COMMERCE, TEXAS IS "a great place for some people," according to East Texas A&M head coach Jaret von Rosenberg.
Located 45 miles from the Texas/Oklahoma border and named after the thriving economic activity that spread from the town's fertile farmland, a Google search of "things to do in Commerce, Texas" doesn't yield much. There's a children's museum, a library, a park. It takes a concerted effort to make the hour-long drive to Dallas; Commerce itself has few distractions for a collegiate athlete.
Von Rosenberg likes it that way; so do his players. It doesn't take much to get the college town rallied around Lions athletics, and those who stuck with the men's basketball program through its ascent to Division I were rewarded this season with an opening week for the ages.
"The whole reason our school went Division I was just that it was better for the exposure, for the community, for the region," von Rosenberg said. "I want the community and all the people that helped be involved ... I do want them to celebrate those wins like it's incredible, because they had a huge part in [them]."
"Those wins" deserve much more than just a passing mention. On Nov. 2, the school formerly known as Texas A&M-Commerce arrived in a much bigger college town: Norman, Oklahoma, home of the Sooners. The Lions closed as 28.5-point underdogs, but after a putback layup from Derrion Reid bounced off the basket, junior guard Bo Aldridge hit two free throws to give the road team a 68-64 win. It was the biggest victory by far of the program's five-year tenure at the top division, and Ken Pomeroy has it as the fourth-biggest upset of the last decade in college basketball.
It'd be easy to get caught up in the flurry of text messages, the newfound media attention, and the general praise for players and coaches in Commerce after that result. In a place without many distractions, however, it was a little easier for von Rosenberg and his players to remain in a state of tunnel vision. Three days later, they took on Rice.
Yet again, the Lions were underdogs on the road, and more adversity hit in the form of an 11-point first-half deficit. The response – a 13-0 run – was immediate from Commerce's team, and from there, they weathered the storm and survived a last-second Owls miss for a second straight win.
"It's funny, we had more breakdowns than habits in the second game for whatever reason," von Rosenberg said. "But the habits are in there ... so if we can keep building on that, then we got a chance to continue to get better as a team."
VON ROSENBERG KNOWS Commerce better than many. This is year 12 for him in the town: he spent two years as an assistant while the school was in Division II, and after leaving for the same position at Hartford in 2015, he returned two years later as a Division II head coach.
This was not his plan coming out of college. The goal was to play professionally overseas for a while – the former guard is still top-five all time at Hartford in steals and assists – before going to law school. A car accident and a broken wrist changed things, and when his former junior college coach, Jim Sigona, offered him a spot on his staff as a volunteer assistant, it took only three weeks for von Rosenberg to lose all interest in the legal system.
Over his past 10 years in the first chair, von Rosenberg has seen the standard of success in Commerce that his program and other teams have set. He can appreciate that legacy while acknowledging the difficulty in developing a program like East Texas A&M in today's era.
"We obviously have made some improvements in [resources and opportunities, but still we got a ways to go to be competitive year in and year out," von Rosenberg said.
As is the case with most non-power schools, the balance sheet showed von Rosenberg that he would have to get creative to build a conference contender. He knew players with previous Division I experience command higher value in today's transfer market, so he prioritized getting players from across the pond. An established pipeline of international pros and a Euro-esque playing style helped bring seven Europeans to the Lions.
"I want to lead the country in assisted field goal percentage," von Rosenberg said. (His teams have ranked 12th and 14th in the stat over the past two full seasons; at the time of writing, the Lions are currently 7th.) "I just believe if you put four, five talented offensive players on the floor and they're willing to all pass it to one another, it makes it impossible to scout or take something away ... the Europeans, they're more comfortable playing that way."
Each of the seven players has a unique story as to how they wound up in Commerce, but Macedonian forward Amar Hot's tops the rest. Von Rosenberg and another staff member were watching Hot's film when they took a closer look at the starting point guard that he was playing with. It was none other than Tommie Lewis, a 33-game starter for East Texas A&M from 2022-24. Getting the 6-foot-9 Hot onto campus was much smoother once the new staff took advantage of the coincidence.
The most impactful addition from overseas early on has been Mohamed Diakite, a 6-foot-9 French wing who has already made waves two games into his collegiate career. Diakite is a rangy athlete who has made plays on both ends thanks to his timing and on-ball presence, two traits he cultivated at the youth levels of his home country. He's currently averaging 19 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks, and is projected to be one of the best players in the Southland.
NOT EVERY TRANSFER had to take a 10-hour flight to arrive in Commerce. Some of Von Rosenberg's best work in the portal was done stateside via the addition of JUCO guard Bo Aldridge.
"Bo Buckets," as von Rosenberg calls him, was brought to the head coach's attention by former assistant coach A.J. Holland. The guard established himself as the second-leading scorer on a good Hutchinson CC team in 2024-25, but academic issues kept him off the court for the entire following season. He enrolled in online schooling to get his grades where they needed to be, and a spot on the East Texas A&M roster followed suit.
Even when Holland left for an assistant role at North Dakota in May, the relationships Aldridge had developed with the rest of the staff kept his commitment to the program secure.
"I had all the coaches banded with me to get me academically right," Aldridge said. "They stayed on top of me and I stayed focused."
In many ways, Aldridge is the prototypical player for this program. He comes from a junior college located in a small community where not much pulls people away from the gym. He took a longer road than most to make it to Commerce, showing grit and toughness on and off the court that his coach and fans appreciate. On a team that loves distributing the ball, he leads the way with 4.5 assists per night.
As such, it was fitting that Aldridge made key plays in his team's stunning opening-night win. His game-clinching free throws against the Sooners served as an encore after he made a difficult layup with 2:33 remaining to put his team up for good. In a game where multiple million-dollar men donned home uniforms, it was the Hutchinson product, befitted in the road blues who led all scorers with 22 points.
"Seeing [Oklahoma's] demeanor – laughing in warm-ups, just looking at them not fully locked in – I told my team, 'They think they're winning'," Aldridge said. "So let's go out and just prove everybody wrong, because in everybody's head, their mind was made up that [Oklahoma] won that game before we even stepped on the floor."
IT FEELS LIKE the excitement quota for this season has already been hit, but at a minimum, there are still four months of basketball ahead for the 2026-27 East Texas A&M Lions. A grueling non-conference slate with six more road games awaits, and the Southland features some of the nation's most underrated players (see: Larry Johnson, McNeese) and coaches (see: Matt Braeuer, Stephen F. Austin).
Of course, this team and its players believe they have as good a shot as anybody to go dancing. Why wouldn't they? There's only one team from the Southland currently that ranks in the top 50 in Wins Above Bubble, and it sits at No. 6. There's only one team from the Southland that received an AP vote in Sunday's poll. It's the school from Commerce, home of the Lone Star Eatery and "Big Max," the second-largest bois d'arc tree in Texas.
The Lions will inevitably face more adversity this season, but through it all, von Rosenberg likes his chances at keeping momentum rolling. When asked what the identity of East Texas A&M basketball is, the first term out of the head coach's mouth isn't a real one: "JUCO-ey."
The sentiment still applies. Von Rosenberg is looking for players who don't wilt under pressure and take pride in the hustle and fortitude required to succeed in a place like Commerce. If implemented correctly – and all indications show it has been this season – that's a brand of ball that any small town can get behind.
"The only reason we've had this little bit of success we've had is guys aren't worried about the jersey they're wearing," von Rosenberg said. "They're not worried about who they're playing. They're just worried about competing."
