HOBBS, N.M. - The Zach Pickelman era as the 16th head coach in McMurry University men's basketball history will officially begin on Wednesday (Nov. 18) evening, when the War Hawks travel to the University of the Southwest. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. (CT).
 
McMurry played an exhibition at NCAA Division I University of Louisiana-Monroe last Friday afternoon and suffered an 88-43 setback.
 
Pickelman came to McM after serving on the men's basketball coaching staff at nearby Hardin-Simmons University since 2007. Pickelman was a graduate assistant for the Cowboys from 2007-09 and the program's assistant coach from 2009-2015 under Craig Carse. Pickelman has the distinction of being involved in all eight ASC post-season tournament appearances in Hardin-Simmons school history, as either a player or a coach. In 2011, Pickelman was an assistant coach for the D3Hoops.com All-Star team. The group played a series of games in London and Paris.
 
Bringing a fresh air of enthusiasm to the McM program, Pickelman is looking to return the War Hawks to their past years of glory. Even though Pickelman has 10 returning players from 2014-15, there is still ample youth among his 17-man roster.
 
Among those returning from last season, Chris Cerny (C/Carlsbad, N.M.) and Blake Cochran (G/Fort Worth, Texas) are the lone seniors among the group. Cerny played at McMurry as a freshman and sophomore (2010-12), battling injuries, and tried to return to the squad last year only to once again go down with a season-ending injury in pre-season.
 
Cochran appeared in 18 games, averaging 3.9 points and 1.2 rebounds per game. He was 14 minutes of action per each appearance. Cochran transferred to McM last season after two campaigns at Northwestern Oklahoma State.
 
Also back is junior guard Thierry Tchenko (Houston, Texas). Tchenko was an ASC All-Academic member last season and joined the War Hawks' team mid-season, after taking the fall semester off when offered an opportunity to work in the gubernatorial campaign for Wendy Davis. Tchenko appeared in 15 games, starting the final six of the season, averaging 6.9 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.9 steals per game. He had a high game of 23 points versus the then-No. 1 NAIA ranked Cal State San Marcos (Feb. 12).
 
The balance of the returnees are comprised of seven sophomores: Zachary Campbell (Portales, N.M.), Gabriel Chacon (Abilene, Texas), Aaron Gettys (F/New Braunfels, Texas),  LaRandall Scroggins (G/Carrollton, Texas), Austin Denman (Balch Springs, Texas), Trumaine Elmore (G/Orange, Texas) and Tyson Scott (G/Gunter, Texas),
 
Campbell appeared in 10 games after an early season injury, limited to an average of 7.6 minutes per appearance. Campbell had a high of points of six and three rebounds, both at Wayland Baptist (Nov. 24).
 
Cahcon played in 21 games with 20 starts out of McM's 26 games and averaged 4.8 points, 1.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game. His high game was 10 points versus Rust College (Jan. 6).
 
Gettys appeared in 21 of team's 26 games - with 3 starts – and averaged 19.3 minutes per appearance. Gettys scored at a clip of 6.1 points per game and also grabbed 2.6 rebounds per game, all while shooting 35 percent from beyond the arc (20-58) and 40 percent (45-113) from the field. His high game was 22 points versus Schreiner (Dec. 15).
 
Scroggins played in 23 of team's 26 games, with 16 starts, as a freshman. In his 18.4 minutes played per appearance, Scroggins averaged 3.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game and shot 38 percent from the field (38-101). He had a high game of 15 points versus Cal State San Marcos (Feb. 12) and a high rebound effort of nine versus Southwestern Adventist (Feb. 5).    
 
Denmon appeared in five games - all in second half of season - averaging 2.2 points per game, with a high game of six points versus the University of Jamestown. Elmore played in 13 games and shot 52 percent from field (12-23). He had a high game of eight points versus Angelo State (Dec. 12). Scott appeared in 5 games in his first season with the War Hawks' program.  
 
Junior guard Nate Estrada (Abilene, Texas) returns to McMurry for his third season. Estrada played at McM as a freshman (in 2013-14), before transferring to Fullerton College for his sophomore year.
 
The six newcomers – Calvin McGee (G/Abilene, Texas), Romelo Robinson (G/Pembroke Pines, Fla.), Ti Kendricks (G/Waco, Texas), Cameron Jackson (F/Waco, Texas), Shakur Smith (G/Carlsbad, N.M.) and Robert Samudio (C/Ft. Worth, Texas) - are all freshmen.
 
In addition to a full American Southwest Conference slate of games, Pickelman's War Hawks will also have several challenging bouts against NCAA II foes St. Edward's University and Angelo State University, as well as versus NCAA III power UW-Platteville (where Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan cut his coaching teeth).  McM will also face SCAC foe Schreiner University twice, as well as Wayland Baptist (nationally-ranked in the NAIA).