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Rockford's Roger Powell Named CBA Rookie of the Year

March 13, 2006 - Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1) News Release


Boise, ID (March 13, 2006) - The Continental Basketball Association announced today that Rockford Lightning forward Roger Powell has been named the CBA Rookie of the Year for the 2005-06 season, as voted on by the eight CBA head coaches. Powell garnered four of the possible eight first place votes from the coaches, finishing with 29 total points.

Powell, a 2005 alum of the University of Illinois, broke the Lightning's rookie season scoring record with 1,013 points this year, good enough for third in the CBA with a 21.1 point average. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound forward also finished third in the league in offensive rebounds with 3.3 per game (157 total) and 12th in overall rebounds with 6.7 per game (322 total). He played in all 48 games for the Lightning with 44 starts and was the only rookie to garner CBA Player of the Week recognition this season, earning the award on Dec. 19 after averaging 27.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and one block in three games.

"I want to thank my Lord and savior Jesus Christ for this award," said Powell. "It was a lot of hard work, but I believe God helped me in many ways. I want to thank my teammates and the Lightning coaching staff because without them this award would not have been possible."

Powell dished out 1.5 assists per game while shooting 57.0 pct. (361-of-633) from the field and 73.5 pct. (266-of-362) at the free throw line. He finished with 10 double-doubles and tallied a season-high 37 points in the final game of the season to eclipse Kendrick Warren's Rockford rookie scoring record of 1,012 by one point. He pulled down a season-best 15 rebounds on Dec. 3 vs. Idaho.

He was drafted by Rockford in the fourth round (30th pick overall) of the 2005 CBA College Draft and was one of 11 CBA draft picks to appear in games this season.

T.J. Thompson, G, Albany

Finished second in the voting for Rookie of the Year (14 total points) after completing the regular season as the overall scoring leader in the CBA (25.4 ppg.). He was sixth among the league leaders in assists (5.2 pg.), steals (1.8 pg.) and free-throw percentage (85.9 pct.), while finishing eighth in 3-point field goal percentage (41.7 pct.). Thompson scored a CBA season-high 53 points in just his fifth professional game on Nov. 27 vs. Gary. Thompson was the first No. 1 overall draft pick to play in his rookie season since Ryan Blackwell in 2000.

Karlton Mims, G, Gary

Began the year with the Michigan Mayhem, playing 42 games for Michigan. He was signed by Gary on March 10 off of waivers. He finished the year seventh in the CBA in steals (1.7 pg.) while averaging 12.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 43 games overall.

Ralph Holmes, G, Yakama

Was drafted in the fourth round (28th pick overall) of the 2005 CBA College Draft by Yakama. He led the league in 3-point field goal accuracy at 46.8 pct., connecting on 29-of-62 for the season. In 42 games, Holmes averaged 11.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists for the Western Conference champion Yakama Sun Kings.

Geoff Husted, C, Dakota

Played in just 22 games after being placed on the injured reserve list by Dakota on Jan. 25. Husted averaged 10.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while registering seven double-doubles. He had a season-high 17 rebounds twice.

2005-06 CBA All-Rookie Team

Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Team College

Roger Powell F 6-6 220 Rockford Lightning Illinois

T.J. Thompson G 5-10 180 Albany Patroons George Washington

Karlton Mims G 6-2 190 Gary Steelheads Washburn (Kan.)

Ralph Holmes G 6-4 190 Yakama Sun Kings Cal-State Fullerton

Geoff Husted C 6-11 265 Dakota Wizards Gannon (Pa.)



Continental Basketball Association 1 Stories from March 13, 2006


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