventually do what they have come after them changed the way the did Saturday night was associate head coach Wildcats played. They played above the rim, Brette Tanner, who was an assistant coach at something that hadn't been the case at ACU Southland Conference lynchpin, Stephen F. for a couple of decades. Austin. He had done all of the things Golding Franklin had at least three dunks in his first and ACU were only dreaming of at that point. game at ACU and longtime observers stared When he finally convinced his longtime at each other and thought "this is what a friend to trust him and join him at ACU Division I basketball team is supposed to look before the 2013-14 season, Golding called like." His tomahawk dunk over New Orleans Tanner his "biggest recruit." big man Scott Plaisance in Saturday night's Those two then set out changing everything championship game was the latest example of about the program and the mindset of what it his stamp on the program. takes to win. Lewis was never better in his career than But those changes didn't come without he was Saturday night, finishing with 20 doubt, adversity, sleepless nights and long points, six rebounds and three steals and then recruiting trips to small gyms across the carrying home tournament MVP honors. He country. There were blowout losses at Boise was unstoppable inside, hitting 10 of 17 shots, ACU senior State and Loyola-Chicago and Towson and most of them inside the circle that Golding guard Jaylen Franklin UC-Riverside and San Francisco.