St. Edward's men's basketball will host its tip-off dinner on Sunday, Oct. 29, with tickets available for purchase through Eventbrite. University of Texas head coach and St. Edward's alumnus Rodney Terry will be the guest speaker. The Hilltoppers will play the Longhorns on Oct. 30 in the Moody Center with free admission.
 
On media day, St. Edward's men's basketball sophomore big man SEAN ELKINTON posed with an In-N-Out burger in each hand for the team's fun personality shots; his burger of choice is representative of his signature stat line: a double-double. 
 
The 6-foot-8 big man from Crosby, Texas, devoured the glass last year, leading the Lone Star Conference at 8.9 rebounds to go with 14.5 points per game, earning LSC Freshman of the Year and All-LSC First Team. 
 
Burgers are something he consumed less of in a gradual transformation that carried on through the summer, dropping weight and gaining muscle, mobility, and explosiveness. 
 
"I can't say enough good things about SEAN ELKINTON. Through the history of the Lone Star Conference, I don't know how many true freshmen have earned first-team all-conference, but he's the first to win Freshman of the Year in my tenure," St. Edward's Head Men's Basketball Coach Andre Cook says. "He could've come back this year as exactly the same player and averaged 18 and 10, but he worked all summer on adding more to his game because he knows we were 21-11 and one spot out of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year."
 
Elkinton spent part of the summer working out with teammates in Austin and the rest of it strength training at home in Crosby. He wasn't the only Hilltopper to put as much work in the weight room as on the court. 
 
Shooting guard JEFF GARY returned to the Hilltop with 10-15 pounds of added muscle and added a one next to the zero on his jersey, working to withstand the rigors of the physical Lone Star Conference and add some power to his off-the-dribble scoring punch. 
 
"They're all stronger. They all learned last spring how difficult it is to win on Thursday and then a quick turnaround on Saturday. I don't know that we were physically ready to do it consistently," Cook explains. "We were 15-7 in conference last year and lost to all the NCAA Tournament teams. They came back in better shape and stronger, knowing we'd have to go through some tough teams, and I give [head strength and conditioning coach] Brittany Ducroz credit for the work put in the weight room." 
 
The Hilltoppers worked with extra motivation all summer after ending last season with a disappointing finish against Lubbock Christian in the first round of the LSC Tournament, leading for more than half the game before fading late. 
 
Forward BLAKE NIELSEN spent the late spring and early summer leading informal workouts, running Elkinton through a series of faceup drills and GAVINO RAMOS and BENNETT MOHN through shooting and pick-and-roll scenarios. JAKE DEFRANZA and CONOR MCMANUS, a 6-foot-4 wing looking to join the rotation after redshirting last season, were also regulars. 
 
"Blake is a basketball savant and a great leader. His love of basketball is infectious, and he leads with his willingness to help his teammates get better on and off the court," Cook says. "I love talking to him and Gavino. They're team captains who've been roommates, been in the system for two-plus years now, and are determined to get to the NCAA Tournament."
 
Ramos enters his third season at the Hilltop and second as the starting point guard, growing more comfortable in Cook's perpetual motion and passing system. 
 
"If you go back through the 15 years I've been here, that relationship with the point guard has to be a familial bond, and Gavino and I have that," Cook says. "I love seeing him every day; we can laugh in the office, and I can get on him on the court, and he doesn't take it personally because he knows I love him. That allows you to get better and feel comfortable. Because Gavino and I have that relationship, we can play through mistakes, and he's running the show. It's his team to run." 
 
The offense, which is normally predicated around blending multiple actions to free the wings, has grown with this young core and, with it, some growing pains last year. St. Edward's shifted its system on the fly to accommodate the uniquely versatile talents of Nielsen, a 6-foot-6 point forward with a soft scoring touch and even greater vision, and Elkinton, a large frame with great hands and burgeoning shooting touch.
 
"I think it's incumbent on me to not just plug-and-play with what we'd been doing. Blake is so unique. He can play one through four. It's about how we take advantage of it," Cook says. "And then last year, it was like, 'oh my God, we have this ridiculously good freshman,' we had to change on the fly." 
 
Elkinton showed flashes of 3-point shooting last year, and Nielsen was a walking mismatch for many defenders, being too quick and crafty for bigger players to guard and too large for guards to handle. The combination of those things helps invert the offense in unorthodox ways, simplifying things for wings like Mohn and JAYDEN JOHNSTON to shoot and cut to the basket for easier looks. 
 
The Hilltoppers will need to show they have the depth to supplement its key returners or provide some rest. 
 
Many of the playmaking guards behind Ramos and Gary are freshmen who'll need some time to adjust to the college game, though Ramos and Nielsen can be staggered some, with the latter running the second unit. Some of that will be contingent on the frontcourt depth, where returner JAYLEN GORDON and newcomers ALEU ALEU and JAMISON KAY each provide a different look. 
 
Gordon is the Hilltoppers' longest-tenured player with a firm grasp of the system, Aleu is a long, rangy forward who provided a different level of athleticism, and Kay is a cerebral big whose basketball IQ helps offset his inexperience in the system. 
 
"If our wings can knock down more 3-pointers, I think we know what we're going to get from certain positions," Cook says. "Then it's just a matter of can we win those tough Saturday games? Are we physically strong enough and deep enough to win that physical Saturday game where it's 65-65 with three minutes remaining?"  
 
St. Edward's complex whirling offense has always relied on shooting to function as a well-oiled machine. This year, the Hilltoppers are looking for some horsepower, too.