UT Men Welcome Sailfish To Town In Season Opener

TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa men's basketball team is set to open the season against the Palm Beach Atlantic University Sailfish on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center.

The Spartans look to bounce back after finishing the 2011-12 campaign 6-20 overall.

Head coach Richard Schmidt enters his 30th season with the Spartans. He has 26 winning seasons as the coach of Tampa. He picked up his 600th career win last season on Nov. 26, 2011 against Puerto-Rico Bayamon.

Senior Callum Townsend, junior Stefon Barfield and sophomore Jon Riles return to lead the Spartans this season. Barfield started 21 games last season averaging 7.8 ppg, while Townsend started 17 games averaging 8.8 ppg. Riles started 24 games averaging 6.0 ppg as a freshman.

Senior forward Anthony Griffis returns to the squad after sitting out the 2011-12 season.

Also returning are key reserves Terrell Pritchett, Ryan Kidd and Eric Moraes.

The Spartans also welcome newcomers Bastien Motte, Da'Markco Foster, Austin Rettig, Vincent Cornu and Tyler Zacur.

The Spartans are 14-1 all-time against the Sailfish. They split the series last season beating the Sailfish in West Palm Beach, but losing in Tampa.

The Sailfish (1-2) are led by sophomore forward Marcus Hardy. Hardy has averaged 19.7 ppg and 7.7 rpg so far this season.

Tampa officially starts conference play Saturday, January 5 against Rollins College.

Arthur Agee Jr., one of two youths whose life was chronicled in the 1994 documentary "Hoop Dreams," will be in attendance at Saturday's basketball game.

Agee now has a current career as a motivational speaker on education and finding your individual successes in life.

Today, Agee focuses on his foundation, the "Arthur Agee, Jr. Role Model Foundation", which stresses the importance of finding your success through adversity.

Tickets are available at the gate for $5. Children 12-and-under will be admitted free. UT faculty, staff and students are admitted free when displaying a valid Spartan ID card.

UT will offer live stats and a webcast for the match through TampaSpartans.tv.

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