Lipscomb fans should know that their new men’s college basketball coach is highly confident in his methods and resolute in how his team will play the game.

“I’m a very process-oriented person,’’ said Kevin Carroll. “I’ve never really gone into seasons saying, ‘I hope we can do this or do that.’

“The way I evaluate myself is this, and I know that’s not how I’m going to be evaluated by our fans, our administration or the media, but the way I evaluate myself is: A, are we getting the players doing what we’re trying to get them to do? B, are we creating moments and memories for them that’s going to make them grateful to have played in this program? And C, are they learning to live the culture that we value here?

“I’ve been a head coach three times, and I took over three completely different situations, but all three had single-digit wins the season before I got there, but within three years we broke the school (record) for wins at all three places. But it was never about breaking records, it was about getting really good at what I said. Maximizing what’s really important, and it’s amazing how when you turn your focus to that, how a lot of other things become like a boomerang for you. It winds up blessing you and your team in ways you could never imagine.’’

How quickly Carroll will have success at Lipscomb is a legitimate question as he’s stitched together a roster that has seven returning players — none of whom were key contributors to last season’s Atlantic Sun champions — four transfers and five freshmen.

Even he’s not sure. Since the returnees were mostly role players for last season’s team, success could only come if those players take a big leap and if the few transfers Carroll was able to lure to Nashville become all-league type players.

“New players, seven new coaches, it’s kind of what you’d expect,’’ he said. “It’s kind of like it was when I was at Trevecca. I inherited a team that had won two games the year before and we ended up winning 16, but in the beginning, we were still figuring things out.’’

Right now, Carroll feels he has 11 players who are seriously competing for playing time. Eventually, he’s expecting that number to be reduced by performance, so the early season games will be crucial for the development of the team.

One thing that is certain is how the Bisons are going to play, and Carroll says it will be similar to the way they played under Lennie Acuff for the last five seasons.

“I’m a guy who played for Coach Acuff in college, I’ve worked for him twice, he’s a huge mentor and we share some similarities, especially on the offensive end,’’ said Carroll. “The way I see the game is play faster. At Trevecca we were Top 20 in the country, both in transition points and percentage of points that come out of transition. The way I see the game, you try to create as many possessions as possible and maximize each possession by making more threes and free throws than your opponents. Over time, that kind of builds to a greater advantage over the course of a game.’’

There are some certainties despite all the new players.

Big men Grant Asman and Charlie Williams, who played smaller roles on last season’s championship team, are going to have more responsibility. Carroll said both have been outstanding in summer and fall workouts.

Two players who might be even more important are transfer guards Mateo Esmeraldo, who followed Carroll from Trevecca Nazarene, and Ethan Duncan, a shooting guard who was a Division II All-American at Lubbock Christian.

“Mateo plays the point guard position from the way that I see it,’’ said Carroll. “He’s extremely fast, he’s a creator for others and he’s gotten to be where’s as better scorer, a better shooter, but he’s probably the best passing point guard I’ve ever coached. Last season, he was Top 5 in Division II in assists, and he just allows us the chance to play at the pace that will offset any physical differences there may be. I’m sure there’s going to be teams that are bigger and faster or bigger and stronger than us, but they’re going to have to play with us for 40 minutes at a certain pace.’’

Duncan, a little small at 6-foot for a shooting guard, is going to be relied upon for scoring.

“He’s a really gifted scorer,’’ said Carroll. “He doesn’t have a lot of size, but he has the ability to put the ball in the basket. I anticipate he’ll be one of our top players.’’

The guard depth was compromised when junior point guard Logan Suber suffered a torn ACL in preseason workouts. Carroll is still working on possibilities to fill the minutes that Esmeraldo sits.

Other experienced Bisons competing for playing time are guard Miles While, swingman Kellan Boylan and guard Ross Candelino.

Another key transfer is 6-foot-6 forward Cole Middleton, who arrived from Division II Anderson. “He is our best rebounder and our most physical interior defender,’’ said Carroll.

The most impressive freshman has been 6-foot-7 forward Kennedy Okpara, whose brother Felix plays for Tennessee. “If he’s not our best athlete, he’s one of them for sure,’’ said Carroll. “He can do some things that no one else on our team does.’’

In the early going, as Carroll is still figuring out his team, the Bisons are going to be facing some tough competition. There are four “buy games,’’ which Lipscomb schedules annually. They seem like four certain losses. The Bisons will be at Vanderbilt (Nov. 3), at Marshall (Nov. 26), at Duke (Dec. 16) and at Cincinnati (Dec. 29).

The annual Battle of the Boulevard against Belmont will be played Wednesday, Nov. 19.

Carroll hasn’t set any goals, but by the time ASUN play begins, he’ll have a handle on what kind of team he has.

“In all three places (where I was head coach), we had success that I didn’t really expect, and the achievements were higher than any goals I would have set,’’ he said.

Follow Joe Sullivan on X and Bluesky @GlobeSullivan.