FORT MYERS, Fla. – The ASUN officially announced today the conference men's basketball slate for the 2020-21 campaign with FGCU hosting eight games including the league-opener on Jan. 2 against Kennesaw State. The Eagles will announce the non-conference slate in the near future to fully unveil this year's schedule.
Season tickets are on-sale now by calling 866-FGCU-TIX (866-342-8849) or by visiting
www.FGCUTickets.com. Seating in Alico Arena will be limited during the season under COVID-19 safety guidelines which will include social distancing and mandatory mask wearing. All season ticket purchase will include a Risk Free guarantee to give fans peace of mind as well.
"We're really excited to see the schedule taking shape," said head coach
Michael Fly. "This is another sign of progress in getting the season up-and-running and adds another bit of familiarity in the process. We've been off to a good start in practices and individual workouts so this adds another motivating factor as we continue moving towards the start of the year."
The ASUN Schedule will officially being on Saturday, Jan. 2 as FGCU hosts Kennesaw State in a doubleheader with the women's program. The Eagles will also host Stetson (Sat., Jan. 9), league newcomer Bellarmine (Thurs., Jan. 21), Liberty (Sat., Jan. 23), Lipscomb (Thurs., Feb. 11), North Alabama (Sat., Feb. 13), North Florida (Thurs., Feb. 25), and Jacksonville (Sat., Feb. 27).
Overall, the Eagles will host four doubleheaders with the Saturdays against Liberty, North Alabama and Jacksonville alongside the opening weekend of play.
On the road, FGCU will face North Alabama (DH, Mon., Jan. 4), Lipscomb (Thurs., Jan. 14), Jacksonville (DH, Sat., Jan. 16), North Florida (Thurs., Jan. 28), Kennesaw State (DH, Sat., Jan. 30), Stetson (Thurs., Feb. 4), Liberty (Thurs., Feb. 18) and Bellarmine (DH, Sat., Feb. 20).
Details on the format of the 2021 ASUN Tournament are still being finalized and will be released at a later date.
FGCU will enter the 2020-21 campaign with 70 percent of its scoring back in the line-up along with seven players who saw significant action in 25-or-more games last year. That total along puts FGCU ahead of the 2019-20 season where the Eagles had just 22 percent of its scoring back and three players who saw key minutes.
Joining those veteran players will be six highly talented newcomers joining the program including
Franco Miller, Jr., and
Eli Abaev who transferred in from Ole Miss and Austin Peay, respectively.
All games will be streamed live on ESPN+ as in years past.
All-time at Alico Arena, FGCU holds a 212-77 record (75.4 percent) including a 105-34 record (81%) over the last eight years. Overall, the Eagles have won six ASUN titles including the tournament crown in 2013, 2016, and 2017. In the postseason, along with the nationally renowned 2013 NCAA Sweet 16 run, the only No. 15 seed to ever advance, FGCU reached the NCAA Tournament in 2016 and 2017 while making NIT appearances in 2014 and 2018. The Eagles also took part in the 2015 CIT as part of a six-year streak taking part in postseason play.
The ASUN Conference Men's Basketball schedule has each of the nine teams slated to play a 16-game double round-robin schedule beginning Saturday, Jan. 2. The upcoming year marks the 43rd season of competition in the ASUN.
Along with the FGCU match-up to tip-off the league camapign, defending tournament champion and co-regular season winner Liberty traveling to Stetson and Bellarmine on opening weekend. Fellow co-regular season champion North Florida also hits the road to begin ASUN play at North Alabama and Lipscomb to open the season. Jacksonville at Lipscomb rounds out the opening day.
The first weekend also features the first rematches of the ASUN Championship Semifinals between Liberty and Stetson (Jan. 2) and North Florida and Lipscomb (Jan. 4). The return contests take place Jan. 30 as the Flames welcome the Hatters and on Feb. 13 with the Ospreys hosting the Bisons. The two rematches of last year's ASUN Championship Final between Liberty and Lipscomb take place Jan. 7 (in Lynchburg) and Feb. 6 (in Nashville).
The ASUN is coming off a season that was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Liberty and North Florida claimed a share of the regular-season title while the Flames won their second-consecutive ASUN Championship crown.
2020-21 Men's Basketball League Schedule Highlights
• A total of 72 league games, starting Saturday, Jan. 2 and culminating Saturday, Feb. 27
• Each team plays 16 games, facing every other team both home-and-away
• Defending Regular Season Champions Liberty & North Florida compete (Jan. 21) in Jacksonville before a return bout on Feb. 20 in Lynchburg
• River City Rumble dates between Jacksonville and North Florida are slated for Jan. 14 (at JAX) and Feb. 11 (at UNF)
• ASUN Conference newcomer Bellarmine plays its first conference game on Jan. 4 hosting Liberty; its first road league contest will be Jan. 7 at Jacksonville
2020-21 FGCU ASUN SCHEDULE:
SAT., JAN. 2 vs. KENNESAW STATE (DH)
Mon., Jan. 4 at North Alabama (DH)
SAT., JAN. 9 vs. STETSON
Thurs., Jan. 14 at Lipscomb
Sat., Jan. 16 at Jacksonville (DH)
THURS., JAN. 21 vs. BELLARMINE
SAT., JAN. 23 vs. LIBERTY (DH)
Thurs., Jan. 28 at UNF
Sat., Jan. 30 at Kennesaw State (DH)
Thurs., Feb. 4 at Stetson
THURS., FEB. 11 vs. LIPSCOMB
SAT., FEB. 13 vs. NORTH ALABAMA (DH)
Thurs., Feb. 18 at Liberty
Sat., Feb. 20 at Bellarmine (DH)
THURS., FEB. 25 vs. UNF
SAT., FEB. 27 vs. JACKSONVILLE (DH)
For complete coverage of FGCU men's basketball, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_MBB and online at
www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign-up to have news on FGCU men's basketball and other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting
www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
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COACH FLY
Michael Fly was introduced as the fourth FGCU men's basketball head coach on April 5, 2018. He had spent the previous seven years as an assistant coach on the Eagles' staff. In his time with the Eagles, he helped FGCU to a 164-108 record (.618 winning percentage), including six ASUN Tournament Final appearances, three NCAA Tournament victories, three ASUN Tournament titles and three ASUN Regular Season Championships, two berths in the NIT, a CIT appearance and a run to the Sweet 16. He has coached 13 all-conference selections while with the Green and Blue, including two ASUN Player of the Year honors in Sherwood Brown and Brandon Goodwin, two ASUN Defensive Player of the Year selections in Bernard Thompson and Demetris Morant and one ASUN Newcomer of the Year in
Schadrac Casimir. Of the top-10 players in career points at FGCU, Fly has helped develop eight of them, including all-time leading scorer Thompson (1,835). Additionally, the Kentucky alumnus has coached both the ASUN all-time assists leader Brett Comer (845; 24th in NCAA history) and FGCU all-time leading rebounder Chase Fieler (714).
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 82 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 24, 2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
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