PBL Conducts Dispersal Draft
February 9, 2009 - Premier Basketball League (PBL) News Release
Chicago, IL...On February 7, 2009, The Premier Basketball League conducted a dispersal draft, in which the twelve PBL teams were offered the rights to sign various players from the PBL's Montreal Sasquat'ch, who were dismissed from the PBL for failure to meet and adhere to league rules and duties.
Teams were allowed to select players, with the order of selection determined by league record as of February 1; the team with the lowest won-loss record was allowed the option to choose first. Teams were allowed to pass if they did not want to select any players.
The Detroit Panthers selected, and later signed, Randy "White Chocolate" Gill, the 6'2" 195 shooting guard from Bowie State. Gill averaged 20.3 points per game for the Sasquat'ch earlier this eason, and played last year for the PBL's Maryland Nighthawks.
Kebs de Quebec made the next selection, picking up the rights to sign John Ruffus, a 6'4" 240 power forward from Fayetteville State. Ruffus was one of the early scoring threats for the Sasquat'ch, averaging 19.8 points per game in seven contests.
The next team to select a player was the Rochester RazorSharks, who chose Xavier Morton, a 6'9" 310 center from Georgia State. Morton averaged 7 rebounds and a block per game with the Sasquat'ch, including a 4-block night on January 3 against Halifax. Morton played last season for the PBL's Jacksonville Slam, where he averaged 18 points per game that year.
The final team to select a Sasquat'ch player, the Manchester Millrats, chose Jamaal Wise, a 6'6" 231 power forward from the University of Rhode Island. Wise averaged 19.5 points per game for Montreal; he also averaged two steals per game, tops among his teammates. "Jamaal is a great player," said Ian McCarthy, General Manager of the Manchester Millrats. "He was a college teammate of Scott Hazelton (a current player on the Millrats), and Jamaal has played with our summer league team over the past several years, and we're happy to have an opportunity to potentially add him to our roster."
No other players were selected in the dispersal draft. All unselected players are now free agents and are able to sign with any team they choose.
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