CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team recently unveiled their 2024-25 roster, so Clarksville Now sat down with head coach Corey Gipson and his staff to break down which players are returning, and which players are set to be introduced as first-time Governors.
Gipson, who just signed a contract extension with the Govs, said his team had set the tone this summer with how they’ve handled business. “Everybody we have on the roster right now, is more than capable of taking this program to the next level,” Gipson said.
Starting out, APSU men’s basketball retained six players from last year’s team, including Sai Witt, Isaac Haney, Daniel Loos, Hansel Emmanuel, JaVar Daniel and Anton Brookshire. Most notably, Witt and Haney return as the most experienced Governors.
Haney is coming off a season where he averaged 11.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and around 30 minutes per game. Meanwhile, Witt averaged 12.8 points and 5.6 rebounds in just 21 minutes per game. Even with his production, Gipson confirmed Witt played with a broken hand throughout the 2023-24 season.
“I don’t know if I would be good enough to play with a broken hand and produce like he did,” Gipson said. “With two hands working, I would hate to be on the other side of that.”
While Austin Peay men’s basketball retained six players, they also lost eight to graduation and the transfer portal. To fill the void left behind by previous players, the Governors brought in six transfers of their own, along with the addition of two freshmen from the class of 2024.
New additions
Tate McCubbin and Terrell Gaines are the lone freshmen from the class of 2024 on the Governors roster going into the new season of play.
For McCubbin, the 6-foot-8 forward comes from Battle High School in Columbia, Missouri, where he was a two-time all-state selection, according to APSU Athletics. During his senior season, he averaged 16.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2 blocks per game.
“You would not know that he’s a freshman,” Gipson said during the interview. “This guy is extremely talented. At 6-foot-8, he has extreme confidence in shooting the ball behind the arc. He’s going to impact us this year in a big-time way.”
As for Gaines, the 5-foot-8 guard comes from Liberty High School in West Plains, MO, where he scored the most points in boys’ basketball history with 2,300 career points. He was also named a class 3 all-state selection during his final season at Liberty High.
“In high school, he was a scoring juggernaut,” Gipson said. “What I’ve been most impressed with about him is that he’s really come in and taken a defensive mindset/approach. It’s very important for freshman to do that, because we have a senior latent roster of guys who can pump the ball in the basket … He doesn’t have a problem learning from the older guys and that’s going to expedite his curve in the program.”
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Transfer portal
Now, for the transfers coming into the APSU men’s basketball program, let’s start with NAIA National Champion and first team All-American Quan Lax out of Freed-Hardeman.
Lax is coming off a 2023-24 campaign where he averaged 13.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game. The redshirt junior also shot 50.2% from the field, while making 37.4% of his threes on the season. Gipson described Lax as a special human being.
“He has a business approach about him; he never takes a day off; he never takes a play-off; he doesn’t take anything for granted,” Gipson said. “I can assure you that he’s looking forward to what’s to come and how he can impact at this level.”
LJ Thomas, North Carolina State
After graduating from Bull City Prep in Plant City, Florida, LJ Thomas committed to North Carolina State where he played two seasons for the Wolfpack. Now, he’s set to be an Austin Peay Governor.
The 6-foot-2 guard played in 12 games during his freshmen season for North Carolina State, and 30 games during his sophomore year. In limited minutes during 2023-24, Thomas posted 2.4 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. While he only attempted 17 threes this past season, he made 47.4% of his attempts.
Gipson spoke highly of Thomas and said, “LJ Thomas is something we call a bully guard. He has great girth about him, big time muscle mass, when you stand up beside him, he can dwarf you by how he stands in stature from the guard position.
“He’s a guy that’s really going to impact the game and impose his will on the opponent on both sides of the ball… He also has a level of savviness to him that allows him to dictate the game in a lot of ways.”
Tekao Carpenter, Moberly Area Community College
Tekao Carpenter is another All-American set to join the APSU men’s basketball team in 2024-25.
