He's been the coach for more than seven months, and now it's finally time for the first official University of Evansville men’s basketball game for Marty Simmons.

The 2007-08 season opener takes place Sunday at 2:30 CST when his Aces take on Samford University at Evansville's Roberts Stadium.  The University of Evansville would like to welcome all present and former military personnel to Roberts Stadium on Veterans Day.

It's the first regular season contest at Roberts for Coach Simmons since the 2001-02 season, when he finished his 11th year as an assistant coach under Jim Crews at the University of Evansville. Simmons played for the first time at Roberts Stadium in 1986-87, and in his two seasons at UE led the Aces to a conference championship in 1987 and to the second round of the NIT in 1988. He was an assistant coach for the Aces from 1991 through 1996 and 1998 through 2002, helping the Aces reach the NCAA Tournament three times and the NIT once. Marty’s one season away from Evansville during that assistant coaching career was 1996-97, when he was head coach at Wartburg (Iowa) College. He was head coach at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville the past five seasons, and guided the Cougars to the NCAA Division II Tournament twice in the last three years. 

The Butler Bulldogs come to Roberts Stadium Nov. 17, the Drake Bulldogs come to town Jan. 6, but on Sunday it’s the Samford University Bulldogs who open the season at Roberts Stadium. The Ohio Valley Conference members from Birmingham, Ala. have three starters back from last season’s 16-16 team that finished 12-8 in the OVC. The Aces beat the Bulldogs 69-65 at Birmingham in February in the ESPN Bracketbusters matchup behind the 16 points of Jason Holsinger.  Sunday’s game will be the fifth between Evansville and Samford in a series that the Aces lead 4-0. Wins at Birmingham came in 1989-90 and last season. The two previous games at Roberts Stadium came in 1990-91 and 1991-92. 

Five players who have never played a regular season game for the Aces got into the exhibition game contest last Saturday against Oakland City. Seven-foot freshman center Pieter van Tongeren, who redshirted last season, hit six of seven shots and scored 14 points. Freshman guard Kavon Lacey added nine points, junior forward Nate Garner scored eight, freshman guard Jon Van Hoose scored three, and freshman center Zach House went scoreless but grabbed four rebounds.