FALCONS SEEKING TEAMS TO FILL 2008-09 SLATE

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), May 16, 2008 | by JAKE SCHALLER

Air Force needs about six more games to fill its 2008-09 men's basketball schedule, coach Jeff Reynolds said Thursday.

While scheduling continues to be a headache -- especially when attempting to get teams to come to Clune Arena -- the Falcons are ahead of where they were at this time last year.

That's in part because the Falcons did not have to deal with coaching turnover -- a year ago, Reynolds was not a month into his tenure as coach and had not finished assembling his staff. But Reynolds also said the makeup of next season's team has made the Falcons more attractive to potential opponents.

"I think people know we're going to have seven or eight freshmen," Reynolds said. "They know we're going to be very youthful."

The Falcons have taken that into account as well.

"We've got to try to play games early in the season that challenge us but also give us some confidence," said Reynolds, who noted assistant Dave Pilipovich had contacted 164 schools as of Wednesday in search of potential opponents. "Whereas you look back two years ago when we had (seniors) Jacob Burtschi and (Matt) McCraw and (Nick) Welch and those guys, we played anybody. We didn't care. This coming year we have to be careful with how we come out of the blocks."

Still, Reynolds said Air Force is in discussions with several teams, including South Carolina, Providence and Notre Dame.

Among the definite games on the nonconference schedule are a home contest against Northern Illinois and a road game at Northern Colorado. Air Force also has committed to play in the Golden Bear Classic hosted by the University of California on Dec. 27 and 28.

Air Force is attempting to draw teams to its own tournament, which will be renamed to honor former longtime Falcons coach Reggie Minton.

Tournament talk

At a recent meeting of Mountain West Conference coaches, the site of the league tournament was a topic of discussion. The past two tournaments have been held at UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center. The Runnin' Rebels won both tournaments.

The league is under contract to hold the 2009 and 2010 MWC Tournaments at Thomas & Mack, but, according to MWC director of communications Kim Melcher, the league has formed a subcommittee to begin the process of reviewing other sites for 2011 and beyond.

New line

Air Force has repainted its court at Clune to account for the new 3-point line that the NCAA will use next season. The line will be at 20 feet 9 inches, back from 19 feet 9 inches.