FORT MYERS, Fla. - The ASUN Conference airs its 2022-23 Women's Basketball Preseason Show at 7 PM ET, Thursday night on ESPN+. ASUN Assistant Director of Broadcast Services & Digital Strategies Jordan Griffitt serves as host for this walkthrough of all 14 league squads. The new season begins on Monday, Nov. 7 as most schools in ASUN history begin their journey to the ASUN Championship crown.

FGCU will be represented by head coach Karl Smesko and graduate student guard Tishara Morehouse. In the ASUN Preseason Polls that came out yesterday, the Eagles were picked as preseason favorites while Morehouse was named ASUN Preseason Player of the year and earned a spot on the Preseason All-ASUN team. Preseason Show Participants
(Head Coach & Student-Athlete)
Austin Peay: Brittany Young & Yamia Johnson
Bellarmine: Chancellor Dugan & Jaela Johnson
Central Arkansas: Sandra Rushing & Randrea Wright
Eastern Kentucky: Greg Todd & Alice Recanati
FGCU: Karl Smesko & Tishara Morehouse
Jacksonville: Darnell Haney & DeShari Graham
Jacksonville State: Rick Pietri & Imari Martin
Kennesaw State: Octavia Blue & Amani Johnson
Liberty: Carey Green & Mya Berkman
Lipscomb: Lauren Sumski & Jalyn Holcomb
North Alabama: Missy Tiber & Skyler Gill
North Florida: Darrick Gibbs & Emma Broermann
Queens: Jen Brown & Adia Brisker
Stetson: Lynn Bria & Kiya Turner

The 2023 ASUN Women's Basketball Championship is set to begin on March 4 as a 10-team tournament hosted by the higher seeds. The entire championship streams live on ESPN+.

Hurricane Ian Recovery
For information on how you can help out in the Hurricane Ian recovery efforts, please visit fgcu.edu/HurricaneIan.

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.
 
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!

COACH SMESKO
FGCU head coach Karl Smesko maintains a record of 610-128 (.826) overall in his career, which is the third-highest winning percentage among active Division I coaches behind only UConn's Geno Auriemma and LSU's Kim Mulkey. He has also led the Eagles to a 232-18 (.930) mark in ASUN regular season play and a 30-2 (.933) record in ASUN tournament play. Over the previous 10 seasons, he has guided FGCU to a 153-5 (.968) record in conference play with six undefeated seasons. The 12-time ASUN Coach of the Year has led the program to 12-straight 25-win seasons and 18-consecutive 20-win campaigns, including 30-plus wins in five of the last eight years. On top of all that, the Eagles are 549-101 (.845) all-time since Smesko started the program in the 2002-03 season, and the Green and Blue's .845 all-time winning percentage is the best in NCAA Division I women's basketball history.
 
#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/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.

ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 92 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 45 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn at at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four 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 in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 26 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative 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.
 
---FGCUATHLETICS.COM---