Game Information
USF Dons (0-0, 0-0 WCC) vs. Illinois-Chicago Flames (0-0, 0-0 Horizon League)
Friday,  Nov. 11, 2016 • 8:00 p.m.
War Memorial at the Sobrato Center • San Francisco, Calif.
Series Record: USF 1-0
Last Meeting: Nov. 13, 2015 (USF 78-75)
Audio & Video Stream: TheW.tv (Pat Olson, Play-by-Play; Jim Brovelli, Analyst)
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Television: None

Complete USF Game Notes

Opening Tip
USF (15-15, 8-10 WCC in 2015-16) tips off the 2016-17 season Friday night against Illinois-Chicago (5-25, 3-15 Horizon League). Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. in War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. It marks the second consecutive year the Dons have opened their season with the Flames. USF scored a 78-75 victory in last year's season-opener in Chicago. The game will be preceded by USF's women's game against Sacramento State which gets underway ay 6:00 p.m.

USF at a Glance

• Open the 2016-17 season Friday night against Illinois-Chicago of the Horizon League...marks the second consecutive season the Dons and Flames have opened the season against each other, with USF scoring a 78-75 victory last year in Chicago.
• USF is 6-2 in its last eight season openers, including a 78-75 victory last season over Illinois-Chicago...Dons have won their last two season-openers.
• Friday night's season opener marks the USF coaching debut of Kyle Smith, who was named the Dons' head coach on March 30th after spending the last seasons at Columbia, where he guided the Lions to last year's CollegeBasketballInsider.com Tournament title.
• Finished 15-15 overall last season and were 8-10 (5th in the West Coast Conference)...are 29-33 over last two seasons after a 21-12 (13-5 WCC) campaign in 2013-14.
• Were picked to finish ninth in the WCC Preseason Coaches' Poll...Gonzaga was picked first followed by St. Mary's, BYU and Pepperdine.
• Return six letterwinners off last year's squad...welcome nine newcomers to the roster, including seven freshmen.
• Underclassmen account for 13 of the team's 15 roster spots...breakdown of the roster includes one senior, one junior, six sophomores and seven freshmen.
• Senior guard Ronnie Boyce ranks as the team's returning scorer after averaging 11.1 points per game in his first season on the Hilltop after transferring from Connors State in Putnam, Okla....the five other returning letterwinners – Chase Foster, Nate Renfro, Matt McCarthy, Marquill Smith and Mladen Djordjevic – combined for 365 total points and an average of 10.5 minutes per game.
• Sophomore forward Nate Renfro has been selected as USF's team captain in an unanimous vote of the coaching staff and players.
• Played four games on a 10-day European summer tour which took the team to Germany, Belgium and France in early August...won all four games against various club teams.
• Play six of its 13 non-conference games at home, two on the road and five on neutral courts...lone road tests come at UC Santa Barbara (Nov. 16) and Eastern Washington (Nov. 27). 
• Along with Smith, new additions to the coaching staff include associate head coaches Derrick Phelps and Todd Golden and assistant coach Kevin Hovde...the ever-efficient John Andrzejek takes over as director of basketball operations.
• Return to action next Wednesday at UC Santa Barbara.

Scouting Report

A Look at Illinois-Chicago
Finished 5-25 overall and 3-15 (10th) in the Horizon League a year ago…under the direction of second-year head coach Steve McClain…return six letter winners including four starters off of last year's squad…were picked to finish fourth in the Horizon League Preseason Poll…last year's Horizon League Freshman of the Year Dikembe Dixon returns as the team's leading scorer and rebounder after averaging 19.8 ppg and 7.3 rpg last season…he averaged 23.3 points a game vs. conference foes…his season point total of 594 was more than any first-year player in Horizon League history…Dixson has been named to the 20-member watch list for the 2017 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award…Dixon and junior Tai Odiase were selected to the Horizon League's Preseason All-League team…Odiase led the NCAA in blocks per game last season with a 3.23 per game mark…his 97 rejections last season were the second-best total in school history…Flames 14-man roster features four international players, including Canadians Godwin Boahen and Marcus Ottey, Clint Robinson from Jamaica and Jordan Blount from Ireland.

