Information: Open Practice Saturday, 10/24/09

Men’s Hoops Saturday Practice Open to the Public

PORTLAND, Ore. --- Fans will have their first opportunity of the year to catch the University of Portland men’s basketball team in action this Saturday at the Chiles Center. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. to the public for the event, which will feature an intrasquad scrimmage beginning at 6 p.m. Season tickets will be available for sale at the event and current season ticket holders will be distributed their tickets as well.

The Pilots, who began official practices last Friday, have been picked to finish second in the West Coast Conference by various preseason publications after a banner year in 2009. Head coach Eric Reveno, the reigning WCC Coach of the Year now in his fourth year at Portland, returns his top 12 players from a 2008-09 squad that racked up 19 wins and advanced to postseason play for the first time since 1996.

Headlining the returners is All-WCC senior guards Nik Raivio and T.J. Campbell. Also returning are All-WCC honorable mention honorees Robin Smeulders and Jared Stohl. Stohl is the leading returning three-point shooter in the nation and was recently named the No. 6 shooter nationally by FoxSports.com’s Jeff Goodman (with Campbell coming in at No. 31 on the list).

Portland will host two exhibition games, beginning on Thursday, Oct. 29 versus Concordia at 7 p.m. The team’s first two regular season home games will be Nov. 17 against Seattle and Nov. 21 vs. Oregon. The Pilots will then head off to the 76 Classic in Anaheim Nov. 26-29 to face perennial power UCLA in the first round on ESPN2 at 7:30 p.m.

2009-10 Preseason Season Ticket Holder Event Schedule
Saturday, October 24
5:30 PM Doors open, tickets available for pick-up, team warm-up
5:50 PM Player and Coach Introductions
6:00 PM Purple vs. White Scrimmage
7:30 PM Q&A Session with Coach Reveno, meet players