Oct. 17, 2008
DAVIS, Calif. - With the regular season just four weeks away, the UC Davis men's basketball team begins practice Friday afternoon. This year's squad features plenty of experience returning from last year, including nine letterwinners and three redshirts. In all, nearly 80 percent of the Aggies' scoring is back for 2008-09.
Among the returning players is last year's leading scorer, Vince Oliver. Now one of five seniors, Oliver averaged 12.2 points as a junior and surpassed 1,000 career points along the way. Mark Payne is also back from a freshman campaign that saw him collect Big West Conference Freshman of the Year honors as well as the CollegeInsider Mid-Major Freshman of the Year award.
The team has already had the chance to compete since last season after playing four games against national teams as part of a 10-day European tour in late August and early September.
UC Davis will play a pair of home exhibitions prior to beginning the regular season. The contests are scheduled for Nov. 4 against Bethany and Nov. 7 against Notre Dame de Namur. The regular season begins Nov. 14 at Iowa State in the first round of the World Vision Basketball Classic.
