EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University's men's basketball program will open its preparations for the 2010-11 season with exhibition games against Division I opponents Penn State and Binghamton in early November, head coach Jeff Wilson has announced.

The Warriors, who set the school record for wins with a 24-6 record last season and were selected for the NCAA Division II Tournament field for the second time in school history, will play the Nittany Lions at the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday, Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. and travel to Binghamton on Wednesday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m.

The 2010-11 regular season schedule will include the 46th Annual Pocono Classic presented by State Farm at Koehler Fieldhouse on December 3-4 and the Porreco Cup at Gannon in Erie on December 30-31.

ESU won a share of its first PSAC East regular season championship since 1992 last season and hosted the PSAC Final Four after posting a 23-4 regular season record. The Warriors fell to eventual NCAA runner-up IUP, 67-63, in the PSAC semifinals and saw their postseason run come to an end in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against West Virginia State.

Wilson, entering his ninth year at his alma mater, was named the PSAC East and NABC Division II Atlantic Region Coach of the Year after guiding a team picked sixth in the PSAC East preseason poll to a 10-4 conference record.

The Warriors' 13-0 start was the longest undefeated stretch to open a season in school history and vaulted them into the NABC Coaches Poll for the second time ever. Wilson's club was ranked as high as No. 12 in the nation in early February and maintained a spot in the Top 25 for six straight weeks.

ESU returns 10 letterwinners for the 2010-11 season, including three starters in senior forward Mike Tobin, senior guard Mike DeMarco and sophomore forward Terrance King. Tobin is the team's top returning scorer (10.2 ppg) and rebounder (7.2 rpg), and King averaged 8.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks to earn the PSAC East Freshman of the Year.

Senior guard Micah Covert and junior forward Eric Bryan are also among the Warriors' top returners, along with three other members of a talented sophomore class in forwards Marcus Brown and Duane Johnson and guard Gerald Bridges, Jr.

The newcomers will be led by junior Russell Graham, originally recruited by ESU from Norristown High School. Graham played two years at Division I New Hampshire and was fifth in the nation with a 2.95-1 assist-to-turnover ratio last season, averaging 4.0 assists per game as the Wildcats' starting point guard.

The addition of Graham will help the Warriors replace point guard Robby Pines, who was eighth in Division II with 6.4 assists per game last season. Sophomore Blair Ramsey, a transfer from Adrian (Mich.) who was a high school teammate of Bridges, Jr. in Detroit, will also solidify the point guard position.

Incoming freshman guard Will Brown, who played on the 2009 AAAA state championship team at Penn Wood with Duane Johnson, will aid in offsetting the loss of Andy Heimbach, a first team All-PSAC East selection and ESU's record-setter in season (76) and career (236) three-pointers.

ESU has played in the PSAC tournament in four of the last five seasons and has a 92-49 record (.652) in that stretch, the most wins in a five-year span in school history.