HENDERSON — It has been 212 days since the 2025-26 Freed-Hardeman University Lions cut down the nets in Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium in celebration of their second national title in three seasons. While the 2026-27 edition of Freed-Hardeman basketball will look different, expectations remain high.

First-year head coach Grant Burns plans to push the defending champions with the motto, "Attack the Process." Burns explains, "You can't sit around waiting for it to happen and hoping it comes true. There's some areas that we thought we could improve upon from last year and we've been working to do that. If we max out that potential of this team, we will be standing in a familiar spot at the end of the year."

The Lions lost two All-Americans in Phil Horton and Rico Sain, but redshirt senior Sam Powell is poised to pick up part of that slack. Before an injury sidelined Powell midway through the season, he was averaging 13.1 points per game while shooting 52.4% from the floor. Also returning for FHU is All-Conference first-teamer Blake Dean. The junior out of Nashville averaged 8.5 points per game in 2025-26, including a team-high 56 3-pointers.

Also returning after significant playing time in their underclass years are Cam Hudson, DJ McIntyre, and Caleb Thomas. Hudson made 13 starts for the Lions and leads all returners with 14 blocks. Thomas was the starting point guard in all but two of FHU's games, averaging 18.8 minutes per game. Redshirt freshman DJ McIntyre returns after averaging 17 minutes per game and leading FHU at the charity stripe with 87.3%. Thomas played an integral part in FHU's Fab Four game against Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.), where he tallied 12 points and seven rebounds. Rodney Henderson returns for his sophomore season after being key for Freed-Hardeman off the bench, shooting 48.9% from the field with 49 steals, 65 assists, and 99 rebounds. Other returners who saw limited action in 2025-26 are Jake Ballard, Aidan Farber, Birman Jenkins, Eli Pounders and Cade Walker. Jackson Grisham also returns after an injury sidelined him for the championship season.

More than half of FHU's roster is filled with underclassmen, with the only other upperclassman being Wayland Baptist (Texas) senior transfer Rico Yarbrough. In 2025-26, Yarbrough averaged 15.1 points per game for the Pioneers, starting 26 games and shooting 56.2% from the floor. Coming to Henderson from Columbia State (Tenn.) Community College, Taveon Comage averaged 9.4 points per game for a Charger team while forcing 69 steals.

"We do have a young team, but we are excited for that challenge," said Burns. "We aren't going to use that as an excuse because those guys have played big minutes in big moments. Rico Yarbrough and Taveon Comage are two experienced transfers that we have brought in. Both of those guys fit exactly what we want to do."

Five true freshmen join the Lions in the hunt for their fifth consecutive Mid-South Conference tournament crown. Drake Lehmkuhl joins from Gleason High School, while JaRohn Johnson comes from Clarksville Academy via West Covina, California. 6-7 forward Derrick Roberson joins after helping Chattanooga Prep to three state championships. Brentwood's Jackson McCutcheon is joined by North Side's Lincoln Woods.

Part of the new look of FHU will come from an offense helmed by a familiar face. Ryley McClaran joins the sideline as an assistant coach wearing a championship ring from the 2023-24 season. Burns, the architect of FHU's stout defense, said to expect much of the same, saying, "Our defense is going to continue being our defense. You don't mess with success, you just continue to find ways to adapt and improve it over time. The offensive side of the ball will be a little bit different along with new faces. I think it really fits our personnel well and the fans will enjoy watching it."

When the first RPI is released during the season, it will likely include the Lions at the top of the strength-of-schedule column. On November 12, FHU travels to No. 9 LSU Shreveport before facing No. 6 Nelson (Texas) on November 13. Two games later, their non-conference slate includes a visit from No. 4 Rocky Mountain (Mont.) on November 25. Later in the year, a trip to No. 21 Pikeville (Ky.) on December 19 is followed by a trip to (RV) Faulkner (Ala.) on December 30. Burns planned it that way, saying, "You want to expose yourself early, just as we have done in our scrimmages. You want to find out as much about your team as early as you can. That's where the growth happens. You don't want to have to find those things out in January and it will be a great experience for us but one that we will be ready for." The Lions will face six of the 16 teams that made it to the final site in Kansas City in the 2026-27 regular season, two of which are conference members the Lions will play twice.

The January Burns alludes to is the start of Mid-South Conference play. League play will not have an easy start, with visits on Jan. 7 and 9 to No. 10 Cumberlands and No. 7 Georgetown, respectively, seeing FHU face teams that also made trips to Kansas City the last two seasons. The postseason begins with the Mid-South Conference tournament, played at the higher seed's campus, on Feb. 27. The first and second rounds of the NAIA tournament begin on March 12, with the final 16 teams converging on Kansas City to begin play on March 18.

FHU begins the attack on the process to start its title defense on Saturday, October 24, with a visit from Marian (Ind.) University.