ANDERSON— The Anderson Trojans have experienced nothing but success in the 2025-26 men’s basketball season as they prepare for a tough road entering the playoffs.
As the regular season comes to a close, the Trojans sit at 25-2 and are ranked No. 8 in the nation. With a tense 91-90 overtime win over Lenoir-Rhyne Wednesday night at home, AU clinched the regular season title in the South Atltantic Conference.
Anderson hasn’t seen this level of success since it finished 26-6 during the 2011-12 season, but it is living in a new era of greatness under the Jimmie Williams regime. AU concludes regular season play tomorrow afternoon at Tusculum.
Enroute to clinching the No. 1 seed in the SAC tournament, the Trojans won a school-record 15 consecutive games to start the season. They currently sit with an undefeated 14-0 record at home, best in school history.
“The biggest thing is just being where your feet are,” Williams said. “When you win, it’s never as great as you think and when you lose it’s never as dire as you think. Just being 1-0 every time you play.”
Strong on Offense
Freshman phenom Rashawn Inglemon leads the team with 16.9 points per game, fourth best in the conference. Redshirt Senior Kadyn Dawkins has been lethal from beyond the three-point arc this season, leading the conference with a 46.7% percentage.
These players led the team to a place they never dreamed: history.
“We didn’t focus on the streak that we were on,” said Junior Dallas Jones, who has logged the most time on AU’s roster. “I think honestly, if you ask any of us how many games we were winning in a row, I don’t think any of us had a clue.”
Through the season-opening 15-game winning streak, Anderson’s closest margin of victory was 11 points. Even well into conference play, the Trojans were dominating every game. The average margin of victory throughout the win streak was 25.8 points.
The Trojans were so dominant offensively, they even destroyed the program’s former single game scoring record on November 24 when they laid 133 on Bob Jones University.
Streak Ends, Team Gains New Steam
While everything was clicking early for the Trojans, it all came to a screeching halt on January 17 when they lost on the road to UVA Wise.
“It really was a punch in the face,” Jones said of the Trojans’ first loss.
“We weren’t out best, we came out flat, we didn’t make shots and the other team sure did make shots. . . I was excited about our response because we hadn’t been through that before, and it was a new muscle that we knew we needed to exercise,” Williams said.
Following the loss, the Trojans collected themselves and pushed forward with a convincing 102-96 victory over No. 15 Lenoir-Rhyne. Since the game at UVA Wise, Anderson has picked up where it left off and rode a 10-1 streak entering the regular season’s final weekend. The season’s theme has been one game at a time, and Williams has etched that into the team’s identity.
“We’ve done a really good job of this year handling our business one game at a time,” he said. “We’re not going to overcomplicate this thing. Let’s just have a great practice on Monday.”
Help from Roster Depth
Players across the roster have stepped up and led the team at different points including Jones who has played through a torn labrum all season.
“I knew the consequences (foregoing surgery) that could happen with that, with my stats going down and personal goals I had in mind, but I didn’t care, I just care about winning,” Jones said.
After starting 25 games last season, Jones’ injury caused him to take a step back, but now he has a newfound perspective regarding his role and legacy.
“(I want to be remembered) for grit,” he said. “We’re one of the smallest teams in the league but don’t look like it. We have small guards… but they play like they’re 6’4’’, Jones said. “The biggest thing coach Jimmie told me it to be a day-by-day guy… it’s a lot more difficult than it sounds, but I wanted to get better and make my teammates better and that was my main focus.”
With massive games coming up, the only focus is on the next task at hand. The Trojans will play their final home game of the season Wednesday night, before taking on Tusculum University on the road in the final game before the conference tournament.
