Aug. 15, 2005
NORFOLK,VA--The 2005-06 Old Dominion University men's basketballschedule will feature games against nine teams who participated in post season playin 2005. Heading the schedule for the defending CAA Champions will be the season opening Paradise Jam tournament in St. Thomas, VI, where ODU will open againstthe University of Georgia. The University of Wisconsin is also in the field. The Monarchs will host a Bracket Busters game on Feb. 18th, along with home dates against DePaul, Virginia Tech and East Carolina in the Constant Center. Alabama-Birmingham and Richmond have been added as road games with return dates to ODU the following season.
"The upcoming schedule is a very ambitious undertaking," said ODU headcoach Blaine Taylor, the 2005 CAA and Virginia Coach of the Year. "This year's slatepresents a fun and demanding experience for our team, program and fans."
The three NCAA teams from a year ago are Wisconsin, UAB and Eastern Kentucky. DePaul, Virginia Tech, and CAA rivals Drexel, VCU, Hofstra and newest league member Northeastern competed in the NIT. Wisconsin was a number six seed, while UAB was an 11th seed, advancing to the second round with a win over LSU.
The Paradise Jam tournament field will be split into two divisions with ODUopening against Georgia on Nov. 18, then play Fordham on Nov. 19th. After a day off, ODU will play either Wisconsin, Eastern Kentucky or Norfolk State on Nov. 21st, depending on the results of the first two games and a tournament point system. The tournament will be held at the UVI Sports and Fitness Center. The last time ODU and Georgia played was in the 1981 NIT first round, in Athens, GA. which pairedfuture NBA veterans Mark West (ODU) and Dominique Wilkins.
The Feb. 18th Bracket Busters game will be ODU's first in this event. The opponent will be announced on Jan. 29. Six games will be televised on ESPN/ESPN2 and the remainder on ESPNU or ESPN Classic.The Monarchs will play DePaul coached by Jerry Wainwright on Dec.17th in theConstant Center. Before going to DePaul Wainwright served as head coach at UNCW and Richmond. ACC member Virginia Tech comes to the Constant Center on Dec. 30 and East Carolina of Conference USA visits on Dec. 3.
Former Sun Belt rival UAB returns to the ODU schedule for a Dec. 22nddate which is the first meeting between the two since the 1990-91 season. The Blazers are members of Conference USA. ODU travels to Richmond of the Atlantic 10 on Dec. 19thfor the first meeting since the 2000-01 season. ODU will play VMI from the Big South on Nov. 30 in Lexington, VA.
This year, with the addition of Northeastern (Boston), and Georgia State(Atlanta) the CAA will again have an 18-game league schedule. ODU will play GeorgeMason, Drexel, Georgia State, VCU, Hofstra, William and Mary and James Madisontwice, while Towson, Northeastern, Delaware and UNC Wilmington will be played once.
The Monarchs open their home schedule on Nov. 26th against Mount. St.Mary's coached by former ODU assistant Milan Brown., and assisted by BrionDunlap ('98). Mt. St. Mary's is a member of the Northeast Conference.
ODU opens CAA league play on Dec. 7 at home against George Mason followed by the first league road game on Dec. 10 against Drexel, in Philadelphia.The Monarchs will play Northeastern at home on Jan. 7 and play Georgia Stateon Jan. 12 in Atlanta, and at ODU on Feb. 15. The CAA tournament will again bein Richmond, March 3-6.
The Monarchs will play the University of Saskatchewan (Canada) in anexhibition game on Nov. 2, followed by an exhibition contest against VirginiaState of the CIAA on Nov 12.
"We certainly have a tremendous challenge awaiting us right out of the gatewith the St. Thomas tournament," adds Taylor. "As we work from there through thenon-conference schedule our team will need to grow and climb through the challengesof December. We are looking at one of the strongest league races in years with theCAA being one of a very few conferences that had five teams in post season play andsix in the RPI top 100."
The Monarchs return four starters including CAA Player of the Year,Tournament MVP, Honorable Mention All-American and CAA Male Scholar Athleteof the Year Alex Loughton (Perth, Australia). ODU also returns All-CAA selections Isaiah Hunter (Charlotte, NC.) and Arnaud Dahi (Ivory Coast, Africa), along with CAA All-Tournament selection Drew Williamson (Burlington, NC.). The Monarchs welcome two-time All-State and "Mr. Basketball" runner-up Jonathan Adams, a 6-6 forward from Baylor High School in Chattanooga, TN. ODU lost only one senior from last year's school record 28-6 team. For more information, contact the Athletic Public Relations Office at 683-3372.
OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY2005-06 MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
Fri.Oct. 28BLUE-WHITE SCRIMMAGEConstant Center 7:00Wed.Nov. 2U. OF SASKATCHEWAN Canada(Exh) Constant Center7:00Sat.Nov. 12VIRGINIA STATE (Exh.) Constant Center7:00Fri.Nov. 18Georgia# St. Thomas, VI. 6:00Sat.Nov. 19Fordham#St. Thomas,VI6:00Mon.Nov. 21TBA#St. Thomas, VI.TBASat.Nov. 26MOUNT ST. MARY'SConstant Center 7:00Wed.Nov. 30at VMI# Cameron Hall7:00Sat.Dec. 3EAST CAROLINAConstant Center 7:00Wed.Dec. 7GEORGE MASON* Constant Center 7:00Sat.Dec. 10at Drexel*Daskalaskis Ctr.TBASat.Dec. 17DEPAULConstant Center 7:00Tues.Dec. 20at RichmondRobbins Center 7:00Thu.Dec. 22at Alabama-BirminghamBartow Arena8:30Fri.Dec. 30VIRGINIA TECHConstant Center 7:00Tues. Jan. 3UNC WILMINGTON*Constant Center 7:00Thu.Jan. 5at Towson*Towson Center 7:30Sat.Jan. 7NORTHEASTERN*Constant Center 7:00Thur.Jan. 12at Georgia State* GSU Sports Arena7:00Sat.Jan. 14VA.COMMONWEALTH*Constant Center 7:00Thu. Jan. 19HOFSTRA*Constant Center 7:00Sat.Jan. 21at William & Mary*W & M. Hall7:00Thu.Jan. 26DREXEL*Constant Center 7:00Sat.Jan. 28at George Mason* Patriot Center7:00Thur.Feb. 2at Hofstra*Hofstra Arena7:00Sat.Feb. 4JAMES MADISON*Constant Center 7:00Thu.Feb. 9WILLIAM & MARY*Constant Center 7:00Sat.Feb. 11at Va. Commonwealth*Alltel Pavilion7:30Wed.Feb. 15GEORGIA STATE*Constant Center 7:00Sat.Feb. 18"BRACKET BUSTER"Constant CenterTBAThu..Feb. 23at James Madison*Convocation Center7:00Sat.Feb. 25at Delaware*Carpenter Center7:30Fri-Mon. March 3-6CAA ChampionshipsRichmond Coliseum, Richmond, VA
# Nov. 18-21 at Paradise Jam Tournament, St. Thomas, VI.(ODU, Wisconsin, Fordham, Georgia, E. Kentucky, & Norfolk State) NOTE: all times are eastern.