Xavier Athletics

XULA WWW

 

Call (504) 520-7329 for ticket information
 NOTE: Schedule and story have been revised since release.
 5 straight at home to open Gold Rush regular season
 For immediate release . . . August 30, 2007
NEW ORLEANS — This past season, the Xavier University of Louisiana men's basketball team did not play its fifth home game until Jan. 6.

The Gold Rush's fifth home game of the 2007-08 season will be Nov. 19 — 48 days earlier.

That's one of the noticeable differences of the schedule that Coach Dannton Jackson announced Thursday.

Xavier will play 17 regular-season home games — four more than in 2006-07 — and play its first five at The Barn, the 1,300-seat campus facility which is celebrating its 70th birthday this year.

"We're excited about the number of home games," Jackson said. "This schedule will give us an opportunity to keep our team in front of the fans early and get their attention."

The regular-season opener will be against Wesley (Miss.) in a 6 p.m. tip-off on Tuesday, Nov. 6. The five-game home stand will include a Friday, Nov. 16 game against Huston-Tillotson — during the third day of the university's four-day homecoming festivities — and a Monday, Nov. 19 game against NCAA Division II member Albany State, coached by former Xavier assistant and Tulane standout Chris Cameron.

Another highlight will be a return to New Orleans Arena, where the Rush will play its regular-season finale on Saturday, March 1 against Gulf Coast Athletic Conference and city rival Dillard. Xavier will be the home team, and it will be the fifth time that Xavier and Dillard meet in that facility, which seats 17,200, for a women's/men's doubleheader. The schools attracted 7,189 fans to New Orleans Arena for their doubleheader on Feb. 1, 2003.

    Links to opponents
• Albany State
• Belhaven
• Dillard
• Huston-Tillotson
• LSU-Shreveport
• Loyola
• Mobile
• SCAD
• SUNO
• Spalding
• Spring Hill
• Texas
• Texas A&M International
• Texas A&M-Kingsville
• Texas College
• Texas Wesleyan
• Tougaloo
• Webber International
• Wesley (Miss.)
• Wiley
• William Carey
Xavier won the past three New Orleans Arena men's games against Dillard by a combined seven points, including one-point victories in 2005 and 2003.

Seven of the Rush's first nine games will be at home, including games against Spalding (Nov. 30) and Savannah College of Art and Design (Dec. 1) in the adidas Hardwood Classic. SCAD's coach is Cazzie Russell, the consensus NCAA Division I player of the year while at Michigan in 1966 and the first pick in the '66 NBA draft. Russell played 12 NBA seasons.

Visiting on Friday, Nov. 9 will be Webber International, a Florida school whose assistant coach, Jerry Reynolds, was an LSU standout.

For the second consecutive season, Xavier will visit NCAA Division I power Texas for an exhibition game. Xavier will play the Longhorns on Friday, Nov. 1 in the Rush's lone tuneup before the 30-game regular season.

Ten games, including five in a row from Nov. 10-24, will be against HBCUs — Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Xavier will open its 18-game GCAC schedule at Belhaven on Thursday, Jan. 3. The first GCAC home game will be Thursday, Jan. 10 against SUNO. The Rush will play eight of its first 11 conference games on the road but play five of the next six at The Barn.

There will be no Monday GCAC games, a departure from a longtime tradition. Virtually all conference games will be played Thursday or Saturday, with an exception being the Gold Rush's visit to LSU-Shreveport on Wednesday, Jan. 23.

The Rush, which shared the GCAC regular-season championship with Tougaloo this past season, will play the Bulldogs on Saturday, Jan. 12 at Tougaloo and Saturday, Feb. 16 at The Barn. LSU-Shreveport, which won the GCAC Tournament and beat Xavier in the semifinals, will visit The Barn on Valentine's Day.

Archbishop Joseph Rummel of the Archdiocese of New Orleans dedicated The Barn on Nov. 2, 1937, and the first game occurred Dec. 29 — a 32-19 Xavier victory against Alabama State. This will be the 40th season of Xavier men's basketball since the university revived the sport in 1967 after a seven-year hiatus.

Jackson — in his ninth season on the men's basketball staff and his fifth season as head coach — needs nine victories to reach 100 at Xavier. The Gold Rush was 22-10 this past season and won 10 consecutive GCAC games for the first time in 20 years. The Gold Rush played in the NAIA Division I National Tournament for a program-record third consecutive time and upset third-seeded Georgetown (Ky.) 82-79 in the opening round for its first NAIA tourney victory since 1973. Xavier this season will return 10 of 11 lettermen, including point guard Shaun Dumas, a third-team NAIA All-American, and shooting guard Mark Stewart, who made a Xavier-record 109 3-pointers and was third-team All-Louisiana. Dumas also was chosen Small College Player of the Year by the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches.

