FGCU Announces Men's Basketball Inaugural Schedule
7/23/2002

FORT MYERS, FL - Florida Gulf Coast University’s inaugural men’s basketball schedule announced today features 32 regular season contests including 16 home games. The season commences Friday and Saturday, Nov. 22 and 23 with the Hillmyer-Tremont Tip-off Tournament at Teco Arena.

The Eagles will play all other home games in the newly completed Alico Arena on the FGCU campus. FGCU will play against all levels of competition, including two NCAA Division I teams.

The Hillmyer-Tremont Tip-off Tournament features all NCAA Division II teams - including most notably - the annual powerhouse Florida Southern, which has three players from the Fort Myers area. FGCU’s opening opponent is the University of Puerto Rico-Bayamon with five returning starters. UPR is coming off of a 19-10 season a year ago. The third participant is Concordia University from St. Paul, Minn., which is home to two Naples-area players.

The Eagles’ first road game of the year is against NCAA Division I opponent Florida International University, a member of the Sun Belt Conference. FIU is one of four state universities that FGCU will play and one of two Division I games. The other is during Christmas break when the Eagles travel to Orlando to take on the University of Central Florida. UCF finished the 2001-02 season with a 17-12 record and is a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference.

The first game in the new, state of the art, on-campus Alico Arena is Monday, Dec. 2 against Saint Leo University. Saint Leo is a member of the Sunshine State Conference. Seven contests will be played against Sunshine State Conference foes, including a pair with the University of Tampa.

Tampa went to the NCAA II Final Four just two years ago, and then fell short of a return trip this past year, despite winning the conference with a 26-3 record, the best in school history. They were the number one ranked team in the South Region and the #7 ranked team in the country. The Eagles will play them both home and away.

Four out-of-state opponents will travel to southwest Florida before the New Year. Tri-State University and Anderson University (both from Indiana), as well as Plymouth State (New Hampshire) and Illinois Tech (Chicago, Illinois) will play at Alico Arena.

FGCU’s New Year’s Tournament will take place on Jan. 2 and 3 with two teams from Indiana and another from Florida. All teams are members of the NAIA. Goshen College will take on FGCU and Florida Memorial will play Calumet College. Calumet was 12th in the nation in scoring last year.

The Eagles travel to West Virginia for a pair of games in early January to play NCAA Division II teams Davis & Elkins and West Virginia State, both from the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

The spring semester features several games with in-state teams. The most notable of these is Clearwater Christian College, which finished the 2001-02 season with a 19-8 record and ranked 8th in the country. They also led the NCCAA in scoring, averaging 94.5 points per game.

There are three games against Florida Sun Conference schools, all against the top two teams in the league. The FGCU Eagles will take on the Eagles of Embry-Riddle University in Daytona Beach. Embry-Riddle is considered by many to be the premier NAIA program in the country, winning the National Championship a few years ago and being a consistent 20-game winner. This past season, Embry-Riddle went 24-7 on their way to a top ten ranking. They also led the nation in rebounding.

The team to take away Embry-Riddle’s title in the league, Warner Southern, appears on FGCU’s schedule twice. Warner Southern won the Florida Sun Conference this past year with a 13-1 conference record, spending a good part of the year being ranked #1 in the country. They then advanced to the Elite Eight before being upset, finishing the year with a 30-5 overall record. They are expected to be a powerhouse again this year, as they return four starters.

FGCU visits the only other two state Division II schools in the NCAA in February with a long road trip to Pensacola and Jacksonville. West Florida, a member of the Gulf South, finished this past season with a 16-12 record. North Florida, a member of the Peach Belt Conference, went 13-14.

FGCU launches the season with an open midnight practice at Alico Arena on the night of Monday, Oct. 14 and morning of Tuesday, Oct. 15. The public is welcome to attend.

Season tickets remain on sale at the FGCU Athletics office. For more information, call 590-7012.


Florida Gulf Coast University
Men’s Basketball Schedule
2002-03

Day     Date     Opponent     Location     Time_________
HILLMYER-TREMONT TIPOFF TOURNAMENT AT TECO ARENA
Fri     November 22     University of Puerto Rico - Bayamon     Ft. Myers, FL     8:00 pm     
Sat     November 23     Concordia or Florida Southern     Ft. Myers, FL     4:00 / 8:00 pm_
Tue     November 26     Florida International University      Miami, FL     7:30 pm     
Sat     November 30     Barry University     Miami, FL     12:00 pm     
Mon     December 2     Saint Leo University     Ft. Myers, FL     7:30 pm     
Thu     December 5     University of Tampa     Ft. Myers, FL     7:30 pm     
Sat     December 7     Clearwater Christian College     Ft. Myers, FL     3:30 pm     
Fri     December 13     University of Tampa     Tampa, FL     7:30 pm     
Sat     December 14     Saint Leo University     St. Leo, FL     4:00 pm
Mon     December 16     Tri-State University     Ft. Myers, FL     7:30 pm     
Tue     December 17     Illinois Tech     Ft. Myers, FL     7:30 pm     
Thu     December 19     Florida Tech     Melbourne, FL     4:00 pm     
Sat      December 21     University of Central Florida     Orlando, FL     7:30 pm
Sun     December 29     Anderson University     Ft. Myers, FL     7:30 pm     
Tue     December 31     Plymouth State College     Ft. Myers, FL     3:30 pm     _____
FGCU NEW YEAR’S TOURNAMENT AT ALICO ARENA
Thu     January 2     Goshen College     Ft. Myers, FL     8:00 pm     
Fri     January 3     Florida Memorial or Calumet Coll.     Ft. Myers, FL     6:00 / 8:00 pm_
Mon     January 6     Davis & Elkins College     Elkins, WV     7:30 pm     
Wed     January 8     West Virginia State     Parkersburg, WV     7:30 pm
Sat     January 11     Florida Christian College     Ft. Myers, FL     3:30 pm     
Tue     January 14     Florida College     Ft. Myers, FL     7:30 pm     
Thu     January 16     Warner Southern College     Lake Wales, FL     7:00 pm     
Sat     January 18     Johnson & Wales University      Miami, FL     7:00 pm     
Sat     January 25     Southeastern College     Lakeland, FL     4:00 pm     
Mon     January 27     Embry Riddle University     Daytona Beach, FL     7:00 pm     
Thu     January 30     Warner Southern College     Ft. Myers, FL     7:30 pm     
Mon     February 3     Trinity Baptist College     Ft. Myers, FL     7:30 pm     
Thu     February 6     Clearwater Christian College     Clearwater, FL     7:00 pm     
Sat     February 8     University of West Florida     Pensacola, FL     2:30 pm CST     
Mon     February 10     University of North Florida     Jacksonville, FL     7:30 pm
Thu     February 13     Florida College     Temple Terrace, FL     7:00 pm     
Sat     February 15     Johnson & Wales University      Ft. Myers, FL     7:30 pm     


Th-Sat     Feb. 27-March 1     Independent Regional Tourn. (if applicable)     TBA
W-Tu     March 12-18     NAIA National Tournament (if applicable)     TBA     


·     All times Eastern unless noted
·     Head Coach: Dave Balza
·     Assistant Coaches: Chris Highfield, Denny Hinson, Dennis Hunt, Dan MacLachlan

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