FORT MYERS, Fla. – The 21^st season of FGCU men's basketball officially kicks off Monday night as the Eagles travel to Los Angeles to take on former FGCU head coach Andy Enfield and the USC Trojans. Tip-off from the Galen Center is slated for 9:30 p.m. EST with the game airing on Pac-12 Los Angeles which is available on FuboTV (sign up for free trial and select sports plus add-on). J.B. Long and Fran Fraschilla will be on the call.

The game will officially kick off the Pat Chambers era for FGCU as he begins his first season with the Green and Blue. In his 11-year coaching career, he has 190 wins during his two years at Boston University and nine at Penn State where he won the 2018 NIT Championship and had the Nittany Lions ranked as high as #9 in the country in the 2019-20 season.

Entering this season, the Eagles were picked fourth in both the ASUN Coaches and Media polls. Last season, the Eagles went 22-12 and 10-6 in the ASUN and also picked up a victory over North Alabama in the ASUN Tournament. FGCU competed in The Basketball Classic where they defeated Detroit Mercy before falling to Coastal Carolina.

Familiar Faces
Entering the 2022-23 campaign, FGCU returns several key pieces including Caleb Catto (Cape Coral, Fla.), Cyrus Largie (Miramar, Fla.), Zach Anderson (Apopka, Fla.), Dakota Rivers (Windermere, Fla.), Andre Weir (Hollywood, Fla.), and Austin Richie (Glenwood, Ill.). Largie is the team's leading returning scorer after averaging 10.4 points per game in 33 starts. Catto also started 33 games for the Eagles last year and averaged 8.0 points per contest.

Traveling Through the Portal
The Eagles also bring a wealth of talent by the way of the transfer portal, adding guards Isaiah Thompson (Purdue), Dahmir Bishop (St. Joseph's), and Chase Johnston (Stetson) as well as big man Sam Onu (Memphis). Johnston averaged 15.2 points per game last season with the Hatters and was named to the All-ASUN Second Team. In just two collegiate seasons, he has made 178 three-pointers, including 99 a season ago, the 22^nd-most in the nation and a new Stetson school record. Entering this season, he was named to the Preseason All-ASUN Team.

Thompson comes in from Purdue where he played 96 games for the Boilermakers in three seasons with 25 starts, playing alongside future lottery pick Jaden Ivey. He has averaged 4.6 points per game in college and is a career 39.1% three-point shooter. Bishop started his career at Xavier before playing the last two years at St. Joseph's, averaging 4.9 points per contest. With his long frame, he is expected to play a leading role in FGCU's perimeter defense.
 
2022-23 Campaign
The schedule for the year also lends itself to the fans seeing some exciting basketball as FGCU will host FIU, Mercer, and Canisius in non-conference play. Additionally, the Eagles will stay close to home for Thanksgiving as they will play in the Gulf Coast Showcase at Hertz Arena that will also feature Northern Kentucky, Toledo, Kansas City, East Carolina, Indiana State, Drexel, and UT Arlington. The Eagles will also hit the road for big matchups against San Diego, Tennessee, Georgia Southern, FAU, and St. Bonaventure.

The ASUN slate will get underway on December 31^st against Jacksonville. The top 10 teams in the league will qualify for the ASUN Tournament beginning on February 27 with the top six teams receiving byes into the quarterfinals. All games will be hosted by the higher seed.

Scouting the Competition
USC enters Monday's game with high expectations after tying a school record with 26 wins last season and advancing to the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Boogie Ellis and Drew Peterson were both named to the Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference team after each averaging double figures in scoring a season ago. Last year, the Trojans came down to Alico Arena and defeated the Eagles, 78-61, on a weekend where FGCU inducted Andy Enfield and the 2012-13 men's basketball team into the Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class.

NOTABLE
FGCU is 7-13 all-time in season openers dating back to 2002-03 with a 2-11 mark in games away from home. Chambers has won nine of his last 10 openers and three straight. 

The Eagles' victory at Bethune-Cookman on Monday, Nov. 12, 2007 (W, 60-57) was the program's last season-opening win on the road. Both of FGCU's season-opening road wins have come in games on Mondays (Nov. 12, 2007, & Nov. 17, 2003, win at Nova Southeastern, 89-73).

The Eagles will depart California following their game vs. San Diego Wednesday night and return to Fort Myers for their home opener at Alico Arena Sunday, Nov. 13, vs. Ave Maria. The home opener is FGCU's only game at home in the month of November.

Check out the game notes for FGCU's Monday, Nov. 7, season opener vs. USC here.

 
INDIVIDUAL TICKETS, MINI PLANS AVAILABLE
• Tickets for the 2022-23 FGCU Basketball season are on sale now and can be purchased by going online to www.FGCUTickets.com or calling 866-FGCU-TIX. Group tickets can also be purchased for 10-or-more making a memorable evening for families, businesses, or other organizations.

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 CHAMBERS
Pat Chambers was officially introduced as the fifth FGCU men's basketball head coach in March 2022 bringing a wealth of experience in college basketball highlighted by head coaching stints at Penn State and Boston University. Chambers spent nine years leading the Penn State (2011-20) program and two years as head coach at Boston University (2009-11). He has 190 career victories in that span including four 20-plus win seasons. Part of his career as a head coach was highlighted by leading the Nittany Lions to a No. 9 national ranking in 2019-20 which tied the program's best-ever ranking set in 1996. Prior to becoming a head coach, he spent five seasons as part of the Villanova staff helping the Wildcats to a Final Four (2009), two Elite Eight, and three Sweet Sixteen appearances during his tenure.
 
#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 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.