SETTING THE STAGE
Indiana State begins year one of the Greg Lansing era this Friday through Sunday at the Nick Kladis Classic on the campus of Loyola (Ill.). ISU will open the season against Texas-Pan American on Friday, Nov. 12 at 6:00 p.m. (ET) and will then face host Loyola on Saturday, November 13 at 8:30 p.m. The action will conclude on Sunday, November 14 when they take on Eastern Kentucky at 4:00 p.m. All three games will broadcast live locally on the radio on ESPN Radio 92.7 FM, with an internet broadcast available on GoSycamores.com. Saturday's contest against Loyola will be broadcast on the Horizon League Network. The broadcast is free and can be found @ http://www.horizonleaguenetwork.tv
Additionally, live stats for all three contests can be found at GoSycamores.com.

THE TEXAS PAN-AMERICAN SERIES
Friday's meeting against UT-Pan American is the first between the two schools.

THE LOYOLA SERIES
Indiana State holds an 8-6 lead in the all-time series with Loyola. The two teams first met in 1923 and have not faced each other since 1998. In the last meeting, the Sycamores downed the Ramblers 55-50 at Loyola.

THE EASTERN KENTUCKY SERIES
Indiana State leads the all-time series against Eastern Kentucky by a 3-2 margin. ISU first met the Colonels in 1947 and last met in 1998. The Sycamores downed EKU by the score of 78-54 inside Hulman Center in the last meeting.

THE INDIANA STATE COACH
INDIANA STATE: Greg Lansing (South Dakota, '90)
- Overall: 0-0 (First Season)
- at Indiana State: 0-0 (First Season)
- vs. UT-Pan American: First Meeting
- vs. Loyola: First Meeting
- vs. Eastern Kentucky: First Meeting
- vs. Missouri Valley Conference: 0-0

QUICK HITS
- Indiana State is opening the season at a neutral site for the first time since the 2000-01 campaign when they took on Georgia, American-Puerto Rico and Miami (Ohio) at the Puerto Rico Shootout. ISU went on to capture the MVC Tournament Championship that season and a berth into the NCAA Tournament.
- Each of the last three Sycamore head coaches have won their debut (Sherman Dillard, Royce Waltman and Kevin McKenna). The last Sycamore head coach to open their career away from Hulman Center was Gordon Stauffer in 1967 (an 83-79 loss at Cincinnati).

An Indiana State Win Over UT-Pan American Would ...
• Give Indiana State a win its season opener in nine of the last ten seasons.
• Give Indiana State a victory in a season opener away from Hulman Center for the first time since winning at Purdue on December 1, 1970 under head coach Gordon Stauffer. The Sycamores downed the Boilermakers on the road by the score of 84-82.
• Give Greg Lansing his first career head coaching victory and extend a streak of Sycamore head coaches winning their debut to four (Sherman Dillard, Royce Waltman, Kevin McKenna).
• Be Indiana State's first neutral court victory since Nov. 17, 2009 when the Trees took down Milwaukee in Baton Rouge, La. as part of last year's NIT Preseason Tip-off.

The Indiana State Head Coach
Indiana State head coach Greg Lansing (South Dakota, 1990) is 0-0 (.000) overall in his first season as a head coach, all with the Sycamores. He is 0-0 all-time in MVC games, including a 0-0 mark at home, a 0-0 mark on the road and a 0-0 record in neutral court contests. During his career, he is 0-0 in all home games, 0-0 on the road, 0-0 in neutral court contests and 0-0 in games decided by five points or less. Lansing is 0-0 all-time against UT-Pan American, Loyola and Eastern Kentucky, including a 0-0 record at the Gentile Center. With the Trees, Lansing is 0-0 in overtime games, and 0-0 when holding teams to 60 points or less. Friday's game is Greg Lansing's first game as Indiana State head coach.

Television Particulars
Saturday night's game at Loyola (Ill.) will be the only one of the three Sycamores' contest in the Nick Kladis Classic that will be televised. The game versus the Ramblers is available at no cost on the Horizon League Network online. Fans should direct their web browser to: http://www.horizonleaguenetwork.tv to access the stream of the game.

