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Basketball: FGCU men to play at Michigan this season
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The full men’s basketball schedule will not be released until early next month, but seventh-year Florida Gulf Coast University coach Dave Balza already has put together three headline games.
The latest will take Balza back to his roots when the Eagles play Michigan at Crisler Arena on Monday, Dec. 22. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
A native of South Haven, Mich., Balza graduated from Michigan in 1991. While at the Ann Arbor school, Balza served as a student manager for the Wolverines’ 1989 national championship team before becoming the team’s video coordinator.
“We were looking for a Big Ten game in that time frame and they needed a game, and my tie as an alumnus there certainly helped,” said Balza, whose Eagles went 10-21 during their initial Division I campaign last season. “We’ve been talking to them the last couple of years, and I ran into (second-year Michigan coach) John Beilein on the road and he said he’d like to do something.”
This one also will hit close to home for FGCU redshirt sophomore guard Reed Baker, a Naples High graduate who started two games for Michigan as a freshman in 2006-07, making 28 appearances and 17 3-pointers while averaging 2.5 points per game.
Two nights after the Michigan game, FGCU will play Butler in Indianapolis.
“It worked out really well that we’re going to get two teams in the same region in the same week,” Balza said.
Michigan struggled to a 10-22 finish in its first season under Beilein, the former West Virginia coach.
“It will be a lot different with all his guys in there,” Balza said.
This is a one-time setup for now, and Balza believes the game will spark interest in Southwest Florida, even though it will be played in Ann Arbor.
“I figure people will be interested in that, especially with as many as we have from there down here,” he said.
Besides, it’s another opportunity for FGCU to make a strong showing against a Big Ten team. Last season, the visiting Eagles trailed Iowa 32-30 at halftime before falling 62-49.
“It might sound great,” said Balza, laughing. “Not sure it’s as much fun if you get blasted. We’ll see how it plays out.”
Last month, Balza revealed that the Eagles would play at Florida on Dec. 10.
FGCU will also play an exhibition game against first-year program Ave Maria, an NAIA school in Collier County, on Nov. 5.
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