Lancers set to host Ohio State and Georgia Tech

WINDSOR, Ont. - The Windsor Lancers Men's Basketball team will open their 2009-10 pre-season by welcoming a pair of top rated NCAA Division I opponents to the St. Denis Centre.

The Ohio State Buckeyes will visit Windsor on the weekend of August 28-31, while the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets arrive at the University of Windsor for a pair of games on the weekend of October 2-5.

Coach Oliver's squad will host Ohio State on Friday, August 28th at 6:00pm as well as on Saturday, August 29th at 6:00pm at the St. Denis Centre.

Later in the fall, the Lancers will then play host to Georgia Tech on Saturday, October 3rd and Monday, October 5th at the St. Denis Centre. Both games against the Yellow Jackets will be at 7:00pm.

Tickets to each individual game are $10/person and will be available at the door.

Both teams are perennial powers in the ACC and Big Ten Conferences and both are ranked in the NCAA pre-season top 25 for the fall.

"We are thrilled to have Ohio State and Georgia Tech coming to play us in the fall," commented Oliver. "These games will be an opportunity for our players to challenge themselves against the highest level of competition we can play. They will be big weekends for us as we start to build on the expectations necessary to win championships."

The Buckeyes finished the 2008-09 season with a 22-11 record and reached the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Head Coach Thad Matta returns an experienced squad that includes standout David Lighty, who returns after an injury-plagued season and the one-two punch of Evan Turner and William Buford.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and Head Coach Paul Hewitt open up next season with high hopes thanks to the return of standout forward Gani Lawal and the arrival of the No.1 recruit in the nation, Derrick Favors.

Lawal decided to return to Georgia Tech after testing the NBA waters. He finished the 2008-09 season as a All-ACC Third team honouree after averaging 15.1 points and 9.5 rebounds a year ago.

Favours joins the Yellow Jackets as the No. 1 recruit in America coming out of high school this year. The 6'9 centre was the Naismith Player of the Year and was the MVP of the McDonald's All-America game and the Jordan Brand Classic game.

For Lancer Head Coach Chris Oliver, these games will be the first chance to see his new look squad in action after a busy summer of recruiting and developing individual skills.

Oliver has had another strong off-season of recruiting as Windsor has landed four of the top players available in the country. The Lancers have added 6'8 power forward Lien Phillip from Toronto, 6'1 point guard Josh Collins from Thornhill, 6'10 centre Blake Pauls from Leamington and 6'6 swingman Justin Wiltshire from Pickering for next season.

Phillip, Collins and Pauls are all rated in the top ten in Canada at their respective positions while Wiltshire was also a top ten prospect a year ago before attending Lincoln Junior College in Illinois this past season.

The Lancers open their 2009-10 OUA regular season schedule at home against the York University Lions on Friday, November 6th at 8:00pm at the St. Denis Centre.

Source:

Elisa Mitton, Sports Information Office, University of Windsor