Gu Opens Season Against ‘Veteran’ Team

The last time the Gonzaga men’s basketball team played a game, the competition was Joe Smith and the Maryland Terrapins in the NCAA Tournament last spring.

Saturday afternoon at 2, the Bulldogs face a team that is a little shorter on talent than that Maryland bunch, but will attempt to compensate with several hundred years of experience.

The 1995-96 Bulldogs will be unveiled at the Martin Centre in an exhibition alumni game that will feature five former all-league players, including former West Coast Conference MVP Jeff Brown and last year’s conference tournament MVP John Rillie.

Rillie was rookie of the year in the pro league in his native Australia this summer.

Brown, who played professionally in Europe and South America last winter, was recently cleared to play after re-habbing a stress fracture in one of his shins.

The “Old Dogs” will start Jamie Dudley at point guard, Rillie at shooting guard, Jarrod Davis or David Cole at small forward, Eric Brady at power forward and Brown in the post.

The “New Dogs” will go with Kyle Dixon, Kevin Williams, Jon Kinloch, Paul Rogers and Scott Snider.

Williams, the reserve point guard on last year’s team, has been moved over to the shooting guard position, where junior-college transfer Lorenzo Rollins will also contend for playing time.

As usual in these exhibitions, head coach Dan Fitzgerald steps aside and lets associate head coach Dan Monson handle the Bulldogs.

“What we’ll try to do is make sure the young guys get their feet wet, it’s kind of a dress rehearsal for them,” Monson said. “Everybody will play for us, so we can get a good look at everybody.”

Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students under 18.

, DataTimes