Wally Ellenson as a member of Marquette University's men's basketball team, 2015-16. (Photo courtesy the Windsor Express)Wally Ellenson as a member of Marquette University's men's basketball team, 2015-16. (Photo courtesy the Windsor Express)
Windsor

Windsor Express Prepare for New Season

Windsor's NBLC team is gearing up for another season.

The Windsor Express begins a quest to regain the league championship when the regular season begins this week, beginning the campaign on the road Thursday night against the Orangeville A's.  The Express will go after their third NBLC crown in four seasons after being eliminated in the conference semifinals of last year's tournament.  In their previous four seasons of existence, the Express have reached the playoffs each time.

Bill Jones returns to the sideline as the Express' head coach.  It will be his first full season at the bench since the 2014-15 season, having sat out the first 20 games of last season due to a suspension.  Jones' brother Tony, a coach at Auburn, was brought in to coach the team during the suspension.  Bill Jones also serves as the team's vice-president of basketball operations.

One key roster move made by the Express has been the re-signing of previous league MVP Quinnel Brown.  Brown won the award in 2015 while with the Express.  He played last season with Larre Borges of the Uruguayan Basketball League.  Other recent signings have included guard Wally Ellenson, who played college ball last season at Marquette University; power forward Lester Prosper, a previous Windsor star who played ball last season in Mexico; and forward-guard Brandan Kearney, who played for the Moncton Miracles of the NBL last season and had played college ball for Michigan State University.

One of the Express' major events of the season is a home game played at the Colosseum at Caesars Windsor.  This year, the Express have teamed up with the University of Windsor Lancers to hold a triple-header of games on Feb 8, 2017 in the latest version of the Clash at the Colosseum.  Both UW's men's and women's teams will take on Laurier before the Express faces the Kitchener-Waterloo Titans.

The Express' home opener takes place Friday night against Orangeville at the WFCU Centre.

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