Nov. 1, 2006
The Scott Cross era begins Thursday night for UT Arlington men's basketball.
Fans will have a chance to see the new look Mavericks when they face Texas Wesleyan in an exhibition game at 7 p.m. at Texas Hall.
Cross became the seventh coach in Mavericks history last spring after eight seasons as an assistant coach.
"We have implemented a lot of new materials, both on offense and defense so -I don't expect us to be perfect on Thursday," said Cross at a Maverick Club luncheon at Spring Creek Barbeque Tuesday. "We are try to get better everyday and be where we need to be at in March."
The Mavericks return two starters off a 14-16 squad that finished in seventh place in the Southland Conference. Juniors Jermaine Griffin (Houston, Texas) and Larry Posey (Houston, Texas) combined for 15.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per game a year ago.
Junior Rod Epps (Richardson, Texas) will start in the backcourt after averaging 4.7 points and 1.8 assists per game last season. Sophomore Anthony Vereen (Houston, Texas) is a likely starter at the small forward position as the Mavs go with a big lineup of Griffin (6-8), Posey (6-5) and Vereen (6-5).
Maverick fans will get a chance to see a talented freshman class of guard Ro'ger Guignard (Mesquite, Texas) and forwards Tommy Moffitt (Irving, Texas), Trey Parker (Terrell, Texas) and Matt Read (Weatherford, Texas).
Texas Wesleyan is the defending NAIA Champion after going 25-9, including a 67-65 win over Oklahoma City in the title game in Kansas City.
UT Arlington, picked to finish in the West division of the Southland Conference in a preseason poll by the league's coaches, will have their final exhibition Monday when they face Angelo State at 5 p.m. The season opener is Nov. 11 when the Mavericks host UT-Tyler at 4:30 p.m.
- utamavs.com -
