The 1995-96 Saluki basketball schedule has both the coaches and the fans excited about the upcoming season.

The Salukis will meet Utah State, Florida Atlantic and Nebraska-Kearney for the first time and four other teams for only the second time:Old Dominion, North Carolina-Charlotte, Hawaii-Hilo, and Alabama -Birmingham.

SIUC basketball head coach Rich Herrin and Athletic Director Jim Hart were pleased with the schedule.

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It’s a good, competitive schedule. It’s as strong as any we’ve had in the past and we’ll have to develop in a hurry in order to be competitive against some of our early opponents, Herrin said.

I think the overall schedule is a good one, Hart said. Our fans should enjoy the fact that we have five home games on Saturdays as well as a good mixture of week nights.

Herrin said there are three teams to watch for this season in the Missouri Valley Conference.

I think Illinois State, Bradley, and Tulsa are the teams to look out for this season, he said. Illinois State, Evansville, and Creighton have some good recruits, but it’s really still too early to tell.

Four television appearances are scheduled for the Salukis this season, with an ESPN broadcast earmarked for a Jan. 11 showdown at Utah State. The other three are on MVC-TV:Jan. 27 vs. Evansville, Feb. 3 at Southwest Missouri State, and Feb. 11 at Illinois State.

Mike Mandis, president of the The Pound, said the Saluki athletics fan club has numerous activities planned for this year, but was unable to tell what they are.

He also said the club is hoping to travel with the team to the Utah State game.

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It depends on how much money we raise during our fund raisers. Plus, it gives us another reason to take a vacation.

Mandis said the best thing about television appearances are the opportunities they give people outside the community to see and understand the University.

It really helps in the recruiting department, and gives everyone a chance to see us on television, he said. I’ve had players tell me they came here because of the fan support, and I’ve gotten letters from other schools saying they wished they had our fan support.