Series History with Illinois-Chicago
Friday's game will be the the second-ever meeting between USF and UIC. In the only previous meeting between the two schools, USF defeated the Flames, 78-75 on Nov. 13 in Chicago. The Dons are 3-6 against current Horizon League teams having played Cleveland State (1-1), Detroit (0-2), Green Bay (1-1), Valparaiso (0-2) and Illinois-Chicago (1-0) over the years.

Last Year's Meeting With Illinois-Chicago
USF opened the 2015-16 season with a 78-75 win at Illinois-Chicago on Nov. 13. Four Dons scored in double-figures, led by a 17-point, 12-rebound effort by Tim Derksen. Devin Watson finished with 15 while Ronnie Boyce III (13) and Montray Clemons (10) came off the bench to score in double-figures. The Dons won the game despite shooting just 38.1 percent from the field and 56.4 percent from the line. The tighly contested game featured 11 lead changes and eight ties. The two teams were never separated by more than six points.

Notables

USF in Season Openers 
USF is 6-2 in its last eight season openers, counting a 78-75 victory over Illinois-Chicago in last year's opener. Friday night's game marks the fifth time in the last seven years USF has opened the season with a home game.

USF Ushers In Kyle Smith Era 
Friday night's game marks Kyle Smith's USF head coaching debut. Smith was named the Dons' head coach on March 30 after six seasons at Columbia, where he guided the Lions to a 101-82 record, culminating in last year's CollegeInsider.com Tournament championship. Smith has deep ties in the West Coast Conference, having served as assistant coach at both San Diego (1992-2000) and Saint Mary's (2001-10).

Staff Additions 
Rounding out Kyle Smith's staff are associate head coaches Derrick Phelps, who was a point guard on North Carolina's 1993 NCAA Championship team, Todd Golden, a former standout at St. Mary's who served as an assistant coach at Auburn for the past two seasons and assistant coach Kevin Hovde, a former player at Richmond. Phelps and Hovde both followed Smith to San Francisco from Columbia, while Golden served as Smith's assistant coach on the Columbia staff during the 2013-14 season before moving onto Auburn. He also played for Smith at St. Mary's, where he captained the 2007-08 Gaels. Additionally, the efficient John Andrzejek takes over the USF's director of basketball operations after serving in the same capacity at Columbia.

The Schedule
Six of USF's 13 non-conference games will be played at home while five will come on neutral courts. The Dons will have just two non-conference road games, Nov. 16 at UC Santa Barbara and Nov. 27 at Eastern Washington. Three Big Sky teams (Sacramento State, Eastern Washington, Portland State), two Southland Conference members (Lamar, Abilene Christian) appear on the Dons schedule, along with teams from the Horizon League (Illinois-Chicago), Sun Belt (Troy State), SWAC (Alcorn State) and Pac-12 (Utah).

Who's Back 
USF returns just six letterwinners off of last year's team that finished 15-15 overall and 8-10 in the West Coast Conference. Senior guard Ronnie Boyce ranks as the team's returning scorer after averaging 11.1 points per game in his first season on the Hilltop after transferring from Connors State in Putnam, Okla. The Dons five other returning letterwinners – Chase Foster, Nate Renfro, Matt McCarthy, Marquill Smith and Mladen Djordjevic – combined for 365 total points and an average of 10.5 minutes per game. The six returning players accounted for just 29 percent of the scoring and 31 percent of the rebounding production from last season.

The Losses
USF lost six letterwinners and four squad players off last year's team. Included among the losses from a year ago are the Dons' two top scorers from a year ago in Devin Watson (20.3) and Tim Derksen (16.9) along with leading rebounder Dont'e Reynolds (6.9). Watson earned first team All-WCC honors while Derksen landed a spot on the second team after concluding his brilliant career as the school's 13th all-time leading scorer. The Dons will also need to fill the void left by the versatile Uche Ofoegbu, who averaged 9.2 points and a shade under five rebounds a contest. Senior forward Montray Clemons (1.5, 1.5) and guard Sean Grennan (1.6, 0.5) have also departed.