A Little History
Indiana State is currently in its 115th season of college basketball at the school. The Sycamores are 1,348-1,147 all-time on the hardwood. The Sycamores are five contests away from playing their historic 2,500th game in the history of the program.

For Openers
Indiana State is 73-41 in season openers as they prepare to open up their 115th year of college basketball on Friday night against Texas Pan-American. ISU won its season opener last season by taking down Nebraska-Kearney by the score of 88-58 at Hulman Center. ISU last opened its season on a neutral court with an 82-62 defeat at the hands of Georgia in 2000 in the Puerto Rico Shootout.

Sycamores Downs Rose-Hulman In Exhibition Opener
In Greg Lansing's head coaching debut the Sycamore men's basketball team scored early and often en route to an 83-44 win over cross-town rival Rose-Hulman in front of 4,636 fans at Hulman Center on November 2. The Sycamore defense also made its presence known, forcing 17 Engineers turnovers in the game. Dwayne Lathan led the team with 14 points and five rebounds while junior forward Carl Richard scored nine points and added five rebounds of his own. As a team, the Sycamores were also able to get a positive assist to turnover ratio with 13 assists to only seven turnovers. The team also held the Engineers to only 25 percent shooting from the field.

Indiana State Also Earns An Exhibition Victory Over Wabash
Behind an 18-point effort by junior guard Dwayne Lathan the Sycamore men's basketball team routed the visiting Little Giants of Wabash College 71-60 in the Sycamores final exhibition game of the season on November 6. 11 of the 12 Sycamore players who played in the contest were also able to tally points for the Sycamores. As a team the Sycamores shot 42 percent from the field. Lathan led the team with 18 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Senior guard Jordan Printy also reached double figures for the Sycamores with 11 points, three rebounds and two assists. As a team the Sycamores forced 21 turnovers and scored 27 points off turnovers while allowing Wabash to score just seven points off turnovers.

Preseason Missouri Valley Conference Predictions
The Indiana State basketball team has received a seventh place predicted finish as announced today (Oct. 26) by the league office. The annual preseason poll was conducted earlier this month by the conference's head coaches, media panel and sports information directors.

The Sycamores finished in a tie for fifth place last year in the league standings and received the No. 6 seed at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Louis. ISU finished the 2008-09 campaign with a 17-15 overall record and a 9-9 mark in league play.

Wichita State garnered 33 first place votes and are picked to win the league with 382 points. Missouri State took home one first place vote and is slated to finish second (313 points) while 2010 NCAA Sweet Sixteen qualifier Northern Iowa received three first place votes and is picked third (289 points). In fourth is Creighton with 282 points while Bradley received the final two first place votes and tallied 264 points. Illinois State was sixth with 165 points while the Sycamores had 136 in seventh. Drake was eighth with 121 points, Southern Illinois was ninth with 120 and Evansville rounded out the poll with 73 points.

The MVC preseason team included Kwadzo Ahelegbe (Northern Iowa), Kenny Lawson, Jr. (Creighton), Sam Maniscalco (Bradley), Toure Murry (Wichita State) and Kyle Weems (Missouri State). The honorable mention squad included Taylor Brown (Bradley), J.T. Durley (Wichita State), Adam Leonard (Missouri State), Colt Ryan (Evansville), Seth VanDeest (Drake) and Andrew Warren (Bradley).

Sycamores Sign Devonte Brown
Indiana State basketball head coach Greg Lansing landed his first official recruit on the first day of the Early Signing Period (Nov. 10) as Devonte Brown inked a national letter of intent and will join the Sycamore program next season as an incoming freshman. Wednesday marked the beginning of the fall national signing period for basketball and will last for the next seven days.

Brown is a native of Killeen, Texas where he is a senior guard for Killeen Ellison High School. He is 6-3, 185 and averaged 15 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists per game at Ellison during his junior season, one year after he earned a starting role for the Screaming Eagles. Brown played shooting guard for 22-11 Ellison last season, leading it to the Texas 5-A playoffs as Killeen's best team in that class. Brown will switch and play point guard during his senior season at Ellison.

