Govs basketball revises schedule; to partner with Louisville in game to help benefit
Marques Maybin
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
F-03 BK/bk 9/23/282
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.-- Austin Peay State University's basketball team has announced it will play the
opponent that ended its 2002-03 season. APSU and Louisville will partner for a Dec. 20 contest in Freedom
Hall in Louisville this time. But this game also has a benevolent side to it.
Of the guarantee Louisville will pay Austin Peay for the contest, $10,000 will be donated to the
Marques Maybin Medical Fund in the name of Austin Peay and the people of Clarksville, Tenn., Maybin's
hometown. In addition, the Daniel Pitino Foundation will donate $5,000 to the fund.
Maybin, a former Louisville basketball star, was paralyzed from the waist down in an Aug. 5 motorcycle
accident and did not have medical insurance.
"Marques is a Clarksvillian--he is one of ours--and we are happy to partner with the University of Louis-
ville to help Marques in this way--through the game he loves so much. I am very impressed with what the
University of Louisville and what Coach Pitino is doing personally to help take care of Marques.
"I have personally known Marques a long time since he was playing AAU ball with Trenton (Hassell,
former APSU star now with the Chicago Bulls), Shawn (Marion, of the Phoenix Suns), Matthew Blackston and
Brad (Loos, his son). I have known him as a player--we recruited him--and as a person and think a great deal
of him. We followed him at Louisville during his outstanding career there. During the off-seasons from Louis-
ville and his pro career, he spent a lot of time down here in pick-up games with our guys.
"It's a terrible tragedy what has happened to him. But Marques has great spirit and we wish the best for
him. We are proud to be a part of something like this for him."
With the addition of Louisville (25-7 record, 11 lettermen returning led by Conference USA Freshman of
the Year Francisco Garcia), the Govs unquestionably will face one of the nation's strongest non-conference
schedules. The defending Ohio Valley Conference regular-season co-champions will be playing at Memphis
(Dec. 29), Alabama (Dec. 6), Western Kentucky (Dec. 13) and Kentucky (a Dec. 31 afternoon game also in
Louisville). The Govs also will play at Belmont (Nov. 26), at home against Evansville (Dec. 1) and at Middle
Tennessee (Dec. 23).
"We already were playing one of, if not the toughest Mid-Major schedule (Kentucky, Alabama, Mem-
phis, Western Kentucky) in the country," Loos said. "But this was a game we had to do--it was for all the right
reasons."
The Govs (23-8, 13-3 in the OVC a year ago) then will open the unbalanced league schedule, Satur-
day, Jan. 3 at Jacksonville State, the first league contest for the OVC newcomer. In fact, the Govs will open
league play with five straight road contests.
The Govs' first home OVC contest will be Thursday, Jan 22 against Eastern Illinois. APSU will play
Jacksonville State and Samford for the first time as OVC members, Feb. 5 and Feb. 7, respectively, in
Clarksville. With the two news teams added to the OVC, APSU will play Morehead State (Jan. 17) and Tennes-
see Tech (Jan. 27) only on the road this year while playing Murray State (Feb. 14) and Tennessee-Martin (Feb.
12) only at home.
The Govs will open the 2003-04 schedule by playing host to Knoxville College, Nov. 22, preceded by a
Nov. 8 exhibition game against Northern State.