A Moccasin basketball team with a lot of new faces will get a taste of Division I competition Thursday night when it plays the Miami Hurricanes in an exhibition game at 7 p.m. at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables. Admission is free.
Coach Linc Darner has just one starter back, junior forward Brett Bailey, from last season's 23-9 squad. The Moccasins lost four starters who helped account for 76.9 percent of their points and 63.1 percent of their rebounds from last season. Bailey averaged 8.0 points and 4.5 rebounds with 18 starts last season.
In addition to Bailey, key reserves Andre Hawkins, Jay Hubble, Dominic Lane and Jon Gardner are back. Darner will look for contributions from three transfers and three freshmen to bolster this year's squad. Seth Evans is a transfer from Wisconsin-Green Bay, Garrett Putman comes to FSC from Alderson-Broaddus and Kyle Tazioli transferred from Stonehill. Freshman Kevin Capers, Cameron Vines and Tyler Kelly will vie for a starting role.
The Hurricanes, 21-15 last season, will be at less than full strength Thursday night, with six players not expected to play. Jim Larranaga is the Hurricanes' new head coach and his team is picked for fifth in the ACC.
After Thursday's exhibition game, the Moccasins will turn their attention to their regular season opener Nov. 16 against South Florida at 7 p.m. at The Lakeland Center.
