Murray State University Athletics
Racers Open Exhibition Season Monday Night
10/31/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
First-year coach Mick Cronin and the Murray State men's basketball team will get their first test of the season Monday night when they take on Global Sports All-Stars in the first of two exhibition games to open the 2003-2004 season.
And, judging by the names on the Global Sports All-Stars' roster, it should be quite a test for the Racers.
"The reason I scheduled this game was to get something out of it," said Cronin. "We would love to get a victory, that's always our goal, but we want to challenge our kids early on. And, I can guarantee our fans that we will be challenged in this game."
Two names on the Global Sports roster that jumped out at Cronin were right at the top of the roster: guards Jason Harrison and Eric Bush.
"That's a tremendous backcourt," said Cronin, a former Louisville assistant who was named the Racers' head coach last spring. "Jason Harrison led Ole Miss to the NCAA Tournament and Eric Bush is the all-time steals leader at Barton County Community College and UAB, so that right there shows you that these guys can play."
Plus, Global Sports brings in Chris Davis, the all-time leading scorer at North Texas and former All-OVC center Lorenzo Coleman.
"They have size and depth, and this is not an older exhibition team, either," said Cronin. "These guys are still young and have NBA aspirations. Their coach (Maury Hanks) is an NBA scout who gets guys like this jobs in the league."
Still, as challenging as Monday's game figures to be, Cronin is more interested in how his team performs in its first test of the season.
"This is the first game for these guys in a totally different style of play," Cronin explained. "It's going to take time for them to learn our system. We will not play our best basketball until after Christmas, that's just part of it. It was like that at Louisville under coach Pitino and it will be the same here."
While this game, like many in the early going, will serve as a teaching tool for Cronin as he tries to implement his up-tempo, pressing attack, the 32-year-old coach still feels like this veteran team can be successful.
"We'll have to win off our desire and effort early on because it's going to take time before we're really clicking on all cylinders."
Global Sports, a collection of former college basketball players, opens up its 12-game November tour against Murray State. Also on the All-Stars' schedule is Southern Mississippi, LSU, Purdue, Florida State, North Carolina State and Charlotte among others.
Tipoff for Monday's exhibition game in the Regional Special Events Center is set for 7:15 p.m.