During his freshman season at Allegany Community College, the 6-foot-3 junior guard averaged 17.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game. His production earned him NJCAA All-American honorable mention. The next season Carpenter transferred to Moberly Community College where he continued his success, earning him third team All-American honors.
“Tekao comes from a successful program in Moberly Community College,” Gipson told Clarksville Now. “He’s a well-rounded player, and the thing about him is he’s a very good decision maker that goes unnoticed. Yes, he can really shoot the three ball, he’s a NJCAA two-time All-America, but he’s a well-rounded player that understands the fundamentals of the game and how to play the game the right way.”
Darius Dawson, Missouri Southern State University
Up next, let’s talk about Darius Dawson, who has served as a NCAA journeyman throughout his collegiate career. Before announcing his decision to transfer to Austin Peay, the redshirt senior forward had already played at four different college basketball programs.
Right out of high school, Dawson committed to play for Marion Military Institute, then he took his talents to Francis Marion University during his sophomore season.
His next stop was with Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, where he averaged 13.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Dawson then carried over his momentum into his senior season with Missouri Southern where he posted similar stats, averaging 14 points and 6.4 rebounds per game in 2023-24.
“We call him Double D,” Gipson told Clarksville Now. “Double D Darius Dawson, he has a way about him that it’s going to be interesting to see how other teams want to match up to him. He’s a very good three-point shooter; he has the ability to catch it and drive from the perimeter; he can post up in the paint and play over the top and finish above the rim… He is a true hybrid like Sai Witt. Guys like that, you know they are positionless… they’re multi-faceted.”
Me’Kell Burries, Lincoln Memorial University
Me’Kell Burries joins the Governors basketball program after spending the past four seasons at Lincoln Memorial University.
After playing minimal minutes his freshmen season at Lincoln Memorial, Burries stepped up and averaged double digits in three consecutive seasons, which included him averaging 13.6 points per game in 2023-24. Last season, the redshirt senior also shot 46.6% from the field, 41.5% from three, and 81.4% from the charity stripe.
“He really has a special offensive touch,” Gipson said. “He makes scoring look really easy; he has a knack for it. We’re glad to have him, and he’s really working to learn the system and grove in the system. He’s a guy that we have to give the ball room to play, we have to get him some double gaps to maneuver… We’re really looking forward to him being able to express himself on the floor when we turn the lights on.”
Akili Evans, Moberly Area Community College
Lastly, Akili Evans completes the Austin Peay men’s basketball transfer class for the 2024-25 season. Evans is another journeyman transfer that played for three different basketball programs before ending up at APSU.
The junior began his career at Sacramento State, where he played in just four games, which allowed him to redshirt his freshmen season. After transferring to Georgia Highlands College, he took the next step in his collegiate career. While playing for Georgia Highlands, he started in 28 out of his 33 games played and averaged 13.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.
As for last season, Evans played for Moberly Area Community College, alongside Tekao Carpenter, and was once again productive. During his sophomore season, he averaged 10.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3 assists per game.
“He’s a Swiss army knife,” Gipson said. “But he’s already emerging as a vocal leader. If you were to come watch us practice, you would hear him voicing and echoing things that we do throughout the program. It’s very contagious. If he continues to be a vocal leader like he is and continues to articulate the language of the program, it’s going to boll well for him and the program… He’s also a mismatch nightmare because he can do some many different things on the floor.”
APSU MBB staff additions
While Austin Peay men’s basketball added eight new players to their roster, the program also added three new staff members to the team.
Gipson announced the additions of Dewayne Jackson and two-time Austin Peay graduate Dugan Lyne to his coaching staff, while also adding Matthew Morgan as the Governors’ director of player development, according to APSU Athletics. Additionally, Gipson promoted Travis Allen to director of basketball operations.
MORE: Austin Peay basketball coach Corey Gipson gets contract extension through 2028