Northwest Sports Men’s basketball program released its schedule for the upcoming exhibition season, which includes a double dip on November 8th against former national champions University of Arkansas and 2003 pre-season top 10 Gonzaga University.
NW Sports will face nine division 1 opponents from nine separate conferences including games for the first time against Big East (West Virginia) and SEC (Arkansas) teams. Besides Gonzaga, the men will also face two other teams who made post season appearances. IUPUI finished last season in the NCAA tournament against Kentucky while Eastern Washington was invited to the post-season NIT.
In total the men will have 25 games this season throughout the country playing in twelve states.
The highlight of the 2003 schedule will be the split squad games on November 8th, 2003 against 1994 national champions University of Arkansas, and the pre-season top 10 Gonzaga Bulldogs. Arkansas may have the most competitive team they have fielded in the past few years and will have the added experience of a four game trip to Mexico this past September. 2003 West Coast Conference Player of the Year Blake Stepp will welcome Northwest into the Kennel on the same afternoon. Expectations are high for this team who returns four starters from the team that lost in double overtime to number 1 seed Arizona in the second round of the NCAA tournament this past March.
Other Division 1 games include University of Idaho, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, McNeese state, and an up and coming University of Akron team who may also be a pre-season top 25 selection.
As with every season Northwest Sports will be playing a number of very talented Division II schools and some of the best Jr. College teams in the country. Highlighted by the second visit in the past three years to the Mesa College Rotary Shootout in Phoenix, Arizona, which is one of the longest Junior College tournaments in the country. Other small college games include Seattle Pacific, Cal State Bakersfield, Western Washington, Howard, and Odessa College.
As with every season rosters are subject to change but highlighted players should include Ed Gray (Cal, Atlanta Hawks), Josh Hall (Two time NAIA national player of the year), and Jamie Booker (U of Washington & Harlem Globetrotters), and the Northwest Sports single game scoring leader Evric Gray (UNLV & Phoenix Suns). Over the past 10 seasons Northwest Sports teams have had more than 10 former NBA players mixed with dozens of players who continue their professional career overseas.