PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast opens its men’s basketball season Wednesday when Southern-Shreveport visits.

 

Tipoff for coach Tim Ryan’s first game of his third season at Gulf Coast will be at 6 p.m. at the Weathers-Wentzell Center.

 

“We’re going to have a young team,” he said. “We’re going to be fast. We’re going to be exciting. We’re going to get up and down the court, kind of like we did last year.”

 

Tickets are on sale at http://mgcccbulldogs.com/tickets. Individual game tickets cost $7 for adults, and $5 for youths. Children 12 and under are free.

 

Gulf Coast is also selling basketball season passes, which will admit you to all games. Coach Hope Adams’ women’s team will play 12 home games, and Ryan’s men’s team will play 13. Season passes cost $50 for adults and $40 for youth, plus ticketing and processing fees.

 

All home games will be streamed at https://mgcccbulldogs.com/watch.

 

One big storyline this season isn’t technically on the court. It is the court.

 

During the season, the Bulldogs will move into the new MGCCC Arena, right across from A.L. May Memorial Stadium and next to the MGCCC Tennis Complex.

 

“I think everybody is going to be really impressed with it,” Ryan said. “They did a great job with it. I believe it’s the perfect size. You know, some of these arenas, they’re building them. They’re just too big. You see it sometime there’s a gorgeous arenas, but they just don’t fill up. They just they’re just too big. We built a gorgeous arena and it’s and it’s just the right size. I think the administration made some great decisions in that.”

 

Point guard Donovan Sanders (So., Walls/Lake Cormorant) is the lone returning player from last year’s 17-8 team. He averaged 10.2 points and 3.5 assists while starting 23 of the 24 games he played in.

 

“Donovan is a tough, hard-nosed player who doesn’t back down point guard,” Ryan said. “He is extremely quick, and he can get to the basket wherever he wants and he is finishes very, very well. He gets his teammates involved. He’s a Division I-level point guard, and he’s going to be a leader this year.”

 

Two players who were with the team last year but didn’t play are forward Anthony Robinson (Fr., Long Beach/Long Beach) and shooting guard Javeon Gordon (Fr., Mount Olive/Mount Olive).

 

Ryan added a pair of transfers from NCAA Division II Francis Marion. Darius Dawson, a 6-foot-5 forward from Sumter, S.C., made 41.3 percent of his 3-pointers there. JaVon Anderson, a 6-foot-2 guard from Columbia, S.C., averaged 6.2 points for the Patriots.

 

Jabarie Robinson (Fr., Raymond/Raymond) arrives after leading his high school to the state championship last season, where he was MVP of the finals.

 

“He was a kid that I saw early, early on last year,” Ryan said. “And as soon as I saw him, I was like, That’s it. We got to have tough, tough kid. He has some things to learn to get better, but he’s a guy that’s going to help us win games.”

 

John Davis (Fr., Pascagoula/Pascagoula) will be Sanders’ backup at the point. The Bulldogs will be without forward Idell Walton (Fr., Tampa Fla./SLAM Tampa) to start the season. He was injured this week and may not play again until after the holiday break.

 

Demarcus Powe (Fr., Meridian/Meridian) is another deadeye outside shooter.

 

For more information on MGCCC’s 11 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.