WHAT'S ON TAP: The Pioneers play the first of two consecutive non-conference road games as they head south to take on Air Force Friday at 7:05 p.m. at Clune Arena in Colorado Springs. The Pioneers then travel to Wyoming Monday for a 7:00 p.m. tip with the Cowboys at Arena-Auditorium.
RADIO/TV: There will be no television for the Pioneers game against Air Force but it will be televised live on 16 KICKS, AM 1600. Calling the action will be veteran play-by-play man Mitch Hyder.
DENVER PROBABLE STARTERS:Pos # Name Cl. Ht. Wt. PPG RPG G 13 Matt Paul Sr. 6-2 183 2.0 0.0G 23 Arthur Ireland Sr. 6-2 187 18.0 4.0C 40 Steve Simmons Jr. 6-9 230 10.0 9.0F 33 Wahhab Carter Jr. 6-6 205 15.0 12.0F 24 Kevin Overton Sr. 6-7 215 11.0 6.0
DENVER HEAD COACH MARTY FLETCHER: Head coach Marty Fletcher enters his fourth season at the helm of the Denver basketball program, his 16th season overall. Following the season-opening loss to Oregon, Fletcher's record stands at 236-281 (.456) overall record, 23-60 (.277) in his tenure at Denver. Fletcher enters the season with a chance to become the Sun Belt Conference's second winningest coach in terms of conference victories, he currently is in sole possession of third place on that list with 61. A look at the top five:
1. Gene Bartow (UAB) 111
2. Ronnie Arrow (South Alabama) 69
3. Marty Fletcher (Denver/ULL) 61
4. Matt Kilcullen (Jacksonville/WKU) 60
5. J.D. Barnett (Virginia Comm.) 59
THE ASSISTANTS: Denver assistants Todd Rinehart and Byron Jones return for their fourth seasons alongside Fletcher, and newcomer John Marczak enters his first season after spending last season at Syracuse.
A LOOK AT Air Force: The Air Force Falcons enter Friday's game with Denver with a 1-2 record. The Falcons began the season with a 59-53 win over Houston, and followed that with consecutive losses to Wake Forest (84-44) and Long Beach State, 84-77. Leading the way for the Falcons is freshman forward Robert Todd, who in three games as a collegian has averaged 15.3 points per contest and 4.3 rebounds. The Falcons are coached by first-year head man Joe Scott, a product of Princeton.
PROBABLE AIR FORCE STARTERS:Pos # Name Cl. Ht. Wt. PPG RPG G 24 Jarvis Croft Sr. 6-4 190 13.0 5.3G 2 Selwyn Mansell Jr. 5.9 165 3.3 1.3G 22 Vernard Jenkins So. 5-9 181 8.3 4.3F 34 Robert Todd Fr. 6-6 200 15.3 4.3C 55 Josh Wallace Fr. 6-9 210 6.3 3.7
DENVER VS. AIR FORCE: The Pioneers have played Air Force many times throughout the 95 years of basketball at Denver, including twice last season and twice more this season. All time in the series, Denver holds a 21-20 advantage over the Falcons. Last season Denver defeated Air Force both times for two of its six victories, the first an 84-72 win in Clune Arena Jan. 13 and the second a 73-60 win at Magness Arena.
Fletcher vs. Air Force: In Marty Fletcher's 18 previous seasons, he has garnered a 3-3 mark versus Air Force.
CARTER Picks up where he left off: Junior forward Wahhab Carter (El Reno, Okla.) picked up right where he left off last season in DU's home opener against Oregon when he scored 15 points and hauled in 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the season in the 99-90 loss. Carter was amongst the Sun Belt leaders in double-doubles last season as he finished second in the league in that department with nine. Carter also led the team in rebounds against Oregon, something he did on 15 occasions last season.
IRELAND HAS GAME: One of only three seniors on the team and the only Pioneer to play and start in every game last season (28) is Arthur Ireland (Las Vegas, Nev.). Ireland finished last season as the team's third leading scorer at 12.6 points per game, good for the 17th best mark in the SBC. Early in this season he looks to improve on that mark, as he scored 18 points and had four rebounds in the season opener against Oregon. Among that tally was a 5-for-11 night from three-point range, including one that tied the game for the second time at 66-66. It was the closest Denver would get all evening.
OVERTON TO BE COUNTED ON: The Pioneers will be counting on improved play from another one of the three seniors on the squad, Kevin Overton (Spencer, Okla.). After starting three of Denver's 28 games and averaging 19.4 minutes per game last season, Overton began the season in the starting role at power forward and didn't disappoint, as he scored 11 points and grabbed 6 rebounds against the Ducks. One of six players in double figures, Overton was 5-for-6 from the free throw line, an exceptional mark considering he was at 50% for the entire season in 1999-2000.
LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST: Starting the game against Oregon for just his second career start in a Denver uniform was senior Matt Paul (Naples, Fla.). Paul has played in 27 games for Denver for three consecutive seasons, and he started one game (vs. Wyoming) last year. Paul played 12 minutes in the opener against Oregon but failed to tally a point. He did however, have one steal and one assist.
