NASHVILLE—Just under an hour has passed since Lipscomb’s Wednesday-night practice ended when Mateo Esmeraldo walks back into McQuiddy Gymnasium and plops down at the scorers’ table as if he owns the place. When he’s approached a few moments later, he leads a path through the Allen Arena walkway and into the top row as if he’s always envisioned that place being the site of his first national interview.
All the while, Esmeraldo is in control.
It’s a fitting disposition for Esmeraldo in this space, where he made a name for himself a year ago by setting the table for Lipscomb with as much poise as any point guard in program history. In his first year as a Division I scholarship player, Esmeraldo set the single-season program assists record, finished seventh in the country with 7.0 per game, and finished second in the country with a 4.37 assist-to-turnover ratio.
By the time Lipscomb was eliminated from the ASUN Tournament after a loss to Florida Gulf Coast, Esmeraldo’s body of work presumably piqued the interest of other schools. Esmeraldo admits that everyone—himself included—wonders at some point what opportunities could present themselves upon a transfer portal entry. He doesn’t say it, but deep down he has to know that he could be somewhere that transcends the ASUN–somewhere with better resources, somewhere that isn’t subjected to the cruelty of a one-bid league.
Yet, he chose to stay.
“He passed up a lot of money to stay here,” Lipscomb coach Kevin Carroll told Basket Under Review. “I think he kind of wanted to be the guy that kind of helped Lipscomb get back on the map and to get this thing back to where we're playing in the NCAA Tournament again.”