AU HOOPS: Women open practice today; men have productive first day

The defending Southeastern Conference champion Auburn women’s basketball team will kick off the 2009-10 season today, as the team conducts its first official practice of the season from 12-2:15 p.m., at the Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.

The practice is open to the public and fans in town for today’s Auburn-Kentucky football game are invited to attend.

“We have a great group of kids back this season, a group that is hungrier than ever to get out and win and defend their SEC title after last season,” said sixth-year head coach Nell Fortner. “We had a lot of great fan support last season and we are very grateful for that. It would be great to see a lot of those fans again Saturday as we get the 2009-10 season started.”

The Tigers return one starter and seven letterwinners from last year’s team that went 30-4 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In addition to the returners, the Tigers also welcome a recruiting class that was ranked 18th in the nation by ESPN.com’s HoopGurlz. Joining the team this season are Blanche Alverson (Andalusia, Ala.), Nicolle Thomas (Moultrie, Ga.), Morgan Toles (Fayetteville, Ga.) and Pascale West (LaGrange, Ga.).

“After winning the SEC title last season, this group that we have coming back got to see something that no Auburn team has seen in 20 years and they want to experience that again,” said Fortner. “I’m very excited about the team and getting this season started, and I know they are, too.”

Auburn is set to open its season with an exhibition game against Georgia State College and University at 2 p.m. on Nov. 8 in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum. The regular season is slated to open on Nov. 13 as the Tigers take on in-state rival Troy at 6 p.m.

Men’s hoops
Auburn basketball opened its first practice of the 2009-10 season by working out for two hours in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum on Friday that saw three returning starters joined by five other veterans and six newcomers.

“It was a good competitive practice,” said head coach Jeff Lebo. “I thought the upperclassmen early on looked a lot better than the young guys. The young guys competed hard which I was happy to see.

“The first day of official practice, you have a lot of teaching and a lot of standing, but overall the effort was pretty good.”

Lebo welcomed seniors DeWayne Reed, Tay Waller, Lucas Hargrove, Brendon Knox and Johnnie Lett and sophomore Frankie Sullivan.

The Tigers concentrated on simple offensive sets in the beginning and worked on defensive fundamentals and had some five-on-five scrimmage.

Newcomers Andre Malone, Ty Armstrong, Kenny Gabriel, Earnest Ross and Rob Chubb went through their first official practice as Tigers.

“We came out and played really hard, and the freshmen are really, really good compared to previous years’ freshmen,” said Hargrove. “I think that is going to be a big help because if everybody is on the same page, we can get in a groove faster and earlier in the season. We have great team chemistry.”

The Tigers play an exhibition game against Miles College on Nov. 6 before playing its final season opener in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum on Nov. 13 against Niagara.