College basketball: FGCU men announce game vs. Florida in Orange Bowl Classic to complete schedule

One of the worst-kept basketball secrets in the state -- Florida Gulf Coast University's men will play Floridain the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic in Sunrise this season -- was finally officially announced on Wednesday afternoon.

The addition of that and home games against non-Division I foes Southeastern University on Nov. 8 and Keiser University on Dec. 19 completes coach Michael Fly's first schedule.

The FGCU-Florida game will be played in the BB&T Center on Dec. 22 at 5 p.m. It will be part of a doubleheader, with Florida State taking on St. Louis in the first matchup at 2. FGCU-Florida will be televised on Fox Sports 2 and Fox Sports Sun.

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"I'm honored and really, really happy that the Orange Bowl decided to include us this year in their venue," Fly said.

Florida was 21-13 last season, including 11-7 in SEC play.

The Eagles tip off the season at Illinois State on Nov. 6.

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On Tuesday night, Fly also got his first commitment from the Class of 2019 in 6-foot-8 forward Qwanzi Samuels originally of District Heights, Maryland. The 247Sports.com 3-star recruit suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear and missed his senior season. He'll play this season for the Loomis Chafee School in Connecticut. 

Other intriguing FGCU nonconference matchups include at Michigan State on Nov. 11, at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (which last season became the first-ever 16 seed to knock off a top seed in the NCAA tournament) on Dec. 16 and at Ole Miss on Dec. 29.

FGCU, which lost 4.5 starters from its 23-12 ASUN regular-season championship team, opens conference play against new ASUN program Liberty at home on Jan. 5.

FGCU and Florida have met three times, with the Gators winning all three games. The last was an 80-59 Gators win in Jacksonville to begin the 2016-17 season.

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"It's a huge positive for us that we're not playing at Florida," Fly said. "It's a neutral-court game in Sunrise. It's not a very far drive for a lot of the programs who have supported us. We've now had from South Florida, Zach Johnson, Antravious Simmons, Haanif Cheatham, Malik Hardy and Zach Scott. That's some of the better players in South Florida the last five years that have now come through the program or are going through the program at Florida Gulf Coast.

"So this allows the AAU programs, the high school programs, the families, all the people that have made the relationships in those recruiting situations possible to get a chance to come and watch us play another one of the premier programs in our state."

Fly said he and Florida coach Mike White go way back to the latter's days as the coach at Louisiana Tech when they competed for the same recruits. He said White called him after he was hired on April 5 to congratulate him and offer help.
 
"There's a big-time level of respect there with myself and Coach White," Fly said.

FGCU will also play at Florida Atlantic and at home against Florida International in nonconference games this season.

"Anytime we can play a program from the state of Florida, we're going to do that," Fly said. "It's always a 'yes' on our end, no matter who it is in the state. We would love to play as many Florida teams as we can. I think it's important to our fans. I think it's important for recruiting. I think it's really important to our players."

2018-19 FGCU Men's Basketball Schedule

Nov. 6 -- At Illinois State, Normal, TBD
Nov. 8 -- Southeastern University, 7 p.m.
Nov. 11 -- At Michigan State, East Lansing, TBD
Nov. 16 -- South Dakota State, 8 p.m.
Nov. 19 -- Toledo (Gulf Coast Showcase), 7 p.m., Germain Arena, Estero
Nov. 20 -- Colorado State/Louisiana (Gulf Coast Showcase), 7:30 pm., Germain Arena, Estero
Nov. 21 -- TBD (Gulf Coast Showcase), Germain Arena, Estero
Nov. 25 -- At Florida Atlantic, Boca Raton, TBD
Nov. 28 -- Florida International, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 2 -- Colgate, 1:30 p.m.
Dec. 5 -- At Oral Roberts, Tulsa, TBD
Dec. 16 -- At UMBC, Baltimore, TBD
Dec. 19 -- Keiser, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 22 -- vs. Florida (Orange Bowl Classic), 5 p.m., BB&T Center, Sunrise
Dec. 29 -- At Ole Miss, Oxford, TBD
Jan. 5 -- *Liberty, 7 p.m.
Jan. 8 -- *At North Alabama, Florence, TBD
Jan. 12 -- *At North Florida, Jacksonville, TBD
Jan. 19 -- *At Kennesaw (Ga.) State, TBD
Jan. 21 -- *Stetson, 7 p.m.
Jan. 24 -- *At Lipscomb, Nashville, TBD
Jan. 27 -- *North Florida, 5 p.m.
Jan. 30 -- *At NJIT, Newark, TBD
Feb. 2 -- *Jacksonville, 7 p.m.
Feb. 6 -- *North Alabama, 7 p.m.
Feb. 9 -- *At Liberty, Lynchburg, Va., 7 p.m.
Feb. 13 -- *NJIT, 7 p.m.
Feb. 16 -- *At Stetson, DeLand, TBD
Feb. 20 -- *Lipscomb, 7 p.m.
Feb. 23 -- *Kennesaw State, 7 p.m.
March 1 -- *At Jacksonville, TBD
March 4-10 -- ASUN tournament on campuses of higher seeds
*-ASUN matchup