Redmen cagers to host NCAA’s Red Storm in 108th season-opener, Sept. 5
MONTREAL - The ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ Redmen will open their 108th basketball season on Saturday (Sept. 5), when they play host to the St. John's University Red Storm, an NCAA Division 1 team from Queens, N.Y.
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Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. and a near sell-out is expected at the 1,000-seat Love Competition Hall. Advance tickets are now on sale at the Redbird Sports Shop in the ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ Sports Centre, 475 Pine Avenue West. Admission is $7 for adults, $4 for students and seniors. Children 12 and under are admitted free.
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St. John's will face an ambitious schedule in Canada, playing back-to-back doubleheaders, Sept. 5-6. A few hours after taking on ±«ÓãÖ±²¥, the Red Storm will blow its way across town to take on the University of Quebec at Montreal in an 8 p.m. start at the Centre Sportif de l'UQAM. The next day, St. John's heads west to the nation's capital to meet Carleton University (1 p.m.) and the University of Ottawa (8:30 p.m.).
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"Canada and the time leading up to the trip gives us a chance to work out together early and form a bond with each other as teammates," said Norm Roberts, in his sixth season as head coach at of the Red Storm, which used to be known as the "Redmen".
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St. John's is coming off a 16-18 overall record last year and a 13th place finish in the 16-team Big East Conference, which also includes Louisville, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Villanova, Marquette, Syracuse, West Virginia, Providence, Notre Dame, Seton Hall, Georgetown, University of San Francisco, Rutgers and DePaul.
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St. John's has made 26 lifetime appearances in the NCAA "March Madness" Tournament, the last time was in 2000.
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±«ÓãÖ±²¥ posted a 16-17 overall record last year, including a disappointing 5-11 fourth-place standing in the five-team Quebec University Basketball League.
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"We have some unfinished business leftover from last spring and I'm anxious to get our season underway," said Redmen head coach Craig Norman, who returns for his sixth campaign with five seniors, two juniors, three sophomores and six freshmen."We've lost a few key veterans but had a good recruiting year and I think we will have a very competitive club."
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±«ÓãÖ±²¥ has lost a couple of high-scoring veterans, including guard Moustafa El Zanaty (23.7 points per game) and senior ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ Sean Anthony (15.9 ppg).
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The three returning starters are all seniors and stand 6-foot-4. They include guard Matt Thornhill of Ile-Bizard, Que., power ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ Michael White of Montreal and guard Pawel Herra of Kingston, Ont.
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Thornhill averaged 14.2 points per game and his expected to carry most of the scoring load on his shoulders. White is due for a breakout year after averaging 9.8 ppg, 7.9 rebounds and a team-leading 36 blocked shots in 32 contests. Herra started 28 times and averaged 8.6 ppg.
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Among the newcomers in the ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ lineup is two-time All-Canadian Leo Saintil, a 6-foot-5 ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ from Ottawa who becomes eligible in December. He has transferred from Acadia, where he was named MVP of the Atlantic conference in 2007-08, averaging 18.5 ppg. Saintil ranked third among conference scorers with 13.9 per game and led the nation in rebounding with a 13.9 average.
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One freshman to watch is 5-foot-10 point-guard Olivier Bouchard, a Montrealer who starred at College Montmorency and will challenge for a starting spot.
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±«ÓãÖ±²¥ surprised most observers with respectable showings against NCAA teams last fall, losing 72-67 to Kansas Jayhawks (Aug. 30), defeating the Virginia Cavaliers 88-83 (Aug. 31) and losing 87-73 to the Northeastern Huskies.
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In 2007, the Redmen lost 97-88 to Alabama (Sept. 1) and 107-103 to Illinois in double overtime (Sept. 3). In 2005, ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ lost 70-45 to Western Illinois.
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The St. John's cagers feature nine returnees - including all five starters - and four freshmen. Among the Storm's key returnees is Paris Horne, a 6-foot-3, 191-pound junior from Middletown, Del., who averaged 14.6 points in 33 games overall.
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"It is a time also for us to work on some things that will give us a jumpstart to the season," said Roberts. "Our guys are excited about getting together early and getting this season started, after everyone worked so hard this summer at preparing their bodies and improving their games."
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This will mark St. John's first international trip since a summer tour of Spain in 1991. NCAA basketball teams are allowed one international trip every four years. The Red Storm had planned a similar Labor Day trip to Cancun prior to the 2008-09 season, but was forced to cancel due to severe weather in the area of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as a result of Hurricane Gustav.
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As per NCAA rules, St. John's was granted 10 days of team practice in advance of its foreign travel and began weekday sessions on Aug. 24.
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