X-Men Basketball season preview

This season the basketball X-Men will not only have a new look on the court with the addition of a strong recruiting class, but the coaching staff will have a new look as well with the addition of former X-Men point guard Tyrell Vernon as Associate Head Coach. Vernon will take over the reins from long time Head Coach Steve Konchalski after the 2020-21 season.

Counted on to lead the way for this year's squad are three fourth year seniors led by leading scorer (15.7 ppg) Justin Andrew, a 6' three point shooting guard who also led the team in assists (3.8 apg).  Six-six skywalker Azaro Roker (10 ppg)  led the Atlantic conference in rebounding for most of the year (10.0 rpg) as well as in blocked shots (2.3 bpg) and 6' point guard Tom LeGallais (10.3 ppg, 3.5 apg and 4.3 rpg) adds hard nosed play to the backcourt.

Other key returnees are 6'8" sophomore forward Atik Gilao (9.6 ppg on 39% from three point land) who was selected to the AUS All-Rookie team, along with 6' junior guard Jaydan Smith (7.3 ppg, 2.8 apg).

Four other members of last year's recruiting class also return ready to make their mark on the program. They include 6'5" stretch forward Jamie White, 6'5" athletic forward Michael Utsalo, 6'2" physical guard Gayo Isaya and 6'1" three point shooter Jack Pittman.

Heading Coach K's 45^th recruiting class are 6'2" combo guard Avan Nava who led TRC Academy (coached by Tyrell Vernon) to the OSBA title last year as MVP of the tournament; 6'7" forward Sidney Okeke (formerly of RISE Prep), a transfer from Trinidad State JUCO in Colorado; and 6'3" wing Dondre Reddick, an Antigonish, NS, native who played his HS basketball most recently at GTA Prep in Toronto. All three should be major contributors right away.

Rounding out the squad and adding backcourt depth are JJ Sedore, a 6'2" guard from Athlete Institute in Orangeville, ON, recovering from knee surgery, and 6' Jaxon Smith of Citadel HS in Halifax, a gold medal winner with both the Nova Scotia U-15 and U-17 Provincial teams. Six-seven walk-on Keenan Brewer from Yarmouth, NS, will give the X-Men depth up front.

"Obviously I would like to finish my career at StFX on a championship note, and I believe that this year's recruiting class added to our returning nucleus will put us on that path," adds Coach K. The X-Men will also play host to the U SPORTS national championship at the Halifax Scotia Bank Centre in March of 2021.

The X-Men have played one pre-season exhibition game to date, dropping an 88-81 game to Bishop's last Friday evening. They emabrk on a road trip to Calgary for the Dinos Invitational where they will compete against UBC (Thu, Oct. 10, 8:00 pm MDT), Calgary (Fri, Oct. 11, 8:00 pm MDT) and Mount Royal (Sat, Oct. 12, 3:00 pm MDT) at Jack Simpson Gym on the University of Calgary campus. Prior to the Calgary game Friday night there will be a ceremony honouring the late Andrew Milner, former U of C basketball player and Antigonish, NS native who passed away in a tragic boating accident last spring.

On Friday, October 11th there will be a StFX alumni reception from 5:30-7:00 pm at the Hotel Alma (Senate Room), 169 University Gate NW where all X alumni, fans are supporters are welcome to attend prior to the game.

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