Chipola Men’s Basketball Begins Practice

10/9/08

The Chipola College Men’s Basketball team held their first official practice of the 2008-09 season on October 1st.
The Indians are ranked second in the nation in the NJCAA pre-season poll. Chipola opens the season on the road in Poplar Bluff, Missouri on Oct. 31, facing Mineral Area College and nationally-ranked Three Rivers. From there, the Indians travel to Ottumwa, Iowa to face top-ranked Indian Hills on Nov. 3.
"We will start the season on the road playing three traditional powerhouses in JUCO basketball," said coach Heiar. "After the first weekend, we will definitely know where our team stands against others in the country."
The men’s first home game is Nov. 20 with a 7 p.m. game with Cape Fear College from North Carolina. The Indians will return to home action Dec. 4 as they open the Milton H. Johnson Panhandle Classic. The Classic will include 12 games from Dec. 4 – 6.
Coach Heiar said, "The Milton H. Johnson Panhandle Classic will be a great opportunity for the fans to see our team as well as the other Panhandle Conference teams. At this point in the season, there is a possibility that 8 to 10 of the teams at the classic will be ranked in the national NJCAA poll."
With only five non-conference games scheduled to be played in the Milton H. Johnson Health Center, Chipola will build experience as they accumulate road miles with trips to Atlanta, GA (Nov. 14-15), St. Petersburg (Nov. 22), Winter Haven (Dec. 15-16) and Pensacola’s New Year’s Eve Tournament (Dec. 30-31).
Chipola will begin defense of their sixth consecutive conference title as they open Panhandle Conference action at home against Tallahassee Community College on January 3, 2009.
All home games can be seen live at http://www.chipola.edu/radio/index.htm. For the complete schedule, along with individual tournament schedule, log on to http://chipola.edu/extrac/athl/basketball/index.htm.