The High Point University basketball program begins the second season in the Tubby Smith era in 2019-20 and final season in Millis Center before the opening of the Qubein Center. The Panthers return a slew of veterans from the 2018-19 squad last season while a crop of newcomers come in and look to make an immediate impact.
 
The first opportunity to see the Panthers will be this Saturday, Oct. 26 for the annual Purple & White scrimmage at 7 p.m. which is open to all fans. High Point kicks off the season with an exhibition contest against Averett next Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.
 
Season tickets and ticket packs are still available for the 2019-20 season and can be purchased HERE.
 
High Point's promotional schedule is highlighted by a Coach Tubby Smith bobblehead giveaway on the home opener (Nov. 5) against William & Mary, HPU Ugly Christmas Sweatshirts on Dec. 5 against Elon and Purple & White striped pants against Radford on Feb. 8. The full promotions schedule can be found HERE.
 
Panther Notes

• Head Coach Tubby Smith returns for his second season at his alma mater. Last season the legendary coach won his 600th career game as an NCAA DI head coach as High Point beat East Carolina, 55-52 on Nov. 24, 2018.
• Coach Smith has added two familiar faces to his staff, adding Steven "Zo" Goodson as Director of Player Development and Ricky Hewell as Director of Video Operations. Goodson has been with Smith since Kentucky, where he served as an undergraduate manager before being elevated to a graduate assistant. He then followed Smith to Minnesota (special assistant), Texas Tech (director of operations) and Memphis (director of operations). Hewell served under Smith's staff at Texas Tech as a graduate assistant and video coordinator.
• High Point will be led by its lone senior Jamal Wright, who appeared in 29 games last season with 11 starts. The Upper Marlboro, Md. Native has 40 career starts to his name with 434 career points.  
• The Panthers had the second-best scoring defense in the Big South last season, allowing 68.3 points a contest. HPU was third in rebounding last season averaging over 38 rebounds a game. The Panthers also led the conference in rebounding defense last season only allowing their opponents an average of 31.5 rebounds a game.
• High Point will showcase a young roster this season as they welcome the addition of eight freshmen. Five out of the eight newcomers hail from North Carolina.

The Returners

• Sophomore Curtis Holland III returns as the Panthers leading scorer, averaging 7.6 points last season as a freshman in 25 games with 20 starts. Holland chipped in with 64 rebounds and 31 assists last season.
• Redshirt sophomore Caden Sanchez returns with 31 games of experience in the paint for the Purple and White. Sanchez had 78 rebounds last season for High Point as well as 103 points on the season. Sanchez shot 51% from the field doing a majority of his scoring in the key.
• Redshirt junior Cliff Thomas Jr. returns after an injury-plaqued season in 2018-19 and will look to contribute to the squad as an experienced veteran in his third full season for the Panthers.
• High Point also returns junior Denny Slay II, and sophomore Rob Peterson III. These four provided terrific contributions last year as key players off of the bench.
• High Point has two redshirt freshman this season John-Michael Hughes and Othello Smith. Hughes went to IMG academy in Florida he was named the IMG Academy Boys Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year for 2017-18, he was a 1000-point scorer at IMG. Othello Smith is also a red shirt freshman this season. The Brooklyn native led Abraham Lincoln High to a city, borough and state championship in an undefeated season. Smith was the MVP of the state title game.

The Newcomers

• The Panthers welcome a very accomplished freshman class. John-Michael Wright was a McDonalds All American nominee, first team all North Carolina and led Fayetteville Academy to North Carolina 2A independent school state title. Wright is joined by two of his high school state championship teammates, Emmanuel Izunabor and Cameron Billups. Izunabor averaged a double-double for Fayetteville, with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Another newcomer is Bryant Randleman, who is also a North Carolina native and hails from Durham. In his high school career Randleman was named the Triangle independent Schools Athletic Conference Player of the Year he was also named first team all North Carolina.
• The Freshman class also features Eric Coleman Jr., who is a Georgia state champion and was named All-Georgia Second Team and All-Metro honorable mention and All-Georgia and All-Region First Team and Second-Team All-Metro during his high school career.

Thanks for the Memories, Millis

• The 2019-20 season marks the last season High Point basketball will be played in the Millis Center. The Millis Center - which was originally Alumni Hall - was built in 1957 and housed the Panthers when coach Smith played for the Panthers in 1969-1973.
• Since the renovation and renaming to the Millis Center (1992) the Panthers have experienced much success in their home confines with a record of 251-104 over the 27 seasons, while having a 194-84 record in the 20 seasons at the NCAA DI level.
• Next season the Panthers will play their inaugural season in the Qubein Center, which will feature a 4,200-seat sports arena, a plush conference and meeting space for up to 2,500 and a luxury boutique hotel.
• Season tickets are currently on-sale for the inaugural season of the Qubein Center and start at $75. For more information please visit qubeinarena.com or call 866-GOHPU20. 

2019-20 Schedule

• High Point has one of its most competitive schedules in recent memory lined up for the 2019-20 season, which features four NCAA Tournament teams from last season.
• The Panthers are participating in the Gotham Classic, which consists of four highly talented squads. High Point travels north to face the ACC's Boston College (Nov. 13), before heading to Nashville to take on 2019 NCAA tournament team Belmont (Nov. 20). Later in that same week the Panthers will face Atlantic 10 champion Saint Louis (Nov. 20). Rounding out the Gotham Classic HPU will host Big Sky championship runner-up Eastern Washington (Nov. 23) at Millis.
• William & Mary, Elon, and Valparasio highlight the non-conference opponents who will travel to High Point this season. This is the first time in over ten years that High Point will host cross-triad rival Elon. The highly anticipated contest will take place on Thursday, Dec. 5.
• High Point's 2019 NCAA Tournament opponents include Wofford, Belmont, Saint Louis, and Gardner Webb, with Wofford and Belmont both winning its opening games in the tournament.
• The Panthers' last game before conference play begins will be on Monday, Dec. 30 when they travel to Austin, Texas to challenge the 2019 NIT Champion Texas Longhorns.
• High Point opens Big South play on the road against Radford on Saturday, Jan. 4 before returning home for its conference home opener against Winthrop on Wednesday, Jan. 8.  The Panthers will host defending Big South champion Gardner Webb on Thursday, January 23 and will play the last regular season game in the Millis Center on February 27 against UNC Asheville on Senior Night.