The Temple College men's basketball played an extremely tough pre-conference schedule and played the first half of North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference play on a collision course for the playoffs.
To the chagrin of the Leopards, TC's stay in Region V Tournament was a short stay as they defeated South Plains College in a game where the Leopards were in position to defeat the Plainsmen, but could not hold on.
Temple concluded their season 18-13 overall, and were 7-7 in conference play. The Leopards averaged 78 points per game of offense, on 39.8% in field goals, 27% from behind the three-point line, and 63.4% from the free throw line.
The Leopards allowed 76 points per game, as opponents had a 45.5% field goal percentage, 28.4% three-point percentage, and 63.4% free-throw percentage.
In a basketball oddity, the Leopards did not have a single game decided by less than five points. In fact, Dallas College Mountain View (won 80-75), Collin County (won 81-76), and Hill College (won 90-85) were all decided by five points and all were wins.
Seven-and-a half months later, the Leopards are reloaded and ready for another tough overall slate in 2025-2026.
The Leopards have participated in a series of jamboree scrimmages and an exhibition game against Lee College in Baytown.
"It was what you see this time of year: a lot of ups and downs," TC men's basketball coach Dr. Clifton Ellis said. "We saw a lot of things that are very promising for our team. I like the makeup of our team with the components that we have. Our size and our depth. I felt like the mistakes that we made are correctable mistakes. Things that we can learned from to build our team."
"We had a tough scrimmage season," TC men's basketball assistant coach Alex Nixon said. "We played a number of teams that are preseason ranked in the NJCAA polls. It is competition that we needed to play to help us get ready for the season."
Temple returns two starters (Josh Telfort and Jason Ward) and several key reserves (Jonty Kells, Ovie Agbigbe, Jaymes Brown-Peterson, Joel Brown, and Roy Gardner) to go with sophomores Nick Sanchez, Jaymes Brown-Peterson, and Harry Bates, and freshmen Tayshaun Goston, Raphael Ejimofor, Joris Kacinskas, Joseph Lloyd, Byron Piper, and Esbjorn Reidhav.
"We do have some players back from last year's team," Ellis said. "We are integrating new pieces into it. We have a guy like Harry (Bates) who was here last year but didn't get the chance to play, so we are trying to integrate him as well. A lot of this is about establishing roles. For some of these guys, it is their first time playing college basketball. For others it is their first time playing in America, so they are learning the difference between American basketball and European/international style of game. It is a learning process, and something we saw a lot of during the jamborees. They saw the aggressiveness, and good teams play with a sense of urgency. They play like their hair is on fire. They just play that way all of the time."
"We went international heavy again this year, with eight international players to go with the nine Texas players and one from New Mexico," Nixon said. "Basketball is a world game. We're excited about keeping it international. It is unique to us. We have noticed that schools have piggy-backed on what we did last year. I joke with Coach Ellis that we are trendsetters."
The Leopards being their season on Kirby Johnson Court at noon Saturday against Fort Hood. It is the first of four games over the initial six days of the season, as TC hosts Dallas Cedar Valley on Monday, Nov. 3, travels to Dallas College Brookhaven on Wednesday, Nov. 5, and travels to Corsicana to take on Navarro College Friday, Nov. 7 at 7 pm.
Temple will play a tournament at Levelland against Dallas College North Lake and South Plains College Nov. 21-22, Midland College, Western Texas College, and Howard College in Big Spring Dec. 4-6.
"The pre-conference schedule is tougher this year than last year," Nixon said. "The NJC regulations put into effect that we play more NJC schools than before, and we have a lot more sophomores than we had last year. We have four opponents that are preseason ranked in the NJCAA Division I Top 25 Polls, and three opponents ranked in the NJCAA Division III Top 25 from the Dallas College system. So, it is a tougher pre-conference schedule, but we feel that we can handle it. We are excited about it. South Plains and Howard are always good. Midland, Western Texas College, and Kilgore, they're coming in ranked. There are no easy wins this year. You want a strong strength of schedule going into the NJCAA Tournament."