Call (504) 520-7329 for ticket information.

2007-08 Xavier University of Louisiana Men's Basketball Schedule
Date   Opponent Site Time
November
2 Friday   at Texas (exhibition) Erwin Center, Austin, Texas 7 p.m.
6 Tuesday   WESLEY (MISS.) THE BARN 6 p.m.
9 Friday   WEBBER INTERNATIONAL (DH) THE BARN 7:30 p.m.
10 Saturday   WILEY (DH) THE BARN 6 p.m.
16 Friday   HUSTON-TILLOTSON (Homecoming) THE BARN 5 p.m.
19 Monday   ALBANY STATE THE BARN 7 p.m.
23 Friday   Texas College (Wiley Classic) Alumni Gymnasium, Marshall, Texas 5:30 p.m.
24 Saturday   at Wiley (Wiley Classic) Alumni Gymnasium, Marshall, Texas 6 p.m.
30 Friday   SPALDING (adidas Hardwood Classic) THE BARN 7 p.m.
   also Nov. 30: SUNO vs. Savannah College of Art & Design, 5 p.m.

December
1 Saturday   SAVANNAH COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN
(adidas Hardwood Classic)		 THE BARN 7 p.m.
   also Dec. 1: SUNO vs. Spalding, 5 p.m.
4 Tuesday   TEXAS WESLEYAN THE BARN 7 p.m.
29 Saturday   Texas A&M International
(Texas A&M-Kingsville Holiday Tournament)		 Steinke Center, Kingsville, Texas 4:30 p.m.
30 Sunday   at Texas A&M-Kingsville
(Texas A&M-Kingsville Holiday Tournament)		 Steinke Center, Kingsville, Texas 8 p.m.

January
3 Thursday * at Belhaven (DH) Rugg Arena, Jackson, Miss. 7:30 p.m.
5 Saturday * at Spring Hill (DH) Outlaw Center, Mobile, Ala. 7 p.m.
10 Thursday * SUNO (DH) THE BARN 7:30 p.m.
12 Saturday * at Tougaloo (DH) Kroger Gym, Tougaloo, Miss. 7 p.m.
17 Thursday * MOBILE (DH) THE BARN 7:30 p.m.
19 Saturday * WILLIAM CAREY (DH) THE BARN 7 p.m.
23 Wednesday * at LSU-Shreveport (DH) The Dock, Shreveport, La. 7:30 p.m.
26 Saturday * at Dillard (DH) Dent Hall, New Orleans 7 p.m.
31 Thursday * at Loyola (DH) The Den, New Orleans 7:30 p.m.

February
2 Saturday * at William Carey (DH) Clinton Gym, Hattiesburg, Miss. 7 p.m.
7 Thursday * at SUNO (DH) The Castle, New Orleans 7:30 p.m.
9 Saturday * BELHAVEN (DH) THE BARN 7 p.m.
14 Thursday * LSU-SHREVEPORT (DH) THE BARN 7:30 p.m.
16 Saturday * TOUGALOO (DH) THE BARN 7 p.m.
21 Thursday * SPRING HILL (DH) THE BARN 7:30 p.m.
23 Saturday * at Mobile (DH) Pharr Gym, Mobile, Ala. 7 p.m.
28 Thursday * LOYOLA (DH) THE BARN 7:30 p.m.

March
1 Saturday * DILLARD (DH) NEW ORLEANS ARENA 7 p.m.
3 Monday-
10 Monday		   Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament
 first round March 3, quarterfinals March 5, semifinals March 7, championship March 10
 		TBA TBA  
19 Wednesday-
25 Tuesday		   NAIA Division I National Tournament Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Mo. TBA

With the exception of the March 1 game against Dillard, home games (in bold type) are played at The Barn (capacity 1,300), Xavier University campus, New Orleans.

 * Gulf Coast Athletic Conference game.    DH — doubleheader with Xavier's women.
TBA — to be announced.    All times are Central.

 
 
Gulf Coast Athletic Conference
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

The Xavier Gold Rush and Gold Nuggets compete in Division I of the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) as a member of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC). Xavier fields men's and women's teams in basketball, cross country and tennis.

Department of Intercollegiate Athletics
Xavier University of Louisiana
1 Drexel Drive
Campus Box 92
New Orleans, LA 70125
504-520-7329 phone
504-520-7934 fax

 
Xavier University
Xavier Athletics

About Xavier — Contact Us — Site Map
© 2007 Xavier University of Louisiana. All rights reserved