Men's Basketball | 8/4/2017 6:15:00 PM
MONTREAL – The McGill University men's basketball team will open their 117
th season on Monday, Aug. 7 with a preseason game against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the first of 10 non-conference confrontations against NCAA teams over the next three weeks. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. Eastern.
Advance tickets can be purchased
online. Adults are $15, while staff, students and seniors are $10. The admission rate for community groups is $40 and children 12-and-under are admitted free.
It will mark McGill's second lifetime meeting against Alabama, which previously defeated the Redmen 97-88 on Sept. 1, 2007. This will be the first of three Canadian university opponents for the Tide during their eight-day Canadian tour. Alabama will also play two in Ottawa, where they will meet the defending national champion Carleton Ravens (Aug. 9) and the Ottawa Gee-Gees (Aug. 10).
"Playing these NCAA teams in August is a good opportunity for us to see our younger players in game action," said McGill head coach
David DeAveiro, who has guided his troops to four RSEQ conference championships in the past five seasons. "Our guys want to play these games, so we set them up in advance of our regular schedule. It's good for the program as it encourages our group to work hard over the summer to prepare for these games. And it definitely helps in our recruiting as well."
The Redmen are coming off a stellar campaign with a 24-11 record overall, including a 13-3 first-place finish in the five-team Quebec league. They registered a 2-4 record against NCAA opponents, collecting victories over Florida A&M (69-62) and Farleigh Dickinson (76-69). McGill qualified for their fifth-ever appearance at Final Eight national tournament, where they finished fourth, their best-ever result.
DeAveiro, in his eighth season as McGill's bench boss and 17
th campaign including a stint in Ottawa, has a career coaching record of 352-223 in 575 games overall (.612), including a 142-96 mark (.597) with the Redmen.
His veteran-laden Redmen roster features 10 returnees – four of them starters – and is composed of eight seniors, one junior, three sophomores and five freshmen. The key returnee is All-Canadian
Dele Ogundokun, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound guard who was named league MVP and defensive player of the year. The fifth-year management senior, who was also the 2017 Forbes trophy winner as McGill's male athlete of the year, averaged 11.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
Leading the offence is fifth-year senior
Jenning Leung, a 6-foot-1 all-conference point-guard who led the team in scoring with 13.6 points over 33 games. Other returning starters include senior all-star forward
Francois Bourque (6-6) and senior centre
Noah Daoust (6-8), as well as junior point-guard
Isaiah Cummins (6-1).
The Crimson Tide, based in Tuscaloosa, Ala., are embarking upon their 105
th season and have made 19 appearances in the NCAA tournament. The Tide are ranked No. 19 in a preseason poll by CBSsports.com. They posted a 19-15 overall record last year, including a 10-8 fifth-place finish in the Southeastern Conference, a 14-team league better known as the SEC. Kentucky finished atop the SEC last season with a 16-2 record.
Head coach
Avery Johnson enters his third season at Alabama with a 37-30 record after seven years in the National Basketball Association, where he posted a 254-186 record with Dallas (2005-2008) and New Jersey/Brooklyn (2010-2012). He also played 16 seasons in the NBA – from 1988 to 2004 – with stints in Seattle, Denver, San Antonio, Houston, Golden State and Dallas.
The Crimson Tide have seven key returnees, four of them starters, led by 6-foot-8 forward
Braxton Key and 6-foot-5 guard
Dazon Ingram. Key averaged 12.0 points and 5.7 rebounds in 34 games last season, while Ingram posted similar numbers with 10.5 ppg and 4.5 rpg.
McGill's other remaining home games against NCAA opponents are slated against Southern Methodist (Aug. 8), Towson (Aug. 10), St. Francis – Brooklyn (Aug. 28), Siena College (Aug. 30) and Hofstra (Sept. 2). The Redmen will also travel to Costa Rica, Aug. 12-19, where they are slated to play Kent State (Aug. 14), Lamar (Aug. 15) and twice against the University of Texas at El Paso (Aug. 16-17).
LINK TO 2017-18 REDMEN BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)
SEE COMPLETE McGILL VARSITY SCHEDULE ONLINE AT:
www.mcgillathletics.ca/calendar.aspx
