Flames schedule released

AT LEAST 6 GAMES ON TV

(9/11/03)

Coach Jimmy Collins (pictured) and the UIC Flames finally released their 2003-04 schedule Monday.

The Flames, who are favored by many to win the Horizon League, will play 12 games at the Pavilion, including non-conference dates with Northwestern and the ESPN Bracket Buster. UIC will also play Illinois at United Center Dec. 30, participate in the Black Coaches Association Classic Nov. 15-17 and play in the Iowa Hawkeye Challenge Dec. 5-6.

UIC will have at least six games televised on Fox Sports Net this season, including non-conference tilts with Illinois State (Dec. 13) and Northwestern (Dec. 20) and conference games against Detroit (Jan. 3), Loyola (Jan. 8), at Butler (Jan. 31) and the regular-season closeout against Butler (Feb. 28). ESPN Radio 1000 will broadcast at least 17 games, including the season opener at the BCA Classic Nov. 15.

The Flames could also have ESPN games in the Bracket Buster and the Horizon League championship game and an additional Fox Sports Net appearance in the Horizon League semifinals. There are no regular-season ESPN or ESPN2 games announced at this time.

UIC could play games against Iowa (at the Hawkeye Challenge) and Xavier (in the BCA Classic) if it can win early-round games in those respective tournaments. The BCA Classic pairings still have not been released.

ROSTER ADDITIONS: The Flames’ roster has three new names on it. Sophomore guard Mike Britton, who sat out last season after transferring from Georgia, will be eligible to play. The 6-foot-3-inch Britton prepped at Rockford Boylan and walked on at Georgia two years ago.

Junior-college transfer Rocky Collum, a 5-10 point guard, comes into the program this season. The name is familiar, because his brothers Ricky and Robby played at Division I schools. Ricky played at Southern Illinois and Robby was at Western Michigan. Rocky, who like his brothers played at Kankakee Community College, averaged 12.6 points and 4.5 assists per game last year.

Rounding out the roster is freshman 6-5 small forward Kevin Bond, who played his high school ball at Morgan Park on the city’s South side. Bond averaged 22 points and seven rebounds as senior for the Mustangs.

Click on the following links for the schedule and the roster.