THE TEXAS GUNNER: Returning for his sophomore season is the team's best pure shooter, B.J. Pratt (San Antonio, Texas). Pratt earned the first start of his college career against Wyoming last season and never came out of the starting lineup the remainder of the season while finishing second on the team with 12.6 points per game. Perhaps earned a starting position in the first game of the season when he scorched Oregon for a team-leading 26 points and grabbing four rebounds. Pratt, amongst the Sun Belt Leaders in three-point shooting last season, picked up right where he left off as he drained 5-of-7 from behind the arc to lead all scorers against the Ducks. He was also 11-14 from the free throw line and put in 32 minutes off the bench. B.J. also led the squad with seven assists.
SIMMONS TO OWN THE LOW POST: Denver's starting center of a year ago, junior Steve Simmons (Salt Lake City, Utah), returns for another season beneath the basket for Denver. Simmons was the team's leading shot blocker a year ago, as he tallied 33 blocks on the season, good for the fifth best mark in the SBC. Simmons was another one of the Denver players tally double figures against Oregon, as he chipped in 10 and just missed out on his first career double-double as he pulled in nine rebounds.
SHERMAN COMING TO THE BIG CITY: One of two Denver newcomers to the team this season is junior forward Sherman Rochell (Oklahoma City, Okla.) a transfer from Northern Oklahoma College, the same college that produced assistant coach Byron Jones. Rochell comes to Denver after averaging 12.8 points and 8.7 rebounds in his tenure and was named All-Bi-State Conference last season. Rochell made an immediate impact on the Pioneers in his first game, scoring 10 points and grabbing four rebounds in 30 minutes of game action.
THE LONE DENVER NATIVE: One of just three players on the Denver roster from Colorado and the lone returner from the Centennial State is junior Tyrone Turner (Denver, Colo.). Turner graduated from George Washington High School in Denver, the same school that produced NBA player Chauncey Billups. Turner saw action in 23 games last season and had 31 assists, leading the team in three different contests in that category. Played just one minute against Oregon.
THE REDSHIRTS WILL PLAY A ROLE: Denver's two redshirt freshmen from a year ago, forward Jamaal Ramey (Lawton, Okla.) and Brett Starkey (Lakewood, Colo.) return for their first seasons at Denver after sitting out last season as redshirts. Starkey, the team's biggest player at 6-9 and 255 pounds, will see significant time at the center position in relief of Steve Simmons. Ramey is one of the team's bigger forwards and will see time at power forward.
A STAR ON THE HORIZON: Denver's lone true freshman hopes to make his debut against Oregon despite just recently getting a cast removed that was put on to repair a stress fracture in his left foot. Ryan Goral (Westminster, Colo.) comes to Denver after a successful high school career that saw him average 22.8 points per game 8.2 assists per game. He was named a Street & Smith's All-America Honorable Mention and McDonald's All- America Honorable Mention his senior season.
A THREE-POINT BARRAGE: In Denver's season-opening loss to Oregon, both teams were shredding the nets from behind the arc. DU shot a tremendous 13-for-26 (50%) from long range and Oregon did them slightly better with a 12-of-23 mark (52%). Combined, the two teams shot 25-of-49 from downtown, a Magness Arena Record. The Pioneers just missed out on the team Magness Arena record of 14, set last season against Louisiana Tech. The Denver record for most three-point field goals made in a game is 15, set Dec. 12, 1998 in a 98-76 win over Wright State.
PIONEERS PLAY TO SECOND-LARGEST CROWD EVER: In Denver's season-opening loss to Oregon, the Ducks and Pioneers were treated to DU's second-largest crowd in the history of Magness Arena. Eclipsed only by last season's game with Colorado (2,125), the Pioneers got 2,032 fans to watch the season-opener. It was just the second time since moving to Magness Arena that Denver has had an attendance mark over 2000.
PIONEER SEASON RECAP: The Pioneers opened the 2000-2001 campaign with a tough non-conference matchup against Oregon. Despite trailing by as many as 16 points in the second half, DU clawed their way back into the game and eventually knotted things up three different times. But the experienced Ducks prevailed, making 10-of-11 free throws in the final 1:56 to earn the 99-90 victory.
AN AMBITIOUS SCHEDULE: Head coach Marty Fletcher continues to line up top-notch competition for his teams. In addition to a difficult Sun Belt Conference Schedule, the Pioneers play area-foes Colorado State, Air Force and Wyoming on the road, and also travel to Ohio State in early December. Denver also hosts Navy, Brown, and a pair of Pac-10 foes in Oregon and Oregon State.
COACHES TABS PIONEERS FOR SIXTH: The following are the results of the preseason coaches poll of conference coaches for predicted order of finish in the 2000-2001 season:
East Division
1. Western Kentucky
2. Louisiana Tech
3. Arkansas State
4. Middle Tennessee
5. Florida International
6. Arkansas-Little Rock
TRAVEL PLANS: The Pioneer basketball team will depart for Air Force at 4:00 p.m. Friday and depart for home immediately following the game. Press row phone number in Clune Arena is (719) 333-6467.
