JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 3, 2025) – It's time to play the music. It's time to light the lights. The curtain goes up on Team 107 on Tuesday night.
The ETSU men's basketball team opens its 107th season of competition and third under Brooks Savage with the Converse Valkyries on Tuesday at Freedom Hall. Tipoff is set for 7:00pm.
MATCHUP: ETSU (0-0) vs. Converse (0-0)
DATE: November 4, 2025, 7:00pm
VENUE: Freedom Hall civic Center (Johnson City, TN)
TV: ESPN+ (Keith Brake, Bruce Tranbarger)
RADIO: WXSM-AM 640 (Jay Sandos)
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
TICKETS: ETSUTickets.com
GAME SPONSOR: East Tenn Rent-Alls
The Bucs are 38-29 in two previous seasons under Brooks Savage including a 23-7 mark at Freedom Hall. They finished 19-12 in the 2024-25 regular season with a third place finish in the SoCon at 12-6 before falling to eventual tournament champions Wofford in the quarterfinals in Asheville. They were picked fourth in the SoCon preseason poll in October.
The 2025-26 roster features 12 new players including three that made a noticeable impact in the Wake exhibition last Wednesday. Junior guard Jaylen Smith scored 21 points against the Demon Deacons with six made threes in a showcase of his Preseason All-SoCon bona fides. Blake Barkley and Cam Morris III provided scoring punch up front, with Barkley scoring 15 points and Morris scoring 11 to go with 10 rebounds. Juniors Maki Johnson and Gabe Sisk return for their third season with the program, and redshirt senior Allen Strothers returns for his final season of competition.
Converse University begins its fifth season of men's basketball on Tuesday after the previously all-women institution went co-ed in 2021. The Valkyries were picked 10th in the Conference Carolinas preseason poll announced on Thursday, with redshirt freshman Camden Edmonds and seniors Sirr Hughes and Jordyn Surratt named to CC's Players to Watch list. Hughes transferred in from Limestone where he averaged 20.0 points per game in the Saints' final season, while Surratt comes in from Francis Marion after averaging 15.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in one season with the Patriots.
This is the first-ever meeting between ETSU and Converse in men's basketball. ETSU is 63-41 in season openers all-time with incomplete records for the 1920-21 and 1932-33 seasons.
For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com.