The Leopards will sandwich two home games against Strength 'N Motion Academy (Dec. 11, Jan. 3) around a tilt against Coastal Bend College (Dec. 31) before starting conference play against Ranger College on Jan. 7.
"There are a ton of good teams on the schedule," Ellis said. "Every conference is good. We see the trickle-down effect that NIL where guys are staying in college longer. International players are coming over and if you look at the Big East or ACC, half of the newcomers are international players. It doesn't matter what team is on your schedule, they are good. Whether they're D-I, D-II, D-II, JUCO, or prep schools. If you are not ready to play, you will get beat."
While it is too early to forecast what the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference will look like over the next two months, one thing it for certain.
"The conference is up this year and in a good way," Nixon said. "Going out and playing the Dallas College and western Region V teams on the road will help. The western trips are always difficult. Four-hour plus drives, travel, weather, bus, all of that. It will set us up well for conference play. Also, with the way that NIL has affected recruiting, things look different. It is a trickle-down effect that we saw at the jamborees. Every level has gotten better, including our level. Our conference had to adapt."
2025-2026 Temple College Men's Basketball roster
No. Cl. Name Pos. Hometown
0 SO Josh Telfort W Montreal, Canada
1 SO Jason Ward G Round Rock, TX.
2 FR Tayshaun Goston G Arlington, TX.
3 SO Nick Sanchez G Artesia, NM.
4 SO Jonty Kells G Palmerston, NZ.
5 SO Ovie Agbigbe W Dallas, TX
11 SO Jaymes Brown-Peterson W Killeen, TX
12 FR Joris Kacinskas F Siauliai, Lithuania
20 FR Esbjorn Reidhav F Malmo, Sweden
21 FR Raphael Ejimofor W Munich, Germany
22 SO Joel Brown F Auckland, NZ
24 SO Roy Gardner W Leander, TX.
30 FR Joseph Lloyd G Brighton, England
32 FR Byron Piper G Hutto, TX.
34 SO Harry Bates F Port Macquarie, Aus.
RS FR Isaac Green F Killeen, TX.
RS FR Zyair Jolivette G San Marcos, TX.
Head coach – Dr. Clifton Ellis, Assistant coach – Alex Nixon.
2025-2026 Men's Basketball Schedule
(home games in bold, played at Kirby Johnson Court)
Nov. 1 12 pm Fort Hood
Nov. 3 7 pm Dallas College Cedar Valley
Nov. 5 6 pm at Dallas College Brookhaven
Nov. 7 7 pm at Navarro College
Nov. 12 6 pm Kilgore College
Nov. 15 4 pm Dallas College North Lake
Nov. 19 6 pm at Dallas College Mountain View
Nov. 21 2 pm Dallas College North Lake ^
Nov. 22 2 pm South Plains College ^
Nov. 25 6 pm at Dallas College Eastfield
Dec. 4 3 pm Midland College +
Dec. 5 3 pm Western Texas College +
Dec. 6 5 pm Howard College +
Dec. 11 2 pm Strength 'N Motion Academy
Dec. 31 2 pm Coastal Bend College
Jan. 3 4 pm Strength 'N Motion Academy
Jan. 7 7 pm Ranger College *
Jan. 10 4 pm at Collin County Community College *
Jan. 14 7 pm at Grayson College *
Jan. 17 4 pm Hill College *
Jan. 21 7 pm at Weatherford College *
Jan. 24 4 pm Southwestern Christian College *
Jan. 31 4 pm at McLennan Community College *
Feb. 7 4 pm at Ranger College *
Feb. 11 7 pm Collin County Community College *
Feb. 14 4 pm Grayson College *
Feb. 18 7 pm at Hill College *
Feb. 21 4 pm Weatherford College *
Feb. 25 7 pm at Southwestern Christian College *
Mar. 4 7 pm McLennan Community College *
^ - South Plains College Classic, Levelland, TX.
+ - Howard College Classic, Dorothy Garrett Coliseum, Big Spring, TX.
* - North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference game.