MVC Media Day kicks off 2016-17 season

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Aces ready to start the season 

  1. LOUIS– The unofficial kickoff to the 2016-17 men’s basketball season took place on Tuesday in St. Louis at Missouri Valley Conference Media Day.

Purple Aces head coach Marty Simmons attended the event along with women’s basketball coach Matt Ruffing and players Sasha Robinson and Sara Dickey.

Media day featured several stops for Coach Simmons including an MVC interview, a talk with AM 550 KTRS of St. Louis and a discussion with The Valley on ESPN3 and host Scott Warmann.

“We are very excited to get the season going,” Simmons said.  “We have a lot of new guys that we are adding to the mix and seeing them develop as things move along.”

“Last year showed that all of the things you invest can bring about terrific opportunities as we were able to play for a conference championship.  That gave us a lot of confidence and motivation as we move forward,” Simmons continued.

Prior to the beginning of the event, the preseason poll was released with the University of Evansville being picked to finish 9th this season.  Wichita State is the preseason favorite and is followed by Illinois State, UNI and Missouri State.

Fans can get their first look at the 2016-17 squad on Thursday evening as Hoopfest will be held at the Ford Center.  Doors open at 6 p.m. with the action commencing at 7 p.m.  Log on to GoPurpleAces.com on Wednesday as a full schedule of events for Hoopfest will be released.