Oct. 11, 2007
C-USA Basketball Media Day Photo Gallery | Media Day Video
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (ucfathletics.com) - Conference USA held its annual basketball media day on Thursday and UCF was well represented at the event at the FedEx Forum. Men's basketball head coach Kirk Speraw, women's head coach Joi Williams and senior guard Mike O'Donnell (Largo, Fla./Largo) of the men's squad all participated in the event.
Speraw and Williams both took part in formal press conferences with the media. Speraw met members of the media along with East Carolina head coach Mack McCarthy, Rice head coach Willis Wilson and Tulsa head coach Doug Wojcik.
Willams appeared with Tulsa head coach Charlene Thomas-Swinson, UAB head coach Audra Smith and UTEP head coach Keitha Adams.
"We are excited about our conference. We are excited about our team," said Speraw. "It has been an exciting summer for our university. I do not think there has been another institution in the country that has opened a football stadium and a basketball arena in the same year. Our guys are excited to get into the new facility."
"This is my first year in Conference USA and I am very excited to be a part of this conference," said Williams, whose squad features nine freshmen and was voted to finish 11th in the preseason coaches' poll released on Wednesday. "Our goal is to quickly move to the top of this conference. We want to be competitive this year. We are excited to have the opportunity to host the conference tournament, and we want to be a contender."
Prior to the event, O'Donnell took part in an autograph session with several of the other student-athletes in attendance. The C-USA standouts met with local children on the FedEx Forum floor.
The trio capped the event by appearing on CSTV's Media Slam live television program, which will be rebroadcast on the channel.
Williams' team opens its inaugural campaign at the 10,000-seat new UCF Arena on Nov. 9 versus Texas Tech. O'Donnell and the Knights open their season on Nov. 11 versus Nevada.
Season tickets are available and can be purchased by calling 407-UCF-1000 or by surfing to www.ucfathletics.com.
For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel, log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. Also check out www.ucfphotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.