"I don't know that I've ever enjoyed an official visit with a recruit as much as I did when Devonte was here," Lansing commented upon receiving Brown's National Letter Of Intent. "He is a leader and he is tough. As a player, he will remind our fans of Harry Marshall, with a great shooting touch. He will fit right in with the guys we already have in place in the program and is a great fit for the way that we want to play. I am very happy for his family, his coaches and his school. This is a very exciting time to be joining the Sycamore basketball family and we all look forward to Devonte joining us next year."

Sycamores Return To Postseason In 2010
Indiana State made its first appearance in the postseason by accepting an invitation last year to the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) by traveling to Saint Louis since participating in the 2001 NCAA Tournament when the Sycamores downed No. 4 seeded Oklahoma in the first round by the score of 70-68 (OT). ISU is 38-20 all-time in postseason play. The Sycamores won the 1950 NAIB National Championship, downing Delta State, Arkansas State, Baldwin-Wallace, Tampa and East Central Oklahoma. The Sycamores have appeared in the 1942 & 1943 National Intercollegiate Tournament, the 1946, 1948, 1949 & 1950 NAIB National Tournament, the 1952, 1953, 1954, 1959, 1962 & 1963 NAIA National Tournament; the 1966, 1967 & 1968 NCAA College Division Tournament; the 1977 & 1978 National Invitation Tournament; and the 1979 & 2001 NCAA Division I Basketball Championship. ISU made a run to the 1979 NCAA Final Four behind the star power of Sycamore legend Larry Bird, falling in the national championship contest to Michigan State, 75-64 in a game that is still the highest rated television basketball broadcast of all-time.

Sycamores Excel At The Free Throw Line
Indiana State hit their freebies last season, as the Sycamores finished first in the Missouri Valley Conference and just behind BYU for the national lead with a 76.9 percentage from the charity stripe. ISU hit 476-of-619. The Sycamores were 13-5 last season in games in which they made more free throws than the opposition.

Sycamores Surge Ahead In Missouri Valley Conference Rankings
Indiana State finished the 2009-10 MVC campaign with an even 9-9 record, tied for fifth place with Bradley. Following completion of the league's tiebreaking procedures, the Braves qualified for the No. 5 seed & ISU got the No. 6 based on Bradley's edge in the power points system that the Valley employs. The Sycamores secured a spot in the league's top 6 and are avoiding the play-in Thursday night portion of the State Farm MVC Tournament following a thrilling overtime victory over Missouri State as Harry Marshall drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Indiana State had appeared in the Thursday night play-in portion of the conference tournament following every season since the 2000-01 campaign when the Sycamores finished fifth with a 10-8 league record and became the lowest seed to ever win "Arch Madness" and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Prior to this season, ISU had appeared on Thursday night at the league tournament for eight consecutive seasons.

King Of The Four-Point Play
Indiana State senior Aaron Carter has become known as the "King of the 4-Point Play" in the Sycamores circles. For the most part, converting a 4-point play is extremely rare, but for Carter it is becoming old hat. Carter converted a 4-point play, defined as being fouled in the act of shooting a successful 3-point field goal and then converting the free throw, six times in his Sycamore career. Carter posted a pair as a sophomore and had four last year, including one with 3:42 to play in the first half against Drake this past week. Carter converted two in one game earlier this season at Missouri State as part of a 24-point second half comeback for Indiana State.

Isiah Martin Ranks Highly For Career Blocked Shots
Indiana State junior Isiah Martin now has 108 blocked shots in his career after recording one against Illinois State in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. His current total of 108 blocks ranks fourth all-time in the history of the program and he needs one more to tie Nate Green for third (109). The Indiana State school record is 168, set by DeCarsta Webster from 1975-78.

Winning Despite The Injury Bug
The Sycamores had the services of their entire starting lineup for a total of 28 minutes of MVC play last season as junior Jake Kelly went down with a knee injury eight minutes into the second half of the conference opener at Southern Illinois. Dwayne Lathan, who averaged 12.7 ppg was injured in the fourth game of league play while Marshall missed five games. Despite the rash of injuries, the Sycamores still achieved their best season in nearly a decade.

Up Next
Following completion of this weekend's three games in the Nick Kladis Classic, the Sycamores will return to action on Wednesday, November 17 at Ball State. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. at the James E. Worthen Arena.