NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State men's basketball team opens play for the 2021-22 season with an exhibition game on Thursday evening against the Davenport Panthers with a 7 p.m. tip-off at Redbird Arena.
GAME INFORMATION
Illinois State vs. Davenport
When: Thursday, November 4
Tip-Off: 7 p.m. CT
Location: Normal, Illinois
Arena: Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
WELCOME BACK
After 617 days between games with fans at Redbird Arena, ISU returns to the floor in an exhibition against NCAA Division II Davenport.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
Located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the Panthers have eight players who have NCAA Division I experience, including returning leading scorer Chris Rollins, a senior guard who averaged 18.4 points per game a season ago. Western Michigan transfer Jarrin Randall also returns after averaging 7.0 points per game last year. Rollins led the team with 64 assists and 44 steals, while James Felton had a team-high 10 blocked shots.
Among the other NCAA Division I transfers include former Drake guard Samm Jones, Iowa State transfer Mardedus Leech, Idaho State transfer Noble Cooper, Colorado and Hartford transfer Jakub Dombek, Toledo transfer Luke Maranka, and IPFW transfer Jairus Stevens.
SCOUTING THE REDBIRDS
The Illinois State Redbirds return two of its three double-digit scorers from a season ago and have eight players returning who started at least one game last season, in addition to bringing in a handful of key newcomers to make 2021-22 an exciting season in Normal.
Leading the returners for Illinois State is Antonio Reeves and Josiah Strong. Last season Reeves averaged 12.4 points per game and added 82 rebounds and 36 assists while starting 24 of 25 games during the year. Strong averaged 11.5 points per game, while making 37 percent of his long-range shots and dished out 59 assists, second-most among returners.
Also back are Emon Washington (5.3 points per game), Harouna Sissoko (4.2 points per game), Abdou Ndiaye (MVC-returner-leading 1.4 blocked shots per game), Howard Fleming Jr. (team-leading 66 assists last season), Alston Andrews (2.4 points per game), and Alex Kotov (1.5 points per game) – all of whom started at least one game last season. Also back is UMass transfer Sy Chatman, who opted out of last season after five games, and averaged 11.7 minutes in those contests.
New to the squad is a group of four incoming transfers: Mark Freeman, Kendall Lewis, Liam McChesney, and Ryan Schmitt. Freeman most recently was named to the All-Ohio Valley Conference Second Team after averaging 17.1 points and 4.6 assists per game at Tennessee State. Lewis averaged 9.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game in nine games last season with Appalachian State before opting out of the season. McChesney was one of the top prospects coming out of Canada during his senior season and saw his redshirt freshman campaign at Utah State cut short because of injury last season. Last season Schmitt helped Des Moines Area Community College to a NJCAA Division II National Title, averaging 11.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 2.7 blocked shots per game – the latter of which was fourth highest in the country.
TICKETS
Single game tickets for men's basketball home games will start at $10 with group prices starting at $6 per ticket.
All season long, fans can purchase Family Ticket Packs. These will include four upper bowl tickets for $44 as well as four hot dogs, chips, and drinks. Additional tickets and food vouchers can be added to the four-pack for $11 each. There will also be an option to purchase partial plans of 3 or 6 games. With this package, you will be able to select the games that work best for you.
Season tickets for both men's and women's basketball seasons are still available for purchase. For more information on single-game or season tickets, go to GoRedbirds.com/tickets or call the Redbird Athletics ticket office at 309-438-8000.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
