New faces abound as Gold Rush begin season in Florida

NEW ORLEANS — An infusion of new talent will be evident on the 2017-18 Xavier University of Louisiana men's basketball team.
     
There are 10 newcomers, only two of which have been previously announced. The XULA men will tip off their 80th season at 2 p.m. EDT Friday in Miami Gardens, Fla., against St. Thomas University, the 20th-ranked team in NAIA Division II.
     
The newest members of the Gold Rush are:
     •  Rondell Best, a 6-foot-7 forward from Boston, Brockton High School and Daniel Webster College. He's a business major at XULA.
     •  Ahmed Coulibaly, a 6-8 forward/center from Villiers-le-Bel, France, Joliot-Curie and New Mexico Military Institute, a two-year school. He is majoring in business communications.
     •  Virgil Davison, a 5-8 guard from Memphis, Tenn., Hillcrest High School and two-year Dyersburg State (Tenn.) Community College. His XULA major is sociology.
     •  Jeff Dixon, a 6-2 guard from New Orleans, McMain High School and Delgado Community College. Dixon is a business management major.
     •  Timothy Jordan, a 6-5 guard/forward from Antioch, Calif., Freedom High School and two-year Merritt (Calif.) College. Jordan is majoring in sociology.
     •  Damon McClain, a 5-11 guard from Louisville, Ky., and Trinity High School. His XULA major is mass communications.
     •  Thomas Ortique, a 6-foot guard from Hartford, Conn., and Windsor High School. He's a chemistry/pre-pharmacy major at XULA.
     •  Joseph Williams, a 6-6 forward from Memphis, Lausanne Collegiate School and NAIA member Freed-Hardemanb University. He is majoring in sales and marketing.

Best and Williams are seniors, Coulibaly, Davison, Dixon and Jordan are juniors, and McClain and Ortique are freshmen.

The other two XULA newcomers are 6-3 guard Rayshawn Mart of Houma, La., and 6-8 forward Galen Smith of Bay St. Louis, Miss., whose signings were announced during the spring.

XULA will play its first three games on the road before coming home to play Miles at 7 p.m. Nov. 6 at the Convocation Center.

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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