November 18, 2004
Billy Gillispie makes his debut as Texas A&M's men's basketball coach on Friday when the Aggies play the North Carolina A&T Aggies at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena.
Tickets are available at the door for $12 (mezzanine), $10 (balcony) and $6 (gallery) and can also be purchased online at www.AggieAthletics.com. The first 1,500 fans in the door will have a chance to win one of 500 Gillispie bobble head dolls.
A&M beat Schreiner (121-44) and Ottawa (96-53) in its two exhibition games, posting an average winning margin of 60 points per game. Five players averaged in double figures in those games, led by junior Antoine Wright, who averaged 18.0.
North Carolina A&T already has three games under its belt after opening the season at the NABC Classic last weekend in Albuquerque. A&T lost to New Mexico (75-59), Duquesne (82-69) and Santa Clara (90-52).
Members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, A&T is led by sophomore guard Sean Booker (6'3"), who is averaging 18.0 points per game, and senior guard Steven Koger (6'3"), who is adding 10.0 points per contest. Booker was an all-conference pick as a freshman after averaging 14.5 points.
A&T is in its second season under former Louisville standout Jerry Eaves, who was a starter for the Cardinals' 1980 national championship team. A&M took that team to overtime before falling, 66-55, in the NCAA Midwest Regional finals in Houston.
A&M has played A&T twice before, both in season openers played in College Station. A&M posted a 68-62 victory in G. Rollie White Coliseum to start the 1996-97 season, but dropped a 94-77 decision in the 1999-00 opener at Reed Arena.
"A&T is an athletic team and we know we'll have to be ready to play," Gillispie said. "In the exhibition games, our guys played extremely hard and extremely well together. They're trying to do what I've asked them to do, and that's play hard, play smart and play together. We have a long way to go, but they're trying to do what we're asking them to do."