Nov. 1, 2008
Herd Men to Face Wheeling Jesuit on Saturday in Exhibition Action
Marshall Minus Two Starters Vs. Cardinals in Humphrey and Wilkerson
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
Huntington, WV (HNN) -- The Marshall University men's basketball team will play its lone exhibition game of the preseason on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008 when it welcomes Wheeling Jesuit to the Cam Henderson Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Marshall, 16-14 last season, returns three starters and eight letterwinners from the 2007-08 squad. The Thundering Herd, however, will be forced to play without the services of two starters in senior guard/forward Markel Humphrey (Atlanta, Ga.) and junior forward Tyler Wilkerson (Lexington, Ky.). Humphrey, a two-time All-Conference USA pick, will be sidelined for another two weeks and may return for the Herd's season-opener on Nov. 16 versus WVU Tech. Wilkerson is nursing a broken hand and is also looking to return for the start of the regular season.
Saturday's contest will mark the first collegiate game action for a slew of Marshall newcomers, including freshmen guard Shaquille Johnson (Jacksonville, Fla.), a two-time Florida Class 5A Player of the Year, guard/forward Dago Pena (Punta Gorda, Fla.), point guard Damier Pitts (Charlotte, N.C.) and forward Kore White (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). Sophomore center Marcus Goode (Chapin, S.C.) will also make his MU debut.
Marshall's trio of now-eligible transfers will wear the Green and White for the first time on Saturday, they include: Purdue transfer Chris Lutz (Bedford, N.H.), Florida transfer Brandon Powell (Memphis, Tenn.) and Georgetown transfer Octavius Spann (College Park, Ga.).
Head coach Donnie Jones, in his second season at Marshall, also has three other returning letterwinners at his disposal in 2008 C-USA All-Freshman Team selection Tirrell Baines (Laurens, S.C.), senior guard Darryl Merthie (Sanford, Fla.) and junior guard Adam Williams (St. Albans, W.Va.).
The game will also mark the first game action for Wheeling Jesuit, a Division II institution playing out of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Cardinals went 13-15 last season and 8-12 in WVIAC play.
The Herd's Director of Basketball Operations, Tim Thomas, is a 1993 graduate of Wheeling Jesuit.
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Parking Note: Due to the High School Band Festival that will be taking place at Joan C. Edwards Stadium on Saturday, fan and media parking for the Marshall University men’s basketball exhibition game will be at the 3rd Avenue parking garage or the F-Lot (west of the Biotech Science Center). Parking passes for the West Lot will be honored at these locations.
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