RICHARDSON, Texas - Former Comet standout Jared Fleming will start 2023-24 as the third head coach in UT Dallas men's basketball history after being hired in July. With eight years experience as an assistant with the Comets, Fleming takes over from Terry Butterfield who retired with 23 seasons, 269 victories and four American Southwest Conference titles at the helm.

This year's squad was picked to finish fourth in the league's preseason poll released on Thursday. The Comets received 108 points behind defending champion East Texas Baptist (154/11 first place votes), Mary Hardin-Baylor (146/7) and Hardin-Simmons (119). 

UTD went 20-6 last season and finished second in the ASC at 15-3. The Comets return 10 players from last year's squad including a trio on the conference's Preseason Players to Watch list - senior guard Donovan Souter, junior guard Luke Kiser and junior guard Nick Donnelly.

Souter averaged 6.9 points per game with 14 assists and seven steals in 12 contests last season. Kiser was an All-ASC Honorable Mention last year and a former ASC Freshman of the Year. He led the Comets with 42 steals last year and was second with 110 assists to go with 7.8 rebounds and 4.3 rebounds per contest. Sharpshooting Donnelly shot 43.8 percent (32-of-73) from three-point range and was 21-of-22 at the line in 2022-23. He averaged 6.8 points per game with 13 assists, 12 steals and three blocked shots.

Also returning are juniors Thibaut Tagnon, Rob Wade, Nnamdi Edeoga and Tyler Stephenson and sophomores Everett Bates, Ethan Van Horn and Austin Page. Junior Cody Opoku-Darko returns after sitting out last season. Newcomers include junior transfers Ryan Nurenberg and Ernest Shaw and freshmen Ben Markovic, Elijah Portalis, Matthew Soto, Jaelyn Rivera, Brock Davis, Franklin Onyeme, Jordan Balderaz, Marcello Pelton and AJ Carter.

The Comets open the year on November 8 at home against Dallas, followed by road games at Texas Lutheran and St. Thomas (Texas). They return home over Thanksgiving week for battles against Hendrix and Southwestern (Texas). ASC play opens on November 30 in Brownwood, Texas against Howard Payne. UTD will also compete in the Kingsmen Classic in Thousand Oaks, Calif. against Cal Lutheran and Tufts.

ASC Preseason Release