PRINCESS ANNE, Md. — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men’s basketball team’s schedule for the 2016-17 season will include 11 games at the friendly confines of the William P. Hytche Center, while the non-conference slate sees games in eight different states and the District of Columbia.
Highlights include trips to George Washington (Nov. 11) Wichita State (Nov. 20), Louisiana Tech (No. 27) and Michigan (Dec. 17).
“We are going to go out and compete every night,” head coach Bobby Collins said. “We are not going to just play these games to play. We obviously want to have a chance to win them. I have created in the mind of our players to have an enthusiastic mindset — an optimistic mindset — that every game we go into we want to feel like we have a chance to win.”
“We have to try and find a way to get six to seven wins during preseason play.”
Things start off tough from the start with the trip to Washington D.C to face the Colonials who finished last season 28-10 and won the National Invitational Tournament (NIT).
“It’s really about those three games in March,” Collins said. “Starting with the first game, it prepares us for those three games in March.”
After hosting University of Maryland Baltimore County on Nov. 13, the Hawks will swing by Boston College (Nov. 15) before making the trip to Wichita Kansas to face a Shockers team that finished last season 26-9 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Hawks will also make another trip to Blacksburg, Va., to face off with the alma mater of assistant coach Adrian “Ace” Custis on Dec. 7.
“It’s exciting to go back, mainly for coach Custis,” Collins said. “He’s a Hall of Famer there and we get a chance to go and see where he played and the guys get a chance to go and see what he has accomplished.”
The Hawks will play five nonconference games against squads who won at least 20 games last season including: Louisiana Tech, George Washington, Michigan, Wichita State and Akron or Cal-Irvine. Maryland Eastern Shore will face either the Zips or Anteaters on the second day of the Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational, in El Paso, Texas, Dec. 21-22.
“The schedule that we play in the preseasons will prepare us for conference play,” Collins said. “Cal Irvine and Akron are two mid-major powerhouse programs that have had success in the past. There is nothing simple and no easy way around us doing our schedule. What we have put in place is an opportunity for our young men to play at a high level and have a chance to play in different venues.”