The Newcomers 
Nine newcomers dot the 2016-17 roster, including seven freshman. Two of the newcomers - Frankie Ferrari and Nick Loew - return to the program after sitting out last season. First-year players Jordan Ratinho, who was named Northern California's Player of the Year after leading De La Salle High School to the CIF Open Division State championship game and Charles Minlend, who spent last season at Fork Union Military Academy, figure to occupy key roles in the backcourt rotation. Jimbo Lull, a 7-0 freshman from Manhattan Beach via New Hampton (N.H.) School and 6-7 Chance Anderson (Alpharetta, GA / St. Francis HS) give the Dons a presence in the frontcourt. Sasha French (Napa, CA / The Hun School / Justin Siena HS) and Garrett Turner (Boulder, CO / Boulder HS) round out the group of newcomers.
 
Roster Breakdown 
USF's 15-man roster is made up of one senior (Ronnie Boyce), one junior (Chase Foster), six sophomores (Mladen Djordjevic, Frankie Ferrari, Nick Loew, Matt McCarthy, Nate Renfro, Marquill Smith) and seven freshmen (Chance Anderson, Sasha French, Jimbo Lull, Charles Minlend, Remu Raitanen, Jordan Ratinho, Garrett Turner).

Renfro Named Captain 
Sophomore forward Nate Renfro (Tucson, AZ / Sahuaro HS) has been named USF's team captain for the 2016-17 season. The selection was made in an unanimous vote of the coaching staff and players. 

Bloodlines 
Charles Minlend's father, Charles Sr., was a standout at St. John's from 1992-97 and still ranks as the school's 23rd all-time leading scorer (1,349) and 10th all-time leading rebounds (784). Chance Anderson is the son of former Georgia standout Willie Anderson, a 10-year NBA veteran who was also member of the 1988 United States' Olympic Team and Carla McGhee, who played on Tennessee's 1987 and '89 NCAA Championship teams before embarking on a 13-year professional career that saw her win a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

European Tour 
USF played four games during a 10-day European trip to Germany, Belgium and France in early August. The Dons won all four games on the trip, defeating the Artland Dragons, 87-74 in Dusseldorf, Germany; the Ghent Hawks, 77-63 and KBBC Oostkamp, 83-58 in Belgium and Cergy Pontoise, 72-70 in Paris.

Rewind
USF finished the 2015-16 season with an overall mark of 15-15 and fifth in the West Coast Conference with a 8-10 mark. The Dons dropped their last four games of the season, including a 90-86 decision to Pepperdine in the quarterfinals of the WCC Championship.

Fan Guide

Ticket Information
USF Athletics is offering a special "11-11" ticket promotion for the Dons season-opener on Nov. 11 against Illinois-Chicago at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. Fans may purchase general admission tickets for just $11 – a $14 savings off the normal price of $25. The special $11 tickets may be purchased on-line at USFDons.com/tickets by using the promo code 11/11, or at the Sobrato Center box office on the day of the game. In addition, all children 12-under will be admitted free to the game.
 
Parking Information
Parking is available free of charge two hours prior to tip-off until one hour after the conclusion of the game in any campus lot, with the exception of designated green parking spots and the top of Hayes-Healy garage on Golden Gate Avenue adjacent to the gymnasium.
 
The Hilltop Club Level
Fans 21 and older can enjoy beverages and catered food options before and during designated games during the season in the Hilltop Club Level. Located in the upper mezzanine level on the south side of War Memorial at The Sobrato Center, The Hilltop Club Level will open one hour before tip-off and will remain accessible throughout the game. Beer, wine, soft drinks and catered food options will be available to all fans 21 years of age and older. Admission to the The Hilltop Club is priced at $10 per game. Food and drink options are extra. The cost does not include a game ticket.