Denver men’s hoops announced their schedule today and it promises some big challenges for the Pioneers as Rodney Billups moves into year two of his tenure as head coach. The team has scheduled 28 games, fewer than normal due to IUPUI’s hasty exit from the Summit League.

https://twitter.com/DU_MHoops/status/903295185039306752

The early highlights include a trip to Boulder to renew the DU-CU basketball rivalry. The 3-game Florida Gulf Coast Shootout in Fort Meyers against FGCU, St. Francis, and Navy over three days will give DU fans a quick read on this year’s squad. Then, there will be some great regional action with a pair of games at Magness Arena against Air Force and Wyoming along with an always challenging bus trip to the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. Then, in mid-December, the Pioneers board a quick flight to Palo Alto to take on the Pac-12’s Stanford Cardinal.

Denver’s first Summit League game is against a tough South Dakota team in Vermillion, S.D. on 12/30/17. The Pioneers have 5 of their first 6 games on the road so Denver will have to use their non-conference schedule to jell and gain confidence. League play ends with 4 out of 5 games at Magness arena.

The 2017-2018 hoops schedule looks like this:

Date	Opponent / Event	Arena	Time / Result	Media
11/12/17	vs. UC Irvine	Denver, Colo.	4:00 p.m. MT		MORE
11/14/17	at Colorado	Boulder, Colo.	TBA		MORE
11/16/17	vs. Johnson & Wales	Denver, Colo.	5:00 p.m. MT		MORE
Homewood Suites FGCU Shootout
11/24/17	at Florida Gulf Coast	Fort Myers, Fla.	5:00 p.m. MT		MORE
11/25/17	vs. St. Francis Brooklyn	Fort Myers, Fla.	2:00 p.m. MT		MORE
11/26/17	vs. Navy	Fort Myers, Fla.	10:00 a.m. MT		MORE
11/29/17	vs. Wyoming	Denver, Colo.	7:00 p.m. MT		MORE
12/02/17	vs. Air Force	Denver, Colo.	1:00 p.m. MT		MORE
12/05/17	vs. San Jose State	Denver, Colo.	7:00 p.m. MT		MORE
12/09/17	vs. USC Upstate	Denver, Colo.	1:00 p.m. MT		MORE
12/13/17	at Northern Colorado	Greeley, Colo.	7:00 p.m. MT		MORE
12/15/17	at Stanford	Palo Alto, Calif.	TBA		MORE
12/18/17	at Montana State	Bozeman, Mont.	7:00 p.m. MT		MORE
12/28/17	vs. Colorado Mesa	Denver, Colo.	7:00 p.m. MT		MORE
12/30/17	at South Dakota *	Vermillion, S.D.	TBA		MORE
01/06/18	vs. Fort Wayne *	Denver, Colo.	1:00 p.m. MT		MORE
01/11/18	at North Dakota State *	Fargo, N.D.	6:00 p.m. MT		MORE
01/13/18	at South Dakota St. *	Brookings, S.D.	1:00 p.m. MT		MORE
01/18/18	at Omaha *	Omaha, Neb.	6:30 p.m. MT		MORE
01/20/18	at Oral Roberts *	Tulsa, Okla.	6:00 p.m. MT		MORE
01/25/18	vs. Western Illinois *	Denver, Colo.	7:00 p.m. MT		MORE
01/27/18	vs. South Dakota *	Denver, Colo.	4:00 p.m. MT		MORE
02/03/18	at Fort Wayne *	Fort Wayne, Ind.	12:00 p.m. MT		MORE
02/08/18	vs. South Dakota St. *	Denver, Colo.	7:00 p.m. MT		MORE
02/10/18	vs. North Dakota State *	Denver, Colo.	1:00 p.m. MT		MORE
02/14/18	vs. Oral Roberts *	Denver, Colo.	7:00 p.m. MT		MORE
02/18/18	vs. Omaha *	Denver, Colo.	1:00 p.m. MT		MORE
02/24/18	at Western Illinois *	Macomb, Ill.	TBA		MOR

The 6 week winter break starts mid-November and classes resume January 3rd. During that time, five games will be played at Magness Arena (Wyoming, Air Force, San Jose State, USC Upstate and Mesa State) and six games on the road.

As usual, the Summit League conference championships will be held in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the Denny Sanford Premier Center.

Photo: JaVonni Bickham, #42, celebrating the 2A Minnesota State championship. Photo – Courtesy of the Pioneer Press

The number 42 is all about transformation – think Jackie Robinson going to the Dodgers. To a lesser degree, there is a #42 out of Minneapolis that could help propel the ongoing transformation of Denver basketball forward under the guidance of Rodney Billups and his coaches Ricardo Patton, Dan Ficke, and Steve Snell.

Denver continues to draw players from the Twin Cities and JaVonni Bickham, who proudly wears number 42,  could continue that trend if he accepts Denver’s offer to join the Pioneers.  Continue reading Another Twin City hoops prospect could mean big things for DU →

Photo: Jase drives to the hoop. Courtesy of Dallas Morning News

With only three scholarships remaining for the 2018-2019, our final LetsGoDU Pioneer “Big Shot” selection is Jase Townsend out of Skyline High School in Dallas Texas. He is a 6’0″ point guard/shooting guard that plays BIG. Continue reading Big Shots: Top potential DU prospects – Jase Townsend →