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Junior center Miles Goodman plays basketball during a practice Oct. 12 at College Park Center. Goodman averaged 3.4 points per game during the 2025-26 season at UTA.<\/p>\n
Photo by Emmanuel Pizano<\/a><\/p>\n Last year, UTA men\u2019s basketball went 18-14, including 9-9 in conference play, and were knocked out of conference contention in the tournament semifinals.<\/p>\n The Mavericks now enter head coach KT Turner\u2019s fourth season in Arlington with essentially an entirely new roster, with 12 of last season\u2019s 14 players gone, mostly by way of the transfer portal.<\/p>\n \u201cLosing guys, that\u2019s just part of the lay of the land right now,\u201d Turner said. \u201cEspecially if you have good players, guys from higher levels are going to come take them.\u201d<\/p>\n Just two players stayed from last season: junior center Miles Goodman and redshirt sophomore forward Stoney Hadnot.<\/p>\n Goodman played about 13 minutes per game last season and was the team\u2019s sixth-best rebounder, grabbing just under three per game. Meanwhile, Hadnot didn\u2019t make an appearance last season, using his redshirt year.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was awesome that they stayed,\u201d Turner said. \u201cIt was two guys that we really wanted to stay in this program; both of them can really help this program. They\u2019ve been in the program and they know how we do things on and off the court.\u201d<\/p>\n Turner replenished the roster in mostly the same way it was depleted, through the transfer portal.<\/p>\n One of the team\u2019s top acquisitions was senior guard Noah Shelby, who enters this season with his fifth team in five years. His past schools include Vanderbilt University, Rice University, the University of Kansas and Texas A&M University.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shelby said he came to Arlington due to a long-standing connection with Turner.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve known coach KT for a long time, since I was a little kid,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew it was my last year, so I wanted to go somewhere I didn\u2019t think it was a gamble.\u201d<\/p>\n The Mavericks also grabbed talent from the lower college ranks, such as sophomore guard Tristan Hankins and junior guard Jerimiyah Smith.<\/p>\n Hankins led Butler Community College in points and was second in rebounds last season, and said he chose UTA over conference rivals Tarleton State University and Abilene Christian University. He said his best trait is his drive.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I can\u2019t score, if I\u2019m just doing something terrible, I normally be going hard regardless,\u201d Hankins said. \u201cI make something happen throughout the game. If that is scoring, rebounding, getting others involved, defense, just something going to happen just from how hard I play.\u201d<\/p>\n Outside the portal, one of the Mavericks\u2019 biggest additions, in more ways than one, is junior forward Teodor Simic. Simic is listed as 7 feet, 1 inch tall and 250 pounds, and comes to Arlington by way of Skopje, North Macedonia.\u00a0<\/p>\n UTA also acquired freshman guard Kajus Mikalauskas from Klaip\u0117da, Lithuania, and sophomore forward Niko Bundalo, who played for the Serbian U20 team.<\/p>\n Turner credited former assistant coach Nemanja \u201cYogi\u201d Jovanovic, who heads the Serbian U20 team, and current assistant coach Sean Stout for helping connect the international talent\u00a0to UTA.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the way the game is going,\u201d Turner said. \u201cYou\u2019re going to see a lot more international guys coming over.\u201d<\/p>\n The Mavericks will begin the season with a peculiar nonconference schedule. In addition to games against big Division I schools, such as the University of Arkansas, Colorado State University and the University of Hawai\u02bbi at M\u0101noa, UTA will play three non-NCAA teams and a Division III school.\u00a0<\/p>\n Freshman guard Kajus Mikalauskas dribbles the ball during a practice Oct. 12 at College Park Center. Mikalauskas appeared in 34 games with the Lithuanian team BC \u017dalgiris